Hard to Say Goodbye
By the time we woke up around 9, the Chinese, Lithuanians, and Thais already left. They were headed to Cruz Alta for another 2 weeks of dance festivals. The only ones not participating in that one were us and Easter Island.
I jumped in the shower and as I was getting ready to blow dry my hair, I heard the powerful songs of the S. Africans. I ran down there in shorts and a towel in my head. They were about to leave and sang their goodbyes to us.
As soon as they started singing the gospel song that they sang at the church, I lost it. I thought I cried all my tears the night before, but there were many still to be shed. Although we had issues with some of them, this was the group that we by far were closest to. Maybe it was because we traveled to our side gigs a lot with them. We never even performed with China or Lithuania. Maybe it was because we shared the stage with them a few times during their finales. Whatever it was, there were more hugs and tears to go around.
In fact, the guy who approached me in the bathroom on one of our first days, actually came up to me and apologized profusely! It was nice to know that he actually had remorse for what he did. As their bus drove off, it felt like the spirit of the Festival left with them. Sometimes we felt like they sang too much. But as they left, I realized that their songs are what made them such a memorable group and important part of what made my time here exciting.
After they left, we packed up the props and instruments. We ended up leaving the bamboos, signing them. And we gave the Brazilians our Kulintang set. Marcelo, the head of the Brazilian group, said it was difficult to see us go because we were the best.
As we boarded the bus, some of the PEEPS were around to see us off.
They weren't leaving until 3am the next morning. They had to take a bus for 36 hours back to Chile.
And so, we headed back home and 32 hours of travel. We probably contaminated all the people on the 4 planes we were on!
But with all the illness, drama, and cold weather, the memories and everything that I experienced will stay with me for a lifetime! Being in a different country and sharing the beauty of our culture was such an extreme honor. I've always been proud to be Pilipino, but this trip has made me even more proud than ever!
I jumped in the shower and as I was getting ready to blow dry my hair, I heard the powerful songs of the S. Africans. I ran down there in shorts and a towel in my head. They were about to leave and sang their goodbyes to us.
As soon as they started singing the gospel song that they sang at the church, I lost it. I thought I cried all my tears the night before, but there were many still to be shed. Although we had issues with some of them, this was the group that we by far were closest to. Maybe it was because we traveled to our side gigs a lot with them. We never even performed with China or Lithuania. Maybe it was because we shared the stage with them a few times during their finales. Whatever it was, there were more hugs and tears to go around.
In fact, the guy who approached me in the bathroom on one of our first days, actually came up to me and apologized profusely! It was nice to know that he actually had remorse for what he did. As their bus drove off, it felt like the spirit of the Festival left with them. Sometimes we felt like they sang too much. But as they left, I realized that their songs are what made them such a memorable group and important part of what made my time here exciting.
After they left, we packed up the props and instruments. We ended up leaving the bamboos, signing them. And we gave the Brazilians our Kulintang set. Marcelo, the head of the Brazilian group, said it was difficult to see us go because we were the best.
As we boarded the bus, some of the PEEPS were around to see us off.
They weren't leaving until 3am the next morning. They had to take a bus for 36 hours back to Chile.
And so, we headed back home and 32 hours of travel. We probably contaminated all the people on the 4 planes we were on!
But with all the illness, drama, and cold weather, the memories and everything that I experienced will stay with me for a lifetime! Being in a different country and sharing the beauty of our culture was such an extreme honor. I've always been proud to be Pilipino, but this trip has made me even more proud than ever!
posted by Mur at 6:52 PM
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