Storytelling notes

Monterrey writing workshops

2009-11-10T16:28:00.006-06:00

Through the years, I've offered a workshop for kids called Storytelling, Storywriting. We start with the difference between written and told stories, discuss structure and backstory, and play with a story or two. Then we write, using a modified version of Natalie Goldberg's rules for writing practice, from her book Wild Mind. Sometimes we have time for a last writing game, sometimes we just write (and read aloud) more.

On Saturday, I presented this two-hour workshop twice for 105 fifth-grade students, age 11 or so, at the Young Authors' Workshop at Colegio Ingles in Monterrey. The students are chosen by their teachers to attend this special three-day workshop. They come from different cities, from schools where they are taught in English for part of the day. The students arrive with their teachers and then go home to host families here in Monterrey. For many, it's the first time they've been away from home.

I was apprehensive about doing this with non-native English speakers, until I remembered that I did it in Belgium a few years ago, in classes where only some of the kids were native speakers. It worked, both there and here.

Here's what some of it looked like: Notice the teacher writing with the kids. These teachers were enthusiastic and helpful throughout. Some modeled good writing behavior, some did general crowd control. Many told me they would take the exercises back to use in their classrooms.

The only tough part was getting the kids to listen. While they were writing, they were absolutely silent, but when they were done, they were so excited about writing and reading aloud that it was deafening!

After the second workshop, I went to use the bathroom. I heard a voice from another stall intoning, "I...am the ghost...with the one...black...eye." Love that!

I've had an e-mail from one of the other students, telling me how much he enjoyed the workshop. Hey, Pablo! Keep writing!

Mexico Tour, scrambling to catch up

2009-11-10T11:23:00.005-06:00

I had good intentions to write more often! Last week I was in Mexico City and Monterrey doing fifteen shows and two tw0-hour workshops, so I have an excuse.

On Tuesday, I went to the Comunidad Educativo Tomas Moro for three performances with older kids. It was especially appropriate to tell Mary Culhane and the dead man just after El Dia de Los Muertos, though the dead man in the Irish story is creepier than how death is portrayed in Mexico for the holiday. I told some of my other favorites for the groups of slightly older kids.

A small digression about my favorites. In the Q & A sessions, kids often ask which is my favorite story. I explain that in storytelling I know of only one hard and fast rule: only tell stories you love. Therefore, my favorite is the one I'm telling at the moment. I love them all. The favorite story of my listeners over the years has proved to be The ghost with the one black eye, though.

I went directly from the school to the airport, where I met Alberto. We flew to Monterrey, in the northeast. Though it's quite an industrial city, Monterrey has its own charm. Our hotel is in the Zona Rosa, a pedestrian area near the old city. It's ringed by the Sierra Madre mountains, some of which are impossibly steep. Here is a view of the mountains and the cathedral from the hotel (you can't see the high rise buildings on either side, but they're there):
That mountain in the background is called "the saddle."

And here's a view from Liceo de Monterrey, the girls' school where I spent three days:

I had a great time at the Liceo. I told stories to everybody from the five-year olds to the college prep students (not the preschoolers, though). On the first two days we were in the Forum, a space with a stage and also where the children do gymnastics. It's open to the outside, with curtains to make it quieter and warmer on cool days. Many schools in Mexico feel more open than those in the US, which seem hermetically sealed from the out of doors. Here are a few pictures from the Liceo:

I show the students a map so they can see where I'm from and they can get used to my voice: Here are some of the younger ones joining in on a standing-up song:

And the ever useful Shaking Hands:
I wish I had pictures of the older students--I think they weren't sure they were going to enjoy the stories, but they did. They even liked the puppets. Beautiful faces on these attentive listeners, aren't they?

Next post will be about the writing workshops I did on Saturday.

Monday at Xochimilco

2009-11-06T18:24:00.005-06:00

Part of a Day of the Dead ofrenda in Xochimilco

Last Monday, we took a little trip to Xochimilco, a borough in Mexico City known for its canals. The clerk at our hotel suggested that we should go on Sunday because it would be more crowded. We didn't understand why that would be better, so we went on Monday, el Dia de Los Muertos.

We took a metro and light rail to get there, then walked for about fifteen minutes to the canals. We (Alberto and I) were surprised at how helpful people were at the light rail station and along the way. "Embarcaderos? Go straight, then turn," they said, without even being asked. Hmm.

When we got there, we discovered that it would be expensive to rent a boat (and boatman) to go on the canals. Alberto did some bargaining but it was still expensive at 400 pesos for a couple of hours (13 pesos to the dollar, so around $30 for the two of us). It would be cheaper to go with another group, but when we tried to join some people who were willing to have us along, the boatmen told us we weren't allowed to. We felt that we were being railroaded into an expensive situation, so we turned and walked away. This was probably why it would have been better to be there on a more crowded day.

Wait, wait! It turns out that there are several docks with boats to take tourists on the canals, so competition is strong. The boatmen thought we were going to another dock--we didn't even know they existed. One came after us and coaxed us back with a price of 300 pesos for the two of us. We accepted.

It was a lovely ride. I can't imagine how it was the day before when it was crowded. As it was, the traffic was at times heavy enough that we bashed into some other boats. Here are some of my better pictures of the day.

It was Day of the Dead, so here's an ofrenda on the canal:

We took the shorter trip. We could have taken a four or five hour ride, which would have taken us near the Island of the Dolls, where there are dolls hanging in the trees for good luck and for the spirit of a young girl who drowned there. Instead, we saw dolls in the trees on our trip that represent that island:

Here's Alberto:
And here's a view of some of the other trajneras (gondolas):

If we'd wanted to pay more, we could have had mariachi music or marimbas, or we could buy snacks, beer, souvenirs and plants from floating shops along the way. As it was, we just enjoyed the boat ride.