MCLA Blog

Dory dying on his bed due to exhaustion.

We have decided that the motto for this trip has been “What you expect is not what you’re going to get.” It is true about everything from the dinner the first night at Floridita’s to the performances we saw earlier today. If you go in expecting something to be one way, it’s doing to be totally different. It definitely makes for an interesting week, that’s for sure.

This morning we went to a place called “Here” for a performance-hybrid brunch and showcase. The spinach quiche was good? The performances were…interesting. Sean made a good point in saying if you imagine what stereotypical performance art would be, that’s exactly what we saw. One was all anti-war performed in a cabaret setting, another was a cabaret of songs about voluntary amputation, one of the best ones was a piece somewhat based on the Japanese Noh theatre featuring what goes on in the minds of flowers, but the one that trumped all was this solo piece featuring a woman and an American flag. It was pretty vulgar, and I give her kudos for doing what she did – she definitely made a statement – but I’ll spare you the details. Ask any of us when we get back and I’m sure will tell you what she did with the flag.

We spent the afternoon splitting up between more showcases and the resource rooms and then we all met up for dinner at Veselka, a Ukrainian restaurant. Each place has been totally different and I’ve liked them all, but I really really enjoyed this restaurant for some reason. Maybe it was because I didn’t know what to expect here, and (like I was saying earlier) and it totally was not what I thought it would be, or maybe because it was just an accessible menu. Plus, the perogis were SO GOOD. Of all the restaurants we’ve been to, this is one I’m going to try to revisit next time I come to the city.

Then it was time for GlobalFest at Webster Hall. It was three different floors and on each floor a band from somewhere in the world played on a stage for about an hour. I didn’t stay for very long as it was really crowded and lour and dark and I don’t tend to do well in those type of places. I did stay and watched a Japanese band whose singer moaned into a microphone. It was better than that actually sounds. Then Vivian and I headed back to the hotel to have a quiet night, and to just taking a break from the crazy whirlwind we’ve been a part of for the past five days.