Fun Fact No. 33:
Continuing my list of the 10 events of note that have happened recently:
5. Sing, sing, sing...
Last night was my second time to direct the Capella Tributo Harmonioso, a new choir (with small trio) in town. I've been playing with them and I am also playing with the main choir in Iquitos, Coro Polifonico de Loreto, but they needed a director and since I don't sing (apart from my Ethel Merman interpretations and the occasional Brazilian MPB number), I got the job. It's a lot tougher than I realized but it turned out well. Last night was even better than the first concert, and it helps tremendously that these people have amazing voices AND they are good musicians. They all read music extremely well and they can sightread on the spot. Plus they just have good ears. It turned out really well and we're going to start getting ready for the Valentine's gig. They want to sing "More Than Words" by Extreme, so we might just do an arrangement. We'll see...
6. Judge?
I was asked recently to judge a villancico competition at the school where I work with the orchestra. Villancicos are Christmas carols, basically, and there was one choir from each grade, the equivilent of K-12. They were really sweet, although some were terrible. There were three judges: me, Karim Ruiz, who plays the piano, and one of the nuns. We had to judge based on arrangement, intonation, rhythm, and overall presentation. It was kind of fun, and now I've been asked to judge various and sundry other artistic competitions.
7. Motorcycle
Well, I've done it. I've learned how to ride a motorcycle WELL and I've got what's basically a learner's permit. I just have to wait a week to get the official document and I'll be licensed to kill. Literally. However, driving a motorcycle with a clutch is a struggle because DAMN it hurts your hands and your wrist. I can only imagine the number of motorcyclists out there with carpel tunnel and whatnot. When I buy my motorcycle, I'll be sure to wear a wrist brace.
That's all for now. More tomorrow!
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Secret Language
Fun Fact No. 32: Christmas is celebrated on Christmas Eve. Yup, Christmas Eve is the big day, and Christmas is meant for hangovers. You eat with the fam, and then hit up the town. Nutty, huh?
Well, it has been an eventful past few weeks! I think I’m going to go ahead and do a “Top 10” just because otherwise this blog would be LONG. I’ll start with four for now and continue in the upcoming days. So here we go (with disclaimer: this is not necessarily the order of fun or enjoyment, just the best 10 of the recent past):
1. Christmas Spirit
In
2.
Meera got in on Monday, the 18th, and starting from that moment all we had was FUN. And who knew that
3. Skinny Mini & Starches
Who knew you could lose weight in
4. Secret Language
It was really wonderful having Meera here for a million reasons. Not only did we just have a wonderful time, but we also had a secret language: English. It was kind of fun to babble off in another language and no one understands. I know, it's cheating, but it was fun nonetheless.
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Choir Director
Fun Fact No. 31: People in Iquitos are ALWAYS late. It´s called the "hora loretana" or the Loreto Hour, which basically means that people are always late. And I´m not talking like 5 or 10 minutes. I´m talking an hour. And let me tell you how insanely AGGRAVATING that is. Well, it is.
On a lighter note than the last blog, I´m now directing a choir. Thank Jesus I took conducting in undergrad before dropping my music ed degree and pursuing ethnomusicology full time. Man, does that help. But it´s still scary stuff, especially this one piece that changes meters about ever other bar. But this choir is good, really good and so I´m learning quickly. Although it´s a bit nervewracking. And I love to sing in my car, but I haven´t sung in a choir since high school. Seriously. But good freaking experience! Damn, Gina, who knew all this music ed stuff and even Mozart would come in handy in the middle of the jungle? I´m loving it!
Also, I´m learning to play volleyball. I pretty much SUCK but I should be good, especially considering that I´m tall and I should be able to spike. Ha! Some friends of mine have taken me on as their little project and it´s kind of funny but if you can believe it, I actually improved about 100 times yesterday from Thursday. You should see me - it´s really funny. But I´m getting it.
We had the farewell party for Lars, Lilia, and César on Wednesday. We ate at Al Carbón, this fancy joint that serves mostly MEAT and lemme just tell you about the quantity I ate: TONS. I´m talking 2 pork chops, chorizo, 1/4 of a chicken, potatoes, and anticucho (grilled heart). I´ve lost almost 10 pounds since I´ve been here (I know, I have to work on putting on the pounds), so there was no guilt in gorging myself like a freak! Afterwards, we went to the hippest place I have seen in Iquitos: Nocoro, a little bar on the river. You take stairs down about two flights from street level and then you cross a bridge and you arrive in this beautiful, open bar with couches and lanterns, and moonlight. It´s just beautiful and it was the perfect spot for a relaxing party among intimate friends. Aunt Anita baked a pineapple upside down cake for the occasion, and we sang a song and drank beer and ate cake. It was so sweet. It was Lars, Lilia, César, Mario Luís, Mónica, Gloria (Mónica´s roommate) and Paco (Mónica´s friend visiting from Spain). It was just perfect.
On Thursday, there was a huge fiesta in Punchana, this really beautiful district of Iquitos that´s a little far from my house. It was for the Purísima (Super Pure) Virgin, and it was complete with beer, ferris wheels, food, and dancing AND (most importantly for me), a velada, or religious dance in front of the statue of the Purísima in a warehouse. Los Solteritos played and little old ladies danced back and forth with hankerchiefs. It´s not too much more complicated than that, but I really enjoyed myself. And it was the first time that Kathryn The Ethnographer came out of the closet, video camera and all. Kind of scary, but kind of fun once everyone realized that I´m in with the band!
Afterwards, I ran into one of the boys that works at the lumber store at home and we went dancing to Grupo Explosión, which was hilarious because there weren´t very many people there and the lead singer, Eduardo, was waving at me and blowing kisses, and the audience was like "what´s with the gringa?" Entertaining, at least.
Tonight we´re having a party for my friend who tried to commit suicide. We need to show her how much she is LOVED and how many friends she has. No one wants her to go all the way over the edge. Here´s hoping it´s a rip roaring success.
On a lighter note than the last blog, I´m now directing a choir. Thank Jesus I took conducting in undergrad before dropping my music ed degree and pursuing ethnomusicology full time. Man, does that help. But it´s still scary stuff, especially this one piece that changes meters about ever other bar. But this choir is good, really good and so I´m learning quickly. Although it´s a bit nervewracking. And I love to sing in my car, but I haven´t sung in a choir since high school. Seriously. But good freaking experience! Damn, Gina, who knew all this music ed stuff and even Mozart would come in handy in the middle of the jungle? I´m loving it!
Also, I´m learning to play volleyball. I pretty much SUCK but I should be good, especially considering that I´m tall and I should be able to spike. Ha! Some friends of mine have taken me on as their little project and it´s kind of funny but if you can believe it, I actually improved about 100 times yesterday from Thursday. You should see me - it´s really funny. But I´m getting it.
We had the farewell party for Lars, Lilia, and César on Wednesday. We ate at Al Carbón, this fancy joint that serves mostly MEAT and lemme just tell you about the quantity I ate: TONS. I´m talking 2 pork chops, chorizo, 1/4 of a chicken, potatoes, and anticucho (grilled heart). I´ve lost almost 10 pounds since I´ve been here (I know, I have to work on putting on the pounds), so there was no guilt in gorging myself like a freak! Afterwards, we went to the hippest place I have seen in Iquitos: Nocoro, a little bar on the river. You take stairs down about two flights from street level and then you cross a bridge and you arrive in this beautiful, open bar with couches and lanterns, and moonlight. It´s just beautiful and it was the perfect spot for a relaxing party among intimate friends. Aunt Anita baked a pineapple upside down cake for the occasion, and we sang a song and drank beer and ate cake. It was so sweet. It was Lars, Lilia, César, Mario Luís, Mónica, Gloria (Mónica´s roommate) and Paco (Mónica´s friend visiting from Spain). It was just perfect.
On Thursday, there was a huge fiesta in Punchana, this really beautiful district of Iquitos that´s a little far from my house. It was for the Purísima (Super Pure) Virgin, and it was complete with beer, ferris wheels, food, and dancing AND (most importantly for me), a velada, or religious dance in front of the statue of the Purísima in a warehouse. Los Solteritos played and little old ladies danced back and forth with hankerchiefs. It´s not too much more complicated than that, but I really enjoyed myself. And it was the first time that Kathryn The Ethnographer came out of the closet, video camera and all. Kind of scary, but kind of fun once everyone realized that I´m in with the band!
Afterwards, I ran into one of the boys that works at the lumber store at home and we went dancing to Grupo Explosión, which was hilarious because there weren´t very many people there and the lead singer, Eduardo, was waving at me and blowing kisses, and the audience was like "what´s with the gringa?" Entertaining, at least.
Tonight we´re having a party for my friend who tried to commit suicide. We need to show her how much she is LOVED and how many friends she has. No one wants her to go all the way over the edge. Here´s hoping it´s a rip roaring success.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Almost Suicide
Fun Fact No. 29: Peruvians (or at least the ones in the Amazon) love ceremony. If there is an opportunity for a speech (or 30) or a parade, rain or shine, these people are ON it! Often infuriating, but also endearing, ceremony is huge here.
Fun Fact No. 30: Hospitals in Iquitos don't provide sheets or toilet paper. Seems simple and very hospitally, right? Nope. Unless you want to sleep on a nasty mattress, bring your own sheets. If you want to go to the bathroom, bring your own damn TP. Good Lord, you would think a roll of toilet paper costs $376!
On Monday night, at around 10pm, a friend of mine here tried to commit suicide by eating rat poison (the brand is called Campeón, which means Champion. Ironic, right?). She's 21 years old, is a fourth year student in international business at the University, loves to dance, sing, and has a smile from ear to ear. Well, obviously, her smile might not always be for real, because she downed a good quantity of poison. According to the doctors, it wasn't enough to kill her, but certainly enough to make her seriously sick and to do permanent damage to her intestines and other organs. She was taken to the Regional Hospital after her dad took her to a local clinic and she'll be there for 3 days where she's under psychiatric supervision. We went to visit her yesterday in the hospital and considering the circumstances, she's doing well. She talks pretty openly about the whole thing, whereas my natural instinct is to make jokes and keep her laughing. She says she'll never do it again, but jeez, once you take rat poison you've gotta be hurting pretty badly, right? Her mom died about 3 years ago, and I guess she's been stressed out ever since with her dad and his new wife etc. etc. Sorry to start this blog off on a sad note.
Continuing on the depressing note, I met three Americans last night at the Texas restaurant. They are all really nice boys (2 from LA and 1 from Alabama), Mark, Scott, and Craig, and we had a great time just shooting the bull and relaxing. All of the sudden, Scott started telling me about his mom who died a little over a year ago. To start with, while these guys were really nice, they were also slightly frattier than I tend to get along with, so I was really surprised by Scott's candidness. I don't think I've ever spoken so openly about my mom's death with anyone, less a stranger who I've known for 15 minutes. But it was really nice. He was very open and was very intent on really talking about it, and it was actually pretty therapeutic. I used to always get peoples' email addresses when I traveled, afraid I would lose touch with them. And I usually did lose touch with them except for about 2 out of a hundred. Then I realized that maybe those people were meant to cross your path at that moment for just that moment, without need to try to maintain a friendship. I panicked the first few times I didn't get someone's email address, but now I'm much better about it. Scott is a prime example. I had a lovely time talking with him, and I'll never see him again in my life, and that's perfectly OK. Well, thanks Scott, I appreciate it. :)
On other notes, Lars leaves at the end of this week to do a Peru tour and then head back to Austin, which saddens me. Also, Lilia is heading back to Cusco at the end of this month, most likely to stay there. And Cesar is getting married at the end of this month, and although he'll be back, it'll be different. Our little group, Lars, Lilia, Mario Luis, Cesar, Monica and me is disintegrating and once again, I have to remind myself that everything happens for a reason and it's time for a new epoch here in Iquitos. Tonight we're going to have a combo bachelor party and going away party, cake and all, to celebrate the past two and a half months of fabulous friendship. And it really is friendship. Friendship happens a lot faster when you're in a crazy, foreign place and you kind of need to fill that space. It's been great.
A little sappy, this blog, but next time I'll tell you about the new choir I'm playing with, about how Meera is getting here in 2 weeks, my friend Tony may well do a Peruvian tour, and how I've been hired to do transcriptions. Crazy, right?
Fun Fact No. 30: Hospitals in Iquitos don't provide sheets or toilet paper. Seems simple and very hospitally, right? Nope. Unless you want to sleep on a nasty mattress, bring your own sheets. If you want to go to the bathroom, bring your own damn TP. Good Lord, you would think a roll of toilet paper costs $376!
On Monday night, at around 10pm, a friend of mine here tried to commit suicide by eating rat poison (the brand is called Campeón, which means Champion. Ironic, right?). She's 21 years old, is a fourth year student in international business at the University, loves to dance, sing, and has a smile from ear to ear. Well, obviously, her smile might not always be for real, because she downed a good quantity of poison. According to the doctors, it wasn't enough to kill her, but certainly enough to make her seriously sick and to do permanent damage to her intestines and other organs. She was taken to the Regional Hospital after her dad took her to a local clinic and she'll be there for 3 days where she's under psychiatric supervision. We went to visit her yesterday in the hospital and considering the circumstances, she's doing well. She talks pretty openly about the whole thing, whereas my natural instinct is to make jokes and keep her laughing. She says she'll never do it again, but jeez, once you take rat poison you've gotta be hurting pretty badly, right? Her mom died about 3 years ago, and I guess she's been stressed out ever since with her dad and his new wife etc. etc. Sorry to start this blog off on a sad note.
Continuing on the depressing note, I met three Americans last night at the Texas restaurant. They are all really nice boys (2 from LA and 1 from Alabama), Mark, Scott, and Craig, and we had a great time just shooting the bull and relaxing. All of the sudden, Scott started telling me about his mom who died a little over a year ago. To start with, while these guys were really nice, they were also slightly frattier than I tend to get along with, so I was really surprised by Scott's candidness. I don't think I've ever spoken so openly about my mom's death with anyone, less a stranger who I've known for 15 minutes. But it was really nice. He was very open and was very intent on really talking about it, and it was actually pretty therapeutic. I used to always get peoples' email addresses when I traveled, afraid I would lose touch with them. And I usually did lose touch with them except for about 2 out of a hundred. Then I realized that maybe those people were meant to cross your path at that moment for just that moment, without need to try to maintain a friendship. I panicked the first few times I didn't get someone's email address, but now I'm much better about it. Scott is a prime example. I had a lovely time talking with him, and I'll never see him again in my life, and that's perfectly OK. Well, thanks Scott, I appreciate it. :)
On other notes, Lars leaves at the end of this week to do a Peru tour and then head back to Austin, which saddens me. Also, Lilia is heading back to Cusco at the end of this month, most likely to stay there. And Cesar is getting married at the end of this month, and although he'll be back, it'll be different. Our little group, Lars, Lilia, Mario Luis, Cesar, Monica and me is disintegrating and once again, I have to remind myself that everything happens for a reason and it's time for a new epoch here in Iquitos. Tonight we're going to have a combo bachelor party and going away party, cake and all, to celebrate the past two and a half months of fabulous friendship. And it really is friendship. Friendship happens a lot faster when you're in a crazy, foreign place and you kind of need to fill that space. It's been great.
A little sappy, this blog, but next time I'll tell you about the new choir I'm playing with, about how Meera is getting here in 2 weeks, my friend Tony may well do a Peruvian tour, and how I've been hired to do transcriptions. Crazy, right?
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