Propolis

I'm always looking for the best throat soother, especially when I have a heavy storytelling schedule and a headcold. I know the rules: warm up the voice before performing, drink lots and lots of water to hydrate the vocal chords, avoid mint and decongestants (they dry the throat), don't whisper, rest when possible, keep the throat warm. Still, there are times when I need to take decongestants because I straight out can't breathe through my nose and there are times when I need to use cough drops. When I'm having a coughing fit in the middle of a performance, as I did today, I have to do something quickly.

My very favorite are propolis candies. Here's a selection of caramelos de propoleo (caramelo is the general word for hard candy) I've found here in Argentina:


Not all of these are created equal. The very best are those in the brown wrappers, available from health food stores and some pharmacies. I put one in my mouth and had an immediate sense memory: Bulgarian Orthodox churches. Huh? They taste like beeswax candles, which are lit in profusion in Bulgarian Orthodox churches. The other two kinds have a small amount of propolis, but are mostly sugar candies.

I've also been using regular cough drops:


These are not considered to be cough drops in most of Latin America, as far as I can tell. They're eaten as candy or breath mints and they're available at kiosks, newsstands and grocery stores. I've also been drinking a concoction of lemon, chopped ginger and honey, heated with water. Yum! Though my cold is mostly gone, I'm going to be drinking this for the rest of the tour. I've done 54 performances in the last four weeks, with nine more before I leave for home on Friday.

Thank you, Emilio!

Two posts in a day, yet again! 

It's nice when kids draw me pictures, especially to show that they've really been listening. Emilio at Southern International School drew this for me today. It's his version of the ghost in The ghost with the one black eye, along with the baby (note the smell lines rising from the diaper). On the other side of the paper, he drew the puppets Peeps, Stephanie, Trixie and the table behind me that held water and cups. Emilio and I had a little issue at one point in the program (it's so hard to sit on the floor with your friends and NOT poke them), so I think this was an apology. It was very kind of him.

 

Thanks, Emilio!

More on schools in Argentina

 

Sorry not to have written. I've been a little busy. Today I had my 47th school performance of the tour (three weeks so far), with 17 more next week. I've also been sick. I got a head cold, which I thought I was over last week, but I had a relapse. The pharmacist suggested this cough medicine. It sounds funny in English, but it was effective!

.

 

The schools have been mostly wonderful. The kids have been great listeners and many have asked good questions. Sometimes they get shy and don't want to ask the question in front of everybody, so they come up to me afterwards.

At schools like Las Nieves and Glasgow College, the students have showed up at the performances well prepared, having listened to stories on my website or on my youtube channel. This preparation makes a big difference.

Here are a few pictures of the listeners. You'll notice that the children wear uniforms at all of these schools. They have had excellent questions at the end of many of the sessions.

Boys helping me tell "Mr. Wiggle and Mr. Waggle."

Just a stretch between stories, to make it easier to listen.

The teachers listen as well.

In the pictures, these are primary (elementary in the US) school kids. I've also had fun telling to high school students. Yesterday I was at Highest College, performing for the older kids. The coordinator told me that they were all (both students and teachers) nervous about what I might do, worried that it might be only for young children. As I do in the US when I have middle school and high school, I started with a gory story, one I don't tell to the younger students. I could see the audience relax bit by bit and then they all had a good time. So did I.

Time to stop writing so I can get ready to go to a tango show.

Street music

Two posts in one day? It must be a weekend on tour! I promise, I'll get back to writing about storytelling in the schools soon.

But first, did somebody say "tango"? This is Buenos Aires, after all!

I had a lovely day wandering first around San Telmo, then on down to Calle Florida, a pedestrian shopping street. I wasn't terribly interested in shopping, but then I heard music. On the street. A mix of tango, jazz, swing and who knows what else. I stopped to put some money in the hat, then stayed to listen longer. I ended up buying a CD of El Metodo. Here are a few clips:

There were no tiny children in the crowd today, but I could well imagine this scene!

 

 

Maybe it's time to get my concertina out when I get home. The bandoneon player was great! (My apologies to Spanish-speakers--I can't figure out how to put the accent over the o in bandoneon.)