the day *after* the dancers came and so because ed didn't return andy's calls so we know where to meet them, andy and i called them up at their hosts' house. they were in the boys' house where they were chopping the bamboo two feet less because tiny united airlines express won't take 8 feet poles. it is better that they caught this now than later.

the people who will be doing the chopping are the dancers themselves. no crew, no staff - the dancers themselves.

jennifer told us this. said that the host prepared desserts and a light meal for them after their trip downtown. she said their schedule seemed a tad too tight for dancers - they are flying at 9 a.m. tomorrow morning for a show tomorrow evening. and then they leave washington DC the following day for a show that same evening in virginia. all i could think of is the fundraising and the money involved. it turns out that the show here in chicago is pretty affordable.

and then she gave the phone to jerome. it was with jerome that we spent the most time with. he told us where their offices are, and andy, who had just come from back from manila last february, animately asked him how to get to their offices.

and then andy asked for mylene.

"mylene? she's here - oooh," he stopped.

"lumabas ang tunay na rason!" ahahaha. i should stop killing things like that. that is the most effective way to remove me from future witness protection roles. sigh.

but mylene said that they needed to go now because it was late - and it was late, 11 p.m., and they had a 9 a.m. flight tomorrow. i am just glad both andy and jerome were fine with my teasing. we hung up after bidding mylene a safe trip.

and then andy sighed. "we didn't get to talk to sophie."

and then i remembered. we were so talkative with jerome, and i'm sure, had there been more time, we would have been able to talk to sophie. and then i could get off the phone and go back to my work.

but all i said was, "i'm sorry." sigh. poor andy.

but how come i don't have anything to say about this? i wonder what will andy do now. i know what i will do: get off this computer and find a train ride back to the house!

it truly is nice to be temporary groupie to the dancers. i'm not too worried yet about disconnecting, because we have each others' email addresses. but the present chickahan and time spent with them is still the best part of getting to know talented travellers.

---



ballet manila's next stop is washington dc, and then virginia. if you go to a major filipino restaurant or grocery store, one you know can dole out the sponsorship for events like this, you'll know where they'll be performing. we didn't ask, ahaha - we were just mere guppies in a pond of goldfish and lionfish.

"it really was meant to be this way, a short spin around downtown chicago. they had a fixed dinner engagement with one of the board members of the filipino organization here," ed said, to tell me the whole story. it's damage control, and what else can you do after the fact. rifts among the younger people, just when things seem to be gelling, are the last thing the community needs right now.

sigh. everything will turn out happy and glowing in the end, the way landmark events always seem to.   ¶ 6/20/2005 11:44:00 PM