Over his stay in Thailand Pancho’s waiting skills and patience had already been tested thoroughly. After a few weeks of practice he had become a true master of sitting around in silence while looking interested. Having to sit through incomprehensible meetings and evenings was comparable to watching the grass grow without any possible distraction. Maybe a fun activity for some, it did not quite match Pancho’s taste of intellectual stimulation. One occasion seemed to top everything he had previously experienced. The traditional Thai dance, conducted by numerous female dancers (students in this case) and an assortment of musicians in the background playing traditional Thai instruments. The schools in this country famously liked to engage in contests in order to determine who was best. This naturally included the subjects taught at school, but also any kind of afternoon activity. The traditional dance was an exception as students could even earn money with their performances outside of school.
This occasion featured a personal invitation by the performance director, his mother. It invited Pancho to attend his schools performance as well as several others in Amnat Charoen. In fact the contest was between 3 primary schools and 3 secondary schools.
The dancers, having woken up at 3am that morning to prepare the ubiquitous makeup and extraordinarily complicated hairstyles, had been awake for quite a while when Pancho elected to finally rise at 6 am. Despite this being far too late for the performers it was quite a feat for Pancho who had been continuously engaged in various activities such as eating, drinking and karaoke in the evenings.
The family owned tour bus then chauffeured the assembled dancers to the contest location.
Arriving on time at 9 oclock, Pancho was still quite fresh and eager to witness the performance in full costumes and make up. He had merely seen a rehearsal before.
The fun of the day started with a speech by one of the organizers. Not understanding one word, it was eventually translated for Pancho. The speech said that no sufficient equipment was present to begin the show. This warranted a 1 hour wait without anything to do but to stare at an empty stage. You may imagine that Pancho was thrilled at this point, however he did not let it affect is high spirits.
Soon after, Pancho was informed of a second announcement that he had failed to understand, despite his ever increasing language skills. His school was to perform last. When Pancho eventually found out about this, he was truly as happy as ever. He would be able to sit through 6 full performances! During his school’s rehearsal he had already experienced the full length of such a dance, spanning well into the reaches of 20 minutes or more. Considering that there were 6 performances this meant at least 3 hours. Judging that the empty stage would need a full new set up before every performance Pancho added another 10 to 20 minutes. In his most observant and uncanny estimate this meant 4 hours. He was still a bit on the short side as he discovered later.
As the first performance began, already the feeling of his getting up at that ungodly hour was having an effect. The first primary school was still quite interesting to watch. Despite the kids not being quite so adept as their older colleagues, Pancho was actually amazed at the quality of the performance. With the increasing heat of the day this amazement turned into a subtle hint of tiredness for the second show.
Pancho initially battled to stave of the imminent sleep but finally thought it wiser to inconspicuously rest his head upon his arms and those upon his knees. A nodding head would very likely alert the people sitting near by that he was not terribly interested in the procedures. Thus, although he dropped away for a few instances he was saved the embarrassment of being seen falling asleep. Although truth be said his mother probably suspected so.
One can imagine what Pancho felt like for the next 3 performances when the second had been so draining already. Fantastic would be a fitting description. Over the next few hours, he was offered food and some movement which made things mildly better. But sitting in the same position for too long and Pancho was afflicted with the same issue again and again.
Nearing the performance of his own school, his tactics had changed. Standing had become the new weapon of choice in this desperate battle for survival. But Pancho was amazed that it was still possible to nod off dangerously while on two feet.
Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, it arrived. Actually being interested in the success of his school’s performance and the various costumes, Pancho’s tiredness had literally blown away completely. In the end he was quite impressed, despite some of the dancers forgetting to smile (no wonder after having to wait for almost 6 hours to perform).
In his amateur but wise judgment out of the three high schools competing, his was clearly the best. And so it came that when the winner was announced the group around him jumped up in ecstatic joy and shouted out all their pent up anxiety and frustration at having to wait so long. Pancho, in the middle of this tumultuous hubbub only had the energy to smile and give several people high fives. One thing that slightly unnerved him however was that during the performance the lead singer (who could quite frankly sing amazingly) frequently seemed to direct a smile in his direction. Considering the amount of times that Pancho had been asked whether he was an available bachelor during his few weeks here, he would have to be mindful. Supposedly some Thai women (and men) found it very easy to become attached to a foreigner despite their being nothing one could describe as more than brief conversations. Any normal member of the public suffering from such ludicrous delusions would be problematic enough; a student however could prove deadly.
And so the perils never ended.
This occasion featured a personal invitation by the performance director, his mother. It invited Pancho to attend his schools performance as well as several others in Amnat Charoen. In fact the contest was between 3 primary schools and 3 secondary schools.
The dancers, having woken up at 3am that morning to prepare the ubiquitous makeup and extraordinarily complicated hairstyles, had been awake for quite a while when Pancho elected to finally rise at 6 am. Despite this being far too late for the performers it was quite a feat for Pancho who had been continuously engaged in various activities such as eating, drinking and karaoke in the evenings.
The family owned tour bus then chauffeured the assembled dancers to the contest location.
Arriving on time at 9 oclock, Pancho was still quite fresh and eager to witness the performance in full costumes and make up. He had merely seen a rehearsal before.
The fun of the day started with a speech by one of the organizers. Not understanding one word, it was eventually translated for Pancho. The speech said that no sufficient equipment was present to begin the show. This warranted a 1 hour wait without anything to do but to stare at an empty stage. You may imagine that Pancho was thrilled at this point, however he did not let it affect is high spirits.
Soon after, Pancho was informed of a second announcement that he had failed to understand, despite his ever increasing language skills. His school was to perform last. When Pancho eventually found out about this, he was truly as happy as ever. He would be able to sit through 6 full performances! During his school’s rehearsal he had already experienced the full length of such a dance, spanning well into the reaches of 20 minutes or more. Considering that there were 6 performances this meant at least 3 hours. Judging that the empty stage would need a full new set up before every performance Pancho added another 10 to 20 minutes. In his most observant and uncanny estimate this meant 4 hours. He was still a bit on the short side as he discovered later.
As the first performance began, already the feeling of his getting up at that ungodly hour was having an effect. The first primary school was still quite interesting to watch. Despite the kids not being quite so adept as their older colleagues, Pancho was actually amazed at the quality of the performance. With the increasing heat of the day this amazement turned into a subtle hint of tiredness for the second show.
Pancho initially battled to stave of the imminent sleep but finally thought it wiser to inconspicuously rest his head upon his arms and those upon his knees. A nodding head would very likely alert the people sitting near by that he was not terribly interested in the procedures. Thus, although he dropped away for a few instances he was saved the embarrassment of being seen falling asleep. Although truth be said his mother probably suspected so.
One can imagine what Pancho felt like for the next 3 performances when the second had been so draining already. Fantastic would be a fitting description. Over the next few hours, he was offered food and some movement which made things mildly better. But sitting in the same position for too long and Pancho was afflicted with the same issue again and again.
Nearing the performance of his own school, his tactics had changed. Standing had become the new weapon of choice in this desperate battle for survival. But Pancho was amazed that it was still possible to nod off dangerously while on two feet.
Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, it arrived. Actually being interested in the success of his school’s performance and the various costumes, Pancho’s tiredness had literally blown away completely. In the end he was quite impressed, despite some of the dancers forgetting to smile (no wonder after having to wait for almost 6 hours to perform).
In his amateur but wise judgment out of the three high schools competing, his was clearly the best. And so it came that when the winner was announced the group around him jumped up in ecstatic joy and shouted out all their pent up anxiety and frustration at having to wait so long. Pancho, in the middle of this tumultuous hubbub only had the energy to smile and give several people high fives. One thing that slightly unnerved him however was that during the performance the lead singer (who could quite frankly sing amazingly) frequently seemed to direct a smile in his direction. Considering the amount of times that Pancho had been asked whether he was an available bachelor during his few weeks here, he would have to be mindful. Supposedly some Thai women (and men) found it very easy to become attached to a foreigner despite their being nothing one could describe as more than brief conversations. Any normal member of the public suffering from such ludicrous delusions would be problematic enough; a student however could prove deadly.
And so the perils never ended.
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