-^-for posterity-^-

i've been famous in news papers. i've been flirting with the hearts and minds of everyone i've met in town for the past year and a half. they're all curious and maybe one quarter in love with the foreigner who speaks vietnamese. i've given speeches, organized large events and have been on television. now was my time with the vietnamese stage. i was going to act in a vietnamese play.

they had a part for me that was going to be played by a vietnamese person. they were going to imitate a foreigner. the old actor came down with some sort of sickness and headed back to their hometown this morning. the play was a few days from now and they needed someone else.

the venue was simple but elegant. it was to be held on the fifth anniversary of long xuyen's birth. it used to be classified as a 'town' but, five glorious years ago it was upgraded to the level of 'city'. there was to be a huge, festive celebration in the middle of town.

a few days ago, someone came to my room and wanted to know if i would be willing to memorize a few lines in english and vietnamese in order to act in this play. it was the event to participate in and i was more than willing. i took the script and began to memorize.

the part was simple. i came on in one scene and bought lots of fruit. i was a foreigner so i had a suitcase full of money just like any foreigner coming to the country. the play moved on and the farmer began to use too much insecticide on their crops and the fruit, while growing to a beastial size, they didn't have the same flavor. the foreigner came back with his suitcase and a full understanding of vietnamese and tried to buy more fruit. he tasted the fruit, almost died and didn't buy it. so, i spoke about 30 lines, half in english and half in vietnamese.

i had memorized the lines, and went to practice. where better to practice than with the security guards. they sat outside their shack and drank coffee around a small plastic table. i had a cup of coffee with them and told them about the play. they were interested and volunteered to help me rehearse. the larger guard was the old man selling the fruit and the smaller, younger man with the tall hat was the younger girl after much objection.

we sat under an old mango tree sipping strong iced coffee and reading from the script. they both got into their roles and even simulated the fruit with a large rock that they handed to me. the younger security guard even raised his voice a bit. they helped with my pronunciation and congratulated me with a slap on the back and a promise to pay for my coffee. i left.

it turned out that my brief flirtation with the vietnamese stage would not work out in the end. the play was actually going to be cancelled because it was impossible for me to fill the role. there would have to have been too much 'paper work' for the process to go along. so, there will be no play and i will not participate but, for one brief, glorious moment, i was going to stand on stage in front of hundreds of people in an open air pavilion and make them all love me. i would have been nervous walking out onto the stage with all the lights and the heat under the early moon but i would have done it and i would have done it with zeal. i would have been that small star hovering over a wooden platform in the middle of the plaza.