Painting Pictures With Words (Posts about Santiago)

Surviving Santiago

Andy Wright — Sat, 26 Apr 2014 14:46:05 GMT

I have survived my first week in Santiago, my voice is a little rough around the edges and my body is feeling the toll of some rigorous performances, but the audience reaction has been worth it.

The audiences here in Santiago have been full of life and energy making the work of storytelling so much more pleasurable. You can see the reactions for yourself in the following photos from young to old the audiences have embraced the fun of stories.

Hands Up Everybody

Hands Up Higher

Who is Strongest

Even more Hands in the air

A Surprise Memory of My Grandfathers

Andy Wright — Sat, 19 Apr 2014 23:51:39 GMT

Today I made a special trip to see the changing of the Guard here in Santiago, It was a moment of great pomp and ceremony, and was deserving of a selfie as I waited in the forecourt.

The Changing of the Guard was a highly choreographed affair, with much fanfare and military precision. As the sound of a marching band rang out across the grounds my first thoughts turned to my grandfather who loved the sound of brass. Yet as this highly militarized performance continued my thoughts turned to my other Grandfather, who suffered a terrible war, driving tanks in the desert. For the rest of his life he was never the same man that left as a youngster to serve his country. It was appropriate to be thinking of my grandfather here in Chile as those at home in New Zealand and Australia approach ANZAC day. My grandfather was always torn about ANZAC day, between memorizing those he served with, and the risk of glorifying something so intrinsically wrong as war. I will leave each of you to form your own opinions about how we measure this fine line between glorifying war, and remembering those we lost.

I leave you with this short video from the changing of the guard. http://www.storyteller.net.au/blog/galleries/changingguard.webm

The Dogs of Easter

Andy Wright — Sat, 19 Apr 2014 22:51:39 GMT

I am lucky enough to find myself performing in Chile over the Easter period and subsequent weeks.

To be honest I expected more religious processions and passion around Easter, instead it was the dogs here in Santiago that showed me the way to spend Easter. The street dogs of Santiago can be found all around the city and have real character. Here is one reminding us it is always good to take a break over Easter.

Of course not all of us manage to rest over Easter, and this poor dog was busy guarding the parliamentary library.