Arusha in two weeks!

The days are speeding by. I just got back from Ann Arbor: visiting my parents, people-watching at the Art Fair, and a lovely evening with two friends from high school. My dad got set up on skype, so hopefully we will be able to talk occasionally while I'm in Tanzania.

For those of you who don't have it, here's the Umoja Arts Centre link: http://www.umoja-arts.com/index.html.

In the past week I have had online chats with the director of Umoja and also with the piano teaching fellow who is also going for ten months. They both sound like such interesting people and I feel that we'll have a lot in common, as well as many differences. I'm looking forward to meeting them both, as well as all the other people at Umoja. 

And I'm starting to get excited about meeting my students and their parents! The 2010-2011 violin teacher has sent a short profile of each student: his or her age, playing level, what he or she is working on, and even a few notes about personalities and learning styles. I really appreciate the time she put into writing the profiles! It looks like I will have between 30 and 40 students, which is similar to the size of my studio here at home.

This week I'll start sorting stuff to pack (which means piling it all up on the couch in my studio), continue working on Swahili, and try to get used to my "spare" violin. I decided to take that one rather than my good one, which means I won't worry about it as much, but it really does not sound as good! Better quality strings and playing it a lot will help.

should be doing more of this...

... and maybe a little less of this...

Here are a few Swahili words and phrases:

Habari gani? [How are you? ]
Nzuri sana. [very well]
Jina lako nani? [What is your name?]
Jina langu____ [My name is_____]
tafadhali [please]
asante [thank you]
Unasema kiingereza? [Do you speak English?}
Sisemi kiswahili. {I don't speak Swahili]

Lots more to follow! Two weeks till the great adventure begins...

Usiku mwena!