"There's no place like home for the holidays..."

Hello from Waterloo Ontario! I arrived  Dec.21 and will head back to Tanzania January 8. It has been an excellent few days so far.

 I had a 5-hour layover in Amsterdam on my way home and was able to go on a bus tour of the city. Pictures to follow when one of my tour-mates emails them to me! Enjoyed seeing the sights and am looking to spending a few days there on my way home next June.

My flight got in to Toronto right on time, and I was happily met by Brian. After about an hour in an airport coffee shop catching up (I think we were both talking at the same time most of the time) Marlee's flight from LA arrived. The three of us, being hungry by that time, headed out to an Indian restaurant near the airport and then back to the airport to meet Brian's sister Kate, whose flight also was right on time. Everything went so smoothly! And how wonderful to be all together! We arrived home mid-evening and I was struck by how beautiful the house is... thanks to Brian's wonderful decorating.

The next day I took care of some important details like getting a haircut (had a great time driving to New Hamburg in my little blue car!), straightening out some banking issues, opening (and recycling) a huge pile of mail, and buying party food. And last night we had a wonderful party at our house: the 20111 installment of "Merriment and Mayhem at 45 Young St. East." A great time was had by all! So good to see so many dear friends. I am grateful for the abundance of love in my life.

I'll leave you with a quote from Dickens' Christmas Carol and some pictures...

"But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round -- apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that -- as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, 'God bless it!'" (Scrooge's nephew in Dickens' Christmas Carol)

Concert pictures!

December 10 Umoja End of Term Concert:

Advanced Suzuki violins

Everyone participates, even the youngest violinists!

Umoja Ensemble: "Ninapenda kula..."

Umoja Ensemble

My drumming debut!

Danielle conducting Mungu Ibariki Africa

A Musical Celebration

This past Saturday afternoon was Umoja's end-of-term concert. It was a great success!

The eclectic program included:
     A "Suzuki play-down" with all 30+ violin students on stage at the same time
     Piano, violin and guitar group class presentations
     Umoja Ensemble singing traditional music and a newly-composed song by Danielle!
     A jazz ensemble
     A movement of a Bach Brandenburg Concerto performed by several advanced students
     Danielle's arrangement of Mungu Ibariki Afrika (Tanzania's national anthem) for pianos, flutes, violins, guitars, and singers

A lot of work and preparation went into this epic performance, from organizing the program to making stage set-up charts to rehearsing with students to publicity to catering... and of course, all the students practiced and prepared and really rose to the occasion in the performance.

It was great to have everyone involved in Umoja together in one place:  international school students, outreach students, Umoja Ensemble kids, all the teachers, and of course everyone's families! Not to mention a sizeable audience from the Arusha community.

Several personal highlights: leading the big group of violins, getting to play for Danielle's Umoja Ensemble song, making my public debut on a drum (!), participating in the national anthem ensemble (it is such a beautiful song -- look it up on youtube), and being hugged after the concert by my youngest student, a little Tanzanian boy who until recently has been very shy around me and often looked sad. But after the concert he not only gave me a hug but he had a big grin on his face! A wonderful moment.

And now: countdown to Canada! I will be home for a visit from Dec.21 - Jan.8. Really looking forward to it.





   

Party kwenye nyumba yetu!

Danielle's mother has been visiting for a few days. What better reason to host a party at our little house? Saturday night was a wonderful gathering of friends. Lots of laughter and music-making. 

Balloon Safari video!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0T79bRO0mWU

Up, up and away...

This weekend I got to fulfill a lifelong dream: a hot-air balloon ride! Six of us headed out from Arusha before sunrise on Sunday morning to the balloon launch site about an hour and a half away, near Lake Manyara. When we arrived the balloon was inflated and ready for us. We met our captain Jesus (pronounced "Hesus") and ground crew and the four other people who would be sharing our trip. Then with great excitement we climbed into the basket! The balloon quickly rose into the air -- it was astonishing to see how fast we gained altitude as we looked down at the ground crew waving to us. For the next hour we soared over the planes toward Lake Manyara, cruising at a low altitude in order to move in the right direction. As our captain explained, the only steering possible in a balloon is up or down. The altitude determines the wind current it will travel on. We had to fly low in order not to end up in the lake. The view was spectacular: wide expanses of open space dotted with trees, Maasai bomas where cows scattered in alarm and people came out to wave at us, zebras and impala running from the shadow cast by the balloon on the ground, light from the rising sun shining on the mountains ahead of us. As we approached the lake we were told to prepare for landing, which meant bending our knees and keeping our arms inside the basket. When the basked touched down it tipped over, resulting in a truly hilarious exit! We were met by two transport vehicles who took us to a spot where a wonderful breakfast was waiting, complete with champaigne. While we ate we listened to our captain's stories about flight adventures all over the world. Then it was time to board the shuttle to ride back to our launch site, and then the van back to Arusha. All this and it was only 11am!

Making music all day

Today my wonderful colleagues and I spent the whole day making music:

at home

at Blue Heron

and even in a taxi!

What a great life!

New clothes!

One really fun thing to do here is to buy fabric and have clothes made. There are so many beautiful fabrics to choose from, and both fabric and tailoring are amazingly inexpensive. We even have a tailor shop across the street! Here are a few recent examples:

Arusha National Park!

This past weekend I had a great day in Arusha National Park with three friends. Here are a few pictures and a link to the great video Danielle put together.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYI9uVvVPvc

 

 

Violin at Umoja Ensemble

I took my violin to Umoja Ensemble a few weeks ago and had a great time playing for the students! Here's a video Danielle made: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FB-OOksGVQ&feature=youtu.be

Feeling at home

Danielle and I have a new home! We are renting a guest house from a French woman, Annie, who lives in the main house in the same compound. Our little house has two bedrooms, a main room which serves as our living/ dining/ music room, a kitchen, bathroom and shower, a tiny back yard with a clothesline for hanging laundry, and a little front porch.

In the living room we have a spare bed that we use for a couch -- we call it our "bouch!" Out of town guests are welcome! We have enjoyed having friends over for dinner a few times and I also have a couple of students who come in the evening for violin lessons.

The location is excellent: a twenty minute walk to the town centre, a ten minute walk to the church where we teach on Saturdays, a block from a dalla-dalla stop where we can catch a mini-bus to ISM where we work Monday through Friday. To take a taxi into town from our house (a necessity at night, when walking isn’t safe) is 3000 or 4000 shillings – less than 3 dollars.

The neighbourhood has apartment buildings, houses and small shops, including a tailor shop right across the street! I am having several dresses made there. There is also a safari company across the street, a public school next door, and a little bar down the block. It is a bustling neighbourhood with people out walking at all times of day and night. The street has a friendly feel to it. I am such an urban person; I sleep better with the sounds of traffic and people than in our previous location on the hill with its nighttime soundtrack of cows, chickens and dogs. And being able to walk places gives me a sense of freedom which is so important to me. Living here, I feel that I am embracing Arusha and it is home for this year. 

front door

kitchen counter

my room

living room and kitchen

living room/music room!

kitchen

candles in case there's no electricity...

table and "bouch"!

friends on our bouch...