A good friend of mine was in town and we met at a bar called Coco's Lounge in JP, and I'm pretty sure I was the only white girl in the entire establishment. There was awesome loud music, everyone was speaking Spanish, there was crazy dancing, everyone was beautiful and the drinks were plentiful. It had the exact feel of being back in the Dominican Republic, out at night, despite the freezing temperatures and icy sidewalks. Even though it was cold outside, I was surrounded by the warmest people. We stayed until last call and then peaced out...of the city.
We ended our night (very early morning) in Easton, MA, where I had never been before but it was a cute quiet town. Well, quiet until we got there. We continued the crazy dancing until around 5:30 in the morning. In a way, it was a lot like the RISE after hours dance club I've been to, except we were all dancing in pajamas, and there were snacks and drinks (no shortage of Dominican rum). At first I was a little shy about dancing, mainly because I sometimes end up looking like Elaine from Seinfeld. But something about being around people who could actually dance made me break out of my shell a little bit. They taught me how to Dougie, then we learned the Party Rock dance (now every day I be shufflin'), and then we did the Gangnam style dance in a weird kind of line dance form. Not to mention all the booty shaking and jumping around.
What I thought I looked like:
What I probably looked like:
I really wish I had taken some pictures or videos to remember the occasion, but that just means it's going to have to happen again!
The next day was the obligatory "lazy Sunday" in which you lie around in bed, or in this case wherever you happened to crash on the floor/couch for a few hours before getting up. One part of you is still sleeping, the other part of you is waiting for other people to wake up, and the last part of you is still recovering from the night before.
Regardless of how tired I was, I did manage to perform in a fantastic and fun concert at BU. It was a very horn-y concert. Here's some of the music we played, courtesy of YouTube. (These clips obviously aren't of us).
We played two pieces:
Today I resumed the regular schedule of going to school, with the exception of a short video interview for the MESDA group. In fact, we wrote up a report that you can view on the website! Here is the link:
On February 4th, if you're in town a week from today there will even be a Citizen's Artist talk at BU about all the thing we did in the DR and how it changed not only the lives of the students there, but also ours, in a big, big way.
The rest of the week was a blur of sectionals, sectionals, and orchestral rehearsals.
Tuesday
We began with clarinet sectionals upstairs in a hot room that we shared with the oboe players, separated by a curtain. I acquired one more clarinet player from Haiti who arrived the night before with the other Haitian kids. We had a woodwind sectional, co-run by me, the flute teacher, and the oboe teacher. The language barrier caused a very funny situation. The flute player knew more spanish than me and the oboe teacher knew combined, and so he was speaking more Spanish to the kids. We were trying to get the articulation amongst the winds a little clearer and clean, and so he said "más sucio!...más sucio!...crisp...clean". One of the clarinet players who spoke English said, "Do you mean más limpia?" Everyone laughed. He had been saying "more dirty! more...dirty!"
Then we all met for the full orchestra rehearsal, where the teachers played right next to the kids. There was a lot of work that had to get done in three days, and (spoiler alert:) we did it. Tuesday night we held a mini rehearsal for a piece we were going to play in the faculty concert, co-composed by one of the violinists and her friends. It was a fun, quirky piece that pretty much made fun of Mahler, with almost every quote from a Mahler symphony. Very witty, and very well written. We also met two of the older students who hung out with us for a little while, and I actually learned a bit of Spanish. Once you're surrounded and submerged in a culture, it doesn't take long to learn. I think one more week and I'd be speaking it no problem. The violinist who wrote the piece and I, plus the conductor of one of the pieces stayed up very late (until 4am) talking about things that needed to change for the next day. They needed (and wanted) more orchestra! It was because of that conversation that we had additional orchestra rehearsals the next day. And after that night, we became The Trio, staying up until all hours of the morning, hanging out and talking about everything.
Wednesday
In the morning, after eating fresh pineapple, papaya, and watermelon (:-D), I joined my fellow musicians on the beach, who were buying Conch shells. The beach is fine during the day when the sun is out, but if you even venture near the beach towards the end of the day when the sun is going down, a security guard will actually accompany you (with a loaded weapon), for your safety.
We began the day with sectionals. I brought some duets that were photocopied and passed out the parts. We played Home on the Range, Greensleeves, and some simple Mozart and Bach arrangements. It was a great listening exercise. Then we had sectionals (in air conditioning!) and orchestra rehearsal (also in air conditioning!) In orchestra I sat with the first clarinets, since one of them had to go to Santo Domingo. It was a great learning experience, because I was able to help out the first clarinet section. Since the student who played the solos was gone, I thought it would be good experience for the other clarinetist to play them. I was able to help by playing with them, but she did a really good job when she played by herself. All the clarinet players were really fast learners, and it was so nice to be able to work with them. The other students were also really smart. I met a girl who spoke very, very good English who played the trombone. She was a really sweet person, very talented, and very smart. The beauty of the faculty sitting in on the orchestra rehearsals was that other sections could help out. A few times I turned around and spoke with the trombone/trumpet players about the music, and the violins would do the same, etc.
That night, we ate dinner, and started the hang out. Although the hang out never really starts at a certain time. Dinner kind of winds down, drinks get ordered and people just kinda...talk. People gradually leave and go to bed, usually leaving the Quartet (me, 2 violinists, and the conductor). On this night, we had more rehearsals for the faculty concert that would take place the next day. We had a beautiful arrangement of "Call Me Maybe", and I also jumped in reading the 2nd violin part for Por Una Cabeza. Gorgeous music, from Scent of a Woman. Want to see Al Pacino tango?
Thursday
Now the fun begins. The day began with a quick sectional, where we worked on tuning with the oboes and bassoons, since sharing a room separated by a curtain was a bit counter-productive. We had a break, and then each of the teachers held an open class, where anyone in the community who played clarinet could come. I had about 15 clarinetists, including the 5 clarinetists I already had. The other clarinetists had only been playing for 3 or 4 months, where as mine had 3 or 4 years. I was really nervous, on how to keep them all engaged. What do you do with 15 kids who had varying levels of clarinet experience? You have a masterclass. I started by talking about long tones, which we practiced with chords. The kids were in a square on four benches, and I had each bench play a different note to form a major chord. Luckily, they all knew solfege really well, so it was easy to say "Do, Mi, Sol, Do" for C, E, G, C. After doing that, we played some scales together. I was so thankful that I had someone there who could translate, one of my clarinetists. His teacher was even there, watching the class. Then I had some students come up and play what they were working on. A boy came up and played his part for the National Anthem, and I worked on rhythm with him. Then I had two girls come up and play together one of their band pieces, and I worked on singing notes and rhythms, and we did some listening exercises. Another three boys came up and played their pieces, and I shared with them the importance of subdivision. Then one of my own students came up and played the beginning of the Mozart clarinet concerto. Everyone was listening, and it was so wonderful that even though we speak different languages, we were all able to connect through music. I gave him some musical ideas to work on, since his technique and sound was very good. I tied everything together by saying "All these things I've talked about today are important...long tones, scales, chords, rhythm...but the most important thing while playing music...is to play with your heart". Afterwards, I had a good conversation with the teacher who looked on, and he told me about his clarinet festival he has every year in Santo Domingo. I was really looking forward to hearing their clarinet quartet play that night for the faculty concert.
Then, after lunch I learned the most important lesson. Never walk the 10 minute walk back to rehearsal from lunch while eating a popsicle. There was popsicle everywhere! All over my dress, in my shoe...I felt like a four year old who was eating one for the first time. It was yummy though...and dairy free :)
My clarinet masterclass
Then we had our faculty concert. We rehearsed a bit immediately after the orchestra rehearsal, and then it was time to perform. The concert was held where the first ceremony for us was held (the one that had all the dancers), and tons of people showed up!! The concert started with some flute trios, followed by a Telemann string quartet, a trumpet and trombone duo, a trumpet and percussion duo, an awesome clarinet quartet (2 of my students, plus their teacher and a bass clarinet), then I played Call Me Maybe for flute, oboe, clarinet, percussion, we played Jordan's awesome piece based around Mahler quotes, and ended the concert with all of us playing Por Una Cabeza.
The concert was great, and it was really inspiring to see how our students came and supported us. I remember being at festivals as a student and going to faculty concerts, and it was the first time I was on the other side, as a faculty member.
That night after the concert we all celebrated. There were more people staying at the hotel, and the bar was actually still open when we got back. A few people came to hang out, and we were relaxing and talking by the pool. It was yet another late night with the Duo (me and my fellow violin player new best friend/big sister/partner in crime). Turns out, when you know the right people, you can get better beer. I had a delicious Belgian beer, which was a huge difference from the Presidente light and crappy Sauvignon Blanc we had been drinking all week. We stayed up late talking about Egmont Overture, of all things, and had a wonderful three hours of sleep. :)
Friday
Ah, the last day. We arrived at the concert venue, which held hundreds of people. We rehearsed and went to lunch. We lucked out and instead of heading over to lunch with everyone, knowing the right people and all, we stopped at a sandwich stop which had been closed the night before, and all got really delicious chicken sandwiches, and I had a mango juice too. Then we came back to rehearse some more, and the second part of that rehearsal was hilarious. Musicians are the same in every culture, turns out. I was sitting at the end of the clarinet section, right next to where my new friend was sitting at the end of the violin section. We were making fun of our conductor friends' conducting, and the horn section caught on...then the percussion section got involved and it was all over. With tears in my eyes trying not to laugh we played through the end of the piece. Then finally it hit me...I was really tired. So me and my big sister got up and sat in the audience to listen. After the rehearsal, we all went on a mission to buy coffee, then we got back to the hotel and quickly showered and dressed for the concert. The concert began with speeches, about bringing both the Dominican Republic and Haiti together. Apparently the night before, the kids all had a big dinner and they shared what they thought about the other country, and it was beautiful and very emotional.
We played for a full house
The concert went so well, and I am so proud of all my clarinetists, the woodwinds, the entire orchestra, and the work that we all put in. We all worked so hard that week, and it really showed. It's such a great feeling to know that you've really made a difference. During the concert, the lights went off! People in the audience freaked out, but the orchestra kept going! Really, really great job. And the music we played was so much fun. We started with Beethoven's Coriolan Overture, then we played two Haitian dances, and ended with a piece called Tres Imaganes Folkloricas (I'll check the spelling on that tomorrow), which my students taught me how to pronounce :) There were so many references to dances, fun percussion spots, and crazy brass melodies that it was so fun to play, and you couldn't help but to sway (at the very least) to the groove.
MESDA group at dinner
Then it was time for a celebration! On our way over to the bus, because me and my new best friend knew all the right people, we were asked if we wanted a beer, and "Salut!"...right in the middle of the parking lot. So we took it on the bus with us, and headed over for dinner.
I'd say we look pretty good for getting less than 4 hours a sleep per night!
The dancers from the first ceremony came back, and we had dinner where we ate lunch every day, except now there were table cloths, covered chairs, center pieces, it was beautiful what they did! We took lots of pictures with our students, shared hugs and stories, took more pictures, and said our final good byes. It was such a rewarding experience, and since we all had worked so hard, we decided we would take a night on the town!
We got back to the hotel and packed for a little bit, and went down to the bar to wait for our friends who had a car. After a glass of wine, they came to get us, and we all crammed into the car. We went to an outdoor bar that had lots of dancing, loud music, and lights. Since we were Americans, we got lots of looks, but we found a table and ordered some drinks, and mixed our rum with some coke. And then I learned how to merengue! Fast learner. :)
Then some of us were hungry and cranky, so we stopped at a place called Juniors, right around the corner and ordered burgers and fries. Then we got dropped off and hung out for a little while longer. One by one everyone left to go to bed, leaving the Trio. We sat outside on a balcony watching youtube videos, talking, laughing, and just having a good time. The sun was almost up and I fell asleep in my big sisters room looking at all the pictures I took. An hour later, I woke up to the sounds of her packing and I ran back to my room and finished packing up. We went downstairs for our last breakfast, and boarded the bus.
We shared the bus with some Haitian students, which was hilarious. Even though they were speaking Spanish, you could tell they were making fun of our conductor friend. Yes, musicians are the same everywhere.
Yes, we were exhausted and totally fell asleep for most of the bus ride back to Santo Domingo. Too much fun for us! It was an amazing trip, and I really hope to go again next year. If I had the option to stay there for another month, year, two years, I would. My only complaint is that we had to leave! We boarded the plane to Miami after eating some fried food (which gave me a really intense stomach ache until tonight!), and after our lay over, finally made our way to Boston. It was cold and dark when we got back, and I was tired and felt sick, but it was good to get home and sleep.
I finally feel much better, still a little sleepy, but comfortable. I needed a day of sleep and relaxing.
xoxo
(Sorry for any spelling or grammatical errors...so tired.)
Our first full day...unreliable internet last night :/ Sorry for no pictures, they take forever to load.
I'm about to make everyone living in
the northern states a little jealous. I'm just sitting poolside,
typing in the dark, a few of my new friends are close by, but I
already went for a swim and it's time to blog. Today was
incredible-the first time I saw my surroundings in the sun
light..palm trees everywhere! I woke up early, and indulged in some
fresh pineapple, watermelon, and papaya, as well as some potatoes
cooked with onions and peppers. My roommate and I took a quick walk
on the beach and then went for a dip in the pool, before heading
upstairs to get ready for today's adventure.
We got to the school at 11, and met our
students for the next week. I have 5 amazingly talented
clarinetists-4 on Bb and 1 bass clarinet. If I didn't have a
clarinetist who wasn't amazing at English I don't know what I would
have done! I always knew I should have taken Spanish in high school
instead of French! My limited vocabulary posed a little bit of an
issue, but we were able to laugh about it. A fellow oboist had only
one student today, because we were still waiting for our Haitian
students to arrive tonight. She started speaking to the oboe player
and he said “No English”...she responded “No Spanish” and
they laughed...but it's amazing. I found that you can teach music
without even speaking. By demonstrating on our own instruments, we
found a new means of communication.
Here was my schedule:
11-12: meet and greet with our
students, then finding out respective rooms for the coaching
12-1:00: auditioned them, handed out
parts, warmed up and started playing the rep
1:00-2:00-lunch
2:00-3:45: clarinet sectionals lead by
me, with the help of one other student who could speak English and
translate for me
3:45-4:30: break, where I hung out with
some friends in the shade of some trees while meeting a really nice
Dominican girl who was helping out with MESDA, plus some
snacks...papaya juice with these huge fried wonton-esque chicken
filled snacks
4:30-7: more sectionals, including the
oboe, at at 6 we joined with the flutes
7-9:30: ceremony
We all had a huge lunch together at the
school, and went back to rehearsing. Lunch was salad with generous
slices of avacado, rice, and beef cooked with peppers and
onions...with some pineapple juice that was too sweet (probably
because sugar cane is the most valuable crop here). For the last hour
(out of 5), the clarinets, flutes, and oboes joined together to start
learning one of the new pieces.
At the end of the day there was a huge
outdoor ceremony complete with speeches, a small chamber piece,
awards, a high school band playing their national anthem, dancers,
singers, and even some fruit-filled punch at the end.
(It is here where I take a break from
blogging to take one more swim...the bar at the hotel closes at 11,
but apparently right outside they were selling more beer, so five of
us split 2 more 40s while talking about Mahler in a pool in the
Dominican Republic. Dude...life is so good)
We got back to the hotel at 10, and
started eating dinner...then we were wired from dinner and a few of
the girls decided to go swimming. There is nothing better than
getting into a pool after being sweaty, hot, and clammy all
day...plus our brains were mush from teaching all day.
I can't wait for tomorrow. We get out a
little on the early side, so there will be time to not only teach,
but relax. What a rewarding experience so far.
At 5 in the morning, I stood outside waiting for the T, the cold winds showing no mercy whipping my hair in my face, winter jacket bundled up tight with a scarf up to my nose, hands in my jacket pockets, shivering. Currently, it is 11pm for me, as we are an hour ahead of the east coast. I'm sitting at the hotel's outside restaurant at a table, in a long white t-shirt with leggings and flip flops. It's hot and humid down here, and a bunch of us just went swimming in the chilled pool.
It was a 12 hour commute. We met at Logan Airport at 6:30am, and hopped on a flight at 8 down to Miami. A few hours later, we boarded a huge plane for a relatively short flight to Santo Domingo-which was uneventful except for the harsh landing...where a few compartments opened up, but nothing fell out thankfully. We got off the plane, and it was probably around 90 degrees and humid. I made sure to exchange my US money, and in return got about 2,000 pesos...how rich I feel right now. Then we boarded a bus for what was supposed to be a 3 hour bus ride, but turned out to be 5 hours. We shared it with some of the youth orchestra students, and towards the end they were getting a little rowdy. They started attempting to sing a Gregorian chant with all the harmonies, and ended with and interesting version of the Stars and Stripes Forever...I love traveling with musicians. We stopped at a rest stop where the bathrooms were terrifying, but necessary...but hey, if I can pee in a hole in China I can take on a Dominican bathroom. Too much information? At the rest stop, some alcoholic purchases were made and taken aboard the bus. Apparently, if you ask for a beer they don't bring you a puny little 12 oz bottle...they bring you a 40. And it's only about 3 US dollars.
Palm trees! The view from the bus ride
We got to the hotel, unpacked, changed into assorted summer outfits and went down to the covered, but outdoor restaurant/bar area. There was a buffet style dinner set up for us with salads, beef with onions and peppers, an unknown fish that was really, really good, potatoes, rice, and a dessert area.
Dinner
Dessert
The entrance to the elevators
After eating our fill (and waiting the obligatory 30 minutes), a few of us went swimming. The water was surprisingly cold, but after hours on planes, trains, and automobiles it was refreshing and rejuvenating. In the shallow end there are little bar stools so you can chill in the water while drinking...an excellent idea, but it made me wonder about the alcohol content of the pool water. The chilliness of the pool got to us after a while, and so did the little obnoxious mosquitos, so I went back up to the room to unpack. The rooms are amazing, and my roommate is a really sweet girl. There are two huge beds, and we have a balcony. Super nice. My only complaint is that the wifi doesn't work incredibly well up in the rooms, so I'm typing this outside at the restaurant that has long since been empty...but I'm hanging out and getting to know two of the girls who are on the trip as I type.
My room!
Our balcony at night...I'll take one in the daylight tomorrow, but we have a great view of a palm tree.
Tomorrow is the first day that we get to work with our students and I'm so excited. More tomorrow!
Here we are. It's the eve of my departure from the United States to the Dominican Republic. I can't even begin to explain how excited I am...but this is how this weekend has gone, thus far:
This weekend was amazing. From Thanksgiving Eve (apparently the biggest drinking night of the year, over New Years) all the way until now has been utterly amazing and fun. I got to see some of my best friends, got to know some people who I haven't really been able to hang out with, and met lots of great, new friends. We went out on the town, chilled at friends' houses, and stayed up way past our bed times (and I apologize ahead of time for any spelling or grammatical errors...so tired right now).
Just one of the gems from this weekend's fun
Thanksgiving was great, got to see all my family and close family friends. My mom cooked up a delicious Thanksgiving dinner, complete with lots of turkey, butternut squash (basically dessert), stuffing, mashed potatoes, green been casserole with crispy onions, carrots, gravy, and of course biscuits. Not to mention the pre-dinner snacks: tortilla chips and mango salsa, crackers with cheese and chutney, and assorted nuts. And the pumpkin, apple, and lemon meringue pies. Oh, and the many glasses of wine, liquor, and cocktails that were poured (most notably, the amaretto sours). I was glad my family stayed for the football game, where the Pats totally crushed the Jets, while snacking on chips and onion dip and homemade chocolate peanut butter fudge.
So again, it is the eve of my Dominican Republic trip with MESDA. I've got my Jimmy Buffet pandora station to put me in the mood to pack and go somewhere tropical. I swear my packing skills could win awards. Now, I'm a pretty well seasoned traveler, but nothing too crazy. I don't have 40 stamps in my passport, actually, I probably don't even have 10...but I've been to some really sweet places. I've spent a few weeks during the summer in Canada at Domaine Forget twice in a row (packing bed sheets is always a hassle). I've played in Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome with the Youth Orchestra of the Americas, as part of a Catholic mass (and I really should have left more room in my suitcase for the amazing leather jacket and assorted pastas and goodies I brought back). I've spent three weeks in China as part of an orchestra tour with Benjamin Zander's Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, but my mom helped me a lot for that trip. Oh, and then there was that time I lived in Austin, Texas for a month...but let's not get into that.
Then there are the little trips I've been on...packing for auditions in Virginia, Ohio, Washington D.C., Arizona, and soon California. Not to mention all the vacations I've packed for. With each trip, no matter how big or small, I've adapted a very methodical approach to packing.
I've already packed most of my things. Coming back from the weekend with my stomach full of turkey and pie and a little sleepy, I forgot I had to do laundry. And this was after I went out to dinner with some old friends from GBYSO. I've already packed what I could clothing wise (roughly 10 outfits for 7 days...and too many pairs of shoes), and it made me so happy to be packing flip flops and shorts! (and the obligatory concert attire). My backpack is pretty much packed with books I intend to read (in the little free time I'll have), a planner, and my passport and assorted liquids (in an accessible place)...not to mention my phone, computer, and kindle chargers. The stuff I'll need for tomorrow morning is out near my backpack so I'll remember to pack it. My outfit for tomorrow is laid out. My clarinet is all set with all the music I'll need, with plenty of room for my laptop. Yup...I'd say I've got this.
I'll be updating my blog as much as possible (hopefully every day). This is my big challenge for November. I'll be working (and playing) extremely hard this week, because this is one of the first big teaching opportunities I've had so far in my career as a working clarinetist (Peter Hadcock reference anyone?).
I will be sharing everything I know with my students, and I'm sure I'll be learning just as much, if not more.
