the tall and the short of it

almost set

the first door was hung ask Mark about the rest

just about done

the kids were trimming the tree

carnaval for all saints day

we have been really busy building the show which is looking fantastic. so I have not had much time to post. the whole crew is hard at work we are rebuilding the theatre and trying to finish the set I have been in bed on and off since Sunday but seem to be on the mend finally more blog to come thank you again to all of the supporters at home. the kids down here are getting a fantastic experience. and we are learning a lot from them.

it doesn't have to be red to be hot! it doesn't have to be red to be hot!

Little burn which has healed

tech crew hard at work

Theatre doesnt change no matter where you are in the world.

national theatre

welded keys

dance party on the way back from rehersal

nice booty

first day in the new petty coat the girls were thrilled

mark directing the crew

ants at a picinic

BBQ time.

Frank and I decided it was time to have a BBq so we did

Mario with muffler tape

Prop Building

Frank got the welder going it was a trip to san salvador and they have been welding ever since. The kids can't get over the difference from stick to mig. They keep trying to tap the gun to start and chip away slag.

Mario and a few of the students have been building props and doing laundry I think we are going to start a service. The props are coing together but Mario and I have to go to San Salvdor on an otre shoping trip.

Tatiana's Birthday

our new friend

Johns last day

John left for Canada to design susical the musical. We will miss his drawing in meetings his spanish and dry wit. see you back home

got the welder going

Frank went to San Salvador got co2 for the welder it works
check out Kims Blog
http://suchitotoproject.blogspot.com

more pictures tomorrow

No Go Welder

We Are up against a bit of a steel wall the welder we found does not have the proper wire. and the stick welders are to butch to weld the thin wall steel. Frank and Tito are on there way to San Salvador Monday and I am going to work on props. however fibreglass is less than half the price here than in Canada a readily available.

view from hotel

Yesterday before we got to work we had the refreshments purchased for Tatiana and John's birthday party. and we stopped into the scrap yard to see Mario and found a mig welder they were storing in the back of a minivan shed (miller 130). It took a bit to do the haggling Thanks Tito. Only problem was it had a the wrong wire. luckily otro Mario was in San Salvador and pick us up some. Today were off to see if we can make it work and prep for the students on Monday.

steel

The steel came and we built a chop saw table its the set is finally underway and we are only waiting on a welder. we also introduced the guys to auto darkening welding helmets "like night and day"

I went on a prop Buying trip to San Salvador it was like y2k x 1000 Toronto was looking good and we all know how busy “Loren ave” is. I'm not sure were we went in. I'm not sure were we went, or how we got out but there were some amazing shops. I think we need to do a few buying trips for the festival. Leather and foam are at least 75% cheaper. Other staples are twice the price or more, and impossible to find if you can even translate what there names are. All in all it was a good trip

We had a fantastic welcome back to Suchitoto. Could not have asked for a better place to stay, just maybe a warm shower we seem to only have one tap cold. Great to be back and have the project under way. Thank you to everyone who supported the cabaret without you this would not have been possible

we began the day with a production meeting as fast as we could go thought the prop list John would crank out another drawing of the prop. We went to San Salvador to find steel the selection was terrific. Getting it to Suchitoto was an other story. Cash is a necessity. We finally found what we were after. The welder seems to not exist. We did get a hot glue gun “silicone” which will defiantly get a lot of use. The evening ended off writing up a Spanish English prop list “in country linguistic training”

I have been lacking on blog posts Teds is much better but my computer has not worked since I got here so mI have been teaching Ted how to up load pics on his. I am going to stop posting not that I have reallly started and send hand the blogger over to the nest bunch.

if anyone is coming down Bring Pan Ties they are like gold here .10 each for the little guys. there is also a lack of electrical cords on on everything Just sayin.

Eric

Eball tool repair 101

Today Ted and Frank began work on the table saw. Table saws here are 3hp 3phase motors, and a blade on a spindle. the equivlent to a grinding wheel. no height adjustment no tilt and a piece of wood clamped on as a fence. We then added a fence made of angle iron Ted and frank just about ave it together

The we also found a huge box of routers belt sanders, drills, and skill saws. most of which were wired with zip cord or worse and it seams that plugs are found upon it works better to just shove the wires into the outlets. I did find a few plugs rewired on of the welders, and got the drill press up and running. the rest of the tools we went through scavenge other broken stuff to get Brushes, new cords, and plugs. expelling that if you could see bare wire it was bad and if not you need as much tape as the wire is thick, strain reliefs are important and to wrap a scrws around terminals the direction the screw turn. so all in all out of 4 belt sanders turned into 1 and about 3/4 of the other tools in working order and the rest were malo motor, malo faja,

more tomorrow we need the band saw and Ed just asked for a wild boar a set of spears and a large Calderon with a fire inside, and there is the set stay tuned

2 bags 50lb each

I Picked up 23 pounds of screws that would not fit in Ted's luggage, there is about 13 lb's of Stratford festival Brochures and I am getting a few cd's of The Stratford Adventure, add tools, cloths and a dinosaur computer 10lb it adds up quickly . I was short luggage but went to TST Liquidation and found a suitcase for $10 with a broken handle, quick fix 3 min later good as new.


Before we leave I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has helped along the way. I'm not sure how Robbin keeps everything running so smoothly, Thank you to Dona for letting me go on this adventure mid season, and every one who has helped in support and donations. I.T. has sent us with a few laptops to keep in touch thanks Paul(sorry about the dinosaur comment), and most importantly my wife Jennifer who has had to deal with a some what more frantic husband for a little while.


After my 2 weeks I hope to pass this blog on to the next group going down so stay tuned.


We depart from Stratford 3:45am Monday.

Every destination is a journey to another.

Eric

Day one In Blog Land

Frank, Ted, and myself just returned from a long weekend in Ottawa. we were at a CUSO-VSO Training seminar. it was a bit out of our regular world of theatre, however a great experience to meet several other CUSO volunteers who were as eager about the program as us.

The small World of theatre, found ourselves stopping by the hotel bar to stumble upon the closing night party for Mother Courage. The cast, conservatory and half of Stratford were all there. no matter how far you travel you always have friends where ever you go.

This blog is going to be a record of our experiences in Suchitoto to share with our friend while we are away

Eric