So this summer a friend and I decided to get a Season Pass to Boston theaters. We are literally in the last row but we have tickets to all the big shows this year. It's nice because there are so many shows I would love to see but I either don't have time or the money to buy the tickets. But here we specifically picked the day (Thursday of opening week) so I've already spend the ticket and it was put on the calendar months ago. In November we saw Fiddler on the Roof which was great. I hadn't seen the show in so long and I just remember thinking it was really fun. I don't know if you've seen Fiddler recently but it's not actually fun. It's sad and heartbreaking. It's heartbreaking to see how pigheadedness can destroy a family and the world.
Tonight we saw In the Heights. I can't tell you how refreshing, beautiful, fun and exciting it was. It takes place in New York City's Washington Heights area. It's a story about community. The residents are from Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. This show was amazing because it would have been so easy to fall into stereotypes. There's a character called Graffiti Pete--it would be so easy to make him a terrible youth but instead he used his talents to make the neighborhood beautiful. Another character comes into money and could use this for selfish or negative reasons but instead tries to help make the neighborhood better. A girl falls in love with a guy the dad doesn't approve of. Does he disown her? No, they fight but supports her in her decision. There's no drugs, alcohol, theft or any other negative stereotype. The play showed people from a poor area loving and supporting each other not hating and destroying. It made me believe in the good of life again.
Today I also had the pleasure of going to a real high tea at this quaint tea house down the road from school. I went with my book group--yep I belong to a book group. There are 3 under the age of 30 and 5 over the age of 50. It's probably the best book group ever. We are currently reading Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder which I highly recommend! So we had tea, scones and little sandwiches with the crusts cut off. Delicious. While we were there we obviously talked about the tragedy in Haiti. We were so impressed with the power of technology. The Red Cross is fundraising money through text messaging. All people have to do is text HAITI to 90999 and $10 is added to their cell bill. 100% goes to relief efforts. In two days they have received 5 million dollars just through texts. Amazing.
When I arrived back home I continued reading the book which takes place mostly in Haiti a little over 10 years ago and there was a quote that stuck out to me, "The world is full of miserable places. One way of living comfortably is not to think about them or, when you do to send money." This is the author's initial response when hearing about the poverty in Haiti. He gives money periodically until he actual goes to Haiti and from what I can only assume because I'm not too far into the book, his life, worldview and beliefs are radically changed. I'm excited for how this book will impact me.
And finally on my culture tour, tomorrow night my office is going to see The Good Negro. This is the story of a woman who is beaten for taking her daughter to a restroom. She's beaten because she's black, it's 1960 in Alabama, in a white's only restroom. This is probably going to be the most depressing play I've ever seen. Part of me doesn't want to watch. I think it'll just be painful.
So this is my culture adventure.
