Circus and Fireworks

___THE CIRCUS_______________________________________________ Going walking one day... Sabrina and I came across a sign advertising a circus. Wow-- a Central American circus, we couldn't pass it up. We spent the next week waiting in high anticipation, anxious to see sequins and trapezes. When the time came we bought our ticket and sat in the huge tent, among many empty seats-- it felt lonely and sad seeing a circus so dejected. The show was supposed to start at 2:00 but really didn't get going until 4:00. This sense of time is consistent with the rest of my Guatemalan experience... so I was not a bit surprised. The opening act was shocking...beguiling me that it was so awful. A group of multi-aged sequin laden dancers with two left feet, burst through the split in the faded fake velvet curtain. A never-ending dance tune pumped to a deafening volume filled the tent, now 1/5 full of spectators. It hurt to watch such lack of coordination, but the funny bone was definitely tickled--- Hey Sabrina, maybe this is the clown act?! There was a little chubby girl on the end of the line that didn't know the order of the choreographed routine and kept looking back and forth like a paranoid trying to cross the street, to figure out what moves she should be doing. It was like watching continuous instant replay... first the group did the moves, then she followed precisely 3 seconds behind. I couldn't help but think of those old movies where the sound is separate from the film and you end up watching the whole thing with the lips moving before a word is heard. The scent of popcorn began to fill the stands, giving the atmosphere more of a legitimate circus vibe. On account of already having a bellyache, I settled for just smelling those delicious butter laden kernels. Besides my mouth was already occupied biting my fingers in anticipation of what could possibly come next. The acts were as follows: knife throwing at beautiful scantily clad girls, juggling that included using the floor as part of the routine-- proving that gravity is always working, a pre-pubescent contortionist, a 5 part clown act with a man in wolf suit, men and women jumping on a huge trampoline in tight sparkling outfits that looked like aerobics in outer-space, and lastly my favorite... the dancing of many children to another bad song... but this time instead of sequin outfits, they wore paper mache' heads created to resemble the childrenąs cartoon characters "The Rugrats". The masks were so super creepy and oversized that they threatened to haunt my dreams for the upcoming week. After that we had to abandon ship and head home (1/2 way through the show). I have no idea what other things that circus could have possibly done!!! ___FIREWORKS_______________________________________________________ Christmas in Guatemala is like the Fourth of July in the U.S., except that the fireworks last all month. On every street corner there is a vendor selling explosives and tubes that send showers of sparks skyward. Each day is lived to the soundtrack of various people getting the pyromania fix. Every part of life is surrounded by fireworks, including the air, which is smoke scented and thicker than usual with smoke. My favorite fireworks to look at are these cute yellow bees. When lit they fly up in circles... but I don't light mine cause I think they are perfectly cute unburnt. Coming in second are sparklers. Children love these, and the burns they get are just part of the fun. The sparklers here have some extra special something' that makes them go in all types of colors. Some friends and I have discovered that playing with them is quite fun, having already gone through a few packs of our own, without the company of children. Enviously I looked on as a child who took the typical sparkler routine to an all new level... he swung the fire-spitting metal wand between his legs then stood back up, then down again between his legs (imagine his whole body bending over as if he was going to touch his shoe, but instead he decided to see if he could nearly torch his butt). All the surrounding kids loved this discovery and began to imitating him. Soon it looked like a sea of toe-touching 7-year-olds in 2nd grade PE, except that sparks were everywhere. The other favorite firework, which is lethal enough to be on a poster in the Post Office, is a bottle rocket that looks like it has been on growth hormones for a couple of months. Dangerous is understated adjective for these... in fact deadly might be more accurate. I dogged them, putting them down and exclaiming how unsafe they were... that is until late one night we tried some ourselves. Whoa-nelly are they ever fun. We had no idea that the firecracker that we were lighting was one of the people seeking missile type things. Lo and behold, with the first one we lit, we nearly took out an innocent bystander's eye. Thank God it turned at the last minute and headed straight for a rose bush. We thought that maybe if we lit it and set it on the ground that it would follow the path of the sidewalk and not fly into the air. We were wrong again, nearly decapitating someone who was crossing the park. Acknowledging the danger of these little beasts (and crossing ourselves that this is a land nearly free of personal lawsuits) we went off in search of a deserted street. We found the perfect one with tall brick buildings and no people. From there the rest of our pack was ignited. Sometimes we lined up five at a time and then ran squealing attempting to avoid any that went askew. They fly up into the air, shooting a stream of flames out the back, and bounce off the brick walls like little children with too much sugar in their systems. Thankfully the night ended with no one getting hurt. However, a new fascination for super dangerous fireworks had been planted in all of us, who where simultaneously experiencing the guilt of being grown-up and knowing better than to play with something that was 67% sure to poke your eye out or set you on fire. Since then the Central Park has become a war zone. Teenagers hang around throwing these flaming fireworks at each other, hoping that they can outrun them even though they travel at speeds faster than a jackrabbit on a treadmill being chased by knife-totting chef. I have learned to avoid the park when possible, after having to "hit the deck" when a heat-seeking missile came straight at my head. I think it only missed by a 1/17th of an inch. Rumor has it that this is the entertainment from here on out util Xmas. Christmas Eve begins the 24-hour firework lighting spree. Every family is supposed to light fireworks every 6 hours (starting at midnight of Xmas eve) for 24 hours. The air has been predicted to be unbreathable for two day during that time. Until then I will continue to breathe the only partially smoke filled air, grabbing my sparkler to see if I can come up with any new dance routines to top those of the Xela Circus. Maybe I will try out for next year's show.

Previous Page
Write Me: burntstargirl@hotmail.com