Another Sleepless Night! Goes on and on! But this day, Monday had a Lot of magic in it. Our driver picked us up at 10:00 am and drove us thru Delhi with all the usual traffic, which we are getting used to-and the streets suddenly became a lot more narrow and filled on either side with market places- vendors of fruits and veggies. And lots of street action- kids running willy nilly and motorcycles zooming around – everywhere honking. I forgot about being tired , as I knew we were about to enter the slum. I was a little nervous about what we might find there. Allynn had told me that half of Delhi is a slum! Such an upsetting idea! We turned a corner, pulled into an alley way and I realized we’d reached our destination. I was filled with dread , not wanting to jump out of the black jeep. Our amazing friend Sharon had hooked us up with a school for performing arts , especially aimed at the Gypsy community. In the past they had jobs with the dancing bears, and because they no longer allow the dancing bears to dance -they have been taken to a rescue mission-and the Gypsy kids need new skills. So a school was established to teach them dance,gymnastics, and Magic! And they have one stilt walker- who is the one I was asked to design a costume for. I step gingerly out of the jeep, collecting my frog costume and Allynn also brought his costume and bag of balloons. I cross a stinky stream of water and I am still feeling apprensive when a gaggle of young children approach us with brite and eager smiles. We are ushered into a door and I was relieved to see a giant dance studio with mirrors and a crowd of very grown up young men. I would guess they were between 13-20 years old. We were given chairs and the boys circled around us – sitting on the floor.we were introduced by a tall handsome gentleman wearing an Indian style cotton shirt and loose pants. The boys all had sparkling dark eyes, dark hair – some with blonde dye jobs- and I felt like royalty sitting before my public. Allynn and I both spoke about our art forms and then Allynn proceeded to do a small balloon show. Meanwhile I slithered into my frog unitard , slightly turning my chair around- I could see there was no dressing room. And donning the tutu, jacket and gloves, it was my turn and I moved to the front where I sat in a straddle split on the floor holding the frog head in my hands. I spoke about How I made the head piece out of basketry, and each costume takes a year to make. Then I requested some music and I had some mystical sounds to dance to. I was on Heaven! I had a hugely appreciative audience.I felt a little like a freak and then I had to answer an interesting question. The gentleman who introduced us asked if I have had to overcome obstacles in my life. Wow- should I really say it was Hard to grow up in the USA with Little Tits? I said it and everyone just started at me blankly. Then I sat down.The whole group was very interested In how I had Yoga in my dance and I asked if they would like to have an instant Yoga class. The said sure, so I whipped my tutu off and procedded to do an Ashtanga Yoga session with them. Most of them Ate it Up! That pretty much sums it up BUT I made a Huge Error in telling my story- I Forgot to tell you that before we performed, they day a Show for us!! 3 of the boys did solo dance pieces, one magician did some slight of hand and the exotic stilt walker appeared in a First Class Fantasy Cabaret Costume. I realized the costume I had been asked to design was for This guy. And my design was for a child – and I had spent all Sunday afternoon designing and sketching it! ! Oh well! Our next adventure that day took us back to the Craft Museum and onto Kahn Market, where we were meeting up with a travel agent named Emma We left our costumes with the driver and had a bite to eat with Emma at the Turtle Cafe and Bookstore. We spun our Webb of our dream of traveling thru Northern India and she told us how we could go on our personal tour with a driver and minivan. Time to go, we searched for our black jeep and it wasn’t where we’d left it! My heart sank and I regretted my decision to leave my frog costume in it. I fumbled in my tiny notebook, looking for the driver’s phone number, and Allynn finally found it. Yikes!! I was going into Panic mode as I told myself he will show up.We reached him by phone and he said his car had broken down and he would be there in 20 minutes. We held our breath as we strolled thru the shops and finally- 20 minutes later, he Called!!! And we met him where we’d left him Horray! Home James after a Magical and Exciting day.
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