The Vagina Monologues/ The Nude Beach

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February 3 was a great day and definitely ended on a high note! Every night during the previous week had been devoted to preparing for the vagina monologues, whether it be practicing lines, finding clothes for the stage, or selling tickets to students around campus. After three full nights of run throughs, we were reading for a saturday afternoon of rehearsing at the theater on campus, and at 7:30 the lights went up on stage and we began the real deal in front of an audience of about 475 people (which is a lot for such a tiny campus). The audience was responsive from the get-go, and it was an easy production for the most part. I actually got a little nervous during one of my dialogues because I hadn't practiced it a lot and forgot some of my words. But besides that, I had fun.

The Vagina Monologues is presented by women's centers/agencies across the country on V-Day, which is annual and occurs around the beginning of February. The play not only gets a little feisty when talking about the female body, but it also raises awareness about abuse and sexism. The writer of the play declares each year to have a new theme, and publishes an extra piece to be performed for that year- this year was on international rights of women in war zones. The play is meant to foster community, and before and after the show the campus's women's center had an educational booth up front. We also recognized three strong women from the community for their work with girls and women who have been victims of domestic violence.

We also asked three questions to the audience: 1.) stand if you have been a victim of domestic violence 2.) stand if you know a victim of domestic violence (at this point, nearly every one was silently standing)

3.) stand if you will do what you can to work against domestic violence

It was great to be on stage again... it made me miss high school actually, because those musicals were some of the best experiences I've ever had. I also loved looking out into the audience and seeing so many faces I knew. I've made a ton of amazing new friends in the span of a month and without them, the night would not have been nearly as enjoyable!!

Sunday morning, I awoke bright and early (which on a weekend, is 10:00) and on my way to the cafeteria for food, I ran into a new friend, Kira- she invited me to go to a beach with her and some friends, and what ensued were some absolutely hysterical hours. First there was the car ride: 7 of us in a 5 person jeep. My roomie and I were squeezed in the back with our neighbors Steve and Jay- and Jay is the size of a tank. I ended up laying across their laps for the ride. Up front, Kira drove and my other neighbor David had his girlfriend Nikki in HIS lap. Talk about squished. After maybe half an hour of driving, we pulled onto a quieter scenic road with palm trees and vines arching over the jeep. Our target beach was down a hill next to the road, and after parking and climbing down the hill... we were on Kihena Beach.

Kihena Beach. What a place. I'd say there were 300 people on the small strip of beautiful black sand. And I'd say 250 of those people weren't wearing shirts. I'd say 225 of the people were not wearing anything. And I'd say 200 were over the age of 40. I felt a little young and underdressed, but most people were so involved in various activities that they didn't really seem to notice. What activities? Well, about forty men were sitting in a circle under the shade of some palm trees, playing percussion in a huge drum circle (they played ALL DAY) and there were women and men dancing up and down the beach. Then there were these naked guys waving around colored banners like in a parade, and a few women trying to twirl batons (which was even more bizarre since they obviously had never twirled before- who goes to the beach to learn how to twirl a baton while naked?) And then there were naked sunbathers, naked swimmers,  naked weed smokers... it was crazy. My friends and I kept our suits on and swam and sunbathed. The drum circle was very soothing if you kept your eyes closed.

Of course, the drum circle can only be soothing if people aren't falling over unconscious. Which is exactly what happened during a moment of percussion crescendo when a palm frond fell from one of the trees and conked a drum player right on the head- and since the man was sitting on a boulder, he fell off and down into the sand with blood spilling from his forehead. He was dazed, but no one could really tell if it was because he was high or if it was from the frond! I got really freaked out because all the hippies started closing in trying to help cover his wound with dirty clothes and one woman kept trying to convince him to let her pour a coconut full of lemon juice on his head. After a half hour or so, it was evident that the man would be ok- or at least that's what people said when he picked up his drum and started playing it upside down.

Anyway, the attached picture is of one of the leaders of the circle who, when he felt the spirit within him, would grasp his drum and propel his body into the air, first standing on his arms/head, then arching his back and legs so that his heels were behind his back. He was on his way down when I took this shot. All other memories from the day are in my head because frankly, I think pictures would be a little gross.