Day Five: Jessica and Priyanka

Today marked the day of extreme excitement – we would finally be able to go clowning. After a night of fun banter and pointless complaining (regarding the “Asian ladybugs” & wasps in our room), we woke up eager to wear our clown suits, hit the road, and spread happiness.

Jessica: Although living in New York City is exciting and the lights are oh so inspiring as Alicia Keys promises it to be, West Virginia is literally a breath of fresh air. Realizing that this is unfortunately already the fifth day of our trip, I attempted to wake up early to soak in the surrounding scenery and watch the sunrise. I woke up a little too late but was still able to have a morning walk while jamming out to U2’s old hits. Once my U2-inspired phase ended, something within me knew that today was going to be a jam-packed day of pure happiness and generosity. Perhaps it was because I walked into Jacob and Kim’s selfless act of making to-go lunches for our group, or perhaps it was because the goats didn’t attack me this morning as I fed them their hay. One by one, all of our group members began trailing into the farmhouse, dressed in their clown suits, and prepped up with red noses and Kool-Aid smiles.

Priyanka: Once again, another beautiful morning at Gesundheit! I can never get over how gorgeous this place is and how incredibly different it is from NYC and my home in New Jersey. Clowning day is always my favorite and I woke up incredibly excited. We got all ready to go, ties and tutu’s galore, and then hopped in cars to take the winding road to the VA hospital. HOWEVER, we had a very rude experience by one Alma who decided that she and her Gumby pants felt the need to exit my fabulous van and steal the walkie-talkie as well. She was punished by the silent treatment and Whitney Houston’s “It’s Not Right, But It’s Okay.” Except, it’s not okay. She owes me big time.

After breakfast, we followed Wildman, who was dressed in his best clown suit, up to Veterans Hospital. Staff members, visitors, and patients immediately greeted us in the hospital lobby. Robert, one of the hospital staff members who has worked with Gesundheit several times, hosted our visit and guided us towards patients, specifically Vietnam veterans, to visit. 

Jessica: Visiting the hospital was simply amazing. I’ve seen Patch Adam’s “clown tours” in documentaries, and I’ve always longed to not only participate in one, but also see the effects of participating in a clown visit. Upon our arrival at the hospital, our group’s effect was obvious right away. In the parking lot alone, visitors’ faces brightened as they saw our colorful outfits. And inside the hospital, this face-changing domino effect took an even greater toll. It was especially fulfilling to hear one of the residents sing “Amazing Grace” to all of us, as he was genuinely happy to express his singing ability in two different languages. Afterwards, we decided to sing it for him, and his happiness at that point was rapidly contagious. It was then that I realized that although Patch Adams interacts with patients through a comical approach, what the patients really need, is genuine interaction. A comical approach is a gateway to reach this interaction. For what it’s worth, it’s quite frankly a genius approach in my opinion.

Priyanka: I agree with Jessica wholeheartedly. The only separate experience that I had was seeing a few of the same people that I have seen for the past 3 years. I felt a mix of sadness and joy upon realizing that these people have still been here for that long, but joyful that I could chat with them again and maybe bring some momentary happiness to their day.

After failing to resist our Subway temptation, we returned back to Gesundheit. Because there was some free time available, we decided to get some much-needed rest, and then prepare for an evening skit. (For Hannah and Priyanka, this meant taking a nap. For all others, this meant bonding through leisurely laughing and intense Facebook stalking of our AB leaders….)

Jessica: One of our tasks here at Gesundheit was to prepare a skit regarding a social issue and presenting it to Wildman, his wife Elisa, and the two other university groups. Seems simple, right? Well, it was. After we got over rehearsal, which took several laughs to complete. Our skit was about a young girl revealing her homosexual identity to one of her friends and ultimately facing a compilation of challenges because of it. Though our skit was rather serious, we were able to sneak references from Mean Girls in it and poke fun at Kim, who was struggling to portray the right amount of “swag” for his character. No biggie though. We eventually got it right, after several (fun and loving) attempts.

Priyanka: I was really grumpy after my nap. So everything was a blur. Read Jessica’s blurb for the real story.

After a delicious dinner (thanks Manjiri!), each university presented a skit of a health/social issue present in our society. Not to be overly confident, but NYU received an encore, and we proudly performed twice!

As usual, our group gathered for reflection at the end of the day. We all participated in a “Step in, Step Out” activity.

Jessica: Rutgers and UMBC, I’m really happy for you and Imma let you finish, but NYU AB had the best performance of all time! OF ALL TIME!! Seriously though, after we performed our skit, a lot of students complemented our acting skills (was it an overwhelming Tisch influence maybe?). They seemed stunned by the simplicity, yet equal complexity of our skit. Elisa asked us to vote for the skit we all wanted to see again to work on through audience interaction, and our skit was quickly voted in. What I’m most proud of is not the fact that our skit was voted to perform again, but rather by the feedback we received regarding this complexity of our skit. Our play dealt with the complexity of identity, and because this complexity is so prevalent at our university more than others, this skit was definitely more than just a skit. It was a rich learning experience for a lot of students, and no matter how big or small this skit performance was, in some way or another, we really did positively impact our audience. And for that, I am forever grateful by the students that are participating in this AB trip. Now more than ever, I’m realizing that this group of twelve students is a group of great promise. We’re all diverse in our way, thus our complexity. Yet even so we all want to create an impact, thus our central purpose. And yes, I’m proud to say that this impact was successfully done this morning, evening, and will surely be further done in our individual future endeavors.   

Priyanka: I am so so so so so so proud of our group for the skit. They really beautifully portrayed a difficult situation and the rest of the groups responded well to it. Tonight’s reflection was also particularly important in my opinion. I want to thank everyone for their willingness to participate and to put themselves out there. This was one of the only times where I felt like I was in a truly safe space and wasn’t nervous to share my thoughts.