I’m back at Lucy’s Coffee. After our class on Monday, Briana, Philip, Nick and I all decoded the Birmingham dart system (awesome trolleys that costa quarter a ride,) and found our way further downtown to the civil rights district so we could go to the Civil Rights Museum. We were dropped about two blocks away, and had a walk through the city’s civil rights memorial park to get to the museum which was kitty-corner away. The park is filled with statues, memorials and tributes, and, while none of them is necessarily self-explanatory, the theme and subject matter are easily understood. Just as we were about to exit the park, we heard someone coming towards us, talking to us, so we picked up our pace, until we were able to discern his words more clearly. I turned around to see a middle-aged african-american gentleman approaching us, using a cane, and giving us a history lesson. We stopped. When he saw he had our attention, he had a seat, and proceeded to tell us his experience living in Birmingham during the height of the civil rights movement, and additionally the full story behind all the memorials, and the story of each block and building within eye sight of where we stood.
He stayed with us for quite some time. He was genuine and charming, and not looking for anything more than to share his story with four kids who obviously wouldn’t have known much beyond the history-book facts we’d read. It was overwhelming to hear his personal story, and his interpretation of the events. It was so much more of a complete and in-depth learning experience than going into a museum and reading the captions posted below photos…
I can’t say for sure what the Civil Rights museum is like, because after we left Juan, we found out that all the museums in the city are closed on Mondays. Instead, we headed back to our trolley stop, and on the way found Birmingham’s version of the Seattle Science Center. We decided this was the best idea ever, and spent the afternoon making movies, capturing our shadows, standing inside tornados and laying on beds of nails. There was an iMax there too, but no space movies, so I declined the additional cost.
After our foray into the world of hands-on science, we re-trollied our way to the five-points district in Birmingham, (the really cute bars-restaurants-and-shops section) and had dinner at the Five-Points grill. This meal constitued my most expensive meal on tour, mostly due to the $12 martini. OUCH.
After dinner everyone in the company piled into our rooms and we all watched ‘Heroes.’ We have a group addiciton, and regular discussions on what the hell exactly might be going on. So far, we’re proving to be quite the awesome decoders, because quite a few of our predictions have come true.
Tuesday was tech. I got up and went to Subway for lunch, and unimportant as it is, I feel the need to mention I got a spicy italian sub, because I always get turkey. Good job Melinda, you tried something new. Well not really, because when I was much younger I started out getting that kind of sub at subway, and then I switched somewhere along the line, and have been a turkey girl for at least ten years now. Why the hell am I talking about this?
Tech was tech. We re-changed knockturn again, shaving another five minutes from its total running time, I think it’s a good change, it makes the whole thing flow much much better.
Yesterday we had to be in the lobby at 7am so we could get to the theater and tech the kids show, tech D2R A, do a 11am kids show, then Tech Traj, then run knockturn, then Do our regular show at 7:30pm. Needless to say, it was a long, long, long day, but thankfully, Sarah, our amazing presenter here got us delicious hot food catering for dinner (we usually get deli trays…) Chicken, rice pilaf, salad, green beans and carrots, bread pudding and biscuits. I think I gained about 10 pounds of in-my-belly food weight right before the show…
Other than all that yesterday was highlighed by a bad head-hit (and subsquent woosyness,) a great eagle-fly for me, and a missed flag-spectacular in Traj, which I am so glad I have on tape…
Today: another show, video review at 4, and perhaps going to view jello-wrestling after the show… (I’m not kidding.)
Awesome. I’m so tired.