End of Class

How strange that ICAP is completely over! We performed at the middle school and now our banjar is dispersing and won't ever meet again...it was somehow anti-climactic...maybe because the performance at the middle school ended up being so frantic and much less prepared than I thought it would be. Honestly I thought that the Kimball performance would be less prepared, and yet we definitely were more put together for that performance. For the middle school we ended up without makeup, confusion with the costumes, no one knowing directions on how to get there, only one of the scenes out of three that we wanted to perform, and general chaos with everything going on. And yet, it totally worked and went really well. Part of the beauty of it truly was that even though it was chaotic, we have become such a community that people stepped up and everyone helped out and made it a fun and educational experience for these kids. The kids definitely seemed skeptical at first, but then started getting really into it - participating with the chucks and hand movements and stomping, getting into the dance, and overall just having a good time. I think that we stepped up despite the insanity and were able to pull off a good performance and a good time for all of these kids. I didn't know how they would respond - I remember middle school being that age where nothing is cool, everyone is self-conscious, everyone needs to try to be popular, etc...so I almost thought the performance would be a total failure with the kids not responding to the performance or wanting to participate. But I was conmpletey wrong! They absolutely loved it, and loved dancing along and looking at the costumes and saying the chucks, and overall just seemed to have a really great time! So despite the insanity and the confusion on our part, it went well. I just know that we could have had such a better, more solid performance, and wish we could have stepped up and really brought it for the finale to our class.