... and then the elephant pooped!

OMG!! I just went to the circus! I had heard that the circus was in town but it never really registered till I saw the big tent on my way home one day. I tried to gather a group to go there but apparently people these days are too "grown up" for these type of things. Once again I was left taking only one other friend with me, so while it sucked not to have a big group, which would have make the experience even more enjoyable, I was thankful to have atleast one other person go with me.

The last time I went to the circus was about 20 years ago atleast. I don't remember much from that day except that we were quite a bit far away from the action. So this time I bought the most expensive tickets; I wanted to be really close to the action and in particular, I wanted to hear the banter of the clowns! The show started off with the trapeze. I thought I'd be watching the circus more out of ironic appreciation but I found myself at the edge of my seat as the trapeze act started. The performers were performing flips in the air, crisscrossing each other, swapping the trapeze for the arms of a teammate and then back to the trapeze. For one series they turned out the lights and being as tense as I was, I almost shouted out for them to turn on the lights! It wasn't all great though - one of the main performers dropped the person he was supposed to catch. Twice! There was net below them so that broke their fall but they were slammed, rather painfully I imagine, into the net. Since they were moving horizontally at the moment the slip occurred, both the performers who fell, slammed into the net so hard that the dust that had accumulated in the nets flew into the air around us. I gasped out loud at that point.

Then an elephant showed up, gripped a girl in its trunk. The elephant got up on a smal table with all four legs, then sat (a** backwards) on the same table. and got up on its hind-legs, all the while holding the girl in its trunk. Then the girl put her leg into the mouth of the elephant and it gripped that leg with its mouth and very slowly swung around in a complete circle as the girl hung upside down! I know it was a trained elephant but it was still very excited to watch. Of course, while making the circle the elephant pooped! It cracked me up!! How embarrassing for the organizers!

There were birds, dogs and a horse as well. There was a troupe of Africans who did a bunch of energetic balancing acts and gymnastics. A group of Armenians who did more delicate balancing acts, almost like a ballet. A group of girls, in their inappropriately sexy dresses hung on to a universal joint as they spun themselves around. More than the animals, watching these girls (aged 10-15) made me really sad. It's very unlikely that these children will have normal lives, and be allowed to grow up in a normal fashion, with normal feelings. But then again, I suppose atleast they didn't need to beg on the streets or prostitute themselves.

The other thing that made me a little sad was the attitude of the people who came to watch. Now it was a Sunday night show and maybe people were just tired. But it seemed like I was the only one clapping. Hell, it seemed like I was the only one enjoying the show. The others, including my friend who came with me, were sitting very quietly, watching with the attitude of people who had paid a lot of money and weren't going to stoop to the level of applauding a good show. It made me hope I never lose my sense of wonder and joy at these small things. It was a great show after all.