So I realize that after my last blog post, it sounded like life was pretty bad for me here. And will concur that I had some pretty crappy days a few weeks ago. But after we determined what the problem with the biodigesters was, I got back on track and began enjoying life more.

In fact one of those resurrecting moments was going to a passion play held in Fazenda Novo, about 15 minutes from where the other SALTer, Mike works in Brejo da Madre de Deus. The passion play was held at a theater that is billed as the largest open-air theater in the world. It is actually an enormous area that is built to a scale of the old city of Jerasulem. And instead of presenting the play at a single stage, the actors moved from stage to stage around the area after each scence. Thus, the sets were permanent, the trees were real, and real horses brought Pilate into the city on a chariot. It was truly spectacular.

This manner of presenting the play was the most realistic I had ever seen. While I thought it would be odd to move from place to place during the play, I found it quite nice. If your view was obstructed in one place, you could either stand a little bit to the side, or just wait until the scene ended and try to get a better spot when you moved to watch the next scene. There also was something quite engaging about walking from one side of this miniature Jerasulem to the other while Jesus carried his cross the entire way.

The voices of the actors were recorded, but they had timed their lines so well that it was hard to tell from a distance. In the background of each scene, some music played, so it felt more like a movie than a play at times. But then, I was reminded that it was an actual outdoor theater when I could see actual lightning striking in the distance. Soon it began to rain, and people opened their umbrellas, but the story went on.

All in all it was a great night, and it gave me a good break from my work, while giving a very realistic interpretation of the death of Jesus.

Here is one set where you can see the detail involved. Here Pilate is arriving at his palace on a chariot.

Jesus hanging on the cross.