Totally fraking surreal

So I just got back from this totally weird experience.... watching a high school performance of Fiddler on the Roof in English put on by (as my friend M calls it) a crazy christian school. My friend M's oldest daughter goes to the school and was in the play so she invited me and L to come an watch (L's first time seeing the play). It was up in Colonia Reforma in this crazy building I had walked past many times the last time I lived here-- called the Parthenon-- that's like Tara on Greek steriods, a giant white temple of a place. We got there and everyone was speaking english, which was actually a hard brain shift as I was gathering my spanish to say "hi, my friend left us tickets at the door."

And then, the performance (I feel really bad for people who don't speak English, because they were totally SOL), oy, super cute and ernest with white rebozos standing in for talis and abysmal yiddish pronunciation. But then it was also really weird because as the officiant explained before intermission, this was a troup of wholly evangelical kids putting on a play about Jewish tradition and oppression (that was also when he explained that while there was a scene in a bar, the school/ organization did not condone or approve of such things). But then he also explained that this play was important because it is the 60th anniversary of the founding of Israel.... ah hah, the craziness of Zionist evangelical Christians seemed to be at the root of this selection!

Super super super weird... also that while this is an American Christian school it is in Oaxaca, but M explained that most kids don't speak all that much Spanish. Instead, she said that it's a group of Christian missionaries spanning different doctrines who have moved down here with their kids to convert "the indians" (and there are a ton a ton a ton of Mormons, 7th Day Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses around with corresponding grand edifices). Two Canadian evangelical teens traveled down to run the production that was comprised of both kids at Embar's school and home-schooled kids who live in Mitla. I have no idea what it must be like to grow up part of the time here and in this sort of secluded community. So, super weird night, but M is wonderful and her kids are absolutely adorable-- the youngest one (3, who's half Oaxaquena) speaks this charming Spanglish like "esta es la comida para el cat."

One of the hardest things was that I had to watch my snarky comments to L because not only did people around me understand English, but they probably would be offended by how I talk... luckily my hacking cough and incessant nose blowing was probably more annoying.

In an unrelated note the teachers have begun their planton and taken over the Zocalo... let's see what happens....

And in an even less related note, I found an organic natural food store with tofu!!! And organic meat and American herbal tea (much better and stronger than Mexican) and and and.... I could spend my grant there.