BLOG OF SARAH

Day 4 in Turkmenistan

2011-12-10T09:32:00.000-08:00

Day 4

THis our last day in Turkmenistan, we have our major concert and one workshop at the institute for culture. I am sooo tired this whole day and Sean is very sick. Somehow the sleeping gods would not let any of us sleep, i woke at 3am and couldn't go back to sleep. But we woke up by the time we got to the institute for culture, it is one of the big new buildings that is sided with marble! it's really beautiful inside, the president had us up to his office where he had 5 televisions showing all the ashgabat TV stations, and one of them showcased some of the theatre students from the school. We very welcomed to this concert it was very comforting especially on this day.
The hall was beautifully decorated and all of the students were dressed in their traditional dress, it is very classic and beautiful looking. Also the Ambassador was here at this concert, it was nice to have him at one of our workshops, but honestly he introduced us and surprised with how much information he knew about traditional american folk music. the crowd was lovely, we had lots of audience participation they also showered us with so many flowers. a beautiful tradition to bring up in the middle of the set.

Then we all crashed out at the hotel to get ready for our big show. we were welcomed at the venue by a big marquee with our faces and names on it. It's fun to feel like a rock star for even just one day. Pretty cool. the concert was great. We got the audience to dance, not just the little kids but the teenagers and some adults!!! Sean pulled off some elvis moves and the crowd went wild. We signed lots of autographs and took pictures and were given loads of beautiful flowers and chocolate. It is nice to be able to make someone's day just by playing some music and signing my name. If that all it takes to make a couple of smiles i can totally do that!
we left there and headed to the British pub to see our friend we met at the Susan's house, he was playing the saxophone in this band playing american cover tunes, basically wedding band material. They were really great. it made me think of all the foreign music that i play and what would it be like for me to play the music and have a native be there and have all the cultural context that i don't have with those tunes. They played pink floyd, bob marley, eric clapton, every tune i can have a vivid memory about some experience i had with it, how it is on every classic rock station in the mid-west and probably played 30 million times. But it made me realize that music is music. playing something you love is playing something you love, that is enough and that is communicated clearly when done from pure passion. These guys had that. A beautiful thing. They called it jazz music, and this pub was the only place that they could play that music.

after this we packed our bags and left for the airport at 1am, trying to stay awake till at least Baku where we change for our long flight to frankfurt. it is a trip the flying we leave at 3 am on Friday morning and arrive in NYC at 1:30pm on Friday. We are traveling back in time. So wierd!!!

Day 3 in Turkmenistan

2011-12-10T09:16:00.000-08:00

Day 3

This day started off playing at a conservatory of music. A very cold in tempature conservatory. We played our show and afterwords this very old woman came up to us and began thanking us and being very sweet to us. Come to find out this woman is 81 years old and was a famous Russian opera singer. She sat down to the piano to show us her talents, as the notes get higher she would pop out of her seat, it was so wonderful. she melted my heart.

The school set up a concert for us by the students, so we walked in the museum and there were 2 rows of boys playing dutars and guzjak, totally spelling these wrong, you'll see the video and see what i'm talking about. the Guzjak is like the pontic lyric only in the way it's tuned but is made from mulberry tree wood and a fish skin! i can't believe a fish skin is strong enough, they said it's catfish. Anyway, i love love love that instrument, i want to play in the band. I think i was born in the wrong place. i love that music! you'll see this band you only need one of these instruments because it's soo cool. I got to play on his instrument and it was soo nice. they said with a little instruction i could be really good. Was that a compliment or just like stick with the violin? anyway, they were fabulous. A pleasure to get to hear the traditional folk music.

We had lunch with the ambassador, at his house. it was so nice to sit and have a conversation with him. He is a very interesting person, he filled us in about all his travels in somalia, and also more of the history of turkmenistan. It's so nice to get the cliff notes of a place.
Then we headed to the orphanage, called the palace for orphan children. And it was a palace. the kids were wonderful we taught them hambone, pretty funny. at the end of our concert this young boy came to the stage and sang to a music track. Oh my god, this boy was a professional! he had incredible stage presence and voice. He could teach us something. It was great, they left us with a CD that the children are all on. i can't wait to hear it.

we played a short set at the embassy which is in our hotel, kinda handy. and then for the final part of the day we had a dinner and meeting of other turkmen musicians at the deputy of missions. She opened her house up to all us, made dinner and then held the night sorta like a salon, everyone played a couple of songs, it was so beautiful. We heard so many different styles of music and everyone was so friendly, it was nice to have a chance to talk to people that live and work here. We played with one of the famous turkmen musicians who does a lot of american music and of course we did "what a wonderful world" It makes me feel like we have landed somewhere.

Day 2 in Turkmenistan

2011-12-10T05:51:00.000-08:00

Day 2
This day we had been scheduled to fly to turkmenabat early in the morning, but apparently when the president flies somewhere it means the airport shuts down completely. Was good for us, we had time to rest in the morning, sean came down with a cold so extra rest was much appreciated.
Apparently its very cheap to fly so everyone does instead of driving hours. So we were at the airport yet again, except this time it was just one gate, and at the gate we could see these amazing mountains that are 10,000 feet in elevation. I wanted to take pictures but if i had i would have been suspect to be a terrorist so i decided against. anyway, we got to turkmenabat it reminded me so much of travels in northern romania, especially the part where i felt constantly cold and all the old ladies only had a head scarf and light jacket. I am such a wimp. But the buildings architecture and the old style buses and the general vibe is soo similar. They had us play at a place called the American Corners, this is where they teach english some kids get to go to US as an exchange student, they are all really smart and eager to learn. one kid wore his NY sweatshirt to represent. It was a very nice show, acoustic and we got to speak english and people actually understood us.

we left there and headed to our next show which was at this beautiful palace. It was huge, its adored in gold. the theater had red chairs and huge chandelier and was set up for beautiful acoustics it was gorgeous. The house was packed with lots of young people very excited to see us. at the end we received 3 huge bouquets of flowers and signed autographs and took pictures, people we chanting to sean and i as we left "Sarah, we love you" and "We love you Sean" so funny!! It feels so funny to have complete strangers to say that to you. What do fans really mean when they say that? do they really love me?

Anyway, our night was not finished we had to eat dinner. we went back to the place that we had lunch and not one person was there, same as when we had lunch but this time they had strobe lights and house music pumping! No one was in there?!. We walked in and apparently they were out of food so we couldn't eat there but they stopped us because they said there was a problem with our lunch bill and we had to pay more money!
Anyway, on to the next restaurant which was awesome. It was called Tractor. We were greeted by two ladies which we promptly gave our bouquets to and made fast friends. The one lady look like she owned the bar but apparently she was a singer who wore a button up jean suit jumper and wanted to thank us for the flowers so she sang it;s a wonderful life complete with the louie armstrong voice, a voice that is only gotten by a woman who smokes at least a pack of cigarets a day. it was really just like louie singing with a russian accent! in the back of this place there was karaoke and lots of young people perhaps having dates. it was a great place to relax and have a drink before getting on the plane back to ashgabat.

We got back to the airport and waited for our plane. Sean got out his guitar and wouldn't you know it a group of gypsy playing musicians came up and started singing with him. It was a beautiful moment. They may be coming to the deputy of missions house tonight for a dinner with us! Now that is cultural exchange!

First day in Turkmenistan

2011-12-05T20:29:00.000-08:00

We have arrived in turkmenistan. It was a grueling journey but at some point you lose all concept of time and then it's ok. But at the time we hit frankfurt and we had been on a very long airplane ride and super duper tired all we really thought about was a bed and then we realized we'd be in the airport for the the next 7hrs and then it's another 7hrs to our destination, oh it seemed bleak, but we lost concept of time and it all worked out.
we arrived here and it seem very eastern block communist style except with lots of neon lights. right now i'm sitting in my hotel room looking out the window at the palace of happiness, that was the first thing we saw when we landed. It's huge, it has 3,000 person hotel capacity and the place itself is over looking the whole city. It's where people get married but as sean said it just brings him a lot of happiness just looking at it.
anyway, we just finished dinner with our sponsor exxon mobile, it was a lovely dinner. We had really amazing conversation and so much food. I decided to have a turkish coffee to end the night and that is why i am on this computer right now instead of sleeping.

Today was a good day, i got a walk around outside, look at some of the shops, have a leisure morning, i think that was the first and the last of that. Anyway, i got to have a walk about our neighborhood. I had know idea that i would fit in so well, i wore my very russian style jacket, full length with fake fur hood and i wore this bright green long skirt, which just happens to be customary clothing for here. So an old woman stopped me on the street to ask me something, directions or something, when i said do you speak english? she looked at me and then looked at my clothes in disbelief. You'll see i'll post some pictures of girls all wearing long green skirts and of course the jacket is like any old russian women would wear. Funny.
but it really reminded me of Romania and Prague and maybe a little of kuwait only in the big buildings with lots of neon lights. Women were out sweeping the streets, sidewalks and dirts with traditional old stick brooms, some women where hanging out laundry of their huge communist looking apartment buildings. all the buildings have tons of satellite dishes on them, looks like they might be conversing with the aliens as sean says. i was stopped by a group of men today, i was taking pictures of them setting up the christmas tree. They all asked me to take pictures of them in front of this car. Pretty classic, then the very next question was, how many children i have. Not if i have them but how many!? then they told me that one of them had 9 another had 13, they were proud. Families are very important.

We headed to our first workshop which was at the music conservatory for children between the ages of 10-16. It was beautiful we walked in and two small children offered us some fried dough and turkmen bread, they were soooo cute. We arrived in the new facility, it was nice and we played for many enthusiastic children, they were excellent clappers and singers! At the end we played one of their traditional songs, this little boy sang, he owned that stage, he was such a natural performer, just a beautiful voice. There was also a dance that a group of the students did as well. So beautiful.

It sorta feels like a lawless country. courtney was driving tonight and i was impressed. The driving isn't totally crazy, like they aren't jerks, but there seems to be no rules that you really have to follow except do hit another car, that usually guides decisions, but like staying in lanes, turning in front of people, cutting people off it all open no rules. But it sorta feels like the energy here. There are so many buildings huge palaces but not a lot happens in them. Like tonight we went down to check out the disco that is on the bottom floor of our hotel, it so amazing. It's 1980's style with a giant disco ball in the middle of the room. Thursday night that's were we will be at.
Tomorrow we are flying to Turkmenibat. IT's to be an early morning, I should be sleeping, but right now in NYC it's 1pm and i finally feel awake thanks to Turkish Coffee.

2011-06-13T16:44:00.001-07:00

I have arrived in Kuwait City!

It was the longest journey i have ever had, left brooklyn at 7:30 am on Sunday arrived in Kuwait 6pm on Monday. It wasn't too bad,i tried sleeping in lots of curled positions and got lots of neck and butt cramps. As soon as we got close we peered our heads out the window to see what our eyes could see and it was a whole lot of sand, rippled with a few tumbleweeds, brown is the color of this town from the aeroplane.

Super anxious to get a sense of what this country is like, i was quiet walking off the plane into the airport. It was a pretty severe contrast to what the outside landscape looked like to what the inside of airport is like. I have a feeling this is going to happen a lot, my pre-judgements about this place are going to be turned on their head a lot.

anyway, the airport is chrome shiny-ness, super clean everywhere. there were traditionally clothed muslim men with the checked scarves on their head and the little ropes on the top that look sorta like a halo, it's funny to have the connection with these scarves as a fashion of brooklyn!,They also were these long long shirts/dress thing that goes all the way to the floor and usually it's white. I was noticing how beatifully the men walked, they didn't move their shoulders at all, it looked like they were gliding across the floors. i realized that it must be cause the don't want to trip over those long hems and it keeps them having great posture. the women are with their heads covered, some their faces, but they were beautiful they had intense make-up on and super cute hand bags, then there are tons of military, there is still military present in kuwait but most of them are coming through kuwait to go to iraq. but the most beautiful thing was this family sitting next to me and sean at the visa desk, the little girl is coloring my little pony pictures and the little boy has a little elmo doll, I liked that. Then the call to prayer came over the loud speaker, i am use to hearing this in brooklyn but it always totally distorted, this was like someone was singing right next to me, it made me stop. it was beautiful. i wondered why people weren't reacting, arene't they hearing this lovely man singing, and shouldn't they be praying. as we left to get in the car i saw a room about the parking lot where all these men were in fact praying.

So i have done absolutely no prep for coming to this country, sean has a whole page of words in arabic that he is practicing, and is reading a book called the short history of islam. But i have done zero, the only info i had to go on is what the state dept website said and the nervousness of my mother and grandmothers voices after they heard i was coming here. I defiantly had the sense that there would be anti-american sentiment, and frankly that is why i thought they brought us. But Deborah from the embassy said the majority of Kuwaitis' actually have very positive feelings towards Americans because Bush helped in their liberation. So it's actually quite comfortable here for americans. Why don't they put that on the state dept. website? First judgement shattered.

We are staying in the holiday inn, there is every american franchise here, apparently there are more McDonald's here than anywhere else, considering the size of the country. (it's the size of NJ). But the holiday inn is pretty special, there is a chinese , japanese, middle eastern, indian restaurants all in the hotel, all the amenities, it's super nice. I am really just excited sleeping horizontally.

Sean and i got to walk by the persian gulf tonight, there was a boardwalk, stray cats and big buildings with lots and lots of lights. I did get to see the moon. I like seeing the moon, it makes me feel like he follows me where ever i go, and then i think that he is also following everyone else and where ever they go. he's such a busy dude!

Well, i will try and update daily as my mind is expanded in this place. I did forget my camera and the converter to charge my computer. but i have a super smart phone that might turn into a camera and video. Tomorrow there is an iraqi band playing at the festival that we are playing at. I hope to catch them.

Green-Wood Cemetery

2010-05-02T15:20:00.002-07:00

I ride by the Green-Wood cemetery nearly every other day on my way to teach. Recently the spring aroma has been so incredibly seductive though i never could spare the time to go in, until today. Apparently Green-wood was founded in 1838 as one of America’s first rural cemeteries and by 1860 Green-Wood was attracting tourist as huge in numbers to rival Niagara Falls. I appreciate that a cemetery of dead people was as popular as Niagara Falls, did people go here for their honeymoon like Niagara falls? Green-Wood is 478 acres and has a huge collections of 19th- and 20th-century statuary. Its so weird to feel such spiritual rejuvenation by being in a cemetery full of dead people but that's how i felt today. It reminds me of playing around the abandoned cemetery around my grandmothers house. The statues here were incredible, little angels and cherubs, and jesus, the angels out numbered jesus by a lot. I noticed on the tombstones, by a striking number, that women outlive men! i know that has always been said but i saw the stats with my very own eyes. Lots of them were by 20 years and this was in the 1800 and early 1900's. Women are built to last! My favorite were the weeping willow trees, they really look like they are weeping over these graves and like they are comforting the souls by hovering so close to the ground. When i die plant weeping willows around my grave. I spent a total of 4 and 1/2 hours there today wondering amongst such beauty and feeling gentle, peaceful comfort in this ancient burial ground.

Mt. Airy Fiddlers Convention

2009-06-07T21:21:00.000-07:00

/>Mt. Airy fiddlers convention. There’s nothing quite like it. It has just the right proportions, the old southern old-timers, young spirited punks, greasy fair food, the constant hum of the key of A, and good storytelling red necks and dancin’ grannies. Sean and I left New York Thurs morning and drove 9 hours with windshield wipers on high, semi laughing at the fact that we are bout to go for a long weekend of camping in the woods and it was relentlessly dumping rain. We showed up in Mt. Airy and like always I never really know how to get to the festival so we called James Ruchala who now is a proud resident of North Carolina. James just had the unfortunate experience of his brakes going out in his car going out on some mountain pass, everyone’s nightmare but james made it sound like …just one of those things. We met up and made way to his cute little house had a lovely dinner, cooked with nice things from his garden..We optimistically thought the rain would stop while we had dinner but it didn’t so we made our way over to the festival.

We got there in the thick of the rain, didn’t set up the tent just made our way out to see the happening ran into dan from the cankickers and some friendly folks plopped ourselves and played a bunch of tunes tried to avoid the rain that was dripping form the tent and the pools of water all collected in the middle of the meadow. I love playing music with new folks where I have to figure out their groove it’s a fun little puzzle to try to get in sync. Fell asleep that night in james tent both me and sean, it was a sweet little slumber party. Woke up the next morning and found bob Willoughby, he’s my most favorite buddy at fiddler’s conventions I sat with him for basically the rest of that day playing lopey tunes, shootin the shit a lot of the time just having a good hang. He is a great soul.

Made my way down to the field to check out the competition scene. There was a new dance floor this year, solid wood floor for all the flat footers and cloggers. It was a beautiful scene. I went over to get a picture and there was the one old man that stood out. He had a shiny red jacket, brilliant blue eyes and did some crazy moves with his white sneakers was no younger than 70’s. He caught my eye and held out his hand and said ”oh would you dance with me” I really couldn’t say no , though I was wearing big clumsy rubber boots and really have no idea how to flat foot. He was thrilled no matter what my skills where, he said all those old ladies he wears out and they have to sit down, he’s been dancing for the past 8 hours. So sweet.

Made my way to the back of the stage where all the musicians where lined up for the competition. Everyone was practicing up their tune doe the competition, passing a bottle around, standing in a lot of mud, laughing and having a good old time. Half the competition fun is the line you wait in before you play.

The rest of that night was hanging with my next favorite buddy Steve Fagan. His crazy red neck stories always delight me. Like the one about the “English immigrant” who came to the festival one year and played Old Joe Clark for 6 hours straight. Steve got an idea of how to stop this old joe clark playing machine, he decided to torch him with WD40 and a lighter. Apparently the flame length is like 5 feet or something crazy like that. It doesn’t just end there Robbie Roberson felt like the dude that brought the “English immigrant” should be punished as well for bringing such a guy so he shot the 5 foot flame towards the other dude too. Yeah, charming if you heard it coming from their mouth.

The next day was much of the same, steak and egg diner for breakfast, corn dog and French fries for dinner, lots of tune playing and the weather getting warmer and dryer all the time. Saturday was the best day. There was a wedding, a civil war lesson and a renegade square dance. Jamie, John Herman’s son got married. I think it was suppose to just be an engagement party with cocktails and old-time music. But Paul Brown came and said some sweet words of encouragement and the John Herman said “we should just do it now, do you wanna do it NOW?” They giggled, nodded and then the wedding began and at the end they were smootchin and dancin’ in less than 10 minutes. I cried it was sweet.

Later found my self sitting in the forest section of the hill with 3 fiddles and banjo we played fiddle tunes, ballads and then for a moment the mt. airy festival dissolved into the background and we were completely engrossed in a heavy conversation of the civil war, slavery, abolitionist. These guys were civil war re-enactors and historians. I love old-time musicians! Then it was off to the renegade square dance. It was the square dancing I have ever done. The dances were great and both the callers and the musicians rotated so was always fresh.

Then it was getting on 5 am and I headed up the hill to tuck myself in for the last night in Mt. airy. The moon was bright and full and shone over the meadow and fiddles where still going and part of me thought I probably could stay up till the sun came up but I just stood and listened for a while then crawled into my tent and fell asleep and that was Mt. Airy fiddlers convention for me.

Lumii's at folk college

2009-05-24T20:19:00.000-07:00

This has been an amazing experience. Yesterday we taught a workshop named "putting the unusual in your sound". At first we said what on earth do they mean by this??? and then we realized that this is exactly what we do the best and above all other workshops that we have ever taught this one sorta suits us best. We pieced together each part that each of us play then built it section by section and for us it was even so fascinating to see what everyone plays individually. I think i felt a reflection of wow i'm so proud of what we do. Anyway, we got them playing hip hop beats and playing one note like you mean it. It was really great fun. Then benjy and i taught our class Ilan's Tune as we call it. Sax, 3 violins, mandolin and dulcimer. It's a rockin band they came up with ideas for arranging, which included ending the tune with vocal percussion sounds and walking off stage. Such professionals. called themselves Vlad and the impalers.

Sxip and Rima did a workshop on pushing boundaries, they did cluck old hen with guida, mandolin, fiddle and guitar. This fiddler was awesome she rocked like rima, literally came up with lines that rima would have played, a little fiddle rima coming up.

But dang this experience was amazing, the people that put this on and come to it are music enthusiasts and they are into learning new stuff, they don't have those confidence things and can't do something new. they are funny people they laugh alot. The other teachers there were truly inspiring too. Joel Macabeus who is a singer-songwriter played amazing charming funny songs, then songs with a cause and songs with a story, really moving. Then this awesome oldtime band called orpheus Supertones, made really excited to get down to mt. Airy fiddlers convention.
This camp has a lot of work to do on the food situation,i ate chocolate coffee floats 3x's a day, wait...ok that wasn't the bad part. Nevermind, i was happy with coffee floats 3 times a day.

A pretty funny moment was walking up campus sidewalk and hearing "you are my sunshine" sung by over 100 people holding their instruments and posing for group photo. funny and sweet.

And to top it all it's perfect springtime weather. On friday i walked by the peonie patch and they were tight little blossoms on sunday they were in full bloom releasing all their infectious scent. It was such a flashback from my childhood. I remember waiting for the bus at the end of the lane and watching the same progression. For a few days the peonies would be covered with ants crawling all around over the tight buds then one day magically they would burst and it was one of my most favorite smells, right after the honey locust smell that came out of the 4 trees in our front yard. Ahhhh, springtime.

Luminescent tour

2009-05-23T05:14:00.000-07:00

Lumii's are at a folk college for the weekend. I just got back less than a week ago from a tour in central america with hoppin john for an entire month and jumped in the van to go out with lumii's to do a weekend of workshops in middle pennsylvania. It was great driving here, we stopped to get crappy food at a gas station and were happily surprised that in front of this gas station the Lion's Club had set up 5 pits for BBQ chicken. A full chicken, potato and applesauce meal for 7 bucks served by some lovely grannies and grandpa's. Was so happy that those kind of experiences can still happen in America, it's not alllll conform corporate bullshit.

We arrived at this sweet little campus where the lilacs are in full bloom and the smell is of fresh green grass. It's really relaxing and beautiful. Folks here are average age of 45. We arrived late and just walked straight into the first workshop we were greeted by 20 students ready to learn gypsy fiddle. There was a dulcimer, mandolins, fiddles, guitars, flutes, penny whistle and auto harp all ready to learn. What a trip. Then we were ushered to our dorm room, they were actually quite clean and nice, this is definitely not some crazy party school. Anyway, at some cafeteria food and then performed a 40 minute set. Sooooo nice to play with lumii's again. I am so deeply connected to this band i can't even explain it. It feels good to be back in it again and have a fresh new perspective. Afterward we did a jam, doing random world music music, led by us. It sounds like it would be a terrible experience but it actually was nice.

Coban, Guatemala

2009-05-15T21:46:00.000-07:00

Coban is my favorite town. It's totally a working class town, people running around with large objects on their head, buses driving like maniacs through the streets, tamales and coffee sold by the dozen on the street corners, people are busy here. There is a huge mayan population here, sean and i went to the indigenous market and it was the feeling of being in chinatown but even a step above that craziness, if you can imagine. Mayans are much friendlier and open than the chinese. Their was plantains, and corn being roasted, tons of vegetables and fruit, raw meat just sitting out in the open, flies where all over it!, traditional clothes, cd's, shoes, live turkey's tied together, 50 lb bags of beans, spices, candles, mayan accessories. Part of the market was under a barn like structure that contained hundreds of booths of merchants, children were running around everywhere, smelled of animals, BO, children, spices and life. Sean played his bones throughout the market it made all the girls giggle and be in awe of this large white gringo in a cowboy hat. The electricity was out all day so once the sun started going down we could hardly see what was happening. We walked out to the street and found this family band playing ranchero music. Which when i heard it i thought it was mexican but i was corrected, the country of guatemala was a larger area and encompassed southern mexico and this is where the ranchero music was born. This family was so beautiful, and was lovely to see women getting to sing and play instruments, this isn't always the case.

It was a rainy day, it's rainy season in guatemala. We got caught in one downpour but were blessed with meeting this lovely mayan women who was selling some beautiful handmade textiles. We ducked into a tienda with her and was amazed with all her beautiful work. Guatemala has the most amazing handmade crafts that i have ever seen. No country compares to the weaving, the pottery, and embroidery.

We started this day at a university with a workshop, we were suppose to have a concert as well but that got cancelled due to the swine flu. It was the first time the university has ever made efforts to connect with the US. There has been a lot of tensions here because of the years of US backed politics in this region that has led to a lot of fighting and death. So it was big day in history. Juan Jose Guerrero Perez runs this school and is quite amazing. He is not only the director of this school of 1400 kids but also is a surgeon and a writer. He wrote a book on the history of this region, from the perspective of the people. He took us on a tour of the catholic church in town called Templo El Calvario. This church is special because it has excepted both the catholic religion and the indigenous mayan religion. As we walked up the 136 steps to the church there were mayan offerings with the catholic offerings. in the church there was a back room with 2 crosses decorated with feathers glued to the cross with wax. it was a dark grey room unadorned but there was writing with chalk. The front of the church thee were some saints and jesus with tons of candles and corn as offerings. It felt really good to be in there. Outside was a fire circle where the mayans hold their rituals. It smelled of incense and fire. THere was a man named Fray Bartolome de las casas.He was a very important man in helping save the indigenous people from slavery and death. By converting the Indians it gave him a place to argue against the Spanish idea that native people were inferior and should be pacified forcefully. And of course many people wanted to kill La Casas for these ideals and they started riots but he was successful in the passage of the New Laws (1542) abolishing the encomiendas. La Casa's was a child when Christopher Columbus began the practice of capturing and sending natives back to Spain as slaves in order to repay the funding for his expeditions. Christopher Columbus is the one who started the Encomiendas which was to give land to spanish colonist along with native slaves to work the land. He was a great and smart fighter against the mistreatment and genocide of the natives by the Spainish.
The Catholic Church has really helped the poor and indigenious people in Central America and still does fight for the rights of these people. Most of what we hear is how many bishops and priest were killed and the reason is because they were trying to help the poor groups of poeple. I never knew how vocal and political the catholic church was and is. Just as a side note i was watching CNN and in Chicago there are a lot of young black men getting killed like 200 or so in the past few years. The catholic church hung the american flag upside down as a symbol and frustration that the police are not taking this matter seriously and more needs to be done to help the black communities that are suffering. He was a white priest. I'm pretty enlightened by all of this information.

Salama, Guatemala

2009-05-13T10:14:00.001-07:00

Ladies of the Marimba of Salama, Guatemala, originally uploaded by fiddlesarah.

Our opener for us at the lions club in Salama, was this amazing marimba band. So sweet.

Antigua

2009-05-12T21:17:00.000-07:00

Antigua,
Wow, antigua is beautiful. Unlike any other city or town we have been in Central America. It's nestled between 3 volcanoes and have streets that look like we could be in some quaint town in western europe. So clean and manicured. We had a show and workshop at Nuestros Ahigjados which is a NGO that does a lot of community projects just outside of Antigua. I started feeling really sick here and went to the clinic to find out that i have a bacteria infection in my ear. Which this is not a huge surprise because.....in the El Salvadorian airport the checked my temperature in my ear, after checking hundreds of other ears with out proper cleaning. So no swine flu for me but an ear infection. Anyway, now i have antiboitics and within an hour of taking them i started feeling better. Drugs are good. And the pharmacies here have pure ecucalpts oil and salt that was 2 dollars. So i was ready to go out to Cafe No Se by 8 pm after my drugs and bath. Cafe No Se is a really cool bar Alicia have been to for many years playing and hanging out. So it was like a little homecoming for her. When people mention the Cafe No Se they speak with such love and appreciation. Reminded me of the Square and Compass tha lumii's played in Dorset, England. Really lovely. Our hotel was the savior of hotels. It was an old historic hotel that when i walked in had a whole marimba band playing and 3 string bass and drums. The room felt like i was in my grandmothers house, that old smell and simplicity. Felt good to be comforted by a grandmother vibe.

On the way to the highlands today. Before we left we had breakfast at the hotel where they made homemade tortillas, here''s a little clip..

2009-05-11T07:36:00.000-07:00

I woke up at 4:15. So annoyed with being stuck in a hotel i went out on a walk to take pictures of the city. The bus system is amazing here. First they are decked out old school buses, with flames and names and colorful paint jobs. They speed down the street like the Caribbean vans in flatbush honking their horns and crossing 3 lanes of traffic with a dude or multiple dudes hang out the door with his arm signaling to get over and shouting something to the walkers on the street. The light was horrible and they moved to fast to get any good pictures.

Then i walked around this area, kinda on guard because folks say guatemala has a very rising crime rate. But i figured the criminals weren't awake yet. So i walked around and honestly i was more freaked out by all the security guards with their big guns that looked scary enough to blow up a small town. Yeah. Anyway, the street culture is alive and well here. Everyone out selling coffee in plastic barrels and eggs and roast chicken and beans in a plasic tub, pastries in a wicker basket. There is a shoe shine on every block. It's full life.

Hoppin john in La Gran Villa MALL

2009-05-10T19:05:00.000-07:00

Our finally show in El Salvador was at the Gran Villa Mall. We started the show by taking the glass elevator down from the second floor onto the stage, playing the whole way down. The funny part was we began playing up on the balcony, and when we went to catch the elevator down this couple beat us to and took the elevator, so we uncomfortably had to wait for the next one, while the audience was anxiously waiting for us. And then when we got the next one there was a couple in it as well, they were as surprised to see us as we were to see them. So we all crammed in and playing "this land is your land"in a very small elevator, the couple then was grinning ear to ear saying "this is sooo cool".
Then we started our show at this very large mall. the floor was full and people were looking down from the second floor. It felt really good, for being in a mall. Then we transitioned into teaching the Salvadorians the Virginia Reel. This was a big accomplishment, because since we arrived everyone keeps saying how shy salvadorians are and how they don't dance. Sooo....they danced, and right in front of a big department store, me and sean led a group of 12 couples. They were fantastic. It's like they had beening dying to do this dance and just waiting for someone to invite them. We made some folks happy.
Then we got to play 2 songs with Paulino and Guillermo, El Carbonero and Canasunganana.
Canasunganana is a beautiful lullaby that was remembered by a guy who said his grandmother use to sing this song to him. Because the indigenious people were killed off there is not many old old songs that are remembered so this song is special even though it is only the chorus that was remembered. The musician composed the rest of the verses. So we played this lullaby for our last song in El Salvador. Was soo sweet.

We are in the Top 10!

2009-05-09T05:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a good day. We began at a Centro Nacional de Artes music school, we did a didactic concert and then the students played for us, some folkloric music. It was great to see young people playing this music.

Then we played a concert at Teatro Universitario. It was the first time in over 10 years that they've had any contact with US embassy. The president of the school was really pleased and had us up for a drink in the special president room. (the soda pop here tastes really good)Paulino and his son attended the concert it was really lovely to have them in the audience. Paulino invited us to his house for dinner after the show. This was really special. Hotels are driving me crazy!! we haven't been in someone's house this whole tour, except for Paul Nabor, that was more like his ceremony house. I miss miss miss this part of tour, this connection to people. We sat around his kitchen table eating THE best papusas that i have had yet. They were big and fluffy, sooo goood. Paulino and his band mates told us a bunch of touring stories of bad translators, they have toured the world! Meanwhile folks were texting Paulino really frequently because this was the night of his radio program, he got a sub for him but still people were texting him, calling him from Australia and Sweden. Apparently there are Salvadorian communities there and they listen through the internet. Amazing. Well, it was a a comforting feeling being surrounded by such a lovely family and friends. Paulino's son was exceptionally sweet. He is in 5th grade, and many of his inquiries to me were, what's your favorite song in the whole world, what's your favorite band in the whole world things like this. And then he told me that the Hoppin' John Stringband is in his top 10 favorite bands!! So sweet!

I have a special lesson today with Silvia on how to make Papusas. I am so excited! this is El Salvador's national dish. They are sooo good. If i succeed at learning there will be a papusa party at my house to come soon.

El Salvador rest day

2009-05-08T06:44:00.000-07:00

We had a day of beaches, volcanoes, coconuts and dinner with an amazing artist and political activist. The whole day i felt like everything that was happening was healing my body and mind. Not that i have been unhealthy. We first visited the Pacific OCean, this is a hot spot for surfing so you can imagine the grandness of the waves. The air was salty and thick, the sand was black and the stones were large and perfectly round from the beating they get from the water. I got in to swim, though i have to say the water scares me a bit. It's SOOO powerful when it crashes, and when the water recedes from the beach cover with big rounded stones it sounds like God is cracking his knuckles. It's quite amazing. I got in this water because firstly it was warm and secondly the fear of it made me a little more excited to get in it. I felt like i was in the middle of 2 strong magnets. One pulled with such force out into the ocean the other slammed me into the beach. The water is fierce and way stronger than i have ever been in. i felt like i neti potted every orifice of my body. Healthy event number one.

The we got a delicious meal under a thatch roof restaurant. I ordered coconut water and the women said it'd take a few minutes because they had to get them. Which meant that the trees in front of our table were going to be the trees bearing our drinks.

We were defiantly eating locally grown food this day!The food was spectacular.
Then we drove 30 min. to on of the many volcano's. And it rained the most of the way there because it's rainy season here. But as soon as we arrived it stopped. There was that lovely earthy smell that happens right after a rain, and was especially potent because we where in a rainforest that had pines, and mint and amazingly beautiful flowers. Ladies were selling berries that only grew up here, they were a cross between raspberries and strawberries, so delicious!! I also bought this fruit this women said was suppose to heal everything called noni. I was excited to try it but when i got it home it smelled so bad i couldn't envision getting my lips anywhere near it.

The air here was unbelievable in it's smell i wish i could live in that smell all my life. And then there was the volcano it was huge and deep and active. though i didn't see the red lava boiling up or anything.
Then we hurried back to the hotel because we were to have a guest over. This was very exciting to me, we got some wine and beer and a roast chicken, avocados, bread, melon and some of those red exciting berries from the volcano. Our guest was Paulino Espinoza. Aida from the radio program that we played on recommended this man when we were inquiring about traditional music from el Salvador. He is an amazing and inspiring man. He is a musician, a historian, a cultural ambassador, political activist.
So he arrived, so sweetly he said he had no idea why he was asked to come here. Apparently yesterday he had called the embassy to check on his status for a visa, which he got no answer, but 5 minutes later he got a call from the embassy asking if he would meet at the Marriott at 6:30 there was a band from the US. So he said yes, slightly confused. pretty funny.
But he was so enlightening about the history of this country and the history of the cultural. We keep asking what is the traditional music of this country and no one has a straight answer in fact most say that there is none. Which is actually true!!!
This country was originally inhabited by the Mayans, they vanished some say or were forced most likely, by the Mexicans. The Mexicans settled here and became known as the indigenous people. THey were doing fine selling a natural dye, until the industrial revolution happed and that dye was no longer needed. The Spanish came in and said that these farms were to be turned into coffee plantations, the one problem with coffee is that you get no yield for 4 years, so only the very rich were able to keep their land for this time, that equated to 4 families on the Spanish side. The indigenous were striped of their land and money from this transition. So there was a revolt in 1932 that indigenous people rose up, that very moment they were joined by a gigantic eruption of one of the volcano's. Weird. The indigenous did not win. The Spanish won with literally killing all of them with machine guns. No joke. And thus there is not traditional music or culture that was saved. So sad. The same thing happened in Honduras where the Spanish wished to get rid of the indigenous people and because Honduras was bigger they hired a plane with a revolving machine gun, like from WW1. This is how they were rid of there. And as a prize to the pilot for succeeding this they gave him an airline called TACA airlines, this the the airlines that we fly on between all these countries!! agghhh.

Anyway, like the US the history books leave out a lot of information. So Paulino goes to the schools and teaches about El Salvadorian culture and identity. It's really amazing. He also plays every Sunday at Mass. This catholic church centers around liberation and they lead the congregation in song. I am not sure all the details that go along with this but i know that there were many priest killed in this country because they were standing up for the poor.

It's heavy, but you'd never know about this dark history that happened during my grandmothers era. We are clueless because again we are staying at the fancy side of town next to the MALL! Apparently this place is incredibly dangerous like Honduras. Paulino said do not under-estimate this. So sad.

Ok, that is all for now. Off to teach workshops.

Arrived in El Salvador!

2009-05-05T21:50:00.000-07:00

We left Honduras at 4:30 this morning and arrived in the beautiful El Salvador. We started with a press conference in the mall right next to our hotel. It was a mall that had every store you could think of that we have in the states. We were in the middle of mall and they set us a long table with our names on cards i felt like we should be selling credit cards. It was a nice experience, was our first official press conference, lots of cameras. There was a lovely lady there from the Peace Corps. She works in the municipal building trying to build democracy. She has started a public radio station to try and facilitate peoples voices and opinions. She is a very energetic and passionate lady.

Then Sean and i went to Mr. Donut Man of paris where they serve comidas tipicos de El Salvador. It was a cultural experience. Had the reflection of wow, there are so many franchises here and it really makes me wierdly annoyed. I know that for them work is work and money is money. but it all seems out of place, people are poor here and many live in shambles, but then there are all these slick chain resturants that sell highly processed food. ok, i will have more on this later.

Then we were off to a radio station. We were interviewed by this firecracker of a lady, she is a huge supporter of folk musician and artists.

Fare thee well Honduras

2009-05-05T20:47:00.000-07:00

Honduras was an interesting experience. We performed in 3 cities, 2 of which were the most dangerous in the country. Which meant we were instructed not to venture out on our own. There's a tension in the air I felt it as soon as we arrived and it didn't leave until we left. We played our last gig in San Pedro Sula at Centro Cultural Sampedrano, this school and cultural center was run by a really amazing women. She has been runing the school and cultural center for 30 years and you could feel it. A well run school, the kids were so generous with their spirit and participation, really great. She mentioned to Alicia that she use to walk everywhere to do errands ect. but now she doesn't it's just too dangerous. Which is sad, but what's even sadder is that there she replied that "it's just the way things are if you live in a city, right?" This is what is sad, people are not demanding that things change and the corrupt get out of the police and gov positions, and demand that issues of gangs and drug war get dealt with. There is no trust in the law enforcement apparently they are all corupt. That is such an uncomfortable thought, the reality that there is no one you can trust to protect you. Whoaaa.
What is also really strange is the amount of franchises, they are everywhere. Nicaragua was not at all linked up with franchises, apparently that is because nicaragua did not have strong ties with america, but honduras and el salvador do. And thus all those bad fast food joints are here, including my favorite, popeyes chicken.
With these harsh realities we still were able to had a good time with Natasha and Carmen, they are lovely ladies to hang out with. I began a coffee habit here 3 cups a day. So tasty and strong that coffee.

Here are highlights from Honduras.

Comayagua, Honduras

2009-05-03T06:24:00.000-07:00

It's a relief to be out of Tegusigalpa. Comayagua is a lovely little town very similar to Granada in Nicaragua. On our journey to Comayagua we made a stop to try the local pork rinds. MMmm they were good and greasy.

We played at the the park, or tried to but the rain pushed us into the cultural center. But there was many good things about that. First it rained! First time it has rained since we've been in Central America which also meant it was much coooler. Second it meant that we all scrunched in to the courtyard that was partially covered which meant it was way more intimate. Before we played there was an amazing marimba band rehearsing. Here's a clip. the guy closest to me has a part similar to what the mid horn section has in a brass band. It's soo cool.ahhh, my camera takes such dark video, imagine that you can see that guy on the end. It's really cool

Then we played for lovely families, a group of Americans from Tennessee, a man and his wife from Homeland security and the sweet mayor of the town. It rained throughout the night and just set a cozy mood.

After this we went out for dinner. This town is sooo weird because it has tons of franchises. Any fast food that we have in US they have here, even Popeye's chicken! So the places open were limited, we settled for pizza hut. But this pizza hut had Azteca soup, flan, and orchata. It was a good night we had a lot of hearty belly laughs at the table mostly about dogs and monkeys.

Off to San Pedro, a bumpy 3 hour journey.

Tegucicalpa, Honduras

2009-05-01T16:09:00.000-07:00

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.

OUr last show in Belize

2009-05-01T14:44:00.000-07:00

Our last show in Belize got the gold medal. These kids were exubrant, full of joy, and oh my god and so cute. The littliest ones were just big enough to sit in the pews and and still see what was happening on the stage. All i could see of them was the tops of their heads. The kids instantly started clapping, they did the cajun howl perfectly in time throughout the entire Fort Washington 2-step and at the end the stormed the stage. It started with 2 little girls, they ran up holding hands and just stood in front of us, giggling, then 2 more came and 2 more and then more and more and they all started dancing around and giggling. My face hurt from smiling and laughing so hard. It was a beautiful thing.

This is the school that Sean and I walked by on our first day in belize. We talked to the folks sitting in front of the school and before we knew it they took us into the principals office and just like that we were able to play for the 500 kids of Wesley School.

This was a sad day in the end. First off is that Shana had to go back to NYC she had been with us for the whole tour thus far. She's such a lovely spirit to have around and really helped us figure out how to be on this tour. It still feels like someone is missing at dinner.

Then the next sad thing was that we had to leave Belize. I really love this country. The warmth of the people here is infectious. Ahhh, i miss it.

Here's the Wesley School singing their school anthem. The Wesley School is the oldest school in Belize City.

Punta Gorda- Paul Nabor

2009-05-01T11:53:00.001-07:00

Ms. Zoe from the embassy organized a meeting with one of the legendary musicians of the Paranda style, Paul Nabor

A couple days previous, I had just picked up the Paranda compilation CD in Belize City, I listened to it and fell in love.

I am so surprised that visits with these famous musicians can happen so easily. It's folk music. It's like going to a fiddler's convention in Mt. Airy, all my heroes are there AND i get to not only play with them but also hang out and eat and drink with them. I love that.

We arrived to Paul Nabor's house with Dr. Ludwig Palacio, he looks after Paul, and is a huge supporter of his music. We were greeted by his wife who welcomed us in. All around us were beautiful large chickens, you'll hear in the recording, they were singing up a storm. There were two buildings one for cooking and things and the other was for ceremonies. The ceremony barn had traditional drums, hammocks, amplifiers, cardboard crosses spray-painted orange and dirt floor. It smelled and felt so good in this space. It felt alive and healthy. Paul Nabor came out in his high-top shoes and bleached jeans and heartedly welcomed us. We told him a bit about ourselves, the banjo, our music. Then we played him "When sorrows encompass me round".

Punta Gorda- Paul Nabor, originally uploaded by fiddlesarah.

He graciously listened. After we were finished sean asked if he wanted to play his banjo and Paul said "no i don't want to play the banjo", he said "i play the guitar". Then he went off to get his guitar. His guitar had character, reminded me of gypsies and their instruments. Paul made his guitar work for him. The capo was a sharp nail held to the guitar by some wax twine was there permanently, most likely because the nut had gone bad. One of the pins to hold the strings in was missing and instead he had shoved a hunk of plastic to hold the string in. Out of necessity, this is a folk musician! The most exciting part was experiencing his tuning strategy which was hooking up a small voice recording device to an amplifier and playing a tape of himself playing a song. He used this to tune the guitar. i couldn't figure out was happening at first, it seemed like an avant guard music performance. But he got it tuned pretty well and performed some of his songs for us.

I have been reflecting on this experience in Belize. It's really hit me that these old guys are going to pass at some point and there aren't young people to carry these traditions on.

I am finally understanding why it is important to me to carry on folk music and traditions. It's always has felt right to me in digging up music from various old traditions and keeping them alive, but during this tour I have started to intellectually realize why this important. Sean has really spoken so elegantly about this subject and my thoughts aliegn with his on this subject. Essentially if we don't know our history and where we come from we are lost. The history books tell a story not always the truth. Folk music and the stories that go along with them, tell the peoples history and this is real perspective on being human and experiencing life and hardship.

Alan and John Lomax are invaluable resources to our American culture. Without recordings of the workers, the slaves, the prisioners we'd have only the perspective of the elite and upper class to understand our culture and the making of our history.
Its heartbreaking to see the amazing folk music and musicians of belize and know that once they are gone it's likely that those traditions will die and be lost. agghhh.

I want to find a way to capture these musicians, their stories and traditions for posterities sake. I want it to be captured so that it can be given the respect it deserves. I want not only foreigners to know about it, but also natives of belize to feel proud of their unique and special culture. It was so inspiring for me to hear of the resistance of the Garifuna people against colonialism. The Garifuna people succeeded in never being enslaved by the British. It's inspiring to see all these different people living together and seemingly not have high tensions about their differences. The Mayans, the Mennonites, the Creole's, the Garifuna and there's more.
I was there for 6 days, i definitely can't make out exactly what is going on there, but i know that it is rich in it's culture. Perhaps it's possible to get a grant or scholarship to be able to capture these stories? A sound documentary? A video documentary? Maybe a big concert, bring them to New York City and document that? It seems big, these ideas, but I feel it's so important, and almost too difficult let this time slip away and not have proper documentation of these very important musicians and traditions. mmmm...i will think on this.

http://www.stonetreerecords.com/albums/paranda.php

http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/belize/nabor.html

Dangriga -Garifuna

2009-04-30T05:59:00.001-07:00

Dangriga -Garafuna, originally uploaded by fiddlesarah.

I am in love this country. Not near enough time here to really get to know all that i want to know. The country is rich in traditions and culture and music. The amount of diversity blows my mind! We have had quite extreme experiences. There is so much light, joy, and heart here but it is not to say that there is not a dark side as well. Our friends that we have made here are amazingly lovely people.The embassy people really were awesome, they were so fun to hang out with and introduced us into the some of the really special parts of this country. Ms. Zoe engineered our performance at the Menonnite community and our meeting with the legendary Paul Nabor the greatest living Paranda artist.

We made our way down to Dangriga to play at the Garifuna Museum. Stopped off in dangriga town to have lunch at a local spot by the water. Things take awhile here, which means more hang time, which i love. Sean and I stepped out on the street to see what was happenin' and we were greeted by some local fellas. Charlie was one character that had lived in NY (we get that a lot down here) he was trying to hussle tourist for a boat ride out to the islands. But was a friendly soul. Then a big man with a beer in his hands came up quite abruptly and asked if sean was a blood. He said he was a crypt and then started a little rant about some wierd stuff and walked off. Then i was greeted by nolan, he was a young fella. He took me over to see the fisherman catches, he told me the story of his father and his pelican. Apparently the pelicans were made with one flaw. They get cataracts from the pressure of hitting the water all the time. Eventually both eyes are infected which blinds them and thus they starve to death. And so many realie on humans to feed them. Nolands dad was always able to be spotted out in his boat because he had a giant pelican with him. And when his dad went to Belize city his pelican followed him all the way there. Sweet story and said with so much love.
Then off we went to the much awaited Garafuna museum. It was hot, humid day, no way to escape the heat, because we were playing outside. The children couldn't either, there was a tent for them to stand under but there were to many to fit underneath it.
These children were beautiful. They came out and sang the Garafuna national anthem.

We performed and it was really difficult to tell if we were getting through or not to them. There were many dry faces in the audience, they had no expression at all on their faces. They were teenagers, that can definitely account for some of it. But i couldn't tell whether they really couldn't connect to what we were doing or if it's a cultural thing that i don't get? But, the adults always are so thankful to have us. They are so happy that we are exposing the kids to music other than hip-hop and Reggaeton. We are trying to convey that the old stuff is important, it's got stories that important to remember and to give respect to the older cultures. The old guys playing traditional music are gems in the middle of the dark caves of Belize. They play out of necessity to express themselves and tell a story from their soul.
After our performance we got to hear some music Garifun community. It was fascinating one man play Quadrilles 1-5, they were English in origin for sure. The Garifuna people are most noted by their resistance of Colonization of the British. Facinating. Then we heard "Brother David" he sang our favorite song that we know sing at any chance we can get called "Belizean Products" I thought at first he was saying "Belizean buttocks". This also brought me joy.

We made Mennonite history last night

2009-04-26T17:43:00.001-07:00

Spanish Look-out Mennonite Community, originally uploaded by fiddlesarah.

We performed last night in a mennonite community called Spanish Look-out, This community started about 50 years ago in Belize. They originally fled from Holland and Belgium in the 1500s to escape persecution, and eventually resettled in belize by way of Mexico and Canada. They speak Low German, very old german that was developed in the 16th or 17th century. Unlike other Mennonite communities that shun technology, Spanish Lookout is mechanized, and specializes in auto parts. Along with auto parts, Spanish Lookout is a major producer of dairy, poultry, vegetables and cattle produce, supplying the majority of the country with these commodities. Belize’s most popular chicken, Quality Chicken, is located in Spanish Lookout. Western Dairy, Belize’s only commercial production of milk is also located in the town. Spanish Lookout has been one of the few exporters of crude oil within Belize.

The Mennonites have not had outsiders into there community. We were the first EVER to come into their community and perform! It's pretty major. It was an amazing experience for many reasons.
Firstly I have never been in such a religous setting, it reminded me of the hassidic community in Brooklyn. The Szatmar Hassid's that are from Sighet Romania that came and have preserved their traditions from a very certain place and time and they haven't changed a bit.
It's facinating. I have admiration for their committment to their beliefs and the amount of intense community building that enables communities like the hassids and the mennonites to exist.
I'm processing this all as I write... but it seems not sustainable to be so disconnected from the enviroment that one is living. In the situation with the Mennonites they have almost completley taken over the poultry and dairy production in this region and also produce oil. They don't pay taxes. Meanwhile there are tons of very poor native people here that don't have work or land. But it seems as though the Mennonites live harmoniously with all the natives. No one seems to have any bad sentiment. And historically all the various ethnicities that lived here have maintained their cultural identity peacefully. It's really inspiring that that can happen.

So last night when we performed in their community it meant there was curiosity and interest in the outside world which is a good thing. It was a funny thing that i did not know before we played but their religion does not allow dancing,i made a couple invites for them to dance, no one did. But there were people saying that their whole bodies were moving inside even though they were sitting still. Are we the gateway drug to sin?? Will they be dancing when they get our CD home??
I felt their energy really connected to us throughout the whole concert. They didn't respond with visual clues but i could feel it. Like I felt like what they were experiencing was for the first time this sense of some sort of emotionn that was really en-living.

We made history last night!

As we were leaving on of the women said now next time you come you must learn German. I replied uhh.. ok. She said, if you make excuses you get whippings. Och...

Ms. Leela Vernon The Queen of Brukdown

2009-04-26T08:18:00.001-07:00

Ms. Leela Vernon The Queen of Brukdown, originally uploaded by fiddlesarah.

Mr. Peters is the King of Brukdown and Ms. Leela Vernon is the Queen. She performed with us at the Earth Day Celebration in Guanacaste National Park. She is a powerful performer, such a beautiful soul. She is a Kriol, as they spell it. Kriol was historically spoken by the Kriols, a population of mainly African and British ancestry. However, most Belizean Garifunas, Mestizos, Maya, and other ethnic groups speak Kriol as at least a second language, and it is the only true common language among all groups.

Pallotti High School

2009-04-24T16:34:00.001-07:00

Pallotti High School , originally uploaded by fiddlesarah.

We played at a Catholic High school this afternoon. And these girls rocked. We got in they instantly were screaming and clapping and holdin' down the chairs with attitude. The friendliness of everyone is blowing my mind. Girls had big bright smiles and warm playful energy. This was my most favorite workshop that we've done. Heading out tonight for a dance party down the street.

LOVE TV

2009-04-24T10:43:00.000-07:00

I am in love with Belize. It's hot and humid all the colors are bright here there's water all around us and there's a vibrant street culture. There's guys playing checkers, and guys playing cards, kids hawking patties, women cutting up fruit and bunch of others just hanging out. It's soooo laid back i can't even tell you. I admire it and think i need more of that attitude more in my life.
We started this morning with LOVE TV. Two lovely Carribean ladies interviewed us, they were so hilarious. They were dancing to our music and singing along but if the camera's shot their way the would stop instantly. funny. We got a caller who called in a request for "oh susannah". Everyone loves country and gospel music here. It's such a change from Nicaragua, everyone speaks english for one and they have a love for country songs, liek what country songs are about they love it.
We were asked the question, what would we say to young people that are wanting to be musicians like us, what encouragement could we give them. Sean answered beautifully, he talked about tracing history in todays music, be it rock, reggae, dancehall get the roots and stories. Because the traditional music here is getting lost and it's sooo beautiful. Garifuna, Punto Rock, Brukdown. It was a difficult question i thought because when compared to what we are doing, it's not fair. We come from this previlaged country, aggghh, it's so hard to be on the other side of this whole thing.
Sean and I took a much need walk today into town. Need to have time in the streets, with the folks that make this town. It was great. We first stopped in a music store and were greeted by such charming guys that told us so much about the traditional music scene here. This is where sean first bought Mr. Peter's CD. Then we went off and some fry cake and sausage in this rusty old building over looking the river. We ran in to Mr. Peters on the street hawking his CD's. As we walked we came across a school of elementary students. We asked if we could come back and play music for them. THis school was intense, there were 500 children there, and the building was not huge at all. The rooms were separated by chalk boards and the students were nearly back to back with desks, lots and lots of children. If we can we'll play there next week. On our way back this child on a bike was trying to sell us something, but we couldn't make out what he was saying, he was like this young boy traped in an old man's body. you'd expect him to be this sprite young spirit but instead he was serious and soft spoken. I asked to see what he was selling it it was patties in a bucket on the handlebars of his bike. Then i asked if he sang any songs, we were in search of a childrens song. Asked if he sang any in the street when he played, and he just dryly said no.

Belize City and the King of Brukdown

2009-04-23T21:55:00.000-07:00

Well we arrived and played a gig in Belize. Had a rough morning with queasy stomaches, probably was due to the fact we only got a couple of hours of rest before flying off this mornign at 4am. We had quite a surprise at this gig. The most famous Brukdown player, Mr. Peters was mentioned at our briefing this morning when we arrived. Sean knew of his music from when he was here last. He was raving about him to Denise from the embassy. We get to the gig and who has the embassy brought but Mr. Peters and his son. They came to see us and got right up and played will the circle be unbroken and then we got to play a few of his songs as well. He's a man in is 80's, put out ton of albums and is traveling to World music fest in Chicago in august as well as Central Park, i think. Perhaps i'll get him over for a dinner at my house. It was quite a treat to have him play with us. If it hadn't been for him the gig wouldn't have been all that fun. Apparently the Belize crowds are pretty reserved takes a lot to get them off their feet. We have our work cut out for us. Might be time to pull out the Virginia Reel. Off to sleep, it's been a busy week and tomorow starts at 6:00am.

Zacarias Guerra Orphanage

2009-04-23T03:05:00.001-07:00

We played at an orphanage this morning and the Ruben Dario Theatre this evening. Which is an interesting progression, from the poorest rice and beans to the biggest chandeliers. The orphanage was super nice. The children where incredibly responsive to us. They all got hambone. We played John Brown's and one of the boys got up and started dancing and through the course of the song proceeded to ask every girl in the audience to dance with him and none accepted, it was like a funny comedy routine between the male and female gender. The girls acted dramatically shy and hard to get while the macho dancing guy was ever so confident. They were all very healthy and spirited. i did not know what to expect when arriving but was pleasantly surprised.

2009-04-21T17:50:00.000-07:00

It was a day of flying through trees over coffee plantations. There was a moment of standing on the edge of a platform in an enormous tree and the guys pushed me off and says "now let go with your hands". my body's instinct was...i should hold on, NOT let go there's a long way to the ground! But I let go and gave in to the adrenaline and man it felt good. I feel like that should happen once a week.

We stopped off in catalina for lunch and to have a look at laguna de Apoyo. This Marimba band was playing and this family dancing stole my heart away, such pure joy they have on their faces.

Today was our rest day, tomorrow we are back to full schedule. We start in the morning at an orphanage, continuing to work out some kinks in our workshop, by the end of tour we are going to rock some hambone workshops!

Domingo Savio Gabretto School and Nicaraguian TV

2009-04-20T13:44:00.000-07:00

We started today with Miss Nicaraguan beauty queen, for real! She was our interviewer on Television. She was indeed beautiful and i caught sean in a gaze for her. We played in a janky retro style TV room where the commercials for margarine were done actually by the host as they pointed to a poster that displayed the lovely margarine product. Pretty funny.

Then we were off to a school in the rural area outside of Managua. This school is very special. It was started by Rev. Rafael Maria Fabretto, a priest from Italy. He started this school for the poverty stricken rural children of Nicaragua. His program is based on the
SAT, or Rural Tutorial Learning System. This is a program that not only gives the student a formal education of the basics of math, science ect but also teaches sustainable agriculture and community building along with character development. They have full school days instead of half like the public schools in Nicaragua, their teachers are more in the mentor position instead of lecture. It's really amazing alternative education for free to these children. Some of the children come from gangs in Managua, some come from landfills where they live, over 2,000 live and work on this giant dump, around 1,000 are children, reminds me of the gypsy communities in Romania.

amp;photo_id=3463836945&hd_default=false" height="225" width="400">

So this is who we played for today. We did our silent movie-ish Hambone routine, worked pretty good, have some kinks to work out for the next one. It's really fun to do and is such a nice break from the just playing music. I want to come back and work here for a stint of time. They are doing such amazing work.

Granada

2009-04-19T23:03:00.000-07:00

Today we met monkeys on islands located in lake Nicaragua. Lake Nicaragua is the largest lake in all of Central America it has 300 small islands in it. We took a boat ride through these lush islands. It was astoundingly beautiful. The lake it at the bottom of a gigantic volcano. The birds and flowers were stunning. But the life there was also lovely. There were little boats filled with tons of people getting back and forth from their houses. Kids were fishing with sticks and some with their hands or nets. some of the islands were as big as a small bungalow. Like the one with the 4 monkeys that resided on it. I don't quite know how they arrived there but they are there and Lula blessed us with her grace on our boat. She took a shine to Sean. She was cuddling with him like a little sleepy child would do with their dad. It was adorable. Then she took a couple of my carmels from my hand and eventually my bag of plantain chips. It is so wierd, they are so human like. Her hands felt like hands of a farmer, just well used and leathery, her eyes spoke of emotion, as if she was sad, and she was smart she knew just what we had to offer her. Makes me think we might be related!!!
Granada is a Colonial town. The buildings are colorful and grand in their beauty and so many churches. We played at an art school in the courtyard-ish spot. The courtyards are amazing here. All the buildings just exist as a border, the inside of the building is open air for the mini-jungle courtyard. Brilliant. So we played there it was beautiful. There were fireworks going off during our performance for a saint of some kind. It's very catholic here.
Tomorrow we have an 8 am TV interview. What's the best color of clothing to wear for television, it's not white is it?

First Day

2009-04-18T22:08:00.000-07:00

It is really hard to believe that this is only our first day. It seems more appropriate to say first week with all that has happened today. We started the day with workshops at the only university in Nicaragua to have a music program, Polytechnic. There were young kids, college students and adults that came bearing violins, guitars and their voices. We performed in a small room part of a very simple and plain building. folks spilling out and listening from outside. There was such a feeling of appreciation in the room. Everyone listening so attentively. We split up into groups and taught the crawdad song, i got to teach hambone for the first time. They were fantastic. This appreciation and attentiveness is not always present when teaching american kids and adults. I remember when lumii's went to vermont and taught in the middle school. I looked out and saw the scowl of cross armed teenagers. When i teach as well, there is a lot of struggle with getting the kids to "want to play the violin", and i guess they can say that because they are previlaged white kids. Kids down here don't have previliges. This is the 2nd poorest country in the western hemisphere. It's right after Haiti, if that gives you any perspective.

Then we had some press photos, and hurried off to a traditional Nicarguian lunch. They like fried cheese and plantains and pork oh my!!! Cabbage salad is about the only green vegetables you can get easily. We got all the direction not to drink the water, not to brush the teeth with the water and for God's sake don't have any liquid with ice cubes. We have done all of them and as of yet no sickness. Seems to be OK. It's nice because it's a little problematic brushing teeth with a bottle of water.

Next we traveled to Masaya. Masaya is the cultural capital of Nicaragua. They are known for amazing poetry, the most famous being Ruben Dario. There is a beautiful Artisian market there where we played. Over 300 people came to listen to us. They loved our show they gave us a standing ovation and the mayor of the town gave the most poetic speach i have ever heard come out of a politians mouth. I was totally melted, he was a charmingly over the top kind of speaker. He said " I arrived late to the show and missed half of it and i feel now like i have missed half of my life" We are "the paradise of life". We "represent Peace, Hope and Love". We are like 'from god in some way and who can argue against god". there was more and more, the sentiment was beautiful i thought. We got in the car to leave and michelle and jose were filling us in about a few more details about this mayor. He is part of the Sandinista party, this past election he totally rigged to his favor. My bubble was burst at this point, i was into this guy thought he was a truly inspiring poet for a politican, but really he's just a politician that riggs elections and has power issues. I am having a cultural experience right now!
No back to the hotel, i now have AC in my room, that's exciting, i will sleep well tonight!

Arrived!

2009-04-18T06:12:00.000-07:00

We arrived last night in Managua. We were greeted by such lovely folks from the embassy Jose and Carlos. It's HOT here. This is actually the hottest month of the entire year. My body is trying to figure out what to do. It's spent so many months trying to get warmer and now it's a little overwhelmed.
Last night was a lovely way to enter into the city. I was hungry and not ready for bed and sean too, so Jose took us out to get tacos. It was a Friday night around 11:30 pm. There was a party goin on. We found a place for tacos, we walked in and there was a 3 piece band playing. Of the international instrument was playing...the Casio-tone keyboard, bongos and a singer. This man singing was phenomenal. He was dancing like an excited Bob Leive but with salsa moves. He shook his hips, jumped up and down and sang like he was in heaven. Wow!! and all this in the middle of a resturant for people who hardly glance an eye his way. Wierd, huh? But it's a gig isn't it. Musicians have to play.
Feel asleep in the hotel with the windows open to the courtyard and the street. There was a lot of rustling around, i think there is a lot of nature out there that i am going to find today. The air is thick and balmy the smells are of things that are green and blooming. The birds are loud, they make sounds I haven't heard before. A salamander was climbing up my wall last night!

Getting ready to go!!

2009-04-16T08:32:00.000-07:00

I am nearly there. Tomorrow I leave on the areo-plane. Finally have all my things insured, after all these years of traveling never had proper insurance. My baby is properly insured!

Got to have some good bye hangs with buddies, yesterday . i spent last evening at Grand Central Station with my dear friend Randy. It feels like being in Europe that train station. And there's nice food there, pretty marble things to look at and enough bums talking to themselves to keep the crowd interesting!

Today was a good last day in New York. I rode my bike across the Brooklyn Bridge to do some errands in Manhattan. Why is that bridge so romantic. Is it just stained in peoples brains from the silver screen and we have some sentimental attatchment? Is it because it's been the iconic NYC in all the tourist stations? It gets me every time i ride over. I mean its not a pleasant ride, it's actually a nightmare because it's crawling with tourist who don't have any clue that it's actually a thoroughfare, they just think it's photo op. But I have to say i was so touched today when i saw all of them snapping photos, i was proud of this city and was loving that so many people where admiring it's beauty. Posing against every other cable trying to look cool and collected meanwhile there are buzzing bicycles, power-walkers and tons of tourist not watching where they are walking. It was lovely.

Tonight I hope to make it out for a final brass band dance party at the Bulgarian Bar.

So here's the info on my tour that I am about to embark on. I promise to give it a full try on blogging. I think it will be fun.

The Rhythm Road - American Music Abroad program - formerly known as the Jazz Ambassador program - presents selected professional American musicians on concert tours in countries where there is limited exposure to live American culture. Under an open solicitation, a grant was awarded to Jazz at Lincoln Center to administer the overseas tours as well as the application and audition process to select quartets for the tours.http://www.jalc.org/TheRoad/index.html

new orleans cemetery

2009-04-14T12:24:00.001-07:00

new orleans cemetery,
originally uploaded by fiddlesarah.

this is where the poor people of new orleans get buried. It's a very mysteriously beautiful place. The virgin Mary, teddy bears, fake flowers and ribbons decorate these little boxes that hold old souls that weren't able to get the fancy above ground burial.

the beginings of maple syrup!

2009-04-14T12:20:00.001-07:00

the beginings of maple syrup!,
originally uploaded by fiddlesarah.

Lumii's toured back to southern vermont. Last year we got to slaughter a pig with my friend. This year it was just collecting the sugar water from the tapped trees and hanging out with a most lovely child

Flickr

2009-04-14T08:24:00.001-07:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Vienna

2008-11-25T07:52:00.000-08:00

What I know about Vienna so far is ... there is a strong cafe culture. Cafe's are places that you stay for a long time, the waitress never bother you you. I guess they are hustling tips so they don't care how long you occupy that tableYou are expected to sit and talk or write for a long time. I don't even know if there is possibility for take out coffee. And I have to say being surrounded by smoke is giving me this strange sense of freedom. I love it for now. And marble table tops and beautiful light fixtures seem to be everywhere. It makes sense that this is an intellectual city or at least it has the history of one.

The history of Vienna...damn that is loaded. It's forever sadding really. Not just vienna but all of eastern europe, there use to be a strong jewish culture. And it barely exists. The venue we played at was a bunker for the nazi's. whoaa....wierd, but good in that we are pouring in good joyful things into this very historically bad place. But there is culture and art everywhere in that city. And because it is not in it's hayday anymore there are lots of undiscovered lost little havens. It has the same feeling to me as dayton ohio, i know this is not what you think of when you think of vienna, and it is totally not. but.... it is in the way that dayton use to have this really cool downtown with department stores, factories, pubs ect. but everything emptied out and it's kinda a ghost town at night especially. But its really romantic to me. all the buildings have history in them but it's of times of the past and they have gone untouched for a long time and so they are preserved in that way. But Vienna is different. it is undeniably he center of classic music. And the art deco art and many intellectuals, but nothing new has come since the war. But there is hope, there are people like Dieter and Rio who have made my experience of Vienna so colorful and meaningful. They are good hearted lovely people. Dieters house is filled with lovely people too. His house feels lived in by people that do many good things for the world. There is a library and film screening room in his house a big kitchen with a table big, so to feed lots of people at a time, bikes and plants all around. It feels good in that house, i would like to move in i heard there is an opening.