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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

We are not in Kansas anymore Haiti- Day 1

 

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Haiti- Day 1
  Well, I got up at 0’dark thirty and headed back to the airport. Wasn’t I just here?! In any case, it is time to go to Haiti!!! I am half excited, half scared and 100% unsure of myself. I have a sneaky suspicion that this time, I may just have bitten off more than I can chew!! Oh well, it is too late to turn back now!
My flights were fairly uneventful and late afternoon found me on a plane packed to the gills with church missionary groups all in matching Tee-shirts. You want to know who, six months later, is still coming to Haiti? Missionary groups!! I have to say, I was pretty impressed, although if the looks I got when I ordered a gin and tonic are any indication, they weren’t so impressed with me. J
   When we finally landed, my anxiety went up a few notches. The original airport is condemned…something about big cracks in it from the earthquake. So we had to depart the plane, get on a bus and travel to a temporary terminal. We got off of the bus and walked into a huge warehouse-like room full of a million people, all talking loudly over one another and sweating in the 98 degree heat. I quickly got through the first wave of immigration, (now I have a cool ‘Haiti’ stamp in my passport!) and immediately was swarmed by men. Some guy grabbed my ticket and carry- on, admonishing me to ‘wait right her’ and took off through the crowds. I stood there in shock and realized that some guy had my luggage info and I had no idea who he was!!! He had a badge of sorts, so I felt like there was a good chance that he was supposed to be there, but I couldn’t have picked him out of a line-up if my life depended on it!!! So I dove into the crowds that were circling the big pile of luggage that was being unloaded. He saw me and came back, saying, “wait here, wait here”. I tried to explain that both my huge bags were black and that he didn’t have a snowballs chance of finding them in all of the other black luggage, but before I had a chance, he was back with my bags. I finally get the idea that this is a tip-driven system and dig through my bags for some money. By the time I get through everything I have gone through three porters and am $10 lighter. J
  As the second porter deposited me in front of the customs woman, she looked at me stonily and pointed at my big giant black bag. “What is that?” she said. “Umm…tools for rehairing bows?” This was the part I had been dreading. All of the news in the US had been talking about the fact that Haiti was charging a tax on all relief supplies being brought into the country and that they were seizing stuff left and right. I had an itemized list with values on it, but who is to say if they will believe me? This was fairly obscure stuff I had here!!
I immediately pulled out a letter that Robert Cain, the fellow luthier, had prepared for us. It explained who we were, what we were doing and where, all in Kreyol, the local language. She read the letter, studied me for a moment and said, “Thank you, enjoy your stay in Haiti”.
!!!!!!! I can’t believe it!!!!
I am so happy to not have to pay the tax. I had the money set aside, but anything that I do not have to pay to the government, I can donate to the St. Trinite Music program, so I am ecstatic. J
My relief and joy quickly disappeared when I exited the building and found myself in front of a chain link fence holding back hundreds of men shouting at me. “Taxi?! Taxi?!” they said. Or, ‘Sister, do you need a hotel?!?! “ The sun is beating down on me and I do not see anyone with a little white sign saying ‘Anna Huthmaker-Bow Queen’ on it. One of the men looked at me and said that if someone was there to meet me, I had to walk a block down the side walk to meet them. Hmmm…..I don’t know about this. That looks as if you are leaving the relative safety of the airport. He saw the reluctance on my face and shrugged, saying that it was the truth and that I didn’t have to believe him if I didn’t want to. Oh well….in for a dime, in for a dollar. Off I went, down the sidewalk.
   Luckily, I soon heard my name being called and looked up to see three volunteers from Appleton University in Wisconsin. Sarah, Sarah and Jordan were huddled in the shade waiting for me and Keith, a band director from Connecticut, and before long we were being bundled into two vehicles and heading out of the airport. Everyone else is in a van and I am in a pickup truck with a strange man that doesn’t speak any English. As he lurches out of the airport into the Haitian traffic, the full effect of where I am hits me. We immediately pull onto a road that is teeming with drivers that are accelerating and braking with all of the energy of Salmon swimming upstream. There are cars everywhere honking and vying for space, most of which seem like it is there personal mission to drive everyone else off the road. I am not kidding when I say that pedestrians are jumping out of the way for their lives and the wild dogs that are everywhere seem to have a canny sense for how to dodge the insane traffic.
The heat is stifling and the smells….well, they are terrible. We drive next to a giant tent city and all I can see are people everywhere, cars everywhere, trash and poverty everywhere. As we drove past devastated buildings I feel my chest constrict. I truly feel like I have entered hell.
    I took a few deep breaths and told myself that I had that length of this drive to be overwhelmed. But that when we got to the church, I had to pull it together. As it was said to Frodo in the Lord of the Rings, “You can’t get anywhere by being shocked and sad”. And I wasn’t going to be that girl…the one that dissolved into tears every time she saw something terrible. That is not what the people of Haiti need, and if I am going to make it here, that is certainly not what I need.
  We drove for about a half hour through tiny, winding streets full of so much smog, noise and trash that I thought I would go crazy. However, we finally pulled up in front of a church behind the van full of my new friends and started to haul our stuff in. As we shoulder our way through the men standing in front of the door, I wonder if it is as dangerous as it feels. I am so unsure about everything at this point that I am pretty sure that my head will explode!!
  But we all make it inside and into our respective rooms with no incident. Everyone is super nice to me, coming up to introduce themselves. I frantically try and remember names and wonder how soon I can actually just go to bed, without being rude. However, a quick invitation to go next door to the hotel for a beer turns into a nice evening getting to know the other volunteers and when I finally do unroll my sleeping pad on the floor of the office that I am sharing with four other women, I breath easier. This won’t be so bad…….
Bonswa,
Anna

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

Good-byes- Anna in Ecuador Day 10

 

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Ecuador- Day 10
   Well, my final day has come and the exhaustion has finally hit me! I feel like I have been hit by a truck….but in a good way. J I have to pack up quickly this morning because I will not be coming back here before my flight this evening. Yesterday, Lizbeth and the family left to go to the beach, so the house is quiet as I throw everything into suitcases. I lug my bags the two blocks to the main road to catch a cab to the school.
  Njål had an early appointment at the church so the ride to school was quiet. They have a famous instrument from the 16th century that they have invited him to see. The Vihuela is actually a relic of the church, having belonged to Saint Mariana, the first patron saint of Quito, so it is a huge honor that they are letting him see it.
When I get to class, everyone is puttering along, working quietly. I lay my head on the work table and tell myself that I just have to stay awake for 12 more hours, then I can sleep on the plane. We didn’t leave the restaurant until after 2 am and when I got home I was too wired too sleep so that five hour plane ride this evening is looking great! J
  Before lunch, Njål came back and told me about seeing the Vihuela. It turns out that the priests were very, very nervous about letting him near it, despite the credentials he has. I am hoping that this first meeting will make them more comfortable so that he can study it more in the future.
  We went to lunch with Amelia and Phillipe, but it was a quiet affair, with all of us a little subdued. Amelia and Phillipe are the two musicians whose bows I rehaired for the concert last night. They are both great, great musicians and they are tired from the concert as well. They also were the two others that had a Tango lesson with me a few nights ago. They are so much fun! They are young and terribly, completely in love and all week long, Njål and I would look at them and then look at each other, shaking our heads and smiling. They have been a blast to hang out with and I will really miss them!
The afternoon sped by and before I knew it, class was done, good-bye hugs all around. Njål and I decided to go to dinner before heading to the airport and ended up sharing a pizza in friendly silence. I will miss him most of all…..he has been such a great friend. He has been patient and let me be me, even when my ‘me’ wasn’t all that great. J Ecuador truly wouldn’t have been the same without him.
  We finished our pizza and wine, took a cab to the airport, hugged good-bye and I got on a plane. As the engines revved to life, I found myself swirling one more time……happiness, gratitude, joy and pride. Really, who could ask for better souvenirs. J
  Once I get home, I have 22 hours to prepare for my next adventure, Haiti. All I know is if it is a tiny fraction as great as Ecuador has been, it will be wonderful.
Buenas Noches,
Anna

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

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