`MARRROOOOSHKA`

Puerto Escondido, Oax. Mx.

Feb 2013

   

      Four of us 'extrenjeros' (foreigners) went in search of a funky and authentic Mexican experience and we were pleased to see that only Mexican families were lined up in front of the  blue vinyl circus tent. It  looked deceptively large from the outside, perhaps accentuated by the small bulbs of the  night `carnival` lighting.  To the left side of the queue under another canopy, cages of sad, sleepy  monkeys, a mangy lion and a shaggy miniature horse suggested a  not very PC  or generous treatment of the animals, a  circus surviving on the edge of their profit margin and  a culture that views animals as simply utilitarian. These were not adored indulged pets or surrogate children! 

        An ice cream salesman  with his wooden cart and galvanized container of three flavors worked the crowd waiting to enter the tent. A brightly painted  sign to the right of the entrance announced in Spanish, `The New Circus has arrived`  (Llego) Like dish-soap ads. ' New. Brand New.' 

      We entered through a vinyl cave-arch, with electric faux `torches` , passing the food concessions and men hawking cotton candy wrapped in plastic ( new) and pegged on wooden poles. Other hawkers carried  arm-loads of  illuminated, glowing and multi-colored light balls and tubes. It's a circus rave! 
The illuminated tubes were a big hit with the kids and they twirled them as we filed in. The cave smelled of 'Palomitas' ( popcorn) and sweat. Inside the big tent, the hot, humid, fetid  air hit you like an over-scale clown hammer.  The sawdust around the vinyl  floor medalion inside the `ring` reeked  of stale animal piss and cheese gone bad.  

      A surly looking carnie directed us to the bleachers, offering to rent us seating in plastic chairs adjacent to the ring for an extra twenty pesos. We foolishly declined, deciding to tough it out on the eight inch wide hardwood planks peppered with nail heads. The spartan planks served as both stairs and seating, once again utilitarian and funtional but incredibly uncomfortable and by American standards dangerous. Perched next to me was was a wide-eyed, frail, four-year-old Mexican finch. How many people per performance fall to the litter and cockroaches and we hope not rats below? No reclining upholstered, drink-racked American-Mall-theatre-chairs here.

      Brillint disco sparkles and specks of colored  lights circled and  traced the dark interior of the vinyl cone as the announcer and concession hawkers worked the crowd to buy buy buy for fifteen minutes. Glow tubes and balls twirled in the darkness and cotton candy racks floated through the main aisle like multi-headed apparitions.

       The show opened with a  clown act - a battle of wits between the clown and the 'circus employee'. The conflict was greased with a  mixture  slap-stick prat falls and   raunchy humor. Lots of humping and fart jokes.  But I did like the sequined baseball cap worn backwards. Very new and modern.

    A  young, plump Mexican ` Miss Sunshine` with   sequined tights opened the `serious` part of the show. She climbed on a trapese Ring and was hoisted up to the apex of the tent.. ´POQUITA ( little) MARRROOSHKA´ the announcer intoned importantly, rolling his ´R´s till March or April,  and  suggesting her exotic  Russian heritage. A Romanoff thrice removed? Or was she a flying Wallenda? Remarkable as she couldn`t have looked more Mexican or more local.  Who knew?  Mostly she posed and smiled pixie-like, although she did hang by her foot from a strap once.

    A hoola-hoop act followed, reminding me of a kids hoola-hoop birthday party I had attended in Idaho several summers ago. Our hoola-hoop-host them far exceeded the marginal talents of  the plump performer in seqinned tights before us now.Was that a sequinned octopus or a vase on her chest? Design motifs were as obsure as performance themes and objectives. The show was a disjointed blend of disco-fever, a grade school 'Primaria' fund raiser, Mexican children's theatre, unadulterated 'carnie' hucksterism and big-tent circus references considerably reduced.

    A four-month old lion cub was led out to the ring on a leash, opening the live animal portion of the show.  Kids, for ten pesos, were allowed to stand next to the cub  while their parents flashed pics and the cub swatted the trainer with its paw.  Better the trainer than the kids but that thought will eventually dawn on  the cub when it gets sufficiently bored with its trainer. The 'accident' will briefly make the news wedged between drug busts, American school shootings and auto accidents.
      We bowed out,  and monkeyed our way down the bleachers, our butts sore and our sensibilities not ready for what might follow with the animal acts.
Cirque de Authentic,  funky, fetid Mexican and local. And cheezie to the core!
Thank you 'MARRROOOSHKA'!, rolling his 'R's till 'Semana Santa' or the rainy season.

Abrazos

Esteban