The next night we went back to the theatre to see 90 year old Robert De Cormier conduct the Vermont symphony Orchestra and Choral in two Requiems (Faure and Mozart) Again, a lovely evening with wonderful music, if, a bit more traditional and western. Both nights there were standing ovations, hoots, hollers and recognition of a job well done.

Yet how different! And complex. In the end, we wondered if perhaps it was so rich and culturally diverse, that it made it challenging to actually process. Each in their own way touched me deeply. Each group in their own way were responding to a culture of the past that brings us forward into the present. By understanding our past, honoring our roots, we are more able to see in what way we go forward.

Playback Theatre training, Chittagong, Bangladesh

I am aware too, that the work I do in theatre and art, and therapy is often very culturally rich and complex.  Not only when I’m traveling, teaching and working and most obvious (white women with grey hair tend to stick out in Asian countries….) but teaching at my local college and sitting with a client in my private practice. Blending in is hard and in fact often not desirable. Responding to our shared and different histories can often be challenging, scary or threatening.  Finding a way to respond that honors history and allows us to revel in our uniqueness, is much of the work I do. Helping people to talk and connect,  and play despite their differences, whether verbally or not- through art or theatre is the underlying goal in everything I do.  Playback Theatre offers us the ability to explore our shared stories, stated through our unique ways of  experiencing it;  This is a healing process through witnessing and connecting in ways we do not ordinarily. The pleasure that I derive is from watching whole groups of people- not too unlike the audiences I participated in at the theatre that weekend- revel in the magic of experiencing, making connections and coming to some understandings of our world.  Standing ovations in our case- in the Playback world- is for me when audiences choose to stay, talk,  eat and connect more after a performance. For me- that is the best ovation one could ask for – and one which I know, that despite our differences, whatever they may be-  There is something to be said about connecting through our stories.

View of the waterfront in Hong Kong

It’s has been a while since I lasted posted, hard to believe that a year ago, I was in India.

This is a brief post to let you all know I am here, alive, well and traveling! Much has happened in the last year-  teaching, printing, doing healing work on so many levels- Taking on new roles (Chair of Board of the Centre for Playback Theatre) , including another trip in November to Hong Kong and Germany (yes, you read that right, both countries, two continents-one trip in 13 days!!:~)

I have spent much of the year here – teaching at the college, working at our therapy practice which has swelled and dipped, dipped and swelled…, Gardening, Grandparenting- A new little one arrived on July 4rth – and staying in touch with all my friends and colleagues around the world. A very full year indeed.

My trip to Hong Kong was very wonderful, and exciting, and FAST. It was very different from any of the other trips I’ve written about in this blog, in that the infrastructure in Hong Kong is very very good. I even managed on my first day to use the train system there, for which I was very proud of myself! I was hired by ADA Hong Kong to lead a 3 day  training for their “Training the Trainer” series.  Nineteen people,  from varied backgrounds including social workers,teachers, artists, corporate workers, and teachers, participated. I was very impressed, from beginning to end, by the amazing organization and care that all the staff took in prepping for the workshop; such attention to detail .  I was taken out to wonderful restaurants and I had one evening in which I went down to the waterfront and saw the absolutely amazing (albeit, rainy) view of Hong Kong from the water. Another morning I had the chance to walk to the open air market.

Walking in the open air market. Hong Kong

The other thing different from India and/or Bangladesh relates to the infrastructure. There is clear thought given to people with disabilities in Hong Kong. First off, there are evenly paved streets, sidewalks that don’t drift…off… so there are curb cuts, ramps (every where!) The elevators work consistently… I was very impressed. What was amazing to me was that one person commented that, “It could be much better. There are still many issues for people with disabilities.” That is probably true – especially in the more subtle areas of understanding disability – but considering what I’m accustomed to when I travel to Asia, I was very impressed. In fact, even compared to what we have in the States, I think we could look to Hong Kong for how to improve.

From Hong Kong, I flew to Frankfurt Germany to attend the 10th International Playback Theatre Conference. Over 400 people came from 33 countries. It was an amazing week of networking, connecting, Playbacking, and also working- As the very recently elected Chair of the Board of Directors of the Centre for Playback Theatre, I was also in many meetings, adjusting to this new role as I did so. It truly is amazing what can happen when 400 people from so many backgrounds come together with a common purpose. Also exciting was that the Cuban Playback Theatre troupe received visas and so were present and able to perform.

Creating a group poem through story, movement and art

And now I plan my next trip to Asia. I leave in March to go back to Bangladesh and India. Included in this trip is working with a community near Chittagong that experienced a deep tragedy when 43 children were killed in a school bus accident. It has left the community in deep grief and pain, and I will be spending at least 3 days working with a team of Playbackers, psychodramatists, and clinical psychologists to support the community, and hopefully give them tools to continuing to heal after we leave.  I also will be working again at the Clinical Psychology program at Dhaka University.

And then I go on to India. I will be again working with the Your’s Truly Treatre Company  in Bangalore (see their website at www.yourstruly.org), followed by more work with  friend and colleague Magdalene Jeyarathnam, of the East West Counseling Centre in Chennai (www.centreforcounselling.org). Magdalene has worked very hard in the last year to organize a certificate program in the Expressive Arts, and the Centre for Counseling is collaborating with the Women’s Christian College to present this fantastic program. Starting last December, with different faculty, the students in the program have worked together learning Psychodrama, Sociodrama and Sociometry, and Music Therapy. I will be offering a 5 day core training in Playback Theatre (students will receive hours from the Center for Playback Theatre in recognition of this), and following that, an art therapist from Pondicherry will be offering a 5 day training in Art Therapy. I am happy to continue my collaborations with the Centre for Counseling through this new certificate program.

One new thing for me – a renewed attempt to fundraise for my trips to Bangladesh and India.  It is near impossible (and definitely impossible for my colleagues in Bangladesh) to have all my expenses paid for. It is hard for me to ask for money and yet, to keep this work going, it is impossible not to. But with 9 years of these amazing moments, and with more yet to come, for the work to continue I need to look at this challenging place in my life.

And then…. we are beginning to plan for a trip in Spring 2013.  I will let you know more when I have the details.

I hope that 2012 brings peace and a positive shift.  Certainly, the world can really use all the positive energy it can get.  Blessings to you all.

This is my last week, not only of class (we end Friday), but of my time here in India for this trip. I have been watching  my process: arriving and getting used to being In India; working and being with students,(and all) that means; getting to know more of where I am, and processing all the new things; visiting hospitals, and schools, and seeing the amazing work that is

I taught 4-5 year olds for an hour. Lots of fun!

being done here for those in need. Now, the letting go has begun. Letting go is being felt keenly in the classroom, where, as a group, the class has been watching the developmental aspects of our group, and witnessing each milestone.

Students created Mandalas as part of the course.

In class, hearts are connecting, and I am reminded that people are people no matter what our cultures are. We work for justice, raise our children, and connect. We  fall down, to pick ourselves up again and walk forward. Hopefully we open more doors than we close, and try to bear witness. With this group, it is clear that these are the goals. It is heartwarming to watch, experience, and be a part of.

Today, I took a walk behind where I am staying, on a calmer road, with nice homes. I was aware of trying to imprint my impressions. As I walked, I smelled the Jasmine in the air. Although it is winter,  there are may flowers out. I tried to breathe it in in such a way that I could  take the aromas home. How does one take impressions home? So many impressions: cows wandering in the midst of traffic, seemingly unconcerned and owner less; the smells (some very unpleasant and others not); the crazy traffic; the interactions that I’ve had in every day; women in saris;  fruit and vegetable vendors singing out what they are selling; the Kolam, freshly done each morning on door stoops; the genuine belief that what will be is meant to be; and hearing the ringing of bells through every neighborhood, as people pay homage to Shiva, Vishnu,and Gonesa in their homes, and in the many shrines throughout the city.

I use my camera to try to grab these impressions, but photos do not impart the smells of Indian spices, the sounds of all the horns, or the goats bleating, the roosters, and Muslims and Hindus all praying at the same time at 5 in the morning. The camera cannot capture the haggling and bartering, and genuine interest in people you may not know so well. And the crows.

Coming home is a mixed blessing. I’m coming home to family, and life as I am used to it.  Only, now I am seeing it through a different lens, one in which my two months in India (October and now) blend in with my life at home. I return home committed to learning how to cook Dosa and Roti, and to simplifying, letting go of what keeps me from being present and connected.

We have 20 students from a variety of backgrounds: artists, housewives, teachers, and therapists. The participants are all interested in art therapy for use with their students or families.

The energy has been tremendous. The use of the arts, in general, for healing is really taking off in India. There is a lot of attention being paid to these ideas now.  While I have 20 students in my class, I have 30  others signed up for a workshop that introduces people to what the class is about!

In the last two weeks, We have talked about many subjects, including: how art therapy can be used in different populations:  how it has evolved from cave drawings to now; looking at brain development; and using different materials. I am, of course, trying my best to ground the class in good counseling process and ethics.

Then, there is the important task of looking at all the learning within the viewpoint of the Indian mindset.

Three hours go by in a flash. The course is highly experiential, so there are a lot of teaching games, and activities to help ground the conversations, and the theories being presented. And of course, a lot of art. Because my background includes Sociometry and psychodrama, I have used some of those skills to teach about listening, observation, and counseling skills.

The students are engaged and have worked really hard. There is a lot of reading, and writing, questioning  and creating involved. Most importantly, we are trying to see how art therapy, which was created from a western perspective, will work effectively within the Indian culture and context. Ultimately, art therapy has to work here, and  there are many differences in how therapy is perceived here. This is a major conversation. The other, of course, is what students will do, and have the ability to do, after one 30 day course. Since completing one course is not the same as finishing a 2 year graduate program, this is a conversation that will take place in an ongoing way as GW and Stella Maris evolve the next steps for the program. But for ethical reasons, we do need to look at this now, as the last thing anyone wants is for people to go beyond what they really are capable of. This course is a wonderful beginning and, clearly, there is a desire for a full program. The question is when and how.

I am grateful to be a part of this pilot program, and to be connected with the journey of bringing these therapeutic tools to India. Nothing happens in isolation, and I have met many wonderful people along the way. I am a student as well.

This time the celebration is Pongal. Pongal is the  Tamil Nadu celebration of the harvest.  Think harvest festivals and Thanksgiving rolled into one. People in my class have been preparing for Pongal all week: practicing dances, cooking food, and going shopping for a new Sari to wear. It is a time to dress things up, dress up ourselves, and eat the bountiful harvest.

The Hindu celebrate pretty much everything. When I was in Bangalore in October, the Puja (another word for festival) was 9 days in which all things created were celebrated. One day was the celebration of machines. During Pongal, people make offerings to the Gods and pray for rain, in their often dry riverbeds.

Pongal (which literally means “Boiling Over”) is a 3 day, Tamil Nadu based, celebration that officially began Friday. While at school, on Friday, dancers from around Tamil Nadu came and performed. There is dancing and storytelling all around the city this weekend. I am hoping to get to a park today. Pongal is wonderful; it’s colorful and it tastes good. A common activity is the making of Pongal, a sweet sticky rice dish.

Today, Sunday, the remains of the feast are given to the cows and Oxen that work so hard. They are dressed and paraded about in celebration of their hard work, and given special foods. And tomorrow, there is more dancing and people gather on the riverbanks with yet another sumptuous meal to eat.

Yesterday I was fortunate to be invited to a Pongal feast. I was with people who had been friends for 40-50 years. It truly was enriching in more ways than one. And last night we went to dinner at a boathouse along the Adyar River, and listened to Tamil/English/Hindi fusion.We also had a lovely Pongal feast on banana leaves (natures take away plates!!Very common here and very eco friendly)

I waddled home, full in more ways than one. Happy Joyous Pongal to you all.

Oxen and cows are still used by the villagers to bring in materials and food from the country

For the last two weeks, I have been negotiating the (very) busy streets of Chennai, primarily on my own. Chennai is a huge city of winding and cluttered roadways that often have no street signs or proper signals. Traffic is almost always congested  and drivers often drive on the wrong side, or down a street the one wrong way to get to another corner. Crossing the street – well, I have learned that one is either going to make it or not, and as a general rule, the drivers miss you even if its by inches. One has to be alert and aware to walk or drive  here.

I am staying in the Ministers area (Raja Annamalai Purnam) where the Ministers (India has a Parliamentary system of government, thus Ministers) work and live, and it is a distance to get to …anywhere. I walk as much as I can, and take auto rickshaws to most of my appointments and classes.  Given Chennai has an erratic road system, with a variety of species(Oxen, Goats, chickens and dogs are the most common) that walk or run on it, at best, it has taken me most of the 2 weeks I’ve been here to develop any kind of internal map of the city, not helped in the least by the Rickshaw drivers who often do not know where they are going either. While I bought a map and I find it helpful, showing it to a driver or pointing out landmarks is often fairly useless, as most rickshaw drivers cannot read maps. So I have been trying to find the best ways to say the district I am in by using the shortened common name. (Raja Annamali Purnam is too long… So everyone says, “RA Purnam”.) People know my street, not by the name, but by the fact that the Ministers live on it. So, I say, “I live on the ministers road.” That took a few days to figure out.

I find that I often need to take a deep breath and keep going.

traffic is congested in all parts of the country.

I get excited when I meet a driver who quotes me the price I expect to pay- or even better- KNOWS WHERE HE IS GOING! I feel like Ive scored when that happens!

Whatever the reason, haggling with auto rickshaw drivers is a process that isn’t always how I want to start my day. Or end it. With traffic being what it is,(constant, weaving and cutting off, and smoke and fumes) I find that the need to negotiate a fee a tiring process. But once it is done, I can sit back and smell the diesel.

So I am learning, slowly, to get around and to recognize landmarks. I am learning to stand up for myself a little bit more, and to negotiate, even when I’m not sure what to negotiate for…  Getting around is certainly a process, but the challenges are not insurmountable.

One festival celebrates all machines. This rickshaw is decked out to honor it's hard work.

Today I have gone shopping, and worked toward buying a phone, but got held up in the need for a real photo, so it will have to wait until tomorrow. Then I had my first auto rickshaw, bargaining, and getting lost experience. Chennai is big, and often the taxis drivers don’t know where things are. Getting a map is challenging too, although I intend to work on that.

I am here for a month. This time I am teaching a 3 credit survey course at Sella Maris College. I am working through George Washington University. While Magdalene Jerarathanam, of the East-West Counseling Center, in Chennai (centerforcounselling.org), and I are not planning any projects right now, I am hopeful that she will come and offer her expertise in a presentation about her work integrating arts based therapy in her clinical psychotherapy practice. I have a couple of other people who might present as well. One is Michael Watson,who will present from the States via Skype.(Topic to be announced…) You can see his blog at michaelwatsonvt.wordpress.com.

I am looking forward to this, and all the complexity of getting around. It is going to be a journey for sure. Stay tuned.

As a native New Englander,  a stereotype that is given to us includes being – “Stoic, distant” quiet” “stand offish” ones that actually I don’t like nor feel applies to me- Yet here I am feeling the edges of it myself. I like to hide in my home-  I admit to hermit like qualities within myself. I like to hide when its cold. My home is warm and friendly, while the world outside on so many levels is cold and unfriendly. I find that it takes much for me to pick up the phone or to interact- I would much rather nestle in with my work and  a good book.

While in India, One heard people chatting and saw people all day long. One engaged all day long.   It is quite the conundrum actually.I find that while I don’t miss the clutter, the dirt or the pollution of India, I really miss the sense of social interactions that happened daily, minutely at times and reminded me of the need and desire for human connection. often I spoke with people I didn’t know. It was easy. It was warm.

Today, with much intention, I socialized. With the gallery owner, while she took more art. With an artist friend that I print with. With Herb, my colleague and partner in crime (He and I began the Bangladesh project in 2003). Coming home tonight,  I emailed with a friend from India.It was warm and connective.

Note to self: Connecting is a human need. And,  Warmth is generated with connection.

Right now I’m feeling pretty warm.

Firecrackers by the thousands went off at once and at times we would stop the training so as not to scream at each other.

Last night, we came to Mysore (home of the oldest palace) and throngs of people were in the street. The palace (across from our hotel) was all lit up and Hindi music was playing. cross from our hotel, street vendors selling material, saris and other traditional things worked in the dark until it was just too hard to sell anything- Lights are not provided. But the mood was very festive. Think Mardi Gras without the drinking (that I could see anyway).

This morning it is calm. It is cooler here in Mysore- Karnataka State- More in the mountains. We are going to stroll in the Palace Gardens and go to an art  museum at one of the smaller palaces- a little more doable than the mammoth larger palace- which we can’t go into anyway this week, as the King is here with his family to celebrate the Puja.

I am nearing the end of my trip now and realizing how rich and vast this experience has been.  While I have one more training, This week is mostly about seeing temples, and connecting to India in a different way.