Bow Making

Extreme Luthierism- Haiti Day 2

Haiti- Day 2
“Language Barrier? What language barrier!?”
I wake up early this morning feeling pretty bad. I am not sick or anything, I am just feeling so out of place. Two big trips, back to back, I think, was a mistake. Ecuador took so much out of me…..all in a wonderful, great way, but it left me feeling emotionally and physically depleted. Of course, I blame Njål and all my new Tango friends for the physical part!! 🙂 Anyway, I should know better than to come to a place like this so drained. When I woke up this morning, I just lay on that hard floor, with unbelievably loud noise coming in the open windows and thought, “Seriously, Anna….what the hell have you done”. I just feel so low.
  BUT……I am not so down that I have forgotten two things…..one, this is a life-time opportunity.
And two, I can be of real service here.
Oh, and a third thing….I asked for this.
  So…..I will work on my attitude and I will come around. I suspect by early afternoon, I will be my old cheery self again. 🙂
  For now, we are walking to the market down the street to change our US dollars into Gourds. We leave our house and immediately walk by a tent city. It is a bit overwhelming. There are people selling all kinds of things on the streets, and the atmosphere is somewhat chaotic! Traffic consists of tap-taps, cars, motorcycles and the occasional UN truck with machine guns on the back, all vying for the 2 free feet of space on the road. Steve, one of the violin teachers here is wonderful….he gently pulls me back each time I step out into the road. It will be a miracle if I don’t get run over!!
    The market was small, but interesting and had just about anything you could want…from rum to frozen Friday’s Potato Skins. My favorite part, however, was standing in front of the cleaning products with Rob and the others, studying the Ajax, furniture polish and muriatic acid. We are trying to figure out what we can use to clean instruments and bows, and I have to laugh when Robert turns to me and says, ‘This really is extreme luthier-ism!”
   I, for one, can see why this wouldn’t be for some luthiers!! But for me, this is great! I do love the whole, ‘fly by the seat of your pants’ thing.

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However, I do suspect that by the end of the week, I will be putting face plates on bows, using plastic milk cartons. My bow teachers may just die….. 🙂 🙂
  Oh well, off to fix some bows!!
  So, it turns out that I was right……..It is now almost six and I feel somewhat better. I spent the day teaching two men, Tchoupy and Reginald, how to rehair bows. Without any interpreter after lunch, it got really difficult!! When I originally sent off the email to volunteer for this, I said that I do not speak the language, but that that wouldn’t be a problem. My dad said to me, “don’t you mean that you HOPE that won’t be a problem?“. To which I replied confidently, “No, that will not be a problem”. Well, he might have had a point!! You try explaining the angles of a bow tip mortise using nothing but sign language and my questionable drawing skills!!
    And to top it all off, every time I try to say ‘Oui’ I say ‘Si’. I have a lot of gifts and talents, but languages is not one of them. And actually, a lot of people here don’t really understand my French so well. Could be because I haven’t spoken it in 20 years! But they all speak Kreyol which is now officially the hardest language I have ever attempted. It sounds like a cross between French and Swahili, which should make it fairly do-able for me, but the accent is really giving me a hard time. I will keep working on it!!
After dinner…..which for the record, they set out at 3:30, even though we do not eat til 7:30……..in 98 degree heat……. Needless to say, I am not touching the meat here!! 🙂
  Anyway…after dinner, almost the whole group went for a drink several blocks away at a kind of upscale place. It is strange, you walk by tent cities and it appears that there is abject poverty everywhere. Then, out of no where, there will be a really nice place. Everyone tells me that Petionville, which is where we are working, was the nicest suburb in Port au Prince. As a result, there are these anomalies tucked away….a wonderful hotel with a swimming pool, a beautiful restaurant, a little market. All I know is that if my mother and father could see me walking through the dark streets of Haiti at 9:00 at night, dodging motorbikes and rubble, they would NOT be happy. But I am one of 14 people so I feel pretty ok about it. 🙂
    Once again, for the umpteenth time in the last few weeks, I find myself sitting at a table with a big group of people laughing and talking over each other in different languages. I am sitting next to Bernard, a violinist my age from Paris and we are exchanging stories about traveling. He is wonderful, wonderful and offers to go with me to the market to buy some souvenirs. Between him and Steve, my traffic guardian, I feel like I am starting to have some friends here.
   My first full day in Haiti is finished and I am interested to see what the rest of it holds. For now, as I brush the millionth mosquito away, I just really hope I get home without malaria!! 🙂 🙂
Bonswa,
Anna

Pisco Sours and Tears- Anna in Ecuador- Day 9

Ecuador Day 9
    Well, inspiration or not, today I am not having the best day. In fact, I am having a really hard day and spend most of it just trying to smile and teach. I don’t know what is wrong with me, but maybe it is going around. The students seem edgy and Njål and I snap at each other before going off to our separate corners.P7220329
    As the day goes on, though, we all seem to settle down a bit. Most of the students have gone back to working on their violins today, while I am working with the two girls who are only doing bows. Both of them joined the class late, and neither of them had done anything with the violin class the week before, so I was happy to work with them. They both have come a long way and I am hoping that they keep rehairing bows after I leave.
We went to lunch with a couple of the students but I couldn’t eat much. I haven’t had much appetite here at all and today it is just gone. But the company was nice and I was reminded again how quickly my time here is coming to a close. Before that happens, though, tonight is going to be the highlight of my entire stay.
Tonight is the big concert and the FOSJE Orchestra is playing Tchaikovsky’s 5thSymphony. I am really, really looking forward to this. Not only do I adore the Tchaik, but I get to see some of our students perform. Tonight, for the first time ever, I made the connection between what I do with bow work and the actual performance, itself. You would think that I would have figured this out long ago….especially seeing as how I rehair my own bow!! But this week, I rehaired two of the musicians bows. They were in such terrible shape, and these people were playing at such a high level that I wanted to do their bows myself. When I saw them up there playing on them, I felt like I had made a true contribution to the performance and it felt really special.
    And, of course, I get to see Maestro Aizaga conduct. That, I am really excited about.! The concert started with the trombone choir. I am assuming that no one told them that we had plans to take their studio space because they played beautifully, as if they hadn’t a care in the world! J And then came the Tchaikovsky. As the opening theme flowed out of the orchestra, tears started pouring down my cheeks. Call it inspiration, call it beauty, call it what you will……I was just overcome. It felt like everything was swirling together….how lucky I was to be here, how wonderful Quito is, how proud I am of my students, how grateful I was for new friends, how amazing this program is, how alive I am feeling…..and the tears just kept coming until the applause began. It is a performance that I will never forget.
Afterwards, Njål and I were invited to go out with Patricio and a bunch of other people for a late dinner. We ended up at a fabulous Peruvian restaurant and before I knew it, I was ensconced in a huge, long booth between Njål and Belen. There must have been 25 of us all lined up at this table and as the Pisco Sours started coming, the talk and laughter got louder and louder. I switched back and forth between talking cello with Belen and chatting with Njål . When he said, “So….what did the Volturi do next?” I started laughing so hard that I couldn’t breathe. And interrupting from time to time to answer Patricio’s questions, or Belens observations, I finished filling Njål in on the final stories of the Twilight Saga. It was the perfect end to the week. J
   Tomorrow is one more day of teaching, but I leave in the evening, so this feels like a finale. And what a finale it is…..
Buenas Noches,
Anna

We’re Gonna Dance Upon This Earth!
www.traildames.com

Bow Class Fashion! Anna in Ecuador Day 8

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Ecuador Day 8
    This morning, in the cab going to the school, I remarked to Njål that I thing there is something very special about this place. I should be completely exhausted…..I have been running like crazy and getting by on 3-5 hours of sleep a night. There is no way that I should be feeling so alive! “It must be being so close to the equator,” I said. “No” he said with a smile. “It is inspiration” And I knew immediately that he was right. There was something magic happening here in Quito and I can feel it in my heart.
    The students are doing great, today! We have moved on to faceplates and all of the students are rehairing really well. Njål asks me if he can teach violin repair the following day, and even though I really hate to lose a day of instruction, I say yes. In all seriousness, he had a ton more to teach them and time is running out fast. Plus, I do have two student that are only doing bows, so I will continue to work with them.

The best part of class at this point is that we all know each other well, and are really comfortable with each other. Juliana comes to class in white pants…never a good idea when two of the guys are still sanding ebony fingerboards all over the place!! J So she fashions an apron out of a cello case and a big black trash bag. When she completes the look with a face mask, I can’t help but laugh. Yep, she really has turned out to be one of my favorite people here!

   Lunch was spent with Patricio Aizaga, (the director of FOSJE), his wife and some staff members. The plan is to discuss the future of the workshop in regards to FOSJE.. When Njål and I went to meet him, he was still rehearsing the orchestra, so I got a chance to see him at work. He is truly the most extraordinary conductor I have ever seen. Passion literally radiates out of him and you can feel that making music is a true partnership between him and the musicians. He was so captivating that I wanted to grab a cello or bass and jump in. I have never been that inspired by a conductor!!
Lunch ended up being wonderful, but we never did discuss the future of LSF and FOSJE. Instead, Patricio and I swapped stories about Indiana University, Gustavo Dudomel and different musicians we knew. The others may have been bored, but it was one of the most wonderful conversations I have ever had! J Later in the day, Patricio and his wife came to tour the workshop and Njål and I took him on an impromptu tour of the building. We have found the perfect workshop and the fact that it will displace the trombone studio is not of any concern to us at all. J J After assurances all around that there is a future for this project, we said our good-byes.
   Njål had to teach a quick Tango lesson to three of us at the school and then he and I headed to Café Libre for one final night of Tango. Several of the students are going to meet us there, but he and I are hoping to catch the last hour of the lesson that they offer first. We get there, I put on my ridiculous shoes that I bought for Tango, and Njål and I join in the lesson. The idea of Njål taking the lesson is ludicrous, but I am so glad that he did. I was so nervous that I was glad to have him to dance with. At least he won’t be surprised if I step on his toes!
   We dance two dances and I can’t seem to do anything right. I got worse and worse and finally, close to tears, I tell Njål that he needs to go find someone else to dance with. Someone who knows how. But he says no. So we keep dancing. But the teacher chooses that moment to make us all switch partners. I end up with a man who is obviously very unhappy to be paired with such a beginner. He kept barking terse dance instructions to me in Spanish and by the time the song ended, I had to step outside for some air.
 I don’t think I like Tango very much.
  I hid for the rest of the lesson and then joined out friends at the tables they had pulled together. Soon, Kathy showed up and I was so glad to see her! She is a wonderful dancer and I love to watch her. If I could ever dance like that, I would die of happiness!! J And, with her here, Njål can dance with someone that really knows what they are doing, so the evening is looking up. However, I am done dancing for the evening. I take one last turn around the floor with Juan Carlos, but my self esteem can’t take it anymore. I have spent a week stretching myself and being brave, I am done.
As the evening wound down, it came time for the final three songs of the evening. Njål walked over to me and held out his hand. You have got to be kidding me. I shook my head, but he said, “Come on.” With a sigh, I got up. The first few steps were dreadful and I thought I was going to cry right then and there. But Njål , always the teacher, said, “Just close your eyes and trust me.”. And like that, I was floating. I floated and spun and stepped and followed and before I knew it, the song was over. I looked at him with big eyes and couldn’t believe it. I just Tango-ed! The next two songs went by without me noticing…..I just closed my eyes and trusted him and Tango-ed. I probably looked ridiculous to an on looker, but I felt alive and confident and beautiful.
I think I love Tango.
Buenas Noches,
Anna

We’re Gonna Dance Upon This Earth!
www.traildames.com