After I finished the operation on top of Mt. Kilimanjaro, I returned to my quaint Spanish villa for a time of repose and healing from that hair raising safari. I tried to readjust to my old life of musty copies of Cervantes and Neruda, clementinas for breakfast and the occasional Flamenco, but failed, oh how I failed. I had been profoundly changed, and could never again go back to the vain and materialistic existence I once led. My days as child genius and secret agent extraordinaire were over. I had turned 14, and so was beggining the transition out of childhood, my missions had hindered my schooling leaving me much less of a prodigy, and an encounter with a 5 meter eel left me unable to perform the backflips and roundhouse kicks that were such a trademark of my work. I was now what you might call an average Jose. I needed a place to reinvent myself, a place where nobody would recognize me, where my enemies would not discover me. That place was in the middle of Northwoods America, Brattleboro, VT. I would move there and assume the identity of a High School student, and learn publicly once again. All I had to do was change the "S" in my name to a "W".

I found much that was satisfying in the life of the common man, but little that was riproaring amazing. I am afraid that my instinct for adventure was itching the roof of my soul once more,  it would not go away. In an Improv class offered at the NEYT lay hidden the key to my peace of mind. I had unsuspectingly signed up for this class taught by Robin Zegge, just as something to do. But then in that class all of a sudden the images of wrestling a rhino in my head were put to good use. I felt adventuresome. I also made many friends among the locals which I still cherish to this day. When the classes ended, one of my new friends suggested I try out for a play with him. Again I figured, just something more to do. But I was wrong, oh so wrong. I got into "Buried Child", and found a deep seated well of  passion for the theater that just started gushing out rivers. Through the theater I was able to work hard and have fun, something I hadn't experienced since that parlay in Nicaragua. I was able to be people I could never have been before in my old line of work, a drunk minister, an Indian father, a German professor, a crazy Psychiatrist, a lovesick pirate and an ex-civil war captain, among others. I have participated in (although didn't neccesiraly act in), 8 plays. The wonderful people here have taught me how to act, project, sew, build, light, stage-manage, be patient, take out a leatherman in under 5 seconds, get coffee, and be good friends. I have learned so much, I may become a genius again! Through the NEYT I have relieved my once unquenchable thirst for excitement, and more importantly, made enough friends to call Brattleboro my third home.

Thank you, to you and you and yuh

Andrew