Hey - I'm in Australia now and will be writing a new blog about my travels here. I'll update it as much as possible. New address is http://ellieaustralia.blogspot.com
Keep in touch everyone, and enjoy! X
Tuesday, 26 May 2009
Tuesday, 28 April 2009
Home time 28/4/09
Another week? Wow how time flies... So here's a quick catch up - Wed was teaching then we set off to Jenny and Jessy all ready to say our goodbye to the kids only to find they're on holiday and no one told us! So that was a bit annoying, and quite sad we couldn't say goodbye. The headmaster was there so hopefully he'll say goodbye from us. Went to Cantori in the evening -was meant to go to the salsa club but realise far too late that it started at 6.30 (Cantori starts at 7.30) so that didn't happen which is abit of a shame coz that would have been fun!
Thurs I taught in the morning then had our test at beauty school in the afternoon! This was basically setting up and finding a client and doing the whole pedicure procedure without our instructions. I think we both did ok though I know I missed out a couple of steps of the leg massage but our teacher says she'll send our certificates in the post! After that it was the informal concert which actually went really well. I had both Charlotte playing the Elephant and Michael playing Hungarian Stomp in it which both went great - I'm so proud of them! Michael and I also played 2 Mozart duets which went ok. Carys played with one of her Oboe students too. Very successful concert!
Fri both students morning students rearranged for the afternoon so hung around til the Meeting at 12 which was long and boring. Then did my teaching. In the evening we made a last minute plan to ge as many teachers and staff from KMS to go out for an evening of Pork which was great fun, and very delicious! The evening ended with lots of dancing and lots of fun was had by all! Even Mr Yiga (the director of the school) turned up for the meal! Lots of laughs and smiles.
Sat Junior Orch didn't happen again. But I did teach Francisca for the last time! She's doing ok and she gave me a necklace which is lovely! In the afternoon/evening me, Francis, Julie, Ben , Carys and Monikah set off to the beach at Entebbe where there was swimming (well it's Lake Victoria really so not a proper beach...) , food (though not enough choice so we ended up getting more food once we were back to Kampala!) and dancing. Again good fun, and most importantly I think Carys had a good last night here! It's weird to think she's already in London.
Sunday got up and Julie had invited me round for Carys' final breakfast. She made scrambled eggs, and fruit salad and it was all very yummy and with some very good coffee too! Had to leave before Carys was on her way as it was the final monthly lunch, though this one was even bigger than normal because one of the main ladies and her family are moving to Egypt so it was a bit of a going away party too. Sunday was a day of lots of eating! And it was even nicer coz the whole family came, including Siya, Fatu and Mohammed who don't normally go to these things so I got some nice snaps. It was once we got back from that that I finally took my hair out! Took such a long time (like 2hrs, though I was doing it on my own..) and I must admit my hair looked pretty cool once it was all out. Mega wavy and fun. Felt so nice to wash it though. Clean silky smooth hair! Lovely.
Yesterday (Monday) was a weird day coz I didn't actually have to go to school as I wasn't teaching. Went round to Julie's to copy some of her cool Ugandan music cd's then off to buy a few last minute things, incuding a few things to give the family. Mainly along the music theme to remind them of me! It's going to be so hard to say goodbye, which will probably happen later this evening coz I leave mega early tomorrow. Yesterday was also Francis's birthday (who was very sad that Carys missed it by one day!) so we went to this place that did delicious coffee and cake for a little celebration. They don't celebrate birthdays as much as we do... He probably wouldn't have done anything had we not persuaded him too!
And today. My last day. I'm surprised I haven't cried yet! Was feeling all emotional this morning when I was talking about leaving and getting to the airport with Manding (my adopted Mummy). They've been so nice to me. But Ben has volunteered to drive me to the airport (despite the ridiculously early hour of the morning) which will be nice to have a friendly face to say goodbye to instead of a taxi driver... So I've done quite a lot of teaching today - Disan, then Michael, then Soloman, then Charlotte. They're all doing well and I've been handing out my email address for people to keep in touch! I'm really very bad at goodbyes. Literally took me about 2hrs to leave school today coz I was saying goodbye to people! Now I must get busy with packing then saying my sad farewells to this fabulous family.
Just to say I'm going to continue using this blog address to document my adventures in Australia (leaving 24th May) so keep watching this space!
Bye from Uganda! I'm going to miss the place and the people so much!
Thurs I taught in the morning then had our test at beauty school in the afternoon! This was basically setting up and finding a client and doing the whole pedicure procedure without our instructions. I think we both did ok though I know I missed out a couple of steps of the leg massage but our teacher says she'll send our certificates in the post! After that it was the informal concert which actually went really well. I had both Charlotte playing the Elephant and Michael playing Hungarian Stomp in it which both went great - I'm so proud of them! Michael and I also played 2 Mozart duets which went ok. Carys played with one of her Oboe students too. Very successful concert!
Fri both students morning students rearranged for the afternoon so hung around til the Meeting at 12 which was long and boring. Then did my teaching. In the evening we made a last minute plan to ge as many teachers and staff from KMS to go out for an evening of Pork which was great fun, and very delicious! The evening ended with lots of dancing and lots of fun was had by all! Even Mr Yiga (the director of the school) turned up for the meal! Lots of laughs and smiles.
Sat Junior Orch didn't happen again. But I did teach Francisca for the last time! She's doing ok and she gave me a necklace which is lovely! In the afternoon/evening me, Francis, Julie, Ben , Carys and Monikah set off to the beach at Entebbe where there was swimming (well it's Lake Victoria really so not a proper beach...) , food (though not enough choice so we ended up getting more food once we were back to Kampala!) and dancing. Again good fun, and most importantly I think Carys had a good last night here! It's weird to think she's already in London.
Sunday got up and Julie had invited me round for Carys' final breakfast. She made scrambled eggs, and fruit salad and it was all very yummy and with some very good coffee too! Had to leave before Carys was on her way as it was the final monthly lunch, though this one was even bigger than normal because one of the main ladies and her family are moving to Egypt so it was a bit of a going away party too. Sunday was a day of lots of eating! And it was even nicer coz the whole family came, including Siya, Fatu and Mohammed who don't normally go to these things so I got some nice snaps. It was once we got back from that that I finally took my hair out! Took such a long time (like 2hrs, though I was doing it on my own..) and I must admit my hair looked pretty cool once it was all out. Mega wavy and fun. Felt so nice to wash it though. Clean silky smooth hair! Lovely.
Yesterday (Monday) was a weird day coz I didn't actually have to go to school as I wasn't teaching. Went round to Julie's to copy some of her cool Ugandan music cd's then off to buy a few last minute things, incuding a few things to give the family. Mainly along the music theme to remind them of me! It's going to be so hard to say goodbye, which will probably happen later this evening coz I leave mega early tomorrow. Yesterday was also Francis's birthday (who was very sad that Carys missed it by one day!) so we went to this place that did delicious coffee and cake for a little celebration. They don't celebrate birthdays as much as we do... He probably wouldn't have done anything had we not persuaded him too!
And today. My last day. I'm surprised I haven't cried yet! Was feeling all emotional this morning when I was talking about leaving and getting to the airport with Manding (my adopted Mummy). They've been so nice to me. But Ben has volunteered to drive me to the airport (despite the ridiculously early hour of the morning) which will be nice to have a friendly face to say goodbye to instead of a taxi driver... So I've done quite a lot of teaching today - Disan, then Michael, then Soloman, then Charlotte. They're all doing well and I've been handing out my email address for people to keep in touch! I'm really very bad at goodbyes. Literally took me about 2hrs to leave school today coz I was saying goodbye to people! Now I must get busy with packing then saying my sad farewells to this fabulous family.
Just to say I'm going to continue using this blog address to document my adventures in Australia (leaving 24th May) so keep watching this space!
Bye from Uganda! I'm going to miss the place and the people so much!
Tuesday, 21 April 2009
21/4/09
So last update was Friday...Saturday was final rehearsals with Sam and Julie and coming home to practice afterwards. Also was a day of settling back into my own 'house' now the guests have left. Though I've barely unpacked - it seems a bit pointless as I have so little time left but I'm going to have a big empty of the suitcase and decide what to throw away day, maybe at the weekend.
But down to the exciting stuff - it was our Visiting Teachers Concert on Sunday, us 4 shared with Marcel Worms who has been doing masterclasses at KMS the past week. He did the first half and we did the 2nd. He's an awesome pianist. Basically he's got a project called 'New Blues' where he's got composers from all round the world to compose his a piece expressing their version of the blues from that country. So there was some awesome harmonics stuff, one where he had a shaker attached to his ankle and a drum between his knees and played all three (inc the piano) simutaneously! Amazing stuff! Our half was after a drinks break and it went pretty well. Only one little slip up in my solo which is a bit annoying but sort of to be expected I guess. And the duets went well. And we ended up playing 2 jazz encore pieces which is a very good sign! So all good fun. At the end Mr Yiga gave his usual speech except this time it was more interesting because he thanked each of us personally and Julie, Carys and I (the ones that are leaving) all got given presents! I got a gorgeous pair of earrings and a really soft lovely shawl, Carys got flip flops (people always make fun of her shoes!) and Julie, a bag. It's so nice that they got us individual things. Afterwards we all went out for pork which was yummmy! So it was a good day and fun evening.
Monday morning I was up quite early to go to the salon where I got my hair braided! Was quite painful and took a long time, but I'm finally getting used to it... It would surprise me the whole day yesterday when I saw my reflection. But toda someone said I look like Alicia Keys which makes me feel better! Not sure it will stay in until I get home as there are a couple that the knots have already started to come undone but we'll see. In the evening Marcel was doing a full cncert at the French Ambassadors again, basically played the same as Sunda but with some more. He's so fantastic! I'm definitely going to try to get some of his cds off the internet. One of those cncerts that you leave with a real buzz. Had to pinch myself that I was still in Uganda - could had been at Wigmore again! And today - just teaching this morning and relaxing/sorting out photos etc for the rest of the day. Also beginning to start thinking about my packing. Wow it's getting so close! Lots of fun to be had before then!
But down to the exciting stuff - it was our Visiting Teachers Concert on Sunday, us 4 shared with Marcel Worms who has been doing masterclasses at KMS the past week. He did the first half and we did the 2nd. He's an awesome pianist. Basically he's got a project called 'New Blues' where he's got composers from all round the world to compose his a piece expressing their version of the blues from that country. So there was some awesome harmonics stuff, one where he had a shaker attached to his ankle and a drum between his knees and played all three (inc the piano) simutaneously! Amazing stuff! Our half was after a drinks break and it went pretty well. Only one little slip up in my solo which is a bit annoying but sort of to be expected I guess. And the duets went well. And we ended up playing 2 jazz encore pieces which is a very good sign! So all good fun. At the end Mr Yiga gave his usual speech except this time it was more interesting because he thanked each of us personally and Julie, Carys and I (the ones that are leaving) all got given presents! I got a gorgeous pair of earrings and a really soft lovely shawl, Carys got flip flops (people always make fun of her shoes!) and Julie, a bag. It's so nice that they got us individual things. Afterwards we all went out for pork which was yummmy! So it was a good day and fun evening.
Monday morning I was up quite early to go to the salon where I got my hair braided! Was quite painful and took a long time, but I'm finally getting used to it... It would surprise me the whole day yesterday when I saw my reflection. But toda someone said I look like Alicia Keys which makes me feel better! Not sure it will stay in until I get home as there are a couple that the knots have already started to come undone but we'll see. In the evening Marcel was doing a full cncert at the French Ambassadors again, basically played the same as Sunda but with some more. He's so fantastic! I'm definitely going to try to get some of his cds off the internet. One of those cncerts that you leave with a real buzz. Had to pinch myself that I was still in Uganda - could had been at Wigmore again! And today - just teaching this morning and relaxing/sorting out photos etc for the rest of the day. Also beginning to start thinking about my packing. Wow it's getting so close! Lots of fun to be had before then!
Friday, 17 April 2009
17/4/09
Ok so another week has nearly passed with no updates. What have I been doing? Well there was Easter. That was fun. In the morning I went with Manding and Sukai (the guest mum) to a craft market which was closing that day so everything was very cheap. As a result bought far too much! Wow how my suitcase is going to suffer! Had the chocolate bunny hunt in the afternoon which everyone enjoyed, including the adults as it's a tradition they'd never seen before. In the evening we all went to the Ndere Centre which has a traditional cultural evening every Sunday with traiditonal dance and food. Was a great evening. The dancing and drumming are amazing! Ended with these women dancing with up to 8 clay pots on their head!! Wow.
Monday was a less exciting day full of practice and swimming and general relaxingness before going back to school the next day. This week has been very full of rehearsals what with the concert coming up on Sunday! Tuesday was my second rehearsal with Paul the pianist and it didn't go great. But he's practised since then so i'm feeling a lot more confident! Also have had rehearsals with Sam and Julie which are going fine and should be a success in the concert. It was Kampala Cantori on Tues night (not Wed) because George who is an organ teacher - only came out for about 2 weeks (he left today actually) was doing a recital at Nariembe Cathedral on Wed. We sung an arrangement of 'In the Jungle the mighty Jungle...' which was fun. Jenny and Jessy was cancelled on Wed becuase they had exams which was fine because it gave us more time for reheasing. The organ recital was great. I don't think I've ever actually been to an organ recital and this one was definitely one to remember because there was a power cut in the middle of one of the pieces! It was quite fun though - the lights went out one by one from each end of the cathedral, ending with the light on the organ. A bit like it might happen in a horror film or something! The rest of the week has been more rehearsing and teaching. And beauty school where we're just perfecting manicures and pedicures really. Today Carys gave Julie a manicure while I gave her a pedicure - talk about being pampered! Our teacher also announced that next week (our last full week here) we will be having an exam and then will post us our certificates! How exciting. Better get revising I guess! Last night we (me, Carys, Sam and Julie) were invited to dinner by George at the house of the people he's staying with which was lovely. Had mint choc chip ice cream and cookies and cream! What luxury! So that was nice. That's basically my week in brief...not that exciting and just lots of preparations for the concert. Oh - Marcel Worms (the guy from Holland who we're sharing half our concert with) has arrived and has been giving masterclasses to the piano students. They are very interesting and I'm sure will be a great help to those who are taking exams - there are a few grade 8 piano students going in for exams this year I think so it's great he's here now becuase they have a good length of time to work on the pieces...
My departure date is getting closer and closer. I'll probably only have time for 1 or 2 more entries - I'll definitely update it with how the concert goes! It is going to be very sad to leave. I'd like to come back in the future and see how the school has developed. It will be nice to get home and see people though. What a fantastic experience it has been! Bye for now, hope you all had a lovely long easter weekend! We had English bank holiday weather here - rained most of the weekend but has been very hot this week! Typical!
Monday was a less exciting day full of practice and swimming and general relaxingness before going back to school the next day. This week has been very full of rehearsals what with the concert coming up on Sunday! Tuesday was my second rehearsal with Paul the pianist and it didn't go great. But he's practised since then so i'm feeling a lot more confident! Also have had rehearsals with Sam and Julie which are going fine and should be a success in the concert. It was Kampala Cantori on Tues night (not Wed) because George who is an organ teacher - only came out for about 2 weeks (he left today actually) was doing a recital at Nariembe Cathedral on Wed. We sung an arrangement of 'In the Jungle the mighty Jungle...' which was fun. Jenny and Jessy was cancelled on Wed becuase they had exams which was fine because it gave us more time for reheasing. The organ recital was great. I don't think I've ever actually been to an organ recital and this one was definitely one to remember because there was a power cut in the middle of one of the pieces! It was quite fun though - the lights went out one by one from each end of the cathedral, ending with the light on the organ. A bit like it might happen in a horror film or something! The rest of the week has been more rehearsing and teaching. And beauty school where we're just perfecting manicures and pedicures really. Today Carys gave Julie a manicure while I gave her a pedicure - talk about being pampered! Our teacher also announced that next week (our last full week here) we will be having an exam and then will post us our certificates! How exciting. Better get revising I guess! Last night we (me, Carys, Sam and Julie) were invited to dinner by George at the house of the people he's staying with which was lovely. Had mint choc chip ice cream and cookies and cream! What luxury! So that was nice. That's basically my week in brief...not that exciting and just lots of preparations for the concert. Oh - Marcel Worms (the guy from Holland who we're sharing half our concert with) has arrived and has been giving masterclasses to the piano students. They are very interesting and I'm sure will be a great help to those who are taking exams - there are a few grade 8 piano students going in for exams this year I think so it's great he's here now becuase they have a good length of time to work on the pieces...
My departure date is getting closer and closer. I'll probably only have time for 1 or 2 more entries - I'll definitely update it with how the concert goes! It is going to be very sad to leave. I'd like to come back in the future and see how the school has developed. It will be nice to get home and see people though. What a fantastic experience it has been! Bye for now, hope you all had a lovely long easter weekend! We had English bank holiday weather here - rained most of the weekend but has been very hot this week! Typical!
Saturday, 11 April 2009
11/4/09
Wow it's been a whole week. Sorry!
So last weekend was basically just relaxing and catching up with practice etc. Manding got back from Dubai also so the shop is now very full of lots of amazing clothes, shoes, jewellery. It's been pretty busy in the shop (in the garage) since then.
Monday I finally manged to collect my passport from Internal Affairs which is good! Went to school and discovered we have to make changes to our Visiting Teachers Concert. Basically there's a guy called Marcel Worms who is coming out here (soon I think) to do piano mastercalsses and lessons and who aslos wants to do a concert so our concert has been chopped in half so he can have the other half. Bit of a shame because we've had to cut all the ensembles (Kampala Cantori singing the Faure and the cello ensemble) which is quite sad but the idea of it is so that our students can see how we play so we've kept all the solo's. Less organising for us I suppose but still lots of practice necesary! We're keeping mine and Sam's duets and Carys, Julie and I are now doing a movement of a Mozart Piano Trio (Carys on piano) so we've been rehearsing that a bit. Had beauty school in the afternoon. We're basically just trying to perfect our pedicure/manicure procedures now. Time's running out to learn more!
Tuesday was just teaching really. Charlotte (to make up for missing a lesson on Good Friday, day off!), Michael and Soloman. Nothing that exciting to report. They're all doing well. And I told them all to practice more - especially the boys! Wednesday was Charlotte again. Her scales and sight reading are good. George, the guy here for 2 weeks teaching organ, is doing aural classes too for each grade which she's been going to. She's doing Grade 5 piano so I'm hoping going back to Grade 1 aural tests won't be too much of a problem! And her pieces are coming along. Slurs getting there, though she finds them hard. It was then general hanging around and eating before waiting for Teddy to go to Jenny and Jessy (Carys wasn't going because she has/had mega sore throat/no voice). Eventually it was getting late so I spoke to her on the phone only to discover she was already there! She thought we were still away coz we were last week! So that didn't happen. But I decided to hang around becuase I was teaching later and thought it would be slightly pointless to go home for like an hour. Did a bit of playing random stuff with Fred as well as just general hanging and chatting to people and playing our trio (minus Julie so not very effective) before receiving a text from Julius, 5 minutes before his lesson saying he wasn't coming. I was so angry! Had just wasted an entire day waiting for him! What an annoying boy. So I went home and destressed before Cantori where we sing the Faure (even though it's not in the concert) and some Madrigals George had brought. So that was a bit of a pointless day. Oh well.
Thursday morning when I came for breakfast, Siya told me I had to pack everything and move out of my room because there is a family here for a week over Easter. This was about 9.15 and I was meant to be teaching at 10 so I literally threw all my stuff into my suitcase to move into the main house. Mohammed has been moved out of his room so I am now sharing with Khadijah (age 8). It's pretty fun being part of the mian house really! Feeling even more part of the family now! I was actually late for school but that was fine coz Disan didn't come. I practiced instead! Concert's so close! Taught Michael - we played some Mozart duets which was quite fun. I think he enjoyed doing something different but I will try to start him on a new piece before I leave so he can continue to work on something. Next was my first rehearsal with my pianist, Paul. Wasn't great as I'm sure most first run though's with the accompaniment are, but at least he now knows the tempos and rubato places etc and we're going to rehearse every day next week so it should be fine. We both need to do some private practise too! Lunch, and then beauty school. Manicure practice this time which we hadn't done in a while. My fingernails are growing to anyone who cares! Someone also did our eyes with some very cool makeup too. And we've been offered free facials - oh the perks of going to beauty school! Was meant to be teaching Francisca who wanted to play in the informal concert that evening, but neither of those happened and we had a good rehearsal on our trio. Then it was time to say goodbye and happy easter to everyone at school!
Yesterday was not a hugely exciting day. Just relaxing and practicing and playing with the many kids that are here now, which is what i'm sure will be the story for the next few days. I went for a bit of a walk to do a bit of shopping - have bought the (4) kids little easter bunnies which I might hide in the garden tomorrow for them to find as we won't really be celebrating easter at all (muslim family...). So that should be a bit of fun home tradition! That's about it really. My departure date is getting closer and closer, which is very sad, but exciting too! At least I know everything still fits in my suitcase...! Happy Easter!
So last weekend was basically just relaxing and catching up with practice etc. Manding got back from Dubai also so the shop is now very full of lots of amazing clothes, shoes, jewellery. It's been pretty busy in the shop (in the garage) since then.
Monday I finally manged to collect my passport from Internal Affairs which is good! Went to school and discovered we have to make changes to our Visiting Teachers Concert. Basically there's a guy called Marcel Worms who is coming out here (soon I think) to do piano mastercalsses and lessons and who aslos wants to do a concert so our concert has been chopped in half so he can have the other half. Bit of a shame because we've had to cut all the ensembles (Kampala Cantori singing the Faure and the cello ensemble) which is quite sad but the idea of it is so that our students can see how we play so we've kept all the solo's. Less organising for us I suppose but still lots of practice necesary! We're keeping mine and Sam's duets and Carys, Julie and I are now doing a movement of a Mozart Piano Trio (Carys on piano) so we've been rehearsing that a bit. Had beauty school in the afternoon. We're basically just trying to perfect our pedicure/manicure procedures now. Time's running out to learn more!
Tuesday was just teaching really. Charlotte (to make up for missing a lesson on Good Friday, day off!), Michael and Soloman. Nothing that exciting to report. They're all doing well. And I told them all to practice more - especially the boys! Wednesday was Charlotte again. Her scales and sight reading are good. George, the guy here for 2 weeks teaching organ, is doing aural classes too for each grade which she's been going to. She's doing Grade 5 piano so I'm hoping going back to Grade 1 aural tests won't be too much of a problem! And her pieces are coming along. Slurs getting there, though she finds them hard. It was then general hanging around and eating before waiting for Teddy to go to Jenny and Jessy (Carys wasn't going because she has/had mega sore throat/no voice). Eventually it was getting late so I spoke to her on the phone only to discover she was already there! She thought we were still away coz we were last week! So that didn't happen. But I decided to hang around becuase I was teaching later and thought it would be slightly pointless to go home for like an hour. Did a bit of playing random stuff with Fred as well as just general hanging and chatting to people and playing our trio (minus Julie so not very effective) before receiving a text from Julius, 5 minutes before his lesson saying he wasn't coming. I was so angry! Had just wasted an entire day waiting for him! What an annoying boy. So I went home and destressed before Cantori where we sing the Faure (even though it's not in the concert) and some Madrigals George had brought. So that was a bit of a pointless day. Oh well.
Thursday morning when I came for breakfast, Siya told me I had to pack everything and move out of my room because there is a family here for a week over Easter. This was about 9.15 and I was meant to be teaching at 10 so I literally threw all my stuff into my suitcase to move into the main house. Mohammed has been moved out of his room so I am now sharing with Khadijah (age 8). It's pretty fun being part of the mian house really! Feeling even more part of the family now! I was actually late for school but that was fine coz Disan didn't come. I practiced instead! Concert's so close! Taught Michael - we played some Mozart duets which was quite fun. I think he enjoyed doing something different but I will try to start him on a new piece before I leave so he can continue to work on something. Next was my first rehearsal with my pianist, Paul. Wasn't great as I'm sure most first run though's with the accompaniment are, but at least he now knows the tempos and rubato places etc and we're going to rehearse every day next week so it should be fine. We both need to do some private practise too! Lunch, and then beauty school. Manicure practice this time which we hadn't done in a while. My fingernails are growing to anyone who cares! Someone also did our eyes with some very cool makeup too. And we've been offered free facials - oh the perks of going to beauty school! Was meant to be teaching Francisca who wanted to play in the informal concert that evening, but neither of those happened and we had a good rehearsal on our trio. Then it was time to say goodbye and happy easter to everyone at school!
Yesterday was not a hugely exciting day. Just relaxing and practicing and playing with the many kids that are here now, which is what i'm sure will be the story for the next few days. I went for a bit of a walk to do a bit of shopping - have bought the (4) kids little easter bunnies which I might hide in the garden tomorrow for them to find as we won't really be celebrating easter at all (muslim family...). So that should be a bit of fun home tradition! That's about it really. My departure date is getting closer and closer, which is very sad, but exciting too! At least I know everything still fits in my suitcase...! Happy Easter!
Saturday, 4 April 2009
4/4/09 Safari and Murchison Falls!
Sorry this is so long! It's been a fun week!
To carry on where I left off in the last one, Saturday I arrived at school bright and early ready for Junior Orch - which definitely did not happen despite Julie having texted everyone to say it was on. Oh well! Surprisingly Julius was one of the only people to turn up so I gave him quite a long lesson in the absence of Orch. I then had the fun job of going to the bank to get money for safari, but the bank decided to block my card coz they thought it had been stolen. Stress! So spent most of the rest of the day making expensive international calls to sort ot out, which after 3 attempts - it was! (apparently..) Other than that was practice etc and after dinner we turned out all the lights in the house in support of that 'Earth Hour' thing. To raise awareness about global warming and I think it was quite a big event worldwide. Nice to feel we're doing our bit! Went for a drink with Julie at a bar nearby which was fun. Sunday too was a chilling out day with the family and more practice and general lazing about. Would have gone for a swim but it rained! I think the rainy season has finally started, not that it's any colder! Just occasionally wet and muddy!
Monday was the day the house was 'infumegated' to get rid of all the bugs so we all had to be ready to leave by 9 when the men with the spray arrived. All the windows were opened in my room and everywhere sprayed. We were all given funny gas mask things during the process. So then it was time to vacate the house and let the smell leave. I was off to the bank again to get the money I so desperately needed, only for the same stupid message to come up again so more phone calls had to be made! I felt like screaming/crying! But after about half an hour it was eventually sorted and I got my money thank god. And after all that stress I decided to treat myself to a coffee and a chocolate croissant from this posh place near the bank. Yumm. Just what I needed then. Next was retrieving my passport from Internal Affairs. But that too was unsuccessful as the lady I'd handed it in to had forgotten to get me to sign something so it had to be resubmitted and I'll collect it next week. Met Carys for lunch then it was off to beauty school to do more pedicures and the massage to go with it. Carys used sooo much oil on one of my legs it was practically dripping off, then she managed to pour nail varnish remover over my freshly painted nails! Hilarious times..! Had a duet rehearsal with Sam after, and after a little coaching from Julie we were sounding pretty good! It's more a question of getting our individual parts good then working on phrasing etc together. It'll be fine!
Tues was teaching - Michael and Soloman, Disan had exams or something I think. It's all going well. They're both getting the hang of the left hand and tuning so I've been working on sound and tone production more recently. Getting there! Went home for lunch and get ready for safari. Met Carys at school once she finished teaching and we set of to the Red Chilli Backpackers place we had to go and pay and where we were staying the night before leaving at 8.30am the following morning. They were very respectable dorms, and we had such a yummy breakfast in the morning - I had bacon and eggs! I've been missing bacon a lot seeing as we don't have it at all at home (muslim family...) So that was fab. By the way 'we' here is me and Carys. Sam made a last minute decision he'd like to join us but sadly there were no spaces left on the trip we were going on. He can go another time though I'm sure! It was about a 6hour journey to Murchison, stopping for lunch and the occasional toilet break in the bushes. Passed the time with ipod listening and sleep so it was a fine journey really! When we arrived we were shown to our tents (very nice, and big, with real beds!) and told not to panic if we saw warthogs or hippos wandering past our tent (we were very near the Nile). We did actually have a babboon wander past our tent once. And there were lots of warthogs around! Then Carys and I decided to take a walk and investigate our surroundings. All very beautiful. Saw hippos, and amazingly coloured lizards and babboons and beautiful butterflys. Lovely stuff. Then went back and showered - was very hot! At dinner it clouded over and we were in amongst a huge thunderstorm which was quite exciting. Could see sheet and fork lightening all around. Luckily the tents were sturdy enough to withstand the storm! Bed fairly early as we had to be at the van at 6.40 the following morning to go on our game drive.
Got a packed breakfast which we ate in the car and got on a ferry across the river to where all the animals were. Drove around from about 7.30 to 11 or so seeing so many animals! It was still quite nice and cool/cloudy so no worries about getting burnt! We saw lots and lots of giraffes, buffalo, wildebeast, wart hogs and baby wart hogs (they're like very cute baby Pumba's from the Lion King!), waterbucks, bush bucks, moniter lizards, lots of different types of birds including the absinnian ground hornbill, weaver birds and my favouite - the black bellied bastard! We saw 2 lions from afar (with binoculars) but then drove closer and so briefly saw them up close before they ran away. Which was cool. Then as we were diving back to get the ferry, we came across an elephant, who wasn't particularly happy with our presence and tried running at the car! Very exciting! Got a few good photos though because it was so close to us. S0 it was back to camp for lunch (Burger! Yumm) and a bit of a rest before we went on our boat trip in the afternoon. It was great. We saw millions of hippos and crocodiles and elephants drinking at the waters edge. Lots of pretty birds too. Was nice and sunny by this point too. The point of the journey was to see Murchison Falls - which are amazing! We were allowed off the boat onto a rock to take some photos. It was so beautiful! That evening we had a delicious (though expensive) dinner - I had pasta bake, and Carys had Beef Mousaka and we shared them. Sooo good! The place was fly ridden though, probably because it hadn't rained like it had the night before. So we escaped the bar and went back to the less fly-ey tent and played silly but fun alphabet and story games to wile away the evening before falling asleep (pretty early again - we had been up since 6!).
The next day we had breakfast at the camp - pancakes! And payed our bills. Food was pretty expensive there so we had to ration our money a bit. But we did ok! We then set off to walk up to the top of Murchison Falls. Which was AMAZING! We were so close we could actually feel the spray! And almost dip your foot in a little pool - but we were told not too. It's an incredible sight. It's 50metres worth of Nile dropping 45metres through a tiny 7metre gap. So powerful. Wow. That's all I can say really! Took so many photos on the trip my camera battery completely died, though luckily not until I was looking through all the photos on our journey back, which we started after we'd seen the falls. We stopped for lunch in the same place and slept most the journey - travelling's tiring! The driver very kindly dropped me right outside my house as we'd actually nearly passed it on our way so I asked if he could drop me near there on the way back, but he took me all the way home! Fantastic trip. Had a great time. Set everything to charge when I got back (everything had run out of battery!) and went and washed the travels off me and tended to my many many bites which are driving me insane! I've got a really good cream but still it'll take a while for them all to go. Ouch. Oh well, I'll live. Had food and was just about to crash out in bed when I received a call asking me to go out to which I felt obliged to say yes as my time here is running out! So Ben picked me up and we went round collecting everyone who was coming and we partied - for a long long time! Was very fun. Though by about 4am I was definitely very tired! We left around 4.30, after all having a go on the random driving games they have in the clubs here. They also have films on the TV's which I find very strange!
Problemo was we were all meant to be at Junior Orchestra at 10 this morning! That didn't happen! I arrived at school about 10.30 which isn't too bad really, would have been there even earlier if our road hadn't been closed because of the helicopter on the airstrip opposite the house so I had to walk all the way to the end of the road to find a boda boda. Was kinda drizzly too, nice it's not so hot and sticky at the moment. Luckily orchestra didn't seem to have worked out this week either so my lateness was excused! Taught Francisca, who I hadn't seen in a while! She's doing well. Again working on sound as her left hand is pretty in tune. She might play a piece in the informal concert on Thurs which would be good. Next was Julius, who really needs to work on his technique still - don't think it helps that he only comes to school on Saturdays so can only do a small bit of practice before our lesson every week. Oh well. We'll do our best. Then Charlotte. Am trying to make up for the lessons we missed this week. Her slurs are definitely improving though she says she still finds them hard. She'll get there! Spent the rest of the afternoon trying to out put photos on facebook for you all to see but it's not letting me! Will keep trying... Time to rest lots I think! Hope there arn't too many April Showers at home! See ya'll soon :D
To carry on where I left off in the last one, Saturday I arrived at school bright and early ready for Junior Orch - which definitely did not happen despite Julie having texted everyone to say it was on. Oh well! Surprisingly Julius was one of the only people to turn up so I gave him quite a long lesson in the absence of Orch. I then had the fun job of going to the bank to get money for safari, but the bank decided to block my card coz they thought it had been stolen. Stress! So spent most of the rest of the day making expensive international calls to sort ot out, which after 3 attempts - it was! (apparently..) Other than that was practice etc and after dinner we turned out all the lights in the house in support of that 'Earth Hour' thing. To raise awareness about global warming and I think it was quite a big event worldwide. Nice to feel we're doing our bit! Went for a drink with Julie at a bar nearby which was fun. Sunday too was a chilling out day with the family and more practice and general lazing about. Would have gone for a swim but it rained! I think the rainy season has finally started, not that it's any colder! Just occasionally wet and muddy!
Monday was the day the house was 'infumegated' to get rid of all the bugs so we all had to be ready to leave by 9 when the men with the spray arrived. All the windows were opened in my room and everywhere sprayed. We were all given funny gas mask things during the process. So then it was time to vacate the house and let the smell leave. I was off to the bank again to get the money I so desperately needed, only for the same stupid message to come up again so more phone calls had to be made! I felt like screaming/crying! But after about half an hour it was eventually sorted and I got my money thank god. And after all that stress I decided to treat myself to a coffee and a chocolate croissant from this posh place near the bank. Yumm. Just what I needed then. Next was retrieving my passport from Internal Affairs. But that too was unsuccessful as the lady I'd handed it in to had forgotten to get me to sign something so it had to be resubmitted and I'll collect it next week. Met Carys for lunch then it was off to beauty school to do more pedicures and the massage to go with it. Carys used sooo much oil on one of my legs it was practically dripping off, then she managed to pour nail varnish remover over my freshly painted nails! Hilarious times..! Had a duet rehearsal with Sam after, and after a little coaching from Julie we were sounding pretty good! It's more a question of getting our individual parts good then working on phrasing etc together. It'll be fine!
Tues was teaching - Michael and Soloman, Disan had exams or something I think. It's all going well. They're both getting the hang of the left hand and tuning so I've been working on sound and tone production more recently. Getting there! Went home for lunch and get ready for safari. Met Carys at school once she finished teaching and we set of to the Red Chilli Backpackers place we had to go and pay and where we were staying the night before leaving at 8.30am the following morning. They were very respectable dorms, and we had such a yummy breakfast in the morning - I had bacon and eggs! I've been missing bacon a lot seeing as we don't have it at all at home (muslim family...) So that was fab. By the way 'we' here is me and Carys. Sam made a last minute decision he'd like to join us but sadly there were no spaces left on the trip we were going on. He can go another time though I'm sure! It was about a 6hour journey to Murchison, stopping for lunch and the occasional toilet break in the bushes. Passed the time with ipod listening and sleep so it was a fine journey really! When we arrived we were shown to our tents (very nice, and big, with real beds!) and told not to panic if we saw warthogs or hippos wandering past our tent (we were very near the Nile). We did actually have a babboon wander past our tent once. And there were lots of warthogs around! Then Carys and I decided to take a walk and investigate our surroundings. All very beautiful. Saw hippos, and amazingly coloured lizards and babboons and beautiful butterflys. Lovely stuff. Then went back and showered - was very hot! At dinner it clouded over and we were in amongst a huge thunderstorm which was quite exciting. Could see sheet and fork lightening all around. Luckily the tents were sturdy enough to withstand the storm! Bed fairly early as we had to be at the van at 6.40 the following morning to go on our game drive.
Got a packed breakfast which we ate in the car and got on a ferry across the river to where all the animals were. Drove around from about 7.30 to 11 or so seeing so many animals! It was still quite nice and cool/cloudy so no worries about getting burnt! We saw lots and lots of giraffes, buffalo, wildebeast, wart hogs and baby wart hogs (they're like very cute baby Pumba's from the Lion King!), waterbucks, bush bucks, moniter lizards, lots of different types of birds including the absinnian ground hornbill, weaver birds and my favouite - the black bellied bastard! We saw 2 lions from afar (with binoculars) but then drove closer and so briefly saw them up close before they ran away. Which was cool. Then as we were diving back to get the ferry, we came across an elephant, who wasn't particularly happy with our presence and tried running at the car! Very exciting! Got a few good photos though because it was so close to us. S0 it was back to camp for lunch (Burger! Yumm) and a bit of a rest before we went on our boat trip in the afternoon. It was great. We saw millions of hippos and crocodiles and elephants drinking at the waters edge. Lots of pretty birds too. Was nice and sunny by this point too. The point of the journey was to see Murchison Falls - which are amazing! We were allowed off the boat onto a rock to take some photos. It was so beautiful! That evening we had a delicious (though expensive) dinner - I had pasta bake, and Carys had Beef Mousaka and we shared them. Sooo good! The place was fly ridden though, probably because it hadn't rained like it had the night before. So we escaped the bar and went back to the less fly-ey tent and played silly but fun alphabet and story games to wile away the evening before falling asleep (pretty early again - we had been up since 6!).
The next day we had breakfast at the camp - pancakes! And payed our bills. Food was pretty expensive there so we had to ration our money a bit. But we did ok! We then set off to walk up to the top of Murchison Falls. Which was AMAZING! We were so close we could actually feel the spray! And almost dip your foot in a little pool - but we were told not too. It's an incredible sight. It's 50metres worth of Nile dropping 45metres through a tiny 7metre gap. So powerful. Wow. That's all I can say really! Took so many photos on the trip my camera battery completely died, though luckily not until I was looking through all the photos on our journey back, which we started after we'd seen the falls. We stopped for lunch in the same place and slept most the journey - travelling's tiring! The driver very kindly dropped me right outside my house as we'd actually nearly passed it on our way so I asked if he could drop me near there on the way back, but he took me all the way home! Fantastic trip. Had a great time. Set everything to charge when I got back (everything had run out of battery!) and went and washed the travels off me and tended to my many many bites which are driving me insane! I've got a really good cream but still it'll take a while for them all to go. Ouch. Oh well, I'll live. Had food and was just about to crash out in bed when I received a call asking me to go out to which I felt obliged to say yes as my time here is running out! So Ben picked me up and we went round collecting everyone who was coming and we partied - for a long long time! Was very fun. Though by about 4am I was definitely very tired! We left around 4.30, after all having a go on the random driving games they have in the clubs here. They also have films on the TV's which I find very strange!
Problemo was we were all meant to be at Junior Orchestra at 10 this morning! That didn't happen! I arrived at school about 10.30 which isn't too bad really, would have been there even earlier if our road hadn't been closed because of the helicopter on the airstrip opposite the house so I had to walk all the way to the end of the road to find a boda boda. Was kinda drizzly too, nice it's not so hot and sticky at the moment. Luckily orchestra didn't seem to have worked out this week either so my lateness was excused! Taught Francisca, who I hadn't seen in a while! She's doing well. Again working on sound as her left hand is pretty in tune. She might play a piece in the informal concert on Thurs which would be good. Next was Julius, who really needs to work on his technique still - don't think it helps that he only comes to school on Saturdays so can only do a small bit of practice before our lesson every week. Oh well. We'll do our best. Then Charlotte. Am trying to make up for the lessons we missed this week. Her slurs are definitely improving though she says she still finds them hard. She'll get there! Spent the rest of the afternoon trying to out put photos on facebook for you all to see but it's not letting me! Will keep trying... Time to rest lots I think! Hope there arn't too many April Showers at home! See ya'll soon :D
Friday, 27 March 2009
27/3/09
Sorry it's been a while - have been busy! So Tuesday was teaching. Actually not a huge amount of teaching becuase Michael didn't turn up and Disan had already told me he wasn't coming. But Soloman is doing well. Tuning getting lots better which is very encouraging. It has been very hot all week so came home and jumped in the pool to cool down. Then spent quite a lot of time with Manding in the shop. She works very hard really - gets all these amazing clothes from West Africa and sells them in the shop (in the garage). They're all beautiful. She also gets loads of fabrics and people come and order exactly what they want to be tailor made to them. I was measured for my own African style clothes! Very exciting. Then went out to a bar called Rouge where Carys was with some people which was quite good fun. We found this pizza place which is buy 1 get 1 free on Tuesdays which was a yummy late night snack!
Wed I taught Charlotte. Her scales and sightreading are very good. She's having trouble with slurs though which I'm also finding quite hard to teach. She still has 2 months til her exam though so we've really got nothing to worry about! She's doing fabulously, I'm so happy. Grabbed some lunch then set off to Jenny and Jessy with Carys. Teddy was still recovering from whatever it is she had so we were going solo again. We managed to get the younger kids clapping rhythms using crotchets and minims. They seem to be getting the hang of it! Tricky part comes when we try introducing quavers. The older kids are doing very well! Are now confident at clapping rhythms with minims, crotchets and quavers. They're picking it up so fast. We also got them doing a dance with the minims swaying slowly, the crotchets marching and the quavers shaking/dancing in the time of the quavers. It worked well I think. Will do that with the little kids too if we ever get that far! Our next problem is working out what to do next...any ideas?! What's the next step after note values? Actual notes/reading music? Bit tricky without any instruments... Learning about the different instuments? We have no idea! Gotta do some thinking. Jumped in the pool again as it's been just so hot everyday this week. Phew! Then there was Kampala Cantori in the evening. The Faure is coming along nicely and should be good for the concert. We're going to do another piece to contrast which we just need to decide on. So it's all getting there. Manding also went to Dubai on Wed to stick up on stuff for her shop. Lots of people have been here the past couple of weeks asking her to buy specific materials and jewellery etc so it's a business trip with lots for her to do. And Siya has taken on the mummy role excellently!
Thurs I taught Disan and Michael. Disan's tuning is still getting there. It's really hard to teach someone pitch! Michael's Hungarian Stomp is going well, though he admitted to have only practiced that and nothing else since our last lesson. Better than lying I suppose. I was hoping he would play it in the informal concert that evening (we had a rehearsal with the piano during the lesson) only for him to tell me after that he could go to the concert that evening. Genius. And I'm not here next week (am on safari!) so maybe the week after, but maybe we'll have moved onto a different piece by then because I don't want to get bogged down by it. We need to move on really. Then it was beauty school in the afternoon. We were doing pedicures this time. It's really good, I'm enjoying it. Looking forward to learning the massage aspects too. There was a plan to go out in the evening with people from the school, but then Julie invited me round to her house for dinner (spaghetti bolognese yum!). We were planning on joining the others after dinner but ended up just chatting for ages. They'll be lots of going out before Carys and I leave though I'm sure!
Today (Fri) I briefly taught Soloman (he turned up late because he forgot the time of the lesson!) but he's getting good for sure. Then it was Charlotte who's still having trouble with these slurs but she's working hard and will master them soon I'm sure. It was the AC Meeting after. Nothing too exciting, as ever. Julie and I then played some violin and cello duets and have decided (I think!) what we're playing in the visiting teachers concert. I think Julie misses playing with others now she's been here so long so it was good just playing lots and having a bit of fun. So I've got lots to be practising - that duet, duets with Sam, solo piece and rehearsing the cello ensemble. Sam's organising jazz stuff too so it's all coming together. Another swim necessary after all that hard work playing! It must be well in the 30's, and humid too - you just spend the entire time sticky! So the pool is a blessing! Home in a month - it's going so fast! I'll be seeing you all soon!
Wed I taught Charlotte. Her scales and sightreading are very good. She's having trouble with slurs though which I'm also finding quite hard to teach. She still has 2 months til her exam though so we've really got nothing to worry about! She's doing fabulously, I'm so happy. Grabbed some lunch then set off to Jenny and Jessy with Carys. Teddy was still recovering from whatever it is she had so we were going solo again. We managed to get the younger kids clapping rhythms using crotchets and minims. They seem to be getting the hang of it! Tricky part comes when we try introducing quavers. The older kids are doing very well! Are now confident at clapping rhythms with minims, crotchets and quavers. They're picking it up so fast. We also got them doing a dance with the minims swaying slowly, the crotchets marching and the quavers shaking/dancing in the time of the quavers. It worked well I think. Will do that with the little kids too if we ever get that far! Our next problem is working out what to do next...any ideas?! What's the next step after note values? Actual notes/reading music? Bit tricky without any instruments... Learning about the different instuments? We have no idea! Gotta do some thinking. Jumped in the pool again as it's been just so hot everyday this week. Phew! Then there was Kampala Cantori in the evening. The Faure is coming along nicely and should be good for the concert. We're going to do another piece to contrast which we just need to decide on. So it's all getting there. Manding also went to Dubai on Wed to stick up on stuff for her shop. Lots of people have been here the past couple of weeks asking her to buy specific materials and jewellery etc so it's a business trip with lots for her to do. And Siya has taken on the mummy role excellently!
Thurs I taught Disan and Michael. Disan's tuning is still getting there. It's really hard to teach someone pitch! Michael's Hungarian Stomp is going well, though he admitted to have only practiced that and nothing else since our last lesson. Better than lying I suppose. I was hoping he would play it in the informal concert that evening (we had a rehearsal with the piano during the lesson) only for him to tell me after that he could go to the concert that evening. Genius. And I'm not here next week (am on safari!) so maybe the week after, but maybe we'll have moved onto a different piece by then because I don't want to get bogged down by it. We need to move on really. Then it was beauty school in the afternoon. We were doing pedicures this time. It's really good, I'm enjoying it. Looking forward to learning the massage aspects too. There was a plan to go out in the evening with people from the school, but then Julie invited me round to her house for dinner (spaghetti bolognese yum!). We were planning on joining the others after dinner but ended up just chatting for ages. They'll be lots of going out before Carys and I leave though I'm sure!
Today (Fri) I briefly taught Soloman (he turned up late because he forgot the time of the lesson!) but he's getting good for sure. Then it was Charlotte who's still having trouble with these slurs but she's working hard and will master them soon I'm sure. It was the AC Meeting after. Nothing too exciting, as ever. Julie and I then played some violin and cello duets and have decided (I think!) what we're playing in the visiting teachers concert. I think Julie misses playing with others now she's been here so long so it was good just playing lots and having a bit of fun. So I've got lots to be practising - that duet, duets with Sam, solo piece and rehearsing the cello ensemble. Sam's organising jazz stuff too so it's all coming together. Another swim necessary after all that hard work playing! It must be well in the 30's, and humid too - you just spend the entire time sticky! So the pool is a blessing! Home in a month - it's going so fast! I'll be seeing you all soon!
Monday, 23 March 2009
23/3/09
Hmm Saturday, oh yes - I had my second ever lesson with Mr Mystery Student Julius! His technique really isn't very good but I'm beginning to tell he's very musical and possibly quite advanced so it's a shame he missed so many lessons because I think we could have got quite far by now. Oh well. Technique is important so we have to sort that first. He seems to want to keep his arms plastered to his sides like in those silly deodorant adverts they used to show on tv. Either that or he's just plain lazy! Haha. It was nice to see him again though! In the afternoon I went with the family to this fair kind of thing where there was food from countries all over the world and you could buy coupons and get a little bit of everything. As a result, lots of eating happened! We left about half 7 and I got dropped at a bar so I managed to see most of the 2nd half of the England vs. Scotland game. Well done England! Carys and Sam joined and we stayed for the Wales vs. Ireland match. Very exciting to watch! Lots of drama. Well done Ireland, sorry Carys/Wales! So that was fun.
Sunday was a busy day at home. It was the monthly West African lunch, this time at our house so in the morning there were cakes being baked and lots of things bubbling away on the stove. The tent was all set up in the garden so we spent the morning laying tables and getting everything ready - drinks, food, etc. Then people started arriving, bringing more food and the feast began! I ate lots, again. What a foodie weekend it has been! All the kids ended up in the pool, I would have sunk! All very delicious stuff. And as a result I've hardly eaten today - food overload! Haha. But it was a great afternoon with lots of fun had, even a bit of gentle dancing towards the end! The washing up got done very quickly by all the extra hands hired for the day so Siya and I put it all away in the evening and the house looked practically as good as new by the evening! Everyone totally exhausted though and sleepy from too much food. Fun day! Oh, and Happy Mothers Day to all mums! It doesn't exist out here but I explained it to my mum here and definitely liked the idea. Hope it was a lovely day for all!
So I was still full when I woke up, so decided that was the time to write out the missing parts of the cello ensemble music I found seiing as we had a rehearsal today. What a boring job it is! But at least it's done now. Couldn't have done the rehearsal without it really! Got to school at 1 for a duet rehearsal with Sam first. We've almost decided which pieces we're playing in our concert which is useful! At least now we know what to look at so putting it together should be less of a problem. Then the cello ensemble rehearsal went really well. We were minus Disan but that didn't matter too much. The pieces are pretty easy and they all read them well. Next we just need to add in some dynamics and they'll be fab! So it's looking promising! I think Sam is going to play Requiebros by Cassado for his solo piece, and I'm playing 3rd movement of Saint Saens cello concerto (hopefully!) Carys is yet to decide... Lamin (Dad) arrives home this evening I think, and Manding (Mum) is off to Dubai tomorrow. And we're off on safari for 3 days on the 1st April. So it's all go! :)
Sunday was a busy day at home. It was the monthly West African lunch, this time at our house so in the morning there were cakes being baked and lots of things bubbling away on the stove. The tent was all set up in the garden so we spent the morning laying tables and getting everything ready - drinks, food, etc. Then people started arriving, bringing more food and the feast began! I ate lots, again. What a foodie weekend it has been! All the kids ended up in the pool, I would have sunk! All very delicious stuff. And as a result I've hardly eaten today - food overload! Haha. But it was a great afternoon with lots of fun had, even a bit of gentle dancing towards the end! The washing up got done very quickly by all the extra hands hired for the day so Siya and I put it all away in the evening and the house looked practically as good as new by the evening! Everyone totally exhausted though and sleepy from too much food. Fun day! Oh, and Happy Mothers Day to all mums! It doesn't exist out here but I explained it to my mum here and definitely liked the idea. Hope it was a lovely day for all!
So I was still full when I woke up, so decided that was the time to write out the missing parts of the cello ensemble music I found seiing as we had a rehearsal today. What a boring job it is! But at least it's done now. Couldn't have done the rehearsal without it really! Got to school at 1 for a duet rehearsal with Sam first. We've almost decided which pieces we're playing in our concert which is useful! At least now we know what to look at so putting it together should be less of a problem. Then the cello ensemble rehearsal went really well. We were minus Disan but that didn't matter too much. The pieces are pretty easy and they all read them well. Next we just need to add in some dynamics and they'll be fab! So it's looking promising! I think Sam is going to play Requiebros by Cassado for his solo piece, and I'm playing 3rd movement of Saint Saens cello concerto (hopefully!) Carys is yet to decide... Lamin (Dad) arrives home this evening I think, and Manding (Mum) is off to Dubai tomorrow. And we're off on safari for 3 days on the 1st April. So it's all go! :)
Friday, 20 March 2009
20/3/09
This week has turned out to be very busy! Wednesday was great fun. Was just teaching in the morning - we've decided on Charlotte's 3rd and final Grade 1 piece, a nice contrast to the others which is good. Her scales are also very good which is encouraging. Discovered Teddy was ill so wouldn't be coming to Jenny and Jessy with us which was really quite a scary thought as she is our Luganda translator, especially for the little kids! Anyways, we set off and managed to make our way there, despite nearly being very lost (the taxi took a different route, but it actually turned out to be a better route as it went straight past the school! Was very confusing though...) So we started with the little ones as usual. Was really quite hard work without Teddy. They were a lot less receptive and forthcoming. Their teachers did Luganda translation for us, still was quite tricky. Managed to bring minims into the equation for them which is good. The older class were fantastic though! Went over minims and crotchets in 2 and 3 time, writing up rhythms on the board for them to clap. There were a few claps on the 2nd beats of minims at the beginning but they quickly learnt otherwise. Then we went on to introduce quavers! Very exciting! I got a great video of when we divided the class into 3, some clapping minims, other crotchets, and the rest were quavers. Fab stuff. They're picking everything up so quickly which is very rewarding.
Thursday was another good day. Teaching in the morning. Have found some cello quartet music so am trying to organise rehearsals in the hope it will be played in our visiting teachers concert which is a month away! Lots to organise! Anyways I then set off to the bank to get money to enroll at beauty school! Carys and I discovered a beauty school right opposite KMS and we're taking a 'hand and feet therapy' course which is such fun. Learning manicures and massages etc. Fab stuff. Hopefully should be able to make a bit of money out of it at uni etc! So that will keep us busy every Thu and Fri afternoons. First thing we did was a manicure on eachother. I'm really hoping this will help me to stop biting my nails! We'll see! After that, Carys, Sam and I set off to Fred and Sam's house because they'd invited us for dinner. Fred is a teacher at the school and Sam is English - weirdly enough went to St Paul's Girls! They have a 2 year old son, and a 6 or so week old baby girl called Lucy. What beautiful children. Dinner was lovely. Quite English which was nice! Followed by this amazing chocolate cake floating is chocolate sauce that was sooo delicious! Lovely evening. And Fred very kindly dropped us all home to our various parts of town.
Today (Friday) has been teaching mostly. And learning too I suppose (beauty school!). Today I did a pedicure on Carys! Definitely need to improve my nail painting skills - I just haven't had enough practice having never had any nails to paint! Practice makes perfect I guess. We're going to have to miss a couple of sessions for safari (which leaves April 1st) which is a shame but safari will be great so I'm not complaining! We're still going to get a certficate at the end of the course which is exciting! So we're definitely all keeping busy! Only a few weeks til Carys and I leave, it's going so fast!
Thursday was another good day. Teaching in the morning. Have found some cello quartet music so am trying to organise rehearsals in the hope it will be played in our visiting teachers concert which is a month away! Lots to organise! Anyways I then set off to the bank to get money to enroll at beauty school! Carys and I discovered a beauty school right opposite KMS and we're taking a 'hand and feet therapy' course which is such fun. Learning manicures and massages etc. Fab stuff. Hopefully should be able to make a bit of money out of it at uni etc! So that will keep us busy every Thu and Fri afternoons. First thing we did was a manicure on eachother. I'm really hoping this will help me to stop biting my nails! We'll see! After that, Carys, Sam and I set off to Fred and Sam's house because they'd invited us for dinner. Fred is a teacher at the school and Sam is English - weirdly enough went to St Paul's Girls! They have a 2 year old son, and a 6 or so week old baby girl called Lucy. What beautiful children. Dinner was lovely. Quite English which was nice! Followed by this amazing chocolate cake floating is chocolate sauce that was sooo delicious! Lovely evening. And Fred very kindly dropped us all home to our various parts of town.
Today (Friday) has been teaching mostly. And learning too I suppose (beauty school!). Today I did a pedicure on Carys! Definitely need to improve my nail painting skills - I just haven't had enough practice having never had any nails to paint! Practice makes perfect I guess. We're going to have to miss a couple of sessions for safari (which leaves April 1st) which is a shame but safari will be great so I'm not complaining! We're still going to get a certficate at the end of the course which is exciting! So we're definitely all keeping busy! Only a few weeks til Carys and I leave, it's going so fast!
Tuesday, 17 March 2009
17/3/09
Happy St Patrick's Day guys! Not a hint of green here sadly. Oh well, I'm not surprised!
Good news is I got my laptop up and running! Feel like such a genius/computer whizz now!
The last concert on Sunday was fantastic! Everyone in very good spirits with how it went. It was filmed too so I'll definitely be buying a copy of that! There was a party with free food and drinks and the traditional African style lots of speeches but it was all very good fun and a nice way to celebrate the end of a busy and successful weekend. Carys was locked out of her house (clever clogs!) so she stayed at mine and we made a last minute decision to go out clubbing with Francis, Ben and his brother. Was such fun! Got there at about 10.30 and there was actually no one there! Was so hilarious! So we were all dancing away by ourselves and being taught the African moves! Ben is hilarious - I love him! (Julie's boyfriend). People started turning up about 12 and we danced the night away until about 2.30 when it was decided that was quite late enough as the others were supposed to be teaching the next day! There was a guy right next to us called Bobby Wine who is a famous Ugandan pop star. So that was pretty exciting. Lots of fun had.
Late start on Monday. Carys went to teach about lunchtime. And I (who had a free day because I don't teach on Mondays plus Orchestra was not on) decided to go for a massage at this place Julie and her mum recommended. Was AMAZING. A full body massage with the oils and scents for about 10 pounds. Fabulous stuff. Then had a pedicure for a further 1 pound. Perfect way to relax after a busy week of rehearsals, concerts and parties! Just what I needed. Had a look round the shops after, have seen so much stuff I want to buy! My poor suitcase is going to suffer!
Today I taught Michael then Disan then Soloman, who were all late for their lessons! Bit annoying but at least they all turned up eventually. Need to start getting ready for the visiting teachers concert now. Is in just over a month! Eeek! Time to get practising! The other news is that Carys and I are booked onto safari leaving April 1st. Sam hasn't decided if he wants to come yet! I think he will. It should be awesome, though sadly expenisve. Oh well. What else were we earning for when we were home?! We are hosting the monthly West African lunch at home this Sunday which should be fun. Am going to help lots preparing the food and house. Want to do as much as I can to repay their generosity!
Thats it for now. Huge well done to England for their fabulous rugby win on Sunday! Sadly I missed it because of the concert but I've managed to see the highlights on BBC iplayer. What a lot of action! Well done boys... :D
Good news is I got my laptop up and running! Feel like such a genius/computer whizz now!
The last concert on Sunday was fantastic! Everyone in very good spirits with how it went. It was filmed too so I'll definitely be buying a copy of that! There was a party with free food and drinks and the traditional African style lots of speeches but it was all very good fun and a nice way to celebrate the end of a busy and successful weekend. Carys was locked out of her house (clever clogs!) so she stayed at mine and we made a last minute decision to go out clubbing with Francis, Ben and his brother. Was such fun! Got there at about 10.30 and there was actually no one there! Was so hilarious! So we were all dancing away by ourselves and being taught the African moves! Ben is hilarious - I love him! (Julie's boyfriend). People started turning up about 12 and we danced the night away until about 2.30 when it was decided that was quite late enough as the others were supposed to be teaching the next day! There was a guy right next to us called Bobby Wine who is a famous Ugandan pop star. So that was pretty exciting. Lots of fun had.
Late start on Monday. Carys went to teach about lunchtime. And I (who had a free day because I don't teach on Mondays plus Orchestra was not on) decided to go for a massage at this place Julie and her mum recommended. Was AMAZING. A full body massage with the oils and scents for about 10 pounds. Fabulous stuff. Then had a pedicure for a further 1 pound. Perfect way to relax after a busy week of rehearsals, concerts and parties! Just what I needed. Had a look round the shops after, have seen so much stuff I want to buy! My poor suitcase is going to suffer!
Today I taught Michael then Disan then Soloman, who were all late for their lessons! Bit annoying but at least they all turned up eventually. Need to start getting ready for the visiting teachers concert now. Is in just over a month! Eeek! Time to get practising! The other news is that Carys and I are booked onto safari leaving April 1st. Sam hasn't decided if he wants to come yet! I think he will. It should be awesome, though sadly expenisve. Oh well. What else were we earning for when we were home?! We are hosting the monthly West African lunch at home this Sunday which should be fun. Am going to help lots preparing the food and house. Want to do as much as I can to repay their generosity!
Thats it for now. Huge well done to England for their fabulous rugby win on Sunday! Sadly I missed it because of the concert but I've managed to see the highlights on BBC iplayer. What a lot of action! Well done boys... :D
Sunday, 15 March 2009
15/3/09
Sorry for delay, my laptop is being weird and not letting me open the internet even though I'm connected. It's something to do with the Norton Anti Virus so I'm trying to sort it. Don't really understand computers that well though so we'll have to keep our fingers crossed that whatever I'm doing will work!
So the important news. The concerts! They have been going great. The last one is today and they do seem to be getting progressively better so hopefully today should be amazing! We had one little hiccup on Friday when there was a power cut just as we reached 'And he was buried...' in Mozarts Coronation Mass. Strangely appropriate timing! The Orchestra and Choir both carried on until the end on that section (about 15/20 bars or something) and then there were huge cheers from the audience! So it was quite good fun really and the performance continued about 15 mins later once the generators were up and running. Really hope that doesn't happen again tonight! Children from the Tender Talents school (the one supported by David Juritz and Musequality) are singing in the concert aswell. They're awesome! So on the whole everything is going great as far as the concert's are concerned. Sam now wants to be a percussionist as a result of him playing tambourine in Money Money Money...!
My other excitement is that yesterday (Sat) I was live on Ugandan radio! It was a debate about music and education in Uganda and how it has stopped and what should be done about it etc. Was really good fun actually! Feel like a star...haha!
The next thing we have to concentrate on is our visiting teachers concert which is just over a month away! Gotta get practising! Not sure there's any other news that's exciting really. Better go as I'm using the family PC. Bye for now. X
So the important news. The concerts! They have been going great. The last one is today and they do seem to be getting progressively better so hopefully today should be amazing! We had one little hiccup on Friday when there was a power cut just as we reached 'And he was buried...' in Mozarts Coronation Mass. Strangely appropriate timing! The Orchestra and Choir both carried on until the end on that section (about 15/20 bars or something) and then there were huge cheers from the audience! So it was quite good fun really and the performance continued about 15 mins later once the generators were up and running. Really hope that doesn't happen again tonight! Children from the Tender Talents school (the one supported by David Juritz and Musequality) are singing in the concert aswell. They're awesome! So on the whole everything is going great as far as the concert's are concerned. Sam now wants to be a percussionist as a result of him playing tambourine in Money Money Money...!
My other excitement is that yesterday (Sat) I was live on Ugandan radio! It was a debate about music and education in Uganda and how it has stopped and what should be done about it etc. Was really good fun actually! Feel like a star...haha!
The next thing we have to concentrate on is our visiting teachers concert which is just over a month away! Gotta get practising! Not sure there's any other news that's exciting really. Better go as I'm using the family PC. Bye for now. X
Wednesday, 11 March 2009
11/3/09
Monday during the day was a day of practice, swimming, and reading a bit of that exciting music theory book. Then in the evening was our first full orchestra with the choir too at the National Theatre. It was actually a great success! Obviously a few bits to tidy up here and there but it wasn’t the train crash I think some people were expecting. So it’s looking very promising really. Everyone feeling a lot better about the whole concert now. Which is great.
Yesterday was lots of teaching - Michael then Disan, then Soloman, and supposedly Julius too but unsurprisingly he didn’t turn up! They all seem very pleased with how orchestra went and we went over any bits they are worried about. Generally they are all doing very well so I am very happy with them all. Soloman’s tuning is really doing well, as is Disan’s and they are both getting the hang of tenor clef fantastically. Michael’s scales are getting there, pieces are doing well too. So it’s all good!
Today started off blissfully cool and cloudy, even looked like it might rain (can't quite believe I'm saying I'd like to see some rain!) - which it really needs to, is very sticky at the moment. But no, turned into a crazily hot and humid day. Not sunny, but cloudy, hazy, and HOT! Phew. Decided that when playing duets with Philip today, he could do the leading in the tricky one we’ve been looking at the last couple of classes. So I said - right, you lead, you decide where we’re going from and how we’re going to rehearse this, you decide what needs to be done to make it better etc. I was trying to get him more involved with the playing and learning of it because he always looks so bored when it’s constantly me whittering on. I think he quite enjoyed it actually, and it wasn’t sounding too bad by the end! So hopefully that got him more interested. He did seem to be enjoying himself a bit more as far as I could tell!
After Ugandan lunch (and lots of it!) we headed of to Jenny and Jessy in the mid day heat, and traffic. I must have mentioned before how crazy the traffic is…it really is insane! Everyone seems to go home or out for lunch so we always get caught in standstill jams on our journey there. We’re thinking of changing the time. We’ll see. Anyways, we finally made it there and started out lessons. Began with a recap of the 2 and 3 time we were doing last week, getting them to sing songs, clapping and identifying the time. Then moved on to explain that the beats that we were clapping were called crotchets, so we have been clapping 2 or 3 crotchets per bar (the lines either sides of the notes). It's really strange explaining these things as I don't really remember being taught them, but it's good exercise for the brain, explaining things as simple as they get. That’s as far as we got with the littlies, but we managed to move onto minims with the older lot. Very exciting. Nearly got into a complete mess explaining that a bar of 3 could contain both a minim and a crotchet because 2 beats plus 1 beat equals 3s. But managed to rescue it somehow. Next week we’ll add in quavers and get them clapping different rhythms. What fun. I really enjoy it actually. Is so rewarding when you know they had absolutely no idea what we were on about 2 weeks ago and now we can talk about bars and crotchets etc. Good stuff!
Was straight off to the National Theatre for the 2nd of our full rehearsals. Again a great success. All the soloists were there too so really getting a good feel for how it’s going to go. Everyone is very pleased. It’s going to be great! Apparently it’s being filmed too so I’ll try to get a copy to show you all at home! That’s all for now folks! X
Yesterday was lots of teaching - Michael then Disan, then Soloman, and supposedly Julius too but unsurprisingly he didn’t turn up! They all seem very pleased with how orchestra went and we went over any bits they are worried about. Generally they are all doing very well so I am very happy with them all. Soloman’s tuning is really doing well, as is Disan’s and they are both getting the hang of tenor clef fantastically. Michael’s scales are getting there, pieces are doing well too. So it’s all good!
Today started off blissfully cool and cloudy, even looked like it might rain (can't quite believe I'm saying I'd like to see some rain!) - which it really needs to, is very sticky at the moment. But no, turned into a crazily hot and humid day. Not sunny, but cloudy, hazy, and HOT! Phew. Decided that when playing duets with Philip today, he could do the leading in the tricky one we’ve been looking at the last couple of classes. So I said - right, you lead, you decide where we’re going from and how we’re going to rehearse this, you decide what needs to be done to make it better etc. I was trying to get him more involved with the playing and learning of it because he always looks so bored when it’s constantly me whittering on. I think he quite enjoyed it actually, and it wasn’t sounding too bad by the end! So hopefully that got him more interested. He did seem to be enjoying himself a bit more as far as I could tell!
After Ugandan lunch (and lots of it!) we headed of to Jenny and Jessy in the mid day heat, and traffic. I must have mentioned before how crazy the traffic is…it really is insane! Everyone seems to go home or out for lunch so we always get caught in standstill jams on our journey there. We’re thinking of changing the time. We’ll see. Anyways, we finally made it there and started out lessons. Began with a recap of the 2 and 3 time we were doing last week, getting them to sing songs, clapping and identifying the time. Then moved on to explain that the beats that we were clapping were called crotchets, so we have been clapping 2 or 3 crotchets per bar (the lines either sides of the notes). It's really strange explaining these things as I don't really remember being taught them, but it's good exercise for the brain, explaining things as simple as they get. That’s as far as we got with the littlies, but we managed to move onto minims with the older lot. Very exciting. Nearly got into a complete mess explaining that a bar of 3 could contain both a minim and a crotchet because 2 beats plus 1 beat equals 3s. But managed to rescue it somehow. Next week we’ll add in quavers and get them clapping different rhythms. What fun. I really enjoy it actually. Is so rewarding when you know they had absolutely no idea what we were on about 2 weeks ago and now we can talk about bars and crotchets etc. Good stuff!
Was straight off to the National Theatre for the 2nd of our full rehearsals. Again a great success. All the soloists were there too so really getting a good feel for how it’s going to go. Everyone is very pleased. It’s going to be great! Apparently it’s being filmed too so I’ll try to get a copy to show you all at home! That’s all for now folks! X
Sunday, 8 March 2009
8/3/09
Had a last minute phone call from Julie on Thu evening saying her and her mum were going to Chimp Island (Ngamba Island) the following day and did I want to join them? So I quickly rung and booked, then had to run down the road to get money for the trip and some stuff for a packed lunch as the food on the Island was ridiculously expensive! Then it was time to get ready for the musical soiree. Was just people from school, I arrived just in time for the food - perfect timing! Then we settled down outside and the windows to the room with the piano (behind some plants so some of the pics are quite funny!) were opened and the music began. Was mainly singing - the barber shop group sang, and there were several duets between people, Julie played an Elgar piece, the Cantori sung a couple of pieces (I only sing in one as I’d never sung the other) and it was generally just fun! Was a late-ish night, followed by a stupidly early start for Julie, Grace (her mum) and me.
We had a taxi coming for us at 6.30am to take us to Entebbe Zoo where we would be taken to the boat to take us to the Island. We made it there, pretty sleepy and boarded the ‘traditional boat’ that was taking us to Ngamba island. There was a group of 5 others with us - 3 Australians and 2 Canadians doing a tour of East Africa in this huge truck - looked pretty fun! The boat was a long thin thing with seats down either side. The only problem was the weather decided to turn on us and the Lake (Victoria) was very choppy so we were bouncing all over the place and being splashed lots. We were provided with rain jackets (and life jackets) and the journey that was supposed to be a nice hour and a half float across the lake took is 2 and a quarter hours! Finally arrived and received a well earned cup of tea while being given a talk about the Island. It is a sanctuary for rescued Chimps who have been abused, or used as household pets or their habitats being destroyed. The Island is 100 acres, 95 of which the 45 Chimps are allowed to roam free. Because the island is getting quite crowded now, they have the females on the contraceptive pill so they can’t reproduce! One still did though, and the baby is named ‘Surprise’. At 11 it was feeding time so we headed up to the viewing platform, a raised area where you can see the chimps from about. It is protected by a wire fence so the chimps can’t climb up to reach you. On the way there we passed a huge cage which contained 4 chimps in - 2 babies who aren’t ready to be integrated with the group, and 2 adults, one of which used to be a dominant male and acts that way when he enters this group which just causes fights. So they are being looked after there. On the viewing platform, once the Chimps had been called, it was amazing to see them all file into the feeding area in a line, behind the important guys. Then when the food was thrown at them, the younger less important ones just sat there and waited, not taking any of the food, until the important guys had taken their fill. Was really amazing to see how they all respect the dominant leader(s). As they have mostly been brought up in the sanctuary they are quite humanised and have learned behaviour like stamping their feet and clapping when they feel they are being ignored and not having any food thrown at them. Is hilarious! They are also just amazing creatures to watch - did you know they share 99% of their DNA with humans?! They eat pretty human food too - sweet potatoes, passion fruit, limes, carrots, bananas (which they actually peel!). Most of them can recognise their names too and react when you call them. Very cool stuff. Next was lunch and the sun had definitely decided to come out, was boiling! But because we were on the lake there was quite a nice cool breeze. I do have a bit of a red nose now, ooops! Thankfully the sun coming out had calmed the water down a bit and it was a much better journey back to Entebbe after lunch, still a bit rocky, but nothing as bad as the morning! And I had a nice chat with the Australians about places I should visit when I’m there. We then hopped in a matatu back to Kampala (Julie’s mum hadn’t been in one yet!) and it was a very pleasant, surprisingly quick (less than an hour) journey back to Kampala, costing only 1,500 shillings, for about a 40km journey! Ironically it then cost us 1000 each from the Old Taxi Park back to where we live (which is very close to each other), maybe a 5km journey…I suppose there were jams, plus it’s the city. So that was a fun, but tiring day!
Saturday was the last Junior Orch rehearsal before Friday (the day of the first concert!). We are now only doing Money in the concert, and Bob is organising lots of new parts to make it better and more exciting. One desk of the cellos have now been designated the bass section, pizzicato-ing their way through the piece to give more momentum, and Sam is going to be honorary tambourine player I think! I’ve hardly seen him at all this week which has been a bit weird, plus Carys has been in Burundi (she gets back today). But he seems to be doing fine - busy as always, and he’s no longer peeling you’ll be glad to hear! He has been asked to teach Grade 6-8 theory by Mr Yiga which is happening on Sat afternoons. He is also setting up a jazz group which will be cool, but is at the same time as our aural lessons are meant to be (on Sat afternoons) so that may have to change after the concerts. Lets just get through them first then worry about other stuff! Was a chilled out afternoon. I’ve decided it’s about time I start brushing up on my music theory too as at the moment it is appalling! So I’ve brought a couple of books home from the library with the aim of reading them and remembering it! We’ll see if it happens…
Today (Sun) is very hot - just a day of swimming, practising, maybe learning some music theory and relaxing. It’s going to be a very busy week! X
We had a taxi coming for us at 6.30am to take us to Entebbe Zoo where we would be taken to the boat to take us to the Island. We made it there, pretty sleepy and boarded the ‘traditional boat’ that was taking us to Ngamba island. There was a group of 5 others with us - 3 Australians and 2 Canadians doing a tour of East Africa in this huge truck - looked pretty fun! The boat was a long thin thing with seats down either side. The only problem was the weather decided to turn on us and the Lake (Victoria) was very choppy so we were bouncing all over the place and being splashed lots. We were provided with rain jackets (and life jackets) and the journey that was supposed to be a nice hour and a half float across the lake took is 2 and a quarter hours! Finally arrived and received a well earned cup of tea while being given a talk about the Island. It is a sanctuary for rescued Chimps who have been abused, or used as household pets or their habitats being destroyed. The Island is 100 acres, 95 of which the 45 Chimps are allowed to roam free. Because the island is getting quite crowded now, they have the females on the contraceptive pill so they can’t reproduce! One still did though, and the baby is named ‘Surprise’. At 11 it was feeding time so we headed up to the viewing platform, a raised area where you can see the chimps from about. It is protected by a wire fence so the chimps can’t climb up to reach you. On the way there we passed a huge cage which contained 4 chimps in - 2 babies who aren’t ready to be integrated with the group, and 2 adults, one of which used to be a dominant male and acts that way when he enters this group which just causes fights. So they are being looked after there. On the viewing platform, once the Chimps had been called, it was amazing to see them all file into the feeding area in a line, behind the important guys. Then when the food was thrown at them, the younger less important ones just sat there and waited, not taking any of the food, until the important guys had taken their fill. Was really amazing to see how they all respect the dominant leader(s). As they have mostly been brought up in the sanctuary they are quite humanised and have learned behaviour like stamping their feet and clapping when they feel they are being ignored and not having any food thrown at them. Is hilarious! They are also just amazing creatures to watch - did you know they share 99% of their DNA with humans?! They eat pretty human food too - sweet potatoes, passion fruit, limes, carrots, bananas (which they actually peel!). Most of them can recognise their names too and react when you call them. Very cool stuff. Next was lunch and the sun had definitely decided to come out, was boiling! But because we were on the lake there was quite a nice cool breeze. I do have a bit of a red nose now, ooops! Thankfully the sun coming out had calmed the water down a bit and it was a much better journey back to Entebbe after lunch, still a bit rocky, but nothing as bad as the morning! And I had a nice chat with the Australians about places I should visit when I’m there. We then hopped in a matatu back to Kampala (Julie’s mum hadn’t been in one yet!) and it was a very pleasant, surprisingly quick (less than an hour) journey back to Kampala, costing only 1,500 shillings, for about a 40km journey! Ironically it then cost us 1000 each from the Old Taxi Park back to where we live (which is very close to each other), maybe a 5km journey…I suppose there were jams, plus it’s the city. So that was a fun, but tiring day!
Saturday was the last Junior Orch rehearsal before Friday (the day of the first concert!). We are now only doing Money in the concert, and Bob is organising lots of new parts to make it better and more exciting. One desk of the cellos have now been designated the bass section, pizzicato-ing their way through the piece to give more momentum, and Sam is going to be honorary tambourine player I think! I’ve hardly seen him at all this week which has been a bit weird, plus Carys has been in Burundi (she gets back today). But he seems to be doing fine - busy as always, and he’s no longer peeling you’ll be glad to hear! He has been asked to teach Grade 6-8 theory by Mr Yiga which is happening on Sat afternoons. He is also setting up a jazz group which will be cool, but is at the same time as our aural lessons are meant to be (on Sat afternoons) so that may have to change after the concerts. Lets just get through them first then worry about other stuff! Was a chilled out afternoon. I’ve decided it’s about time I start brushing up on my music theory too as at the moment it is appalling! So I’ve brought a couple of books home from the library with the aim of reading them and remembering it! We’ll see if it happens…
Today (Sun) is very hot - just a day of swimming, practising, maybe learning some music theory and relaxing. It’s going to be a very busy week! X
Thursday, 5 March 2009
5/3/09
Yesterday was another hot hot hot day! Day was meant to begin teaching Charlotte but she apparently has had a tooth out so understandably she didn’t turn up. Next was duets with Phillip which was fine - nothing exciting to report, just working hard on fast bits of one duet. Maybe we'll get to perform some at one point. An informal concert perhaps? It was then time for Teddy and I (no Carys becuse she has gone off to Burundi with her new host) to head off to Jenny and Jessy primary school. Was a long and sticky journey in the matatu taxis but we made it (only a little late!) and were able to start easily because we had planned what we were going to do. All we decided to start with was rhythm and getting them to clap and sing songs in 2 and 3 time. It was great. I really enjoyed it. We had 2 classes - the younger ones P1-3 (like years 1-3 at home) then the older ones - P4-6. We did the same with both, the older ones getting the hang on the different times noticeably faster. But the young ones were so cute and willing to try anything. Like when we asked if they could think of a song they already knew in 2 or 3 they willing put their hands up whereas the older ones were a bit more reserved. But still it was great. Next week I think we're going to add note values - minims, crotchets, quavers etc, so they're building up their knowledge. Maybe at some point we'll introduce actual notes on a stave, but we'll have to negotiate getting manuscript paper for them first. At least we have ideas to be working with now. So that was great. Journey back not so great though. Very hot and sticky, and lots of traffic! Decided to abandon the matatu in favour of a boda to get home and have a lovely cold shower before Kampala Cantori in the evening. They sung through a few pieces they have done in the past because there is a little musical soiree at Regine/Julie's house this evening which I think we'll end up singing a couple of them. Should be fun.
Today has been a day of sorting stuff out. Got dropped at the British High Commission because this was where I was told to go to renew my visa. But when I got there they told me this was done at the immigration office so I managed to negotiate my way there and pick up the forms. So I'll be heading back there soon to finish all that off. Michael didn't turn up to his lesson (not sure what's got into him!) so I headed off to the post office to post some letters. So lots of things sorted which is good. Time to get ready for our musical evening now... X
Tuesday, 3 March 2009
3/3/09
Yesterday (Mon) was a relaxing and catching up with stuff day. Actually got round to writing a couple of letters so my next task now is to find the post office! Got to school for about 5.30 to start with this sorting out cello business. Took a while - but there are some really quite ok ones in there. Chose the best 6 after having swapped round cases that were too big or small for the instrument. Also some cello’s had ¾ size bows which was a bit of a problem! But then 5 people turned up for orch and we all had a quite nice cello to play. Orch is going well. Some of the movements of the Mass are a bit shaky and with just over a week to go I think Bob is a bit worried, mainly about the violins I think because it’s really very tricky for them. We’re allowed to use the National Theatre all week next week to rehearse though which is great and if everyone practises their part fingers crossed we’ll get there! Sam arrived back from Mombassa yesterday afternoon. He had a great time with his friend Ed (who arrived back in the UK yesterday) and as far as I can tell was just chilling out, going to the beach, and learning Swahili. It was also very hot there - hotter than here apparently! And he now has a peeling nose! Beautiful! Haha.
Today Michael turned up for his lesson when it was meant to be finishing which was pretty annoying but the good news is that he brought Beata’s cello back so I was in a very confused emotional state - happy/very grateful to see the cello return but pretty annoyed at Michael himself because he was late and has lost ALL his cello music. Not good. It makes him taking the exam an even scarier concept now he has no music to practice! Had a lesson with Disan after. Spent more time looking at the Mass because he’s got lots of practice to be doing on that to catch up with the others! His general technique is getting better though. Soloman next. His tuning is also improving well, and we also worked on the Mass. This will probably be the case until the concert’s are over and done with (they are next weekend!). About Beata’s cello - it has been agreed with everyone involved that KMS should keep hold of the cello (I saw the exciting moment the KMS Cello 25 sticker was stuck in it!) until after the concert because we are going to need to keep 6 cellos at the National Theatre all next week for rehearsals plus one at KMS for me to teach on so it has to be there or there wont be enough! And then they can take it home after that. Everyone seems fine with that so we can all breathe a huge sigh of relief. Last night a huge thunderstorm woke me at 4am - and today has been cloudy and cooler which has been nice. The huge snails are out again! Bye for now! X
Sunday, 1 March 2009
1/3/09
Hi, Sorry for not having updated this all week - the internet has been a bit dodgy plus I've been pretty busy all week! Here's what I've been doing.....! (sorry it's a long one!)
Monday was a chilled out day. The kids were home all week because it’s half term. Did practice and general sorting out. Came to the house at lunch to find it was a floury of activity. Lamin had 2 guests for lunch, one of which was a member of parliament from Gambia. So there was a lot of food, and lots of mouths to feed - the whole family, plus me, plus the 2 guests, Manding had a friend here, as did Mohammed, so how many is that? 12 I think! But the food was yummy and I ate lots! Went with Fatu to her school to pick up her Maths books which she needs as she still had tutors during the half term. So I had a little tour of the school - it’s huge! It’s nursery, primary and secondary all combined with lots of sports facilities and space. Was nice to see where she’s going every day though. Siya was going to her classes so I got a lift and they dropped me at orchestra on the way. The traffic here at rush hour is so crazy - actually that kind of switch your engine off traffic with police everywhere, especially roundabouts. Nightmare! Orchestra was good, very useful having Bob here because now we know what tempos everything will be going. He’s doing the last movement a lot faster than we’ve ever played it! And we have quite a few semiquaver passages (not as many as the violins though!) which definitely need some practising! There is a saga with the cello Beata has donated because apparently she said that Michael and Soloman (and a couple of other cellists who live nearby) could take it home to practice. Which is fine. But the were unaware that she has donated the cello so I told them they need to bring it back to be registered as a KMS cello and then they can take it home again (because obviously I’m all for my students practising at home!) but they don’t seem to believe that they will be allowed to take it home again so don’t want to bring it back as a result. But it’s nearly sorted now, and they understand that it needs to come back, and that they will get it back. But that was a bit annoying/stressful. It’ll work out though!
Tuesday was lessons with Disan and Michael who are both doing well. Disan seems fine at adjusting to the tenor clef, I’ve also told him to come to orchestra. And Michael’s Hungarian Stomp is coming along well. We also had a look at the Mass which was very necessary! Just working on the hard fast bits, slowly first then getting then getting them faster - it’ll come! Went with Julie to see the workshop where John the repair man has been working with the 2 students he is training to do simple, but essential things like rehairs and fitting bridges. It’s in the garage of a lovely lady called Harriet who sings in the choir. It was really great to see and the students seem to be learning fast. He’s fixing some cello’s too which is great! Harriet provided us with a lovely English lunch as her mother in law has just arrived from the UK bringing cheese (which I was really beginning to miss!) chutney and after eights! Wow. So that was delicious. John and Julie and a few others (including me) are playing at a Ceilidh on Friday. He plays accordion and we had a little busk through some music which was fun. Went back to school expecting to teach Soloman but he called and we rearranged for Wed. Sam was playing with a band called the Alchemists at a club called Rouge. He put us on the guest list so we didn’t have to pay to get in which was cool. It was basically lots of bands and people playing and singing, kind of just a talent show type thing. I don’t think it was particularly Sam’s kind of music, but apparently they’re paying him which makes it all better! He’s doing a bit of keyboard, guitar and harmonica. It was all quite good fun really, but a very mzungu place - almost felt like we were in London again! Still a good night as had by all. Sam and Ed left for Mombassa early Wed morning. Not sure when they’re due back actually! Carys and I went and bought pizza at a fast food place which was yummy, and then we were sitting and eating it in an actual Nando’s, Ugandan style! But it was exactly the same with the logo and everything. Very weird but pretty cool at the same time!
Wednesday was a good day. Started off with teaching Soloman and a little further discussion about Beata’s cello which still hasn’t made it to the school yet for one reason or another. So that’s still being sorted. Despite this he’s doing well and getting to grips with vibrato and tenor clef. Also worked on the fast last bit of the Mass. He’s not so good at coming back in when he gets lost - essential orchestral technique! - so we were working on that together as well as getting it all faster. Charlotte is also coming along fantastically. We’ve mastered the notes of 2 of the 3 exam pieces so now it’s just making them sound good! Duets with Philip went well, his sight reading definitely seems to be improving, though he’s very quiet and unresponsive so it’s hard to know whether he understands/enjoys it at all! But he’s always the one asking when we’re next playing so he must enjoy it a bit! There was a bit of a disaster in Kampala on Wed - one of the major markets that sells clothes etc has completely burnt to the floor and as a result some people’s entire lives will have been destroyed. The news says it’s arson. It’s quite near the old taxi park and was complete mayhem - Carys had to abandon her matatu and jump on a boda boda as the traffic was at a standstill. There are lots of angry people, and lots of police, so there have predictably been clashes between them. Anyways it was decided we wouldn’t be going to Jenny and Jessy today as we simply wouldn’t have made it there - we would have to have passed the scene of the crime! And it would have been pretty dangerous by the sound of things. So the busy day that I was expecting was suddenly not so busy which was lovely and I went home and jumped in the pool! Still very hot at the moment, though it has been raining a bit in the early mornings so it’s less dusty and humid. Went back to school for choir, arriving a bit early so I could check my emails as the internet has been down for most the week. There is a lady visiting called Ulli who was here with Fiona Carr at the beginning of the whole thing. She teaches singing and has been helping lots with the choirs etc. So we sung the pieces we’ve been doing for a couple of weeks, including the Faure I sung at my concert, and brought the music for. They all really seem to like as they keep asking to sing it again! Would be great if we get a chance to perform it. Internet not working so settled down in front of a film in the evening which was nice and relaxing.
Thursday I taught Disan first. Still working on technique stuff, plus had a look at the Coronation Mass seeing as I’ve managed to persuade him to join orch! His sight reading and counting skills definitely need some working at - hopefully being in an orchestra will help! We’ll keep looking at the part in his lessons so he can catch up with everyone else, concert’s not too far away now! Next was Michael. He explained to me that Soloman has spoken to Mr Yiga about Beata’s cello. So it seems to be getting sorted. The cello still hasn’t made it to school yet though! Soon I hope. We’ll need it for the concert for sure! But he’s doing well and his sound is great! Looked at a new piece which he already seems to have mastered the notes for so again it’s just making them sound good now.. Lots of scales to work at with him too. Had a little break when I went and spoke to Mr Yiga about this cello business, it seems he understands the situation, and we’re just waiting for an email from Beata herself confirming what is to be done with the cello. So it’s going to be fine I think! Had a unplanned lesson with Francisca as we were both free, she is also doing well. Good ear, will start on some more interesting pieces I think coz she should be able to cope! Internet café again, and then home for lunch. Headed back to school for the informal concert which was good. A guitarist who is teaching classical guitar to a few people at the school played a couple of great pieces then there was no one to play after but a pianist guy called Ivan just got up and played some Beethoven - hadn’t memorised it all, but it was an informal concert after all! After John was giving a workshop about maintaining string instruments and explained about keeping them clean and what to do if the bridge falls off and other simple but essential points, like why not to tighten the bow too much. Very useful stuff. We had a little Ceilidh reh after which was fine. Just busking through music, all I had to play was the bass notes on each half bar. Nothing too taxing! Back quite late again.
Friday I had an 8am start which Julie had forgotten to tell me about until about 9pm on Thu evening which was lovely of her! We were giving an assembly at a school with the intention of us starting to teach cello and violin there. It wasn’t too hard. Just played a little and explained about our instruments. We spoke in front of the older kids on Fri, and are going back next Fri to talk to the little ones. At least I’ll know what to expect this time. Back to school for a lesson with Charlotte. Scales and tuning definitely improving with her. Now looking at staccato’s in the Elephant. Its going great. AC meeting after. Sam, Carys and I are meant to be sorting out aural skill lessons for exams, instead of musicianship lessons, on Sat afternoons. Maybe they’ll start next Sat. Will have to discuss it when Sam’s back from Mombassa which no one seems to know when that is! Should be today or tomorrow apparently. Taught Soloman after the meeting. He still hasn’t brought the cello back and keeps finding excuses. It’s getting quite annoying now, especially as Mr Yiga now keeps asking me about it. It just has to be back for orchestra really. John very kindly said he would take Carys and I plus our Cello and Double Bass to the Ceilidh that evening. So we went back to Harriet’s house get changed into ‘posh’ gear. It was a 65th birthday party. The house where the party was was incredible! Was out in the middle of no where and was so beautiful. We played for the dancing - a bit before food was served, then more after. Was very good fun. Got chatting to this couple who live in Kololo who kindly gave Cays and I a lift back - dropping us at a bar where we managed to catch the end of the Wales vs. France rugby match (poor Wales!). Carys stayed at mine because that was a lot safer than her making her way home alone at 1 in the morning. So that was fun - watched a film in bed…!
Had to get up what felt like quite early for junior orch on Sat which I actually didn’t end up playing in because John the repair man (who left today) brought a whole load of cello’s and violin’s back that he’d repaired so I spent ages signing them back in. He brought back 4 repaired cellos, (and apparently there are more!) and now there's not enough space in the cello cupboard! I’m gonna play them all and decide which ones are best to keep at KMS and the rest can go to be stored somewhere else. We need at least 6 because there are 6 people in orchestra now! Got a lift back home from Bob then went straight out again to the monthly get together West African lunch I went to last month too. Arrived about 2.30 and didn’t get home until 7.30 - very long lunch! Ate far too much! Headed off to the Kampala Rugby Club to watch the England vs. Ireland match - what a close result! What’s so different about here, and what I love, is that everyone dances! Like we were in a rugby club and there were men dancing! You’d never get that at home would you?! So that was fun. Went home for a long, well deserved sleep. Has been a very busy week. Have done something every evening. But it has been very fun too! Today is a day of rest and catching up with everything. It has been extremely hot and humid these last few days but it has actually just started to rain which is a relief because it will be cooler and less dusty and humid now.
Hope all's well at home! I can't believe it's already March - time is flying so fast! X
Monday was a chilled out day. The kids were home all week because it’s half term. Did practice and general sorting out. Came to the house at lunch to find it was a floury of activity. Lamin had 2 guests for lunch, one of which was a member of parliament from Gambia. So there was a lot of food, and lots of mouths to feed - the whole family, plus me, plus the 2 guests, Manding had a friend here, as did Mohammed, so how many is that? 12 I think! But the food was yummy and I ate lots! Went with Fatu to her school to pick up her Maths books which she needs as she still had tutors during the half term. So I had a little tour of the school - it’s huge! It’s nursery, primary and secondary all combined with lots of sports facilities and space. Was nice to see where she’s going every day though. Siya was going to her classes so I got a lift and they dropped me at orchestra on the way. The traffic here at rush hour is so crazy - actually that kind of switch your engine off traffic with police everywhere, especially roundabouts. Nightmare! Orchestra was good, very useful having Bob here because now we know what tempos everything will be going. He’s doing the last movement a lot faster than we’ve ever played it! And we have quite a few semiquaver passages (not as many as the violins though!) which definitely need some practising! There is a saga with the cello Beata has donated because apparently she said that Michael and Soloman (and a couple of other cellists who live nearby) could take it home to practice. Which is fine. But the were unaware that she has donated the cello so I told them they need to bring it back to be registered as a KMS cello and then they can take it home again (because obviously I’m all for my students practising at home!) but they don’t seem to believe that they will be allowed to take it home again so don’t want to bring it back as a result. But it’s nearly sorted now, and they understand that it needs to come back, and that they will get it back. But that was a bit annoying/stressful. It’ll work out though!
Tuesday was lessons with Disan and Michael who are both doing well. Disan seems fine at adjusting to the tenor clef, I’ve also told him to come to orchestra. And Michael’s Hungarian Stomp is coming along well. We also had a look at the Mass which was very necessary! Just working on the hard fast bits, slowly first then getting then getting them faster - it’ll come! Went with Julie to see the workshop where John the repair man has been working with the 2 students he is training to do simple, but essential things like rehairs and fitting bridges. It’s in the garage of a lovely lady called Harriet who sings in the choir. It was really great to see and the students seem to be learning fast. He’s fixing some cello’s too which is great! Harriet provided us with a lovely English lunch as her mother in law has just arrived from the UK bringing cheese (which I was really beginning to miss!) chutney and after eights! Wow. So that was delicious. John and Julie and a few others (including me) are playing at a Ceilidh on Friday. He plays accordion and we had a little busk through some music which was fun. Went back to school expecting to teach Soloman but he called and we rearranged for Wed. Sam was playing with a band called the Alchemists at a club called Rouge. He put us on the guest list so we didn’t have to pay to get in which was cool. It was basically lots of bands and people playing and singing, kind of just a talent show type thing. I don’t think it was particularly Sam’s kind of music, but apparently they’re paying him which makes it all better! He’s doing a bit of keyboard, guitar and harmonica. It was all quite good fun really, but a very mzungu place - almost felt like we were in London again! Still a good night as had by all. Sam and Ed left for Mombassa early Wed morning. Not sure when they’re due back actually! Carys and I went and bought pizza at a fast food place which was yummy, and then we were sitting and eating it in an actual Nando’s, Ugandan style! But it was exactly the same with the logo and everything. Very weird but pretty cool at the same time!
Wednesday was a good day. Started off with teaching Soloman and a little further discussion about Beata’s cello which still hasn’t made it to the school yet for one reason or another. So that’s still being sorted. Despite this he’s doing well and getting to grips with vibrato and tenor clef. Also worked on the fast last bit of the Mass. He’s not so good at coming back in when he gets lost - essential orchestral technique! - so we were working on that together as well as getting it all faster. Charlotte is also coming along fantastically. We’ve mastered the notes of 2 of the 3 exam pieces so now it’s just making them sound good! Duets with Philip went well, his sight reading definitely seems to be improving, though he’s very quiet and unresponsive so it’s hard to know whether he understands/enjoys it at all! But he’s always the one asking when we’re next playing so he must enjoy it a bit! There was a bit of a disaster in Kampala on Wed - one of the major markets that sells clothes etc has completely burnt to the floor and as a result some people’s entire lives will have been destroyed. The news says it’s arson. It’s quite near the old taxi park and was complete mayhem - Carys had to abandon her matatu and jump on a boda boda as the traffic was at a standstill. There are lots of angry people, and lots of police, so there have predictably been clashes between them. Anyways it was decided we wouldn’t be going to Jenny and Jessy today as we simply wouldn’t have made it there - we would have to have passed the scene of the crime! And it would have been pretty dangerous by the sound of things. So the busy day that I was expecting was suddenly not so busy which was lovely and I went home and jumped in the pool! Still very hot at the moment, though it has been raining a bit in the early mornings so it’s less dusty and humid. Went back to school for choir, arriving a bit early so I could check my emails as the internet has been down for most the week. There is a lady visiting called Ulli who was here with Fiona Carr at the beginning of the whole thing. She teaches singing and has been helping lots with the choirs etc. So we sung the pieces we’ve been doing for a couple of weeks, including the Faure I sung at my concert, and brought the music for. They all really seem to like as they keep asking to sing it again! Would be great if we get a chance to perform it. Internet not working so settled down in front of a film in the evening which was nice and relaxing.
Thursday I taught Disan first. Still working on technique stuff, plus had a look at the Coronation Mass seeing as I’ve managed to persuade him to join orch! His sight reading and counting skills definitely need some working at - hopefully being in an orchestra will help! We’ll keep looking at the part in his lessons so he can catch up with everyone else, concert’s not too far away now! Next was Michael. He explained to me that Soloman has spoken to Mr Yiga about Beata’s cello. So it seems to be getting sorted. The cello still hasn’t made it to school yet though! Soon I hope. We’ll need it for the concert for sure! But he’s doing well and his sound is great! Looked at a new piece which he already seems to have mastered the notes for so again it’s just making them sound good now.. Lots of scales to work at with him too. Had a little break when I went and spoke to Mr Yiga about this cello business, it seems he understands the situation, and we’re just waiting for an email from Beata herself confirming what is to be done with the cello. So it’s going to be fine I think! Had a unplanned lesson with Francisca as we were both free, she is also doing well. Good ear, will start on some more interesting pieces I think coz she should be able to cope! Internet café again, and then home for lunch. Headed back to school for the informal concert which was good. A guitarist who is teaching classical guitar to a few people at the school played a couple of great pieces then there was no one to play after but a pianist guy called Ivan just got up and played some Beethoven - hadn’t memorised it all, but it was an informal concert after all! After John was giving a workshop about maintaining string instruments and explained about keeping them clean and what to do if the bridge falls off and other simple but essential points, like why not to tighten the bow too much. Very useful stuff. We had a little Ceilidh reh after which was fine. Just busking through music, all I had to play was the bass notes on each half bar. Nothing too taxing! Back quite late again.
Friday I had an 8am start which Julie had forgotten to tell me about until about 9pm on Thu evening which was lovely of her! We were giving an assembly at a school with the intention of us starting to teach cello and violin there. It wasn’t too hard. Just played a little and explained about our instruments. We spoke in front of the older kids on Fri, and are going back next Fri to talk to the little ones. At least I’ll know what to expect this time. Back to school for a lesson with Charlotte. Scales and tuning definitely improving with her. Now looking at staccato’s in the Elephant. Its going great. AC meeting after. Sam, Carys and I are meant to be sorting out aural skill lessons for exams, instead of musicianship lessons, on Sat afternoons. Maybe they’ll start next Sat. Will have to discuss it when Sam’s back from Mombassa which no one seems to know when that is! Should be today or tomorrow apparently. Taught Soloman after the meeting. He still hasn’t brought the cello back and keeps finding excuses. It’s getting quite annoying now, especially as Mr Yiga now keeps asking me about it. It just has to be back for orchestra really. John very kindly said he would take Carys and I plus our Cello and Double Bass to the Ceilidh that evening. So we went back to Harriet’s house get changed into ‘posh’ gear. It was a 65th birthday party. The house where the party was was incredible! Was out in the middle of no where and was so beautiful. We played for the dancing - a bit before food was served, then more after. Was very good fun. Got chatting to this couple who live in Kololo who kindly gave Cays and I a lift back - dropping us at a bar where we managed to catch the end of the Wales vs. France rugby match (poor Wales!). Carys stayed at mine because that was a lot safer than her making her way home alone at 1 in the morning. So that was fun - watched a film in bed…!
Had to get up what felt like quite early for junior orch on Sat which I actually didn’t end up playing in because John the repair man (who left today) brought a whole load of cello’s and violin’s back that he’d repaired so I spent ages signing them back in. He brought back 4 repaired cellos, (and apparently there are more!) and now there's not enough space in the cello cupboard! I’m gonna play them all and decide which ones are best to keep at KMS and the rest can go to be stored somewhere else. We need at least 6 because there are 6 people in orchestra now! Got a lift back home from Bob then went straight out again to the monthly get together West African lunch I went to last month too. Arrived about 2.30 and didn’t get home until 7.30 - very long lunch! Ate far too much! Headed off to the Kampala Rugby Club to watch the England vs. Ireland match - what a close result! What’s so different about here, and what I love, is that everyone dances! Like we were in a rugby club and there were men dancing! You’d never get that at home would you?! So that was fun. Went home for a long, well deserved sleep. Has been a very busy week. Have done something every evening. But it has been very fun too! Today is a day of rest and catching up with everything. It has been extremely hot and humid these last few days but it has actually just started to rain which is a relief because it will be cooler and less dusty and humid now.
Hope all's well at home! I can't believe it's already March - time is flying so fast! X
Sunday, 22 February 2009
22/2/09
It has just started to rain - the first time in about 10 days! I get the feeling it's going to be a pretty serious downpour!
Friday began with a lesson with Charlotte. She really is doing well and works hard. We've started looking at another Grade 1 piece. I really think/hope she does well because she deserves it! AC Meeting cancelled and replaced by a Bursary meeting which we didnt have to go to which was nice! I got talking to a guy called Fred, a piano teacher at the school who I hadn't met yet because he's been in Narobi where his wife (who weirdly enough went to St Paul's Girls as a teenager, the same as Carys!) had a baby girl 4 weeks ago. We ended up playing the Saint Saen's together which was fun. I dont think he's around for the Visiting Teachers concert unfortunately, but it was nice to play with the piano again, and i'll find another accompanist I'm sure! Then it was duets with Philip after. He hasnt been to Orchestra for a while apparently because 'he can play his part..!' That's no excuse I told him - obviously it helps if you can play your part on your own, but orchestra is about working together which he clearly finds hard because we're having trouble playing together just the 2 of us! So hopefully he'll be there between now and the concert. Bob the conductor has also arrived so it will be different playing with him as conductor I'm sure. Was a lesson with Soloman next. We have started looking at tenor clef which I think he finds a bit confusing, which it is, but i'm sure he'll get the hang of it. The book I have is good because it has both studies and pieces to work through so we'll keep going with that. Carys had to cancel her double bass lessons in the afternoon because the (only) double bass had been hired by a group for a gig that night, which Mr Yiga had failed to tell her! So that was a bit annoying, but she came back to my house, met the family, had some food, then we went out, taking Fatu with us. We were meeting people at school, and then Francis (singing teacher) said he's take us to a place with live music. It turned out to be a very posh hotel place where it looked like we were going to sit down and have dinner which was not our kind of plan for Friday night! So we moved onto a bar which started off playing Abba and Cher! Then moved onto Sean Paul/dancy stuff which was better! Haha. There was a slight plan to go and meet Fatu's friends at the club where they were but it got a bit late and we just stayed and chilled, drinking beers and having fun. Sam's friend, Ed, who has been in Kenya for the last 5 months as a volunteer came to visit Sam this weekend which has been fun!
Saturday started with Junior Orch, and all of us feeling pretty tired! It's going ok, but getting a little more urgent now as the concert's about 3 weeks away. I had a lesson with Francisca after which was good - Mr Yiga (Daddy..) came in to take a photo which was quite funny. She definitely has a good ear. Next was my first ever lesson with mystery man Julius! He needs to work on his bow hold, and keeping his left hand up and straight - technique stuff really. And then we worked on sound lots. He said he want to take an exam and was thinking of Grade 3, but theres no way I can enter him for an exam if he doesnt turn up to lessons! So we'll have to see about that. I also met John, the string instument repair man who is lovely. He's teaching 2 of the more senior violinists how to do simple things like putting bridges on, pegs, straightening spikes etc which is going to be really useful. I might go to see the workshop where he's been working this week which would be really interesting. I also met Bob who is conducting the Orchestra. He's really nice, and gave me a lift home! There was a plan to go to the beach, or thats what I thought, but it turned out it was going to someone's Wedding Anniversary, a friend of one of the staff from school, in an amazing house right on Lake Victoria. Was seriously beautiful - though mosquito ridden! I haven't got too many bites surprisingly! There was food and drinks and dancing and general fun! Got a matatu back to Kampala and went to a club/bar place for more dancing. Everyone is amazing at dancing here! Lots to learn!
So it's been a fun weekend and today (Sun) has been a day of chilling out and catching up with everything. Lamin was on the radio this morning! And has a TV interview tomorrow too. Very exciting! Must do some practise today! Rain didn't last too long. Feeling quite nice and fresh now. Mariam made me a bracelet yesterday which is lovely of her - she says it's coz I'm leaving soon! But it's more than 2 months so still got a while! Anyways that's about it for now. Bye! X
Friday began with a lesson with Charlotte. She really is doing well and works hard. We've started looking at another Grade 1 piece. I really think/hope she does well because she deserves it! AC Meeting cancelled and replaced by a Bursary meeting which we didnt have to go to which was nice! I got talking to a guy called Fred, a piano teacher at the school who I hadn't met yet because he's been in Narobi where his wife (who weirdly enough went to St Paul's Girls as a teenager, the same as Carys!) had a baby girl 4 weeks ago. We ended up playing the Saint Saen's together which was fun. I dont think he's around for the Visiting Teachers concert unfortunately, but it was nice to play with the piano again, and i'll find another accompanist I'm sure! Then it was duets with Philip after. He hasnt been to Orchestra for a while apparently because 'he can play his part..!' That's no excuse I told him - obviously it helps if you can play your part on your own, but orchestra is about working together which he clearly finds hard because we're having trouble playing together just the 2 of us! So hopefully he'll be there between now and the concert. Bob the conductor has also arrived so it will be different playing with him as conductor I'm sure. Was a lesson with Soloman next. We have started looking at tenor clef which I think he finds a bit confusing, which it is, but i'm sure he'll get the hang of it. The book I have is good because it has both studies and pieces to work through so we'll keep going with that. Carys had to cancel her double bass lessons in the afternoon because the (only) double bass had been hired by a group for a gig that night, which Mr Yiga had failed to tell her! So that was a bit annoying, but she came back to my house, met the family, had some food, then we went out, taking Fatu with us. We were meeting people at school, and then Francis (singing teacher) said he's take us to a place with live music. It turned out to be a very posh hotel place where it looked like we were going to sit down and have dinner which was not our kind of plan for Friday night! So we moved onto a bar which started off playing Abba and Cher! Then moved onto Sean Paul/dancy stuff which was better! Haha. There was a slight plan to go and meet Fatu's friends at the club where they were but it got a bit late and we just stayed and chilled, drinking beers and having fun. Sam's friend, Ed, who has been in Kenya for the last 5 months as a volunteer came to visit Sam this weekend which has been fun!
Saturday started with Junior Orch, and all of us feeling pretty tired! It's going ok, but getting a little more urgent now as the concert's about 3 weeks away. I had a lesson with Francisca after which was good - Mr Yiga (Daddy..) came in to take a photo which was quite funny. She definitely has a good ear. Next was my first ever lesson with mystery man Julius! He needs to work on his bow hold, and keeping his left hand up and straight - technique stuff really. And then we worked on sound lots. He said he want to take an exam and was thinking of Grade 3, but theres no way I can enter him for an exam if he doesnt turn up to lessons! So we'll have to see about that. I also met John, the string instument repair man who is lovely. He's teaching 2 of the more senior violinists how to do simple things like putting bridges on, pegs, straightening spikes etc which is going to be really useful. I might go to see the workshop where he's been working this week which would be really interesting. I also met Bob who is conducting the Orchestra. He's really nice, and gave me a lift home! There was a plan to go to the beach, or thats what I thought, but it turned out it was going to someone's Wedding Anniversary, a friend of one of the staff from school, in an amazing house right on Lake Victoria. Was seriously beautiful - though mosquito ridden! I haven't got too many bites surprisingly! There was food and drinks and dancing and general fun! Got a matatu back to Kampala and went to a club/bar place for more dancing. Everyone is amazing at dancing here! Lots to learn!
So it's been a fun weekend and today (Sun) has been a day of chilling out and catching up with everything. Lamin was on the radio this morning! And has a TV interview tomorrow too. Very exciting! Must do some practise today! Rain didn't last too long. Feeling quite nice and fresh now. Mariam made me a bracelet yesterday which is lovely of her - she says it's coz I'm leaving soon! But it's more than 2 months so still got a while! Anyways that's about it for now. Bye! X
Thursday, 19 February 2009
19/2/09
Internet has been down. Sorry!
Lesson with Michael on Tues. He’s definitely improving, and very enthusiastic, though still having troubles playing in tune. His left hand wants to slide everywhere. We’re working on a study for extended first position which is a useful thing to master, but we only got as far as the first 4 bars which is guess is enough to work on for now. Maybe I’m being too picky about tuning, but it’s so important! Hmm. I played him some other of the pieces on the Grade 3 syllabus so we know what we have to work with. Next was Disan who is also doing well. Started off with scales, then spent most of the lesson looking at the shift study I set him. Still needs lots of work - he has to keep his left elbow up otherwise he’ll never be in tune! I only just discovered too that he got merit in his Grade 4 a couple of years ago which would have been very useful to know when I was trying to decide what pieces he should play. There is one major problem though in that the library doesn’t have enough pieces on the Grade 5 syllabus to do an exam so maybe we’ll just look at pieces. They’re very keen to do exams though so it’s a bit of a shame. Plus he’s good! Maybe we’ll find a way of getting hold of the music before it’s too late.. Next was out last sectional with Beata, who left on Wed. Well in fact it was just me and Michael as Sam was teaching and Soloman was no where to be found. But it was good anyways. We looked at Handel’s Water Music which we’re also playing in the concert. She has donated the cello she brought out to practise on too which is very generous of her. It was great having her here. Maybe we’ll meet again at some point in the small world of musicians/cellists! Has been seriously hot the past few days. Even people at school and home have been commenting on just how hot it is! The evenings are practically as hot as the day time, just without the sun glaring down on you. Lamin said he checked the other day and it was 34 degrees which is very rare for Uganda to get that hot apparently!
Yesterday (Wed) I taught Charlotte who is also improving lots. She was asked by Julie to join Junior Orch which has been a real boost to her confidence and had a look at the music with Beata so I’m sure she’ll manage fine. Starting new scales with her, plus have decided on another piece for her Grade 1 which is good and gives us something else to work on. Next was my first lesson with Soloman. He’s been learning with Sam up until now, working in particular on The Gadfly by Shostakovich which is on the Grade 5 syllabus. He’s doing pretty well and knows when he’s out of tune which is useful. Need to work on maintaining his sound though. And vibrato. We also decided to just work on pieces and not take an exam as he would probably be taking Grade 5 too, which we don’t have all the music for. He doesn’t seem to mind about this too much which is good. I think I’m also going to start teaching tenor clef to Disan and Soloman. It’s really weird teaching stuff like this, because I have absolutely no idea what standard I was when I started learning it. But I think pieces that come up in Grade 6 have tenor clef in so I guess it would be a good time to start for them. Carys and I went with a lovely lady called Teddy to Jenny and Jessy Primary School in the afternoon. Teddy was fantastic at teaching and getting the kids to sing along and clap and stand up and sing etc. And they’re all so cute! I honestly have no idea how we’re going to do the same though. For one we don’t know any of the Ugandan nursery rhymes, we don’t speak Luganda, and I don’t play guitar or anything to strum along while they sing like she was doing. It was really fascinating though. There were some older kids there, still at primary school I guess because now is when their families can pay the fees. There was also one gorgeous little girl who must have been maybe 4 called Serena who came straight up to Carys and I and hugged us and wouldn’t let go of our hands. I want to pick her up and bring her home with me! So it was great being there, and our time there is being paid for by someone from England (Fiona Carr) and the BA pilot man is contributing in some way too I think. They have both been playing a big part in funds for KMS as well. So anyways that should be good, as scary as it is going to be! Was a very hot and sticky journey back to KMS in a matatu taxi. I went straight home to take a cold shower before having something to eat then going out to choir. We’ve started singing the Faure piece I sung at the concert I did to raise money for the school (which they were very grateful for!) and I brought the music with me. It’s such a gorgeous piece, but we’re singing it in English because negotiating the accents here could be interesting! I keep getting confused though as I sung it in French before so am singing something more like ‘Franglish’ at the moment! Haha. Fatu finished her exams yesterday too so we had a nice catch up in the evening which was cool. She doesn’t have school until next week now so she has time to relax which is nice. I think there is a plan to braid my hair this weekend which should be fun, though I’m a little scared of how it will look, but I’ve got to do it haven’t I?! At least once while I’m here anyways.
Today (Thu) wasn’t too busy which was nice. I taught Disan first who is still doing well. Worked lots on the and tuning is definitely improving. We will start tenor clef next lesson I think. It’s a similar story tuning wise with Michael who I taught after. Spent ages on his study, and then ages on one shift in particular in the Hungarian Stomp (I think there is only one!) I’m hoping he’s learning that the way we’ve been going over things repetitively, until it’s consistently right is the way he should practise these things. Having spoken to Julius on Monday to rearrange our lessons for today, he didn’t turn up again and his phone is switched off. Mystery person! I investigated the internet place across the road from the school at lunch with Carys - it’s 700 shillings for half an hour. That’s maybe 25p! Pretty cheap huh? So came home, had lunch, chilled with Fatu, did some practise. And then the internet finally came back on! Hope all’s well back home! X
Lesson with Michael on Tues. He’s definitely improving, and very enthusiastic, though still having troubles playing in tune. His left hand wants to slide everywhere. We’re working on a study for extended first position which is a useful thing to master, but we only got as far as the first 4 bars which is guess is enough to work on for now. Maybe I’m being too picky about tuning, but it’s so important! Hmm. I played him some other of the pieces on the Grade 3 syllabus so we know what we have to work with. Next was Disan who is also doing well. Started off with scales, then spent most of the lesson looking at the shift study I set him. Still needs lots of work - he has to keep his left elbow up otherwise he’ll never be in tune! I only just discovered too that he got merit in his Grade 4 a couple of years ago which would have been very useful to know when I was trying to decide what pieces he should play. There is one major problem though in that the library doesn’t have enough pieces on the Grade 5 syllabus to do an exam so maybe we’ll just look at pieces. They’re very keen to do exams though so it’s a bit of a shame. Plus he’s good! Maybe we’ll find a way of getting hold of the music before it’s too late.. Next was out last sectional with Beata, who left on Wed. Well in fact it was just me and Michael as Sam was teaching and Soloman was no where to be found. But it was good anyways. We looked at Handel’s Water Music which we’re also playing in the concert. She has donated the cello she brought out to practise on too which is very generous of her. It was great having her here. Maybe we’ll meet again at some point in the small world of musicians/cellists! Has been seriously hot the past few days. Even people at school and home have been commenting on just how hot it is! The evenings are practically as hot as the day time, just without the sun glaring down on you. Lamin said he checked the other day and it was 34 degrees which is very rare for Uganda to get that hot apparently!
Yesterday (Wed) I taught Charlotte who is also improving lots. She was asked by Julie to join Junior Orch which has been a real boost to her confidence and had a look at the music with Beata so I’m sure she’ll manage fine. Starting new scales with her, plus have decided on another piece for her Grade 1 which is good and gives us something else to work on. Next was my first lesson with Soloman. He’s been learning with Sam up until now, working in particular on The Gadfly by Shostakovich which is on the Grade 5 syllabus. He’s doing pretty well and knows when he’s out of tune which is useful. Need to work on maintaining his sound though. And vibrato. We also decided to just work on pieces and not take an exam as he would probably be taking Grade 5 too, which we don’t have all the music for. He doesn’t seem to mind about this too much which is good. I think I’m also going to start teaching tenor clef to Disan and Soloman. It’s really weird teaching stuff like this, because I have absolutely no idea what standard I was when I started learning it. But I think pieces that come up in Grade 6 have tenor clef in so I guess it would be a good time to start for them. Carys and I went with a lovely lady called Teddy to Jenny and Jessy Primary School in the afternoon. Teddy was fantastic at teaching and getting the kids to sing along and clap and stand up and sing etc. And they’re all so cute! I honestly have no idea how we’re going to do the same though. For one we don’t know any of the Ugandan nursery rhymes, we don’t speak Luganda, and I don’t play guitar or anything to strum along while they sing like she was doing. It was really fascinating though. There were some older kids there, still at primary school I guess because now is when their families can pay the fees. There was also one gorgeous little girl who must have been maybe 4 called Serena who came straight up to Carys and I and hugged us and wouldn’t let go of our hands. I want to pick her up and bring her home with me! So it was great being there, and our time there is being paid for by someone from England (Fiona Carr) and the BA pilot man is contributing in some way too I think. They have both been playing a big part in funds for KMS as well. So anyways that should be good, as scary as it is going to be! Was a very hot and sticky journey back to KMS in a matatu taxi. I went straight home to take a cold shower before having something to eat then going out to choir. We’ve started singing the Faure piece I sung at the concert I did to raise money for the school (which they were very grateful for!) and I brought the music with me. It’s such a gorgeous piece, but we’re singing it in English because negotiating the accents here could be interesting! I keep getting confused though as I sung it in French before so am singing something more like ‘Franglish’ at the moment! Haha. Fatu finished her exams yesterday too so we had a nice catch up in the evening which was cool. She doesn’t have school until next week now so she has time to relax which is nice. I think there is a plan to braid my hair this weekend which should be fun, though I’m a little scared of how it will look, but I’ve got to do it haven’t I?! At least once while I’m here anyways.
Today (Thu) wasn’t too busy which was nice. I taught Disan first who is still doing well. Worked lots on the and tuning is definitely improving. We will start tenor clef next lesson I think. It’s a similar story tuning wise with Michael who I taught after. Spent ages on his study, and then ages on one shift in particular in the Hungarian Stomp (I think there is only one!) I’m hoping he’s learning that the way we’ve been going over things repetitively, until it’s consistently right is the way he should practise these things. Having spoken to Julius on Monday to rearrange our lessons for today, he didn’t turn up again and his phone is switched off. Mystery person! I investigated the internet place across the road from the school at lunch with Carys - it’s 700 shillings for half an hour. That’s maybe 25p! Pretty cheap huh? So came home, had lunch, chilled with Fatu, did some practise. And then the internet finally came back on! Hope all’s well back home! X
Monday, 16 February 2009
16/2/09
It has been SO hot these last few days which is weird coz it's meant to be cooling down for the wet season. However there has not been a drop of rain since Thurs (when we've been used to at least a few minutes of rain a day..) so evidently not. Better enjoy it while it lasts I guess, but we're all keeping out of the sun because of the burn! Actually I'm fine - was only a tiny bit burnt on my arms and shoulders after rafting but Sam and Carys are still in a lot of pain on their knees! Hopefully will be fine soon!
So where was I? Oh yes the rugby - we watched it in an Irish pub called Bubble's O'leary with lots of other mzungus (a few supporting wales!) so it was generally a pretty good atmosphere. So that was good fun, and well played Wales I suppose I should say (for Carys' sake!). Was shattered though so came home about an hour after the rugby finished and slept long and hard haha. Sunday (yesterday) was a really relaxing day - just what I needed. When I finally got up and came over for breakfast, Mariam greeted me with - 'Oh look, it's sleeping Eleanor not sleeping beauty!' Bless her 5 year old mind! Messed around with the kids for a bit and just generally caught up on stuff. Bit of practise etc. And the day was gone! The kids were watching the Little Mermaid as well at one point which was a lovely blast from the past!
Today was more of the same until my supposed lesson with Julius before Orchestra. He didnt turn up again though so I called him and apparently we'd changed the lesson to Thurs which is fine by me though I hadn't heard anything about it! There was a full turn out of cello's at orchestra today! So 6 of us including Beata. She's been such an amazing help for the section and sadly leaves on Wed, but we're sqeezing in another small sectional, on Handels Watermusic which we're also playing in the concert, tomorrow which should be good. The Anniversary Concert is in less than a month now. We'll be joined by our conductor for the concert, John Railton, next week who has taught at the school before and seems to be very popular with those who know him. So that should be a great help.
Well it's 10.15pm and I'm sweaty! Still not used to this! Hope you're all enjoying half terms and holidays etc. There are no such things here unless you're at international school, which I'm not! So yea - enjoy you lucky people! Bye for now! X
So where was I? Oh yes the rugby - we watched it in an Irish pub called Bubble's O'leary with lots of other mzungus (a few supporting wales!) so it was generally a pretty good atmosphere. So that was good fun, and well played Wales I suppose I should say (for Carys' sake!). Was shattered though so came home about an hour after the rugby finished and slept long and hard haha. Sunday (yesterday) was a really relaxing day - just what I needed. When I finally got up and came over for breakfast, Mariam greeted me with - 'Oh look, it's sleeping Eleanor not sleeping beauty!' Bless her 5 year old mind! Messed around with the kids for a bit and just generally caught up on stuff. Bit of practise etc. And the day was gone! The kids were watching the Little Mermaid as well at one point which was a lovely blast from the past!
Today was more of the same until my supposed lesson with Julius before Orchestra. He didnt turn up again though so I called him and apparently we'd changed the lesson to Thurs which is fine by me though I hadn't heard anything about it! There was a full turn out of cello's at orchestra today! So 6 of us including Beata. She's been such an amazing help for the section and sadly leaves on Wed, but we're sqeezing in another small sectional, on Handels Watermusic which we're also playing in the concert, tomorrow which should be good. The Anniversary Concert is in less than a month now. We'll be joined by our conductor for the concert, John Railton, next week who has taught at the school before and seems to be very popular with those who know him. So that should be a great help.
Well it's 10.15pm and I'm sweaty! Still not used to this! Hope you're all enjoying half terms and holidays etc. There are no such things here unless you're at international school, which I'm not! So yea - enjoy you lucky people! Bye for now! X
Saturday, 14 February 2009
14/2/09 - Rafting!!
Thurs was pretty standard - taught Michael, and had a lesson with Beata which was good, but whatever I did on Thurs is completely outshined by the amazing Friday I had!
WOW! Rafting was SUCH fun! I was pretty scared at some points. Actually pretty much every time we were approaching the next rapid! (By the way 'we' throughout this is me, Sam, Carys, Beata and Andrew) The price of the rafting incuded being picked up from Kampala in a big bus at 7.30am (which we actually all nearly missed coz we were outsude the wrong shop! All was fine though) and being driven about 1 and a half hours to Jinga where the raftin began. We were provided with some breakfast and tea/juice and then changed into our rafting gear -shorts and a vest/tshirt and applied huuuuge amounts of suntan lotion as we were going to be on the river in the sun for at least 5 hours. Suntan lotion was also the only thing we were allowed to take with us, apart from any medications etc, no shoes allowed! We were given our life jackets and helmets and then got in the truck to take us to where we were starting. On the drive to Jinja we'd been through proper rural Africa, past mud huts and other small villages etc. All amazing to see. There were 5 of us in our boat, plus Juma our instructor who was great. He has been rafting for something like 9 years so was clearly very experienced. He told us that they are actually building a dam on this stretch of the Nile so in a few months you wont be able to raft of this stretch of water which is a shame but apparently the rafting will continue, just starting in a different place. Anyways, there are different grades of rapids, the highest being grade 5. The first half of the day consisted of about 7 rapids, including 1 or 2 grade 5's I think. We started off with a few grade 1 and 2's as training and practised what to do when we flipped over and how to get back in the boat etc. I found it impossible, but did actually manage it once later in the day! There was a safety raft that came with us and each boat was accompanied by 2 amazing kayakers who, as well as showing off their amazing skills, were there to pick us up when we fell off/got into any difficulty and couldnt get back to our boat. So it was all very safe. The other raft (of 4 with an instructor) - flipped on the first rapid after the practise session. Glad we didnt coz that would have been scary, but we did flip twice, in Grade 5 rapids. It's not too bad really. Though on one called Retrospect, I had that feeling of being in huge tumble drier not knowing which way was up etc. Then when I found my way upwards I hit my head on the boat and was pushed under again - was a pretty scary time! But I was picked up by the safety raft so it was fiiiine (this was in the afternoon). Lunch was pineapple and biscuits while sitting in our rafts in the sun on the Nile. Was amazing. And so surreal that we were on the Nile! The first rapid after lunch was a waterfall! Which was sooo scary, but so exciting, and we didnt flip! We went first and the other raft followed, it must have been at least a 6/7 foot drop! But WOW what fun, especially to see what we'd just been down. We had to walk around one Grade 6 rapid, which was huge and long before our last rapid which was also pretty long with 2 potential waves that could flip you. But we help on tight and paddled hard and actually ended up 'surfing' for a few seconds in the second wave. This is when the raft gets caught in a wave and you kind of bob in and out until it releases you. Hard to explain, but hugely exciting to be caught in a wave on a raft! At the end of our amazing rafting experience we were taken to the campsite where we were provided with a well earned BBQ. We are all really quite burnt, despite constant reapplication of the factor 30! It's mainly my forearms, knees and shoulders, and nose - but not too bad! We were allowed to take life jackets and helmets off during flat patches of water when we just floated along the calm beauitful water, think we saw a monitor lizard on the size at one point - well a very large lizard anyhow! And also some amazing birds - eagels and all sorts. Sam decided to go back to Kampala on the free shuttle bus that evening but Carys and I decided to stay in the (free) dormitory rooms, also included in the price. So chilled in the bar in the evening. It was a backpackers campsite so there were lots of other backpackers and mzungus. Met some cool people. The view from the camp and bar was absolutely amazing - photos or descriptions really cant do it justice! Sunset was incredible, and I woke up about about 7.30, just after the Sun had risen. Was so beautiful. The sky was so clear and amazing. Stomach feeling a bit vulnerable again in the morning though, so Carys and I decided not to go to see the source of the Nile (which may not actually be the source of the Nile apparently) like we thought we might on our way home. We walked down to the River to paddle our feet in and watched these Kayakers practising all their amazing tricks. It must be so exciting to kayak on the Nile! Though so scary because the rapids are biiiig! We got a lift with a couple of Israeli guys who were getting a taxi to Entebbe to go home and they kindly dropped us in Kampala. Very hot today, so a very hot and sticky journey home. But nicer than being stuck in a matatu definitely! England vs Wales tonight which should be fun - though I have no energy left at all! May have to have a nap... Sorry all this is a bit disjointed, just writing what comes into my head! SO much fun though! X
WOW! Rafting was SUCH fun! I was pretty scared at some points. Actually pretty much every time we were approaching the next rapid! (By the way 'we' throughout this is me, Sam, Carys, Beata and Andrew) The price of the rafting incuded being picked up from Kampala in a big bus at 7.30am (which we actually all nearly missed coz we were outsude the wrong shop! All was fine though) and being driven about 1 and a half hours to Jinga where the raftin began. We were provided with some breakfast and tea/juice and then changed into our rafting gear -shorts and a vest/tshirt and applied huuuuge amounts of suntan lotion as we were going to be on the river in the sun for at least 5 hours. Suntan lotion was also the only thing we were allowed to take with us, apart from any medications etc, no shoes allowed! We were given our life jackets and helmets and then got in the truck to take us to where we were starting. On the drive to Jinja we'd been through proper rural Africa, past mud huts and other small villages etc. All amazing to see. There were 5 of us in our boat, plus Juma our instructor who was great. He has been rafting for something like 9 years so was clearly very experienced. He told us that they are actually building a dam on this stretch of the Nile so in a few months you wont be able to raft of this stretch of water which is a shame but apparently the rafting will continue, just starting in a different place. Anyways, there are different grades of rapids, the highest being grade 5. The first half of the day consisted of about 7 rapids, including 1 or 2 grade 5's I think. We started off with a few grade 1 and 2's as training and practised what to do when we flipped over and how to get back in the boat etc. I found it impossible, but did actually manage it once later in the day! There was a safety raft that came with us and each boat was accompanied by 2 amazing kayakers who, as well as showing off their amazing skills, were there to pick us up when we fell off/got into any difficulty and couldnt get back to our boat. So it was all very safe. The other raft (of 4 with an instructor) - flipped on the first rapid after the practise session. Glad we didnt coz that would have been scary, but we did flip twice, in Grade 5 rapids. It's not too bad really. Though on one called Retrospect, I had that feeling of being in huge tumble drier not knowing which way was up etc. Then when I found my way upwards I hit my head on the boat and was pushed under again - was a pretty scary time! But I was picked up by the safety raft so it was fiiiine (this was in the afternoon). Lunch was pineapple and biscuits while sitting in our rafts in the sun on the Nile. Was amazing. And so surreal that we were on the Nile! The first rapid after lunch was a waterfall! Which was sooo scary, but so exciting, and we didnt flip! We went first and the other raft followed, it must have been at least a 6/7 foot drop! But WOW what fun, especially to see what we'd just been down. We had to walk around one Grade 6 rapid, which was huge and long before our last rapid which was also pretty long with 2 potential waves that could flip you. But we help on tight and paddled hard and actually ended up 'surfing' for a few seconds in the second wave. This is when the raft gets caught in a wave and you kind of bob in and out until it releases you. Hard to explain, but hugely exciting to be caught in a wave on a raft! At the end of our amazing rafting experience we were taken to the campsite where we were provided with a well earned BBQ. We are all really quite burnt, despite constant reapplication of the factor 30! It's mainly my forearms, knees and shoulders, and nose - but not too bad! We were allowed to take life jackets and helmets off during flat patches of water when we just floated along the calm beauitful water, think we saw a monitor lizard on the size at one point - well a very large lizard anyhow! And also some amazing birds - eagels and all sorts. Sam decided to go back to Kampala on the free shuttle bus that evening but Carys and I decided to stay in the (free) dormitory rooms, also included in the price. So chilled in the bar in the evening. It was a backpackers campsite so there were lots of other backpackers and mzungus. Met some cool people. The view from the camp and bar was absolutely amazing - photos or descriptions really cant do it justice! Sunset was incredible, and I woke up about about 7.30, just after the Sun had risen. Was so beautiful. The sky was so clear and amazing. Stomach feeling a bit vulnerable again in the morning though, so Carys and I decided not to go to see the source of the Nile (which may not actually be the source of the Nile apparently) like we thought we might on our way home. We walked down to the River to paddle our feet in and watched these Kayakers practising all their amazing tricks. It must be so exciting to kayak on the Nile! Though so scary because the rapids are biiiig! We got a lift with a couple of Israeli guys who were getting a taxi to Entebbe to go home and they kindly dropped us in Kampala. Very hot today, so a very hot and sticky journey home. But nicer than being stuck in a matatu definitely! England vs Wales tonight which should be fun - though I have no energy left at all! May have to have a nap... Sorry all this is a bit disjointed, just writing what comes into my head! SO much fun though! X
Wednesday, 11 February 2009
11/2/09
So Julius was a no show on Mon which is a bit of a shame. Guess I’ll just have to wait until our next lesson and see how that goes. Orchestra is going really well. Cello’s are definitely the strongest section at the moment! All thanks to Beata! We’re so lucky to have had her here, has made a terrific difference to the cello section. I’ve been learning lots too!
Yesterday was fantastically sunny the whole day. Because Michael has changed our lessons to 11, I was able to see a bit of what the ‘ladies’, who come every Tues morning do. They make arts and crafts to sell. If one person knows how to make say a cushion cover - they will teach the others. The ladies are also from all over the world so there are lots of different things to be learned. Taught Michael, who is getting on well as always. He still needs to work on his tuning, and I sometimes feel bad getting irritated when it’s not right because he’s such a hard worker and wants so much for it to be correct. I guess that’s teaching for you! This was followed by a lesson with Disan, a new student who described himself as a beginner having had only a few lessons with Virginia, the old cello teacher who I think was here about a year ago. So I started him off getting him to sit properly, checking his bow hold, which was actually very good, and making sure everything was working right. Then he started playing and WOW, he was good! There was vibrato, shifting and it was all pretty much in tune. So then I felt like a right idiot starting him on such basic stuff, but it’s always good to recap the basics isn’t it?! Once I’d discovered he was actually quite good, I started him on a study that works on shifting between first and forth position which is quite hard but he should be able to manage it with a bit of practise. So that was a nice surprise! After lunch we had another sectional with Beata. We just spent an hour going over the last couple of movements we didn’t manage last time and a couple of things that didn’t go so well in the rehearsal yesterday. Again, it really has been so useful having her here! AND, maybe even more exciting - she said they were planning on going white water rafting on Friday and did we want to go too?! So we are! Rafting on Friday! I’m so excited - it should be awesome, scary, but awesome. We’re being picked up from somewhere in Kampala at 7.30 AM on Friday morning to be taken to the River where we will spend a while being briefed and the rest of the day cruising/splashing down the Nile. We’ll be staying Fri night and coming back Saturday. Will miss Junior Orch, but will hopefully be back in time for the England vs. Wales rugby match! There was a plan to go out on the town Sat night too (it being Valentines Day and all) but I guess we’ll have to see if any of us have an ounce of energy left from Friday! Anyways I’m very excited. I then finally had a lesson with Francisca (Mr Yiga’s daughter) who is clearly very musical. She has a good technique and can play nicely in tune. Have started her on a string crossing exercise as it came up in a piece she played me, and I think we’ll start working on shifts soon too. I’m finding it really hard to know what pieces to give people, am going to have to have a proper think and investigate about what’s available and right for their standard.
Sam, Carys and I then set off to the cinema to see a documentary type film which Carys’s host had told us about. It was about Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic collaborating with a choreographer who taught 250 kids from quite deprived schools in Germany the dance to Stravinsky’s ‘The Rite of Spring’. It was really amazing. I love seeing things like that. Though unfortunately there were no English subtitles for the German bits, but there was a lot in English so that was ok. Plus the music is just SO amazing! So that was fun. But it was a pretty long day. As you can see I’m definitely getting busier. As are we all. I counted on the list and there are at least 13 people who have signed up for guitar lessons with Sam at KMS! He’s going to be so busy! And I thought I was feeling a bit stressed with my (what is it now - 7?) pupils! At least there’s no chance of him getting bored!
Today I was suffering from a dodgy stomach which wasn’t great but I took Imodium which does what it says on the packet! So by the afternoon I was feeling better and Siya, who had been keeping me company and looking after me, persuaded me to go with her to pick up the kids from school so at least I got out of the house (I couldn’t go to school in the morning). Decided not to go to choir either so I can rest up lots of our very exciting weekend… Cant wait! X
Yesterday was fantastically sunny the whole day. Because Michael has changed our lessons to 11, I was able to see a bit of what the ‘ladies’, who come every Tues morning do. They make arts and crafts to sell. If one person knows how to make say a cushion cover - they will teach the others. The ladies are also from all over the world so there are lots of different things to be learned. Taught Michael, who is getting on well as always. He still needs to work on his tuning, and I sometimes feel bad getting irritated when it’s not right because he’s such a hard worker and wants so much for it to be correct. I guess that’s teaching for you! This was followed by a lesson with Disan, a new student who described himself as a beginner having had only a few lessons with Virginia, the old cello teacher who I think was here about a year ago. So I started him off getting him to sit properly, checking his bow hold, which was actually very good, and making sure everything was working right. Then he started playing and WOW, he was good! There was vibrato, shifting and it was all pretty much in tune. So then I felt like a right idiot starting him on such basic stuff, but it’s always good to recap the basics isn’t it?! Once I’d discovered he was actually quite good, I started him on a study that works on shifting between first and forth position which is quite hard but he should be able to manage it with a bit of practise. So that was a nice surprise! After lunch we had another sectional with Beata. We just spent an hour going over the last couple of movements we didn’t manage last time and a couple of things that didn’t go so well in the rehearsal yesterday. Again, it really has been so useful having her here! AND, maybe even more exciting - she said they were planning on going white water rafting on Friday and did we want to go too?! So we are! Rafting on Friday! I’m so excited - it should be awesome, scary, but awesome. We’re being picked up from somewhere in Kampala at 7.30 AM on Friday morning to be taken to the River where we will spend a while being briefed and the rest of the day cruising/splashing down the Nile. We’ll be staying Fri night and coming back Saturday. Will miss Junior Orch, but will hopefully be back in time for the England vs. Wales rugby match! There was a plan to go out on the town Sat night too (it being Valentines Day and all) but I guess we’ll have to see if any of us have an ounce of energy left from Friday! Anyways I’m very excited. I then finally had a lesson with Francisca (Mr Yiga’s daughter) who is clearly very musical. She has a good technique and can play nicely in tune. Have started her on a string crossing exercise as it came up in a piece she played me, and I think we’ll start working on shifts soon too. I’m finding it really hard to know what pieces to give people, am going to have to have a proper think and investigate about what’s available and right for their standard.
Sam, Carys and I then set off to the cinema to see a documentary type film which Carys’s host had told us about. It was about Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic collaborating with a choreographer who taught 250 kids from quite deprived schools in Germany the dance to Stravinsky’s ‘The Rite of Spring’. It was really amazing. I love seeing things like that. Though unfortunately there were no English subtitles for the German bits, but there was a lot in English so that was ok. Plus the music is just SO amazing! So that was fun. But it was a pretty long day. As you can see I’m definitely getting busier. As are we all. I counted on the list and there are at least 13 people who have signed up for guitar lessons with Sam at KMS! He’s going to be so busy! And I thought I was feeling a bit stressed with my (what is it now - 7?) pupils! At least there’s no chance of him getting bored!
Today I was suffering from a dodgy stomach which wasn’t great but I took Imodium which does what it says on the packet! So by the afternoon I was feeling better and Siya, who had been keeping me company and looking after me, persuaded me to go with her to pick up the kids from school so at least I got out of the house (I couldn’t go to school in the morning). Decided not to go to choir either so I can rest up lots of our very exciting weekend… Cant wait! X
Monday, 9 February 2009
9/2/09
Saturday was Junior Orchestra. Money is going really well, and we managed to reach the end of the Shake Down without stopping which is a first! Both Michael and Francisca were there so the cellos were pretty strong - its been just me up until now. None of them have ever heard Money Money Money, which is a bit weird, so we're going to hopefully play it to them next time I think. I brought a really quite nice cello home to practise on. I think it must be the best cello KMS have, and its actually quite good! So the practise has been going well. The rest of Saturday consisted of walking to Carys' house (her road is just round the corner, turns out she lives practically the other end of it!) and going to a bar nearby to watch the England vs Italy rugby match. Sam joined us there. Rugby is definately the less popular sport here, but bar we went to had a few screens of rugby and the rest on the Chelsea game that was on simultaneously. We also had the Chelsea commentary going on, not the rugby, which was a bit weird but still at least we got to watch the match! It was nice seeing quite a lot of other English people there too, either supporting their home country, or Chelsea. So that was a fun evening.
Sunday was a chilled out day at home really. Did lots of playing, a bit of reading in the evening sun (it was cloudy nearly the whole day...) and sorted out my timetable. Sam rung me up telling me how insanely busy he is now with all these new guitar students so I have taken on 2 cello pupils from KMS for him - Soloman (who is taking his Grade 5) and Julius. So that brings my total of students up to 5. Lovely number! Haha. Musicianship has changed to Thurs evenings after the Informal concert that happens every week. Apparently the concerts are very popular so we're hoping lots of people will stay for our classes so we get a better turn out. Siya starts her business course this week so last night was taken up by her asking me what the difference between a manager and a leader is, and the difference between delegation and authority - while she was reading in preparation. I wasn't much use though as I've never studied business but it was quite a laugh. Fatu is studying very hard for her mocks that also start this week.
Today (Monday) is another quiet day as I dont have to be in school until 5 to teach Julius, then it's Senior Orch at 7. Apparently Sam has only taught Julius once as he's a bit unpredictable about lessons, so we'll see how it goes. I decided to make some cookies for the family and despite the fact I had to make slight adjustments to the ingredients - they've turned out ok! Which is a relief. We're also meant to be cooking either a Pumpkin or banana cake at some point, for the 'ladies' that come round every Tues. They have tea and cake and I think they sell arts and crafts too. I'm not sure coz I've always been teaching. But my lessons with Michael have been changed to 11 now though so I might get to see what happens tomorrow.
Will let you know! X
Sunday was a chilled out day at home really. Did lots of playing, a bit of reading in the evening sun (it was cloudy nearly the whole day...) and sorted out my timetable. Sam rung me up telling me how insanely busy he is now with all these new guitar students so I have taken on 2 cello pupils from KMS for him - Soloman (who is taking his Grade 5) and Julius. So that brings my total of students up to 5. Lovely number! Haha. Musicianship has changed to Thurs evenings after the Informal concert that happens every week. Apparently the concerts are very popular so we're hoping lots of people will stay for our classes so we get a better turn out. Siya starts her business course this week so last night was taken up by her asking me what the difference between a manager and a leader is, and the difference between delegation and authority - while she was reading in preparation. I wasn't much use though as I've never studied business but it was quite a laugh. Fatu is studying very hard for her mocks that also start this week.
Today (Monday) is another quiet day as I dont have to be in school until 5 to teach Julius, then it's Senior Orch at 7. Apparently Sam has only taught Julius once as he's a bit unpredictable about lessons, so we'll see how it goes. I decided to make some cookies for the family and despite the fact I had to make slight adjustments to the ingredients - they've turned out ok! Which is a relief. We're also meant to be cooking either a Pumpkin or banana cake at some point, for the 'ladies' that come round every Tues. They have tea and cake and I think they sell arts and crafts too. I'm not sure coz I've always been teaching. But my lessons with Michael have been changed to 11 now though so I might get to see what happens tomorrow.
Will let you know! X
Friday, 6 February 2009
6/2/09
Yesterday was a pretty good day. Nice and chilled out. Taught Michael in the morning. He was so enthusiastic about the cello sectional the other day, it was so good to see. He obviously though it was fantastic! So we went over a few tricky bits in the Mass and looked at shifting which will be important for his Grade 3, and forever I guess! I’ve been having a look at the Hungarian Stomp piano part, which doesn’t seem to hard. It’s mostly Um-Cha’s. Though I am useless at the piano so it will take a bit of work until its properly confident but it would be great if we actually played it together at some point! Beata had been giving a lesson to Soloman (Sam’s Grade 5 pupil) and she said she was going to a craft market up the road somewhere so Carys and I decided to join her. It was lovely - and there are so many things I want to buy, but definitely a limit as to how much my suitcase can take! Will buy stuff closer to my departure date I think. So that was pretty good fun. And the rest of the day was spent chilling in the sun and reading and internet stuff. Was a really good day actually, really chilled and fun. So I’m feeling very positive!
Today was Charlotte’s lesson - same as usual really. Am going to wait until she has the notes of the Elephant properly under her fingers before introducing anything new/complicated for now. Maybe next week I’ll introduce staccato/legato studies. That could work. Had a very long meeting after about all sort of stuff including instrument and CD storage, as there is not enough space for everything, us teaching at Primary Schools, which seems to be a changing idea every week. Looks like it’s going ahead in at least one school though. And it seems we’re going to be doing assemblies in other schools as well to expose younger children to classical music here which is always a good thing I think. Anniversary concert also talked about lots. And the repair man coming from England in a couple of weeks to train a couple of the more senior violinists to replace bridges, pegs and do other simple things like that, as well as fixing all the broken instruments. Also about giving theory lessons and other stuff. Carried on for ages, but quite productive I think. I played some duets with Phillip after. It’s good, I’m kind of teaching him the essentials of playing with other people - rhythm, pulse, tuning. I get the feeling lots of the students here haven’t had that much experience playing with others so its good to be doing this. I think I can see some improvements, we’ll keep going coz it’s quite good fun too! Sam and I got a boda together back to my house which was pretty fun! We had lunch at home and then just generally chilled out until he had to go back to school to teach a guitar lesson at 6. I think I may be taking over some of his cello students at KMS because lots of people have signed up for guitar lessons, plus he’s teaching at ISU so he’s going to be pretty busy when I’m really not that busy at the moment. So that could be good. Maybe we'll do some more baking this weekend!
Bye for now! X
Today was Charlotte’s lesson - same as usual really. Am going to wait until she has the notes of the Elephant properly under her fingers before introducing anything new/complicated for now. Maybe next week I’ll introduce staccato/legato studies. That could work. Had a very long meeting after about all sort of stuff including instrument and CD storage, as there is not enough space for everything, us teaching at Primary Schools, which seems to be a changing idea every week. Looks like it’s going ahead in at least one school though. And it seems we’re going to be doing assemblies in other schools as well to expose younger children to classical music here which is always a good thing I think. Anniversary concert also talked about lots. And the repair man coming from England in a couple of weeks to train a couple of the more senior violinists to replace bridges, pegs and do other simple things like that, as well as fixing all the broken instruments. Also about giving theory lessons and other stuff. Carried on for ages, but quite productive I think. I played some duets with Phillip after. It’s good, I’m kind of teaching him the essentials of playing with other people - rhythm, pulse, tuning. I get the feeling lots of the students here haven’t had that much experience playing with others so its good to be doing this. I think I can see some improvements, we’ll keep going coz it’s quite good fun too! Sam and I got a boda together back to my house which was pretty fun! We had lunch at home and then just generally chilled out until he had to go back to school to teach a guitar lesson at 6. I think I may be taking over some of his cello students at KMS because lots of people have signed up for guitar lessons, plus he’s teaching at ISU so he’s going to be pretty busy when I’m really not that busy at the moment. So that could be good. Maybe we'll do some more baking this weekend!
Bye for now! X
Wednesday, 28 January 2009
4/2/09
Pretty busy day today actually. Charlotte is doing really well. Got to the end of the Elephant so hopefully the notes will be fully under her fingers soon so we can start working on other stuff. I found out she's done her Grade 6 Piano so is really quite an advanced musician. She's got a very musical ear which is good. After I did a bit of duet playing with Phillip the violinist. He definately needs to work on his sight reading lots. He hasnt seemed to have grasped the concept of keeping the pulse and subdividing it within his head constantly which seems a bit worrying as he's planning on taking his Grade 6 Violin this Summer. Hopefully our playing will help this, and his tuning too.
Next was another lesson with Beata. We were carrying on with where we left last time - and she was trying to teach me spiccato which I've realised I'm really not very good at! Definately something to work at lots. We had an influx of cellos today, ones that had been out on loan to people that have finally been returned. This means there are now 5 working full size cellos and a baby cello, plus Beata's leaving the cello she brought to practise on while she's here too! So many cellos! And there are 2 broken full size ones which will hopefully by Mr Repair Man who's coming from England later this month. As there are so many cellos I may ask if i can keep one at home to practise instead of carting it back and forth for the weekends. Sam has one at home so it seems only fair! And there will be plenty to go around, so fingers crossed! Would be so useful to have one at home!
It was Beata's cello sectional after lunch. We had a record turn out - think thats nearly all the people that will be in the concert (there were 6 of us) Even my non existant post grade 8 cello pupil Duncan turned up (who I'm yet to give a lesson, he is apparently a very busy man!). There wernt enough cello's to go round! (this was before the influx of cellos..) So Sam was on the baby cello while I ran around writing in stuff on all the parts. Was a really good rehearsal and they have all now mastered that light Baroque/Mozartian bow stroke which is necessary for this kind of music which is great. Didnt reach the end of the piece so hopefully we can squeeze in another rehearsal before Beata leaves, if not it'll be down to me and Sam. Which should be fine as they've all seen how she does it now so that makes it easier. Very good rehearsal.
Was quite a scary boda ride home. Had just been raining (lots) plus it was rush hour which made the traffic doubly worse! Had a couple of moments when I was sure my knees were going to be scraped off when squeezing through the tiniest gap between cars. Luckily not though. And we did cruise past lots of traffic by driving along the pavement which was fun though I'm sure illegal. No takes any notice of the rules of the road here though, it's just, get there quickly! But I'm fine and in one piece!
Went to the other Choir tonight. Got a lift with Carys' host (Carys went too) and her host has been going for ages. It is a really small little choir with just a couple of people per part which surprised me but they're singing some nice unaccomapanied stuff which I think is going in the anniversary concert. I'm going to carry on going I think - was fun plus it's nice to be doing a bit of singing again. AND when I got home there was banana cake! I'm sooo lucky to be staying with this family! :)
That's all for now I think! Hope you have all been enjoying the snow!
X
Next was another lesson with Beata. We were carrying on with where we left last time - and she was trying to teach me spiccato which I've realised I'm really not very good at! Definately something to work at lots. We had an influx of cellos today, ones that had been out on loan to people that have finally been returned. This means there are now 5 working full size cellos and a baby cello, plus Beata's leaving the cello she brought to practise on while she's here too! So many cellos! And there are 2 broken full size ones which will hopefully by Mr Repair Man who's coming from England later this month. As there are so many cellos I may ask if i can keep one at home to practise instead of carting it back and forth for the weekends. Sam has one at home so it seems only fair! And there will be plenty to go around, so fingers crossed! Would be so useful to have one at home!
It was Beata's cello sectional after lunch. We had a record turn out - think thats nearly all the people that will be in the concert (there were 6 of us) Even my non existant post grade 8 cello pupil Duncan turned up (who I'm yet to give a lesson, he is apparently a very busy man!). There wernt enough cello's to go round! (this was before the influx of cellos..) So Sam was on the baby cello while I ran around writing in stuff on all the parts. Was a really good rehearsal and they have all now mastered that light Baroque/Mozartian bow stroke which is necessary for this kind of music which is great. Didnt reach the end of the piece so hopefully we can squeeze in another rehearsal before Beata leaves, if not it'll be down to me and Sam. Which should be fine as they've all seen how she does it now so that makes it easier. Very good rehearsal.
Was quite a scary boda ride home. Had just been raining (lots) plus it was rush hour which made the traffic doubly worse! Had a couple of moments when I was sure my knees were going to be scraped off when squeezing through the tiniest gap between cars. Luckily not though. And we did cruise past lots of traffic by driving along the pavement which was fun though I'm sure illegal. No takes any notice of the rules of the road here though, it's just, get there quickly! But I'm fine and in one piece!
Went to the other Choir tonight. Got a lift with Carys' host (Carys went too) and her host has been going for ages. It is a really small little choir with just a couple of people per part which surprised me but they're singing some nice unaccomapanied stuff which I think is going in the anniversary concert. I'm going to carry on going I think - was fun plus it's nice to be doing a bit of singing again. AND when I got home there was banana cake! I'm sooo lucky to be staying with this family! :)
That's all for now I think! Hope you have all been enjoying the snow!
X
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