Movie Night In Barra - Mexico 2007 - part 4

Tonight was the last night for the Metropolitan University Biology group to be in town. The students had been doing research on the local ecosystems as they relate to the birds of the area. They had spent several days capturing, weighing, measuring, and banding birds.

Professor Alejandro Melendez Herrada had offered to give a presentation to the community. And, in the usual manner of the village, things happen at the right time. Yesterday a woman stopped by and donated a projector that connects to a computer for presentations like Professor Herrada's.

So, the hand-lettered flyers went up around town telling of the presentation that would begin at 6:00 at the town square. Well, it isn't exactly a town square as most would picture a town square. It just happens to be the intersection of two dirt streets where the street light is in town.

As an added incentive, the flyers mentioned that there would be a movie afterwards. I had brought a DVD projector for the Children's Library Project along with 10 movies.

Ten minutes before the presentation was to begin we started trying to figure out how to work the projector. And, by some miracle, we got it working. We went down to the Town Square where a white sheet hung on the wall of the abandoned house across from the kindergarten.

Next, we needed power. Nothing is really planned out in advance. So the search began for extension cords. It didn't take long to find a couple that would reach. But, as usual, there was a problem. The extension cord had two slots. The projector's power cord , of course, had three prongs. The search for an adaptor began. After awhile someone showed up with the adaptor and it was time for the presentation.

The crowd had grown to about 40 people of all ages by the time the Professor started. The first part of the presentation was about two studies of areas similar to Barra de Potosi that had developed ecotourism businesses. The presentation was very interesting. Lots of photos. A few jokes. And the Professor was very knowledgable and presented the information with enthusiasm.

In typical Barra de Potosi fashion, somewhere near the end of the first part of the presentation a car came down the street. People picked up their chairs. The professor stopped speaking momentarily. And the pickup drove through the middle of the program. Once on the other side the side of the gathering, the pickup stopped. The occupants got out to see what was going on. They stayed for the rest of the program.

The second part of the presentation was about the work the group had done during their visit. The kids in the crowd paid more attention during this part as they recognized the people and places in the photos.

Professor Herrada spoke of how there are many people in the world that enjoy taking vacations to enjoy nature. They look for birds. They look for animals. They look for flowers. This concept was lost on some. Then he explained how the people of the community benefit from these visitors. And, he added, protecting the environment is an important part of ecotourism.

Professor Herrada finished with a closing statement thanking the community for their hospitality and saying that he was looking forward to returning soon to continue their research. The citizens responded with a well-earned round of applause.

The kids were losing interest after the photo show. One little girl laid in the dirt street making "dust angels" They asked when the movie would start. "Cinco minutos!" was the word.

Not being from the village, I had already figured out how my projector worked. So, as far as I was concerned, I was completely prepared! I walked the 150 feet back to my house and grabbed the projector and the DVD. Everything was set up in a matter of seconds and the movie started.

Most of the adults had left. About 30 kids and a handful of adults remained.

The movie started. Everything was going perfectly. One small glitch. The movie was E.T. The first five minutes doesn't have any dialog. At the five-minute mark I realized I hadn't switch the language to Spanish. The crowd looked confused when the cops rolled up to the UFO landing site and started shouting in English. My friend Laura was right there to explain to the crowd that I had forgotten to switch the language. Who knows. For all I know she told them that I was an idiot and to please forgive me for my stupidity!

I got the language thing straightened out and for the next two hours it was a combination of kids shushing each other, cars driving through the "theather", and kids sticking their hands in front of the projector to make a shadow finger poke E.T. in the nose.

From somewhere popcorn appeared. The bags of popcorn circulated through the crowd. Take a handful and pass it on.

When E.T. came back to life and escaped to his parents in the UFO the crowd clapped and shouted "Bravo! Bravo!"

Next week we will be showing "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". The original, with Gene Wilder. Not that new one with Johnny Depp. If you're not busy next week come on down to Barra de Potosi. And bring some popcorn!

Hasta pronto, Amigos...