Boba Tea for Baba Time

A rare day for me of socializing. A theatre person interested in Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed came for tea this morning. She wanted to hear about the interview I did with Ngugi wa Thiong'o at Smith and then to hear stories of my theatre work in Africa. I loved remembering and telling stories. I told her about a time in Lesotho when I realized that the people I was working with had already gone beyond where Theatre of the Oppressed could lead them. They had their own ways of subverting power, their own ways of freeing themselves. I spent years learning techniques to help people achieve liberation, only to realize the people I had come to serve were far ahead of me in that process. I had to let go of everything I thought I knew and start learning from them, unsure I had anything to offer other than attention. I went as a teacher, but I was the student.

Sue joined me for lunch and as we were talking about the meeting I'd just had, I found an old video of my interview with wa Thiong'o in 1991. I still have a DVD player, so we put it on, and she said she didn't think she would have recognized me if she saw that video without explanation. I guess people can change a lot in 33 years, but in my mind, that's still who I am.

Finally Bella came for Baba Time and we ate, played cards, listened to music she likes (a guy whose performance name is Bad Bunny) and went out for Boba Tea at dusk. I heard about her science teacher, her math teacher, her friends Alison and Sofia. The streets were full of people, and she told me she loves the time between day and night because it feels like anything could happen, like the world could suddenly change and you could be living in a different place and time. I remember having similar thoughts when I was thirteen.