Beethoven 9?! Haiti- Day 10

 

Anna in Haiti- Day 10P7300099
  Well, Bernard left bright and early today, leaving Cynthia, Robert and I. Cynthia is a conductor and is just as nice as she can be. We are the only women left in our room and we laugh and joke as we stretch out and enjoy the space. Today, she is starting to teach a Suzuki camp here and I go to breakfast to the sound of little kids laughing and playing.
It turns out that Robert is really sick today, though. He has a fever and is staying in bed. I feel so bad for him. He has to go join the others in Jacmel in a few days, so he really needs to get better!!
  Since he is sick, I have all 8 lutherie students to myself, and I immediately commandeer the big dining table that we have all been eating on, spreading out all of my tools down the middle. This might have been really difficult had it happened a week ago, but the guys are all really putt-ing along with the rehairs, so I am able to watch them working and step in and correct them from time to time. We spend the morning laughing and I tell them all that tomorrow we are going to have a party. I want to do something nice for them for all of the hard work they have put in and Robert agrees, so we are treating them.
The regular time for lunch comes and goes and, knowing that I start teaching at 2:00, and that I have two bass students this afternoon, I finally concede that they are not serving lunch anymore. After all, there are only three of us here. So I head down to the market and pick up a loaf of bread and some cheese. I return and set it on the table telling all of the boys to make themselves a sandwich. They descend on it, literally devouring the entire thing in minutes. J I eat my cheese sandwich looking on with fondness. How did I get 8 Haitian sons between the ages of 17-30? J J Of course, at 2:30, Maline walks in with giant plates of food!! Turns out, we do get lunch, just at a later time. I snag a couple of extra forks and give it all to the guys. This, they devour also.
As the day wears on, I check on Robert from time to time, but mostly he sleeps. The doctor is coming to see him tomorrow and I am hoping he can help him. From time to time, a swarm of little children come in the room where we are working and Cynthia and the other violin teachers give group Suzuki lessons. There is a small cellist and from time to time, I jump up to fix his positions or adjust his rock stop. It really does take a village. J My favorite part of the day was when I looked down to see a little tiny violinist wearing a Findley Oaks tee shirt!! Findley Oaks is an elementary school near our violin shop in Atlanta and it is extremely random that here was one of their shirts!! I asked her where she got it, but she just looked at me with these giant, chocolate eyes. Oh well, I guess I will never know….. J
After all the excitement and energy of the day, I climb up on the roof for sunset. I miss Robert. We don’t have many more of these evenings left. However, Cynthia joins me and we chat softly about the upcoming concert that has just been sprung on her. The last movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. And no, I am not kidding. The real one, not some arrangement. In fact, I had just spent the better part of an hour teaching the principal bassist the Recitative, all the while praying that she wouldn’t ask me to play the Scherzo…..it has been 15 years since I performed it!! The cool thing is, these kids can play this. I just wish I were going to be here to hear it!!
   Cynthia and I went next door for dinner, having told Maline not to cook just for the two of us. We talked about conductors and music education and why she comes to Haiti. She, like several of the other volunteers, is at the height of a pretty impressive career, and I am so grateful that the students here are getting that caliber of education. We finally make our way home and climb the dark stair way.
     Man, this place is empty and it is feeling like it is time to go home.
Bonswa,
Anna

We’re Gonna Dance Upon This Earth!
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