I had a great Sunday. It was not the typical Sunday I have. I went to Flor's (my director's) apartment around 11am and we hung out for a bit before getting up the energy to go to the market and buy all the ingredients we needed to make causa rellena and aji de gallina. Melissa joined us later and made some last minute runs to the market herself for things we forgot. It took us two hours to do everything even with 4 people helping but it was totally worth it and we enjoyed every last bit of the food. It was accompanied by caipirinhas which are a brazilian drink with Cachaça, a Brazilian liquor. We also made fresh lemonade. It was really great and I enjoyed hanging out and cooking with the ladies of Qantu. It could be really stressful to do depending on the type of person in the kitchen. Everyone knows that person who cannot let others do things for themselves in the kitchen because they won't do it correctly. Fortunately, there was none of that in our case and we had a great relaxing day.
After eating we digested a bit and laid around until it was time for us to go to Qantu for a rehearsal with students on the Bach piano quartet. We have a few students helping out by playing in the orchestra part. The entire product will be presented in the Teachers' Concert next Wednesday. Yikes! Next Wednesday! I have such a short amount of time before I perform my solo! I am performing Accolay's Concerto in A Minor 1st movement. It has a ton of technical stuff in it but it is a fun romantic piece so I can go all out with the emotion. I am looking forward to it even though I am also terrified of playing my violin in public as a soloist. Give me Claudio any day to play with and I am fine but put me next to a piano and have me play a classical solo piece, I want to explode from nervousness. I don't know why it happens to me but I think it has something to do with control. I feel like I have complete control over my voice while the violin is something outside of me. I technically control it too but it isn't something that is a part of me like my voice and for that reason I get more nervous. It also requires a lot more practice than my voice does. Oh well, I will survive and it will be good for me. I want to show that I can play too. Suzanne has played a few concerts since she has been here, just her or with Katie and I have not done any. I owe it to my students and myself to play a solo.
Anyway, back to the rehearsal. It went really well and I am looking forward to playing the piece with the students and the 4 pianists in the concert. Suzanne, Melissa and I then practiced a bit of the Telemann violin quartet that they, myself and Angela Thompson (a former Qantu violin teacher who got me my job), are going to play for the Teachers' Concert as well. We have lots to play and only a week and a half to go so we will definitely have to have another rehearsal or two before the big day!
Things are getting hectic around here. The week of the 17th of December I am in a concert every single night of the week. It goes as follows:
Monday: Ensambles cajon, sikuri, kodaly
Tuesday: Camerata
Wednesday: Teachers' Concert
Thursday: Violin Concert
Friday: Chorus and Orchestra
Crazy right? I know. I am going to run out of black to wear. I am going to wear a pretty dress for Wednesday but the other days have to be all black. Good thing I have been stocking up this year on black clothing. A musician can never have enough black!
I am only two weeks away from being completely done working at Qantu. I can't believe how quickly the time has flown. I only have two or three classes left with all of my students. I am planning on giving them a candy bar called Tuyo and writing La Musica es... next to the name. It means the music is yours. I think it is cute. I am also going to write a personal note to all of them that will be attached to the candy bar. I have appreciated every single one of my students and I am so thankful that I have had the opportunity to teach all of them and learn so much from each one of them. That is probably one of the best things about being a teacher. I learn just as much from them, if not more, than they do from me. It is also extremely rewarding to see how far all of them have come, especially those who have been with my since the very beginning. I have a few little ones who are all playing twinkle now and that makes me sooooo happy. I can't wait for them to perform at the concert in a week and a half. It is going to be great. I am going to try not to cry. :)
Life is super great and as I finish another year I can't help but become overwhelmed with emotions and mostly thanks and a feeling of incredible luck that I have the life I do and the people in my life that I do. I am beyond happy and I hope that Lima will bring even more. I am sure that with an open mind and positive attitude it will be.
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