Jul 19, 2007 5:39am
Carlo Antonio Villanueva
Color Guard
From walking off the field to walking onto the field.
You get off the field after yet another competitive run of your production. You bring it in with the corps and meet with Pete or Dave about the performance and what the schedule's like for the night.
Then you bring it in with the guard, most times around the staff. You evaluate your run and compare it against the rest of the ensemble. It's sometimes good, sometimes not-so-good, once in a while followed by a longer, semi-motivational speech (which is also sometimes good and sometimes not-so-good), but every time is pretty exciting.
And then you break. The guard goes back to the pile of equipment to roll and sort. It takes a while with all of the guard walking around looking at piles of stuff in the dark. Once everyone has all of their equipment, you walk as a group in two lines back to the buses.
Then, specifically in this order... You lay the equipment down near the truck. You get on the bus. Ask someone to unzip you. Help unzip them back. Change. Talk as loud and fast as you can about what you remember the most from the show, simultaneously with the rest of the bus. You can't change fast enough out of your sweaty guard uniform because you have to go to the bathroom. So you get into your normal clothes, grab your practice flag silks, and run off the bus, which is usually a much slower process if you sit toward the back.
Now you're out. In normal clothes. Residual show makeup optional. You change your flag silks. Do your parking lot time. Figure out where the food truck might be. Put your equipment on the truck when you're done. Figure out what time the buses roll out. Then you plan your remaining time accordingly.
In the time you have, ranging from thirty minutes to two and a half hours (because it seems we're always the last to leave from the show site), you can do any and all of the following:
* eat snack, which is either leftovers or corndogs
* make a delicious coffee treat with whipped cream
* FIND a delicious coffee treat with whipped cream
* meet up with various friends from other corps
* make a few new friends from other corps
* talk on the phone with someone you miss
* hunt staff members down to annoy them about the show
* find a conveniENCE store to buy snacks for the bus
* find that bathroom you forgot about when you were changing silks
Whether all or none of those tasks have been completed and the time has come to get on the bus, you board the bus and talk as loudly as possible while standing in the aisle to make it harder for Carlo to count heads. When Carlo gets all the way to the back of the bus, you're probably already driving away. You vote on what movie to watch (or fall asleep to) in the most obnoxious manner possible. You get yourself situated in your seat, taking out your pillow and blanket. You talk to the people around you, probably still about the show, and probably still about the same things you've told other people. You watch maybe one scene of the movie before you've fallen asleep.
You wake up three times.
The first time, you're at a rest stop. It's cold from the air conditioning. And it's just your luck that only half the people in front of you are still sleeping and probably won't get off. If you're especially lucky, it's the half sleeping on the floor. So you bus-ninja yourself off the bus, climbing on arm- and head-rests to get to the front. It's dark out with the exception of a few yellow streetlights. You stand in line for the bathroom because there are only so many toilets and many people in the corps. You use the bathroom. You talk. You stretch. You get back on the bus. You ninja yourself back to your seat. You fall asleep when the bus starts moving.
You wake up a second time at the housing site, probably missing at least one other rest stop because you were sleeping so soundly. You gather your bus belongings, your shower stuff, your towel that's now dry... And try to make one trip into the gym. You end up having to make two. The first time, you get into the gym and find your friend's stuff, identifiable by a colorful pillow, stretch blanket, backpack, or suitcase. You drop off your things in the spot in which you'll be sleeping, right next to theirs.
On the way back to the bus, you manage to find the bathroom. You get on the bus to see if you've left anything. You haven't. So you get your suitcase(s) off the ground next to the bus and roll it all the way back to the gym. Stairs are a formidable opponent this early in the morning having just woken up. You blow up your air mattress, joining in the choir of air mattress pumps whirring in the gym. You can do it with you eyes closed, which you sometimes do because you've done it so many times. And because you're tired. You bring your bed back to your spot, make your bed, and fall asleep.
You wake up the third time to fluorescent lights humming, sometimes accompanied by the steady whoosh (or rattle, depending on the school) of the air conditioning. Your nose may be stuffy and your throat dry from breathing through your mouth. And you hear some version of this from Brandyn:
"Good mooooorning, Blue Devils. It's eleven o'clock, time to get up. It's a two-block daaay. And it's bluuueberry pancakes for breakfast. Good morning..."
So you're awake. You shower really quickly, put on sunblock, put on your shoes and hat, and go to the food truck, which is a varible distance from the gym. You eat breakfast. Which could be just cereal and toast for you if the main breakfast isn't your favorite. You're done. You fill up your water jug. Or gatorade bottle. There probably isn't any personal ice available. You tell a bunch of people "good morning." You inspect the board to memorize the day's schedule. You get your equipment from the truck and head to the practice field to stretch. Unless you're on paint crew. But that's another story.
I hope that wasn't too lame. Enjoy.
Carlo