Greetings From Somewhere Else

Hello readers.  Today I am writing to you from someplace far away from where I usually write to you.  Tomorrow I have an interview at a grad school, then I have another interview at another school on Friday and Saturday, so I'm taking a bus straight from here to there, then flying back home on Sunday.  It's going to be a long week.  Unfortunately my first impression of the "city" I'm in has not been positive because there is literally nothing here.  When I was landing at the airport all I could see from the air was farms, but now that I'm on the ground I can see that they are not farms but plots of dead grass.  I probably should not have spent my money on a hotel and flight here, but I was not aware I would be in Nowheresville, USA as the place I am in is always referred to as a "city."  I guess it's a pretty clever game of bait-and-switch.

I'm feeling kind of sick right now-- I have a splitting headache and I'm feeling generally icky.  I think what happened was I forgot how much planes can dehydrate you, then I took a mile walk to a grocery store that had no vegetarian meals.  On the mile walk home I stopped by a pizza place to get dinner (having been unsuccessful at the grocery store) and I said to the woman behind the counter, "I'm not from around here, and I'm noticing that there are not a lot of vegetarians around here."  To which she replied, "You're right.  But the people who are vegetarians don't eat meat."  Very profound observation, ma'am.  So a plane ride and a two mile walk at a slightly higher elevation than I am used to probably is contributing to my malaise.  I'm drinking lots of water now, and hopefully I'll feel better for tomorrow's interview.

Today I want to talk about something that has very little to do with anything.  I love musical theatre.  Love it.  I used to not be a very good singer, but I have been practicing a lot singing along to the soundtrack of musicals and I'm getting better!  My dream used to be becoming a Broadway actress, and I know I'll never be good enough to do that, but it really takes my mind off things I don't want it to be on.  Along with playing piano, it's one of my favorite and most effective coping skills.  I almost had a stroke in December when the movie Les Miserables came out because that has always been my absolute favorite musical.  (If you haven't seen it, why?)  Anyway a relatively new musical has made its way to my repertoire...

Last May I spent a very good chunk of money on traveling to and seeing The Book of Mormon on Broadway (with the original cast!), and it was worth every penny and more.  This show is hilarious!  Quick plot summary: Two Mormon missionaries from Salt Lake City are sent to Uganda to convert people, and when they arrive they realize that the problems that are affecting the local Africans are not the kinds of problems that The Book of Mormon addresses.  Hilarity ensues.  The soundtrack is amazing, and because it's a comedy it really helps distract me from more troubling things.  For example, today on the plane I was having a really hard time trying to eat lunch, so I popped in my headphones and listened to Sal Tlay Ka Siti (say that out loud, you'll get it) and the rest of the score and managed to finish my lunch.  And the cast's beautiful voices drowned out those ugly voices that tell me that I'm bad for having eaten.  For those who can't see the show, definitely download the soundtrack.  For those who can see the show, don't listen to the soundtrack until you see the show-- it will spoil the surprise!

Do any of you share my interest in musical theatre?  Has anyone seen The Book of Mormon?  I know showtunes are not up everyone's ally, but I am writing this post to share a coping skill that is extremely effective for me.  Is there something else that's extremely effective for you?