Trying to keep count.The third day was a day of firsts,... a few singles, too many, a number 1, a second, and a fifth.
KP has entered the building. Day 3 would be our first performance in Festivalhal. When I first dropped off my stuff at the hall the first night I saw the set still undressed. The stage was very impressive with two ramps leading onto the only openings in the corners. The magicians had their own stage and entrance. The light structure and sound/lighting booth set up looked very impressive. Our change room...not so impressive. It was like an elementary school change room. It was like having all our stuff in the hallway outside of our dance studio at Scotia. So of course we expanded our territory to include the massive shower room. If you peeked into the other countries change rooms you see orderly presentation of their only costume and everyone lounging around. With us if you peek in you see a mass of boxes, costumes, luggage and ppl all over the place. It's like they packed our change room so tightly that it all burst into the shower room on the other side. Apparently we had a large change room upstairs but I never even went upstairs the entire time in Edegem. I still have no idea what it was like up there. The shower room of course had motion detector sensors and during the first day I backed into one and my costumes got rained upon. As I hopelessly tried to block the flow with my hands all hell broke loose as everyone scrambled to save their own costumes and I hear a voice from across the way,"Um...move your stuff!" Lucky my water proof Pandango outfit was on top and it curtailed any further damage. That day marked the opening day of the Festival. It also marked the birth of Pam's "dancing for singles(money)". "UM! One Dollar! UM! One dollar for you! UM! One for you!" It marked the return of Kathy. It marked the birth of Jenilee's Miss Pill-A-Pines walk/wave/curtsy for the opening ceremonies. Our first Bastos sighting, and our first group outing to the Pita Palace (Millennium Pita) unofficial caterer to KPBT '06. It also signaled the beginning of KP's Quest for the poster. Every year a new poster is produced and displayed on a wall of honour featuring a group from the previous year and KP endeavored to be so immortalized. So let it begin.
The opening day we got to practice on the stage for the first time. Our first performance of the day was for the Press con. I honestly can't remember that performance but I know we danced Malong and Blit. In the evening we watched Marc, Vince and Jenilee represent at the opening ceremonies and we got our first glimpse of the 'competition' as we wathed the first half and then we closed the first day with Variations A. I'm telling you they didn't know what hit them. With every other country performing happy go lucky dances I think we basically mugged the crowd with Variations A. In the words of Mitch, "I thought I knew what to expect but I didn't know you'd kill someone! Dang!"
That third day was a night of many firsts. KP sang in the shower all together. The first night we partially destroyed the stage while we brought the house down...for the first time. The first party on the side area of the stage for the performers and festival workers. The first real Kriek session at the bar at the back of the hall. We saw how those crazy Europeans line dance badly (and according to Pam dance badly in general). I also think it's the night Sicily decided they would try to compete with us.
It was the second day I had a nice conversation with Alasa. From now on I'm going to assume her name was actually Alissa. And by conversation I mean having Claudio translate back and forth till he got tired and left us to stare at each other.
Day 3, My differential beer count is aprox 5 I tried a Trappist that night. So FYI, Kriek, Kwak, Whitehal? (white beer, yuk), and another I can't remember from the previous night. I think I'll forget about trying to remember the names.
Rhoel.
Later on that Night...As I'm fumbling with the jigsaw puzzle that is my memory I'm trying to figure out the sequence of events. I'm following Cristina's blog to pace the performances and main events, but I'm forgetting what we did on which days when it came to our free time. With the aid of the video camera footage I believe that first full night in Belgium our host family took us Antwerp. If I'm wrong with the sequence of events then sue me.
As we exited from the parking garage I look over at Pat and I mention, "Hey, that dude looks like Edric." And as we got closer, "Yo mofo! That is Edric!" So Edric et al come with us to the famous underground foot tunnel. When we get to the bottom we find out that we are not allowed to run, scream, sputten "spit" or generally act like a tourist. But I live bye the rule, "To thine own self be true." So I, being a tourist acted like a tourist and decided to write a scene for the DVD. One that would look like everyone dashing down the tunnel screaming away from the camera (quick cut) to everyone stopping short of the camera wondering how they got all the way to the 'end' of the tunnel so fast. Needless to say Pat had a different idea on the scene which turned out much funnier, but you'll have to wait for the DVD.
After our groups parted ways we explored Antwerp. We saw the Castle with the scary Wraith statue, we saw the first of many beautiful cathedrals on the trip. We went to the square with the Statue of the epic battle in which a hero tears off the hand of a giant and tosses it into the river (apparently Antwerp name is derived from this storey, perhaps it means "To throw giant hand in river" or something). We had drinks in this pub with thousands of Mary statues and other religious symbols called 11th commandment. It was unreal. It was there that my and Patrick's beer education began. There are literally thousands of different beers in Belgium with each it's own glass. Trapist is made by monks. Qwak was designed for drinking and driving. It also has a built in drunk test (if you get qwaked then I don't know for you) I think Pat and I spent about an hour drinking and filming each others last half beer to see if we get qwaked. Kriek is a ladies drink yet its close cousin (same beer without the cherry) is not. I don't give a frak, I'm one with the Kriek. And I wear salmon shirts too. (apparently straight guys don't wear pink. IMO salmon sounds more gay.) After that we went to what looked like that scene in the movie "Interview With a Vampire" where the characters go into the catacombs beneath Paris...only it was a pub called De Pelgrom. All I have to say is that the narrow cobbled streets, massive open squares and incredible cathedral, which was lit as if in day light, was all so breath taking. I felt nostalgic for a culture and place I had never seen. It was all as my imagination could conceive the beauty of old world Europe would be. I Believe that is how my second night ended. With Pat getting swarmed by a squadron of mosquitoes and I untouched. My differential beer count was aprox 4. (The count of actual bottles of different beer I sampled and not merely tasted.)
Rhoel.
A horse is a horse is a horse......and of course my first morning in Edegem I ate a horse. Not the whole horse. "There was an old lady that swallowed a horse, she's dead of course." Also that morning I ate chocolate for breakfast for the first time. It was at that moment I knew I'd like it Belgium. How can one go wrong when ones staple foods are fries, chocolate and beer? I remember this one time my dad put chocolate milk in my cereal 'cause we didn't have normal milk. I found it kinda gross. Cereal good. Choc milk good. Together gross. I also ate my first of many, many sandwiches. Many. Sandwiches. Getting back to the horse, like many moments in my life I charged fearlessly into a dark ally. I didn't think eating it would bother me and at first it didn't but the more I thought about it...the more it started to bother me. I mean if not told I would have thought it was just pastromi. But as I ate I started reconsidering the wisdom of eating pastromi... What exactly is pastromi anyways? But of course I kept eating 'cause I'm a soldier and a ninja. I had similar moments eating balut (which I ended up spitting out) as well as trying things I probably shouldn't have. My loyal readers know my theory of jumping head first into the pool. Lets just say that at certain moments it is wise to look before you leap. My first impressions of my new surroundings. Nice house, nice room. It was strange having someone prepare breakfast for me. It was weird eating at the same time. Normally before a show I don't talk much and like to think of the show instead of a lot of chit chat. Getting to the festivalhal and seeing everyone in the change room was really a relief that first day. I just wanted to get my mind on the dancing.
I believe that first day we performed at the old folks home. It was that first day I got my first whiff of Sicily. (I didn't get to actually see them dance till much later) Seriously, those costumes...oh my lord! Now imagine a whole herd of fresh ones wafting down the hall past us. I was actually slightly worried when they first walked past 'cause they were all confident and I didn't know what the level of 'competition' is at a festival. Personally I didn't feel my level of preparation and polish was where I'd like it to be. Deep inside I sort of half expected not being able to go to Europe and in hindsight I possibly didn't want to get to attached or excited to the idea of Europe. I would have been devastated if I got all excited and not be able to go. It wasn't until the last week before the trip did I really feel confident I was actually going. Our actual performance was really good. I think our clicking for Jota M was kinda random thou. After the performance we all saddled up to the bar, you know the one at the old folk home, and I asked the bartender to give me anything good so he poured me a cherry beer. I was expecting the beer equivalent of cherry coke or Dr Pepper, you know tastes like coke with some cherry syrup mixed in there. But what it turned out to be was ambrosia. Drink of the gods. It just tastes so good once it touches the lips. Soon we were all hooked.
As soon as the performance was over I was in party mode. All I wanted was to get together with all my friends and celebrate how much we rock. As much as I tried I couldn't get anyone organized. In fact at one point Cristina was annoyed at me for wondering aloud why it was so hard to plan something. As it turns out my mind wasn't where it should have been as I had totally forgotten that my host family had planned a dinner for us. That's another thing that was weird, having the host family planning all the supposed 'free time'. As much as I loved getting to know the families and all the places they took us I would have liked more time with the group. As it was, Pat and I were pretty much segregated from most of the other kpers unless we were in dance company mode. After a while Mer, Celina, Geri and myself set out to find some place to eat and possibly get a drink later on. The first place we stopped was a pub, but it didn't serve food. As we left a patron followed us outside and engaged me in pointless conversation for a long, long time. Everytime I tried to break away he would maneuver in front of me. About 15 hours later with CC resting her head on Geri's shoulder Mer moves in to rescue me and instead gets caught in the web. Finally I think we just bolted. On our way to find food we see a Match and decide to do some shopping for essentials. I think it took Celina and me about 40 mins to buy shampoo and conditioner. It would have taken longer if Mer didn't speak French. As I stood in line I see Mer burst out of Match and book it down the street. Apparently my and her host family was at festivalhal to pick us up. It was about that time did I remember they had dinner plans for us (I can't remember where Pat was, that may have been the day he went home with Pam). As it turns out I got a ride home. Monick looked very unthrilled so I did the mature thing and lied and said that I tried to walk home and got lost. I don't think she believed me 'cause she told me that she thought I went to a pub, which is where I probably would have been if we didn't stay so long at festivalhal after the performance along with the other adventures. I honestly don't know why I lied. No excuses. With Walter or Marlies I wouldn't have hesitated to say that I forgot. I hate lying for many reasons beyond the obvious.
That second night Pat was all paranoid about the squadrons of mosquito's that did a number on him the night before. So he slept in a sweatshirt and insisted the windows stayed closed even thou it was frickin hot in the attic. I slept in a t-shirt on top of my covers. Pat got bit thru his sweatshirt and I remained untouched.
Rhoel.
Lets Get it Started!Where to begin where to begin...how about the beginning? With Europe about two weeks behind me...or has it only been a week...? With Europe a week behind me...yes about a week behind me I think I've had enough time to decompress. My sleeping patterns are still messed up but as I learned on the trip, who needs sleep? It was my intention to write in my blog whilst I was in Europe, but as it turns out we didn't have much time for such things as Europe was happening all around us. As soon as I figured out that I wouldn't be blogging I endeavored to take notes in my note book, but alas, again who had the time? Then I figured I'd save it for the leisurely days of backpacking but those days of leisure were actually days of frantic thoughts like, "Where the hell are we going to stay tonight?" or "How the hell do we get out of England?". But as it turns out I must rely on my memory and the video footage aswell as the recounts of my fellow travelers. I'll go over what happened day by day. Lets start where I had left off in my last blog.
The day KP left Vancouver started off like any other day. But it ended up quite different with KP...leaving Vancouver. I got a ride to the airport with Marc and of course Tito Leny went over a bunch of little details to make sure I wouldn't corrupt his son and change him into...someone more like myself. And of course we arrived at the airport very early. I suppose tardiness is an Arboleda tradition. Of course everyone at the airport was shocked that I was on time. So I acted shocked at them being shocked. I was a bad actor before I became a bad musician. My first order of business was buying health and travel insurance. With the day being a holiday BCAA was closed aswell as the day before and me frantically making sure I could actually go to Europe the whole previous week and me being me...I left it for the last minute, literally. Insurance at BCAA, maybe 25 bucks. Insurance at the airport, 150 bones. Yikes! With work outta the way it was time for some fun.
As everyone gathered the excitement started to build and I took the opportunity to start with the interviews I had so anticipated. What was said will come out on the final cut of the DVD, but let me just say that I was relieved that everyone got into the spirit of it. After some final goodbyes and the labeling of all the stuff and a wait at the gate we were off! Well more precisely the rest were off, then I waited and about 3 hours later I was off! BTW Cristina, Ryan left you a little note on my camera and he wants you to call him because he was wooed by the voodoo that you do. And then I was off!
The flight was actually very interesting. I started chatting up the girl sitting beside me. Now that I think about it she looked a lot like Astrid, a character you will meet in another chapter. Actually there are two Astrids in this story, she looked like the other one. As it turns out she is a PE teacher from the Czech Republic that had been visiting friends. Very attractive, very toned body. Each time I went to the bathroom she followed me. A few times she got in and out of her seat (I was in the isle seat) and insisted I stayed sitting. She did this by stepping over and momentarily straddling me (it is at this point I felt the tone in her legs and booty). I found this slightly strange behavior and as I reflected upon this towards near sleep I suddenly realized that this totally hot babe may have wanted to fool around! Too bad she's sleeping now. What if I poked her a few times by accident on purpose... Honestly subltle hints don't work on me. Apparently sitting in my lap looking into my eyes doesn't work on me. Damn it just tell me already!!! Dannnnggg! I think I won her over when I read out of her Czech novel in my wicked Canadian accent. So after we landed we exchanged e-mail address (can't seem to find that one) and we shared a really nice long hug like were long friends (it was at this point I felt the tone in the rest of her bod). I was in London baybee! Well, Heathrow anyways. And soon I was in Brussels baybee!
I knew that I was being picked up because there was a Panamanian girl also arriving late and I had this fantasy that she would be totally hot and that we'd hit it off and live happily ever after for two weeks. She was alright, kinda not that great. But I was greeted by Myla and Wyness looking for the lost KP luggage. BTW I met the real Jean Claude Van Damn on the flight over. He's a surf instructor that was studying martial arts in Japan. His luggage got lost too, just as he predicted. What's with BA and their loosing luggage? Oh and just as we were about to leave and all the lost luggage was accounted for I happened to look on the carousel and what to my eyes appeared? Another KP luggage with a giant sticker on it and a little ribbon on the handle that wasn't reported missing...Celina... On the ride to Edegem I entertained all in the car with my theory on love and relationships and my back up plans for the future in to said love and relationships. I can't tell if the driver lady was amused or horrified, but at least she was laughing.
Upon arriving to Festivalhal for the first time I got a first glimpse at the magnificent stage going up and I dropped off my costumes to what would become our home for the next 8 days. Soon I was picked up by Walter, my host dad and was rushed home (5 min drive) to meet my host mom and sister Monick and Marlise. That first night we ate and drank all night. mmm, steak and french fries. Too bad I was so full and just picked at the fries. I was staying with Monsieur Patrick V and we were staying in the attic which was two flights of stairs that resembled narrow ladders to the room, then an actual ladder to the attic which looked like the inside of a ski cabin. That night Pat was attacked by a squadron of mosquitoes. I was untouched in more ways than one.
Rhoel.
