Chemo update.
v has begun the third round of chemo. Last round they added an additional chemo drug which he continued this round. He'll be having a scan at the end of this round to determine whether he continues, or (hopefully) if he can begin what we've been told would be maintenance. He still has his hair, though it's a bit thinner. We are encouraged by his continued gain of strength and endurance. His appetite is good and he has no difficulty with eating and swallowing.
Yesterday we joined our shift at the aquarium for their weekly update and education. Everyone was very happy to see him after so many weeks away. He was greeted with hugs and claps on the shoulder. We took an abbreviated tour of the aquarium itself for v to check his energy level to see if he might be up to a return. Not yet. A lot of walking is involved. It's a large facility.
Last night he accompanied me to a performance of the Monterey Peninsula Flute Choir. I'm doing some photography for them. They were performing at Asilomar as part of the annual Christmas at the Inns event in Pacific Grove. We're planning on joining them for another performance this week, Friday, December 7, at the Monterey Museum of Art in downtown Monterey for another great annual Christmas event: Christmas in the Adobes.
The Inns event features the Victorian Inns of Pacific Grove and the Adobes is a gorgeous tour of the old adobes of Monterey dating back to 1756. Some of these adobes are only opened to the public for this event, others are in continuous use as commercial establishments. They are all beautiful.
Early December is the time to visit the Monterey Peninsula and join in the festivities, and always leave time to travel up Hwy 101 to San Juan Bautista for the pageant at the old mission put on by El Teatro Campesino. We do Christmas pretty nicely here on the Central Coast.
In bocca al lupo. m & v
The image above is this year's poster for El Teatro Campesino's production of La Virgen del Tepayac in San Juan Bautista, California. We, v and I, just came home from today's performance. They do two on Sundays and the next show begins at 8 p.m.
The Christmas pageants put on by ETC are the kick off for our Christmas season. La Virgen is the story of the four appearances of the Virgin Mary to the Aztec messenger, Juan Diego, in the year 1531. She is most widely known as the Virgin of Guadalupe.
These performances are stirring, they move you with the color, the music, and the dance. It is really hard to stay seated when your feet just want to join in with the brightly costumed cast who are twirling and stomping in feathered headdresses, shelled breastplates and anklets. Their ages range from very young children to men and women old enough to have been retired for a time.
The performance is mesmerizing from the first sounding of the conch shell blown to call the four winds to the unfurling of the image of the Virgin by Juan Diego. Although the dialogue is entirely in Spanish the actors and the action keep non-Spanish speakers on line with what is happening throughout the play. There are no actual sets only props and costumes with the backgdrop of the 215 year old church. That is enough. v and I leave each performance choked with tears brought on by such beauty and passion.
El Teatro Campesino has been putting on the Christmas plays of La Virgen del Tepayac and La Pastorela in San Juan Bautista since 1971, mainly under the direction of Luis Valdez (of Zoot Suit fame). For the past few years he has stepped aside and his son Kinan Valdez has been directing. Every season brings a slightly tweaked version of the story which keeps the plays alive for those of us who come back year after year.
We came late to the discovery of ETC and their Christmas shows. Five years ago v was teaching at a high school down the Salinas Valley. There was no drama department, or class, at this school so v pulled together a small group of students for an after school drama program. He chose for their first production a play written by Luis Valdez, Los Vendidos. It was when he was tracking down permission to perform the play that he discovered ETC and was able to speak with Luis Valdez who in turn invited the kids, and the two teachers, v and a colleague, to come see that year's production of La Virgen. We haven't missed a season since. And in praise of v: although he no longer teaches at that school drama is now an established part of the curriculum.
Christmas, most welcome, has come upon us.
In bocca al lupo. m & v
