Tegucicalpa, Honduras

Today is May day, a very big day in Central America for protests and gatherings. I've been hearing a janky marching band outside my hotel window. They sound great, the trumpet player hits wrong notes con gusto. But this is as close as i am getting to the festivities. We have all been instructed not to venture out and if we do we are not to walk anywhere even if it is a few blocks away. The crime and violence is bad. Apparently Honduras never disarmed after the conflicts in the 80's, so it's a little crazy with the violence. Natasha our Cultural Affairs told us that there is no safe neighbors in Tegucicalpa, not like in the states where there are bad and good neighborhoods. Strange feeling. Thankfully i am very content with staying in today. And it's perhaps the reason why we are in a 5 star hotel, we have a pretty luxurious place to relax.

We've had 2 shows so far in Honduras. Both really lovely. The school we taught at blow my mind with their talent. Here is a clip of their quartet playing orchestrated Honduran folk music. They have only been playing their instruments for 4 or 5 years. The students are on scholarship to be at this school. They all come from under resourced communities. I am so impressed by their skill and attitude with learning. The teachers have taught them well and they are very motivated students. It was a pleasure to teach them "Sail Away Ladies".







Then we performed at a university. This place made my night maybe my whole week. We played our "didactic" concert which included our hambone skit which is so fun to do. And we took questions, which there were not more than 3. But the third question was....could you show us the dance that goes with the music. That was sooooo exciting because it meant that we could teach the Virginia Reel. So here's the clip, it was so fun. They loved loved loved it. And... when we asked for volunteers we had way more men than women come up to participate. It is always the other way around in the states. These guys are smart.