OAHU: Day two (September 15)

Another early morning. This time, we had to be in Waialua by 7:30am, which meant leaving our place no later than 6:30am. At least the drive is BEAUTIFUL!!! Check out these pictures from the H3 Freeway we have to drive to get to where we are staying:

Can you believe this is the freeway!

Our first show was at at St. Michaels School for about 110 kids. The auditorium that we performed in had some quirks. for one thing, the it was very tall stage. Also, the back stage was rediculously crowded with supplies the school owned.





Nevertheless, the show went very well. The audience was pretty quiet, but definitely enjoyed the show. They had lots of questions and comments to tell me after the show, about how they had gone camping this weekend, or how they had a sister with my name as their middle name. (I was amazed some of them remembered my name from when I introduce myself before the show. They were really into it I guess.) They were all really quite cute about how excited they were to get my attention. They completely forget they are supposed to be paying attention to their teacher, and have to be told a few times to follow the rest of the class.




We had a few hour break between the first and second show. What better to do with the break but go and get coffee and malasadas from Oahu famous Leonard’s Bakery in Honolulu! Malasadas are local style, Portuguese Doughnuts. They come in regular, cinnamon, li hing mui sugared, and can be filled with various delicious custards too. Sooooo good!











Our second show was at Hahaione Elementary School for 150 students. We got their early, so we parked the van across the street and we all took a much needed 1/2 hour nap before the show.

This time we performed on the stage in the cafeteria We had to start loading in and building the set while the cafeteria was still full to the brim with loud, hungry students eating their lunches who could see everything we were bringing in, and immediately got very excited asked a million questions about who we were, what we were doing, and what the show was about. Once we were all loaded in I foolishly closed the curtain so we could build the set w/ out ruining the surprise of the set. As soon as the curtain closed, a loud, disappointed “awwwww” broke out all across the cafeteria. Taken aback by their strong reaction, I opened the curtain again. Immediately the students’ “Aww” turned into cheers and claps! It was hilarious. This show went fantastically. The kids were so excited to be seeing the show; their excitement was contagious and they responded really well to the story and most all of our jokes.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I’m the brown one!” “No, I’m the brown one! You’re the Pink one!” Two students arguing over which Ogre they were between the scenes of the play at Hahaione Elementary.

We’ve begun to notice a huge difference in the energy level between public and private schools. So far the private ones are much more demure, whereas the public school students are much more feisty and uninhibited in their excitement.

We were all still so tired after the shows today, that basically aside from a quick adventure to Safeway to buy condiments and salmon, we spent the rest of the night at home. More to come tomorrow!