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
Sunday, 22 February 2009
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
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