Footnotes

This post is long overdue, but I was waiting for photos of the concert from my mom's camera, so better late than never!

I spent an amazing week at Wanakee directing Footnotes and I couldn't have asked for things to go any better. This was my first year of directing the entire event and I was nervous, but it seems like it was just meant to be. Sue Rudolf has directed Footnotes for the past 20-something years and she had always told me that she wanted me to take over when she was ready to give it up. This year was the year and I am so thankful that Sue entrusted Footnotes to me. She has built an amazing program and it is always one of the best weeks of the summer at Wanakee. Because it is so well designed, it was easy for me to just step in and take over. I was a little concerned that the kids would be disappointed that Sue wasn't there, but I didn't hear a single complaint. The kids were amazing and I had such a great time standing up in front of them every day. It was honestly the most fun I have had all year!!! The volunteers and staff were incredible and it just made for a perfect week.

There is always a Variety Show at Footnotes, which gives the kids and staff a chance to show off their various talents. Here is the Footnotes Staff and Friends singing "I Looked Up", a beautiful song Sarah brought to Wanakee years ago. I LOVE singing with these women. I don't pretend to be a good singer (I like to sing the melody down in the tenor range), but nothing makes me happier than singing with Jean and Sue and other Wanakee folks.

Sue has always said that God is smiling down on Footnotes since it has never once, in all these years, rained on the Saturday morning concert. I was a little concerned this year, since my karma and luck haven't been so great lately, and it did downpour Friday night, but Saturday morning was dry and sunny. Hooray for another beautiful Footnotes concert!!

I'm so thankful I was able to spend this week up at Wanakee. It was everything I needed right now. I could forget about looking for jobs and dealing with life and everything else that was going on and just make music with kids and enjoy being at Wanakee. It reminded me that life is good, even if it might not feel like it all the time. If only I could just stay at Wanakee forever...

"Is this heaven? No, it's Iowa!"

The main reason for our visit to the Midwest was to go to Iowa. The majority of the people I met in Berlin either came from Iowa or had some connection to Iowa, so it became quite a joke amongst all of us. Michelle and I both felt the need to experience Iowa firsthand, so what better tour guide than Karisti, a native Iowan. The first stop in an Iowa adventure was the Field of Dreams. The minute Karisti told Michelle and I that she would take us there, we couldn't stop talking about it. The words "heaven" and "Iowa" became the most used in our conversations.

The Field of Dreams didn't disappoint at all. It was beautiful!! It looks exactly like it did in the movie, of course, and just has this great feeling to it. There were some visiting families who were throwing around a ball and running the bases, but other than that we had the place to ourselves. The house is gorgeous from outside - definitely my dream house - though in my dream it would be looking out over a lake instead of corn fields. Michelle and I both acted out the scene in the movie where they come out of the corn fields and utter the famous words: "Is this heaven? No, it's Iowa." It was incredibly fun and I am so thankful to Karisti for driving a few hours out of our way to take us there. I think I need to watch the movie again sometime soon...

Michelle and I were determined to get our picture taken with something that said "Iowa", so here we are on the steps of the old statehouse, which is now the main building on the campus of the University of Iowa in Iowa City. Karisti went to U of I for grad school, so it was fun to have her show us around the campus and the town. While we were there, there was a tornado warning, a first for both Michelle and I, being East Coast girls. The sirens went off and we took cover first in a store and then in a cafe, which had the bonus of food, a TV, and a bathroom. The tornadoes didn't end up coming through Iowa City, but they were nearby, so it wouldn't have been a good idea for us to get on the highway and drive back to Cedar Rapids. We watched the news coverage until the warning was over, then headed back. It was a very exciting afternoon!

So, the moral of the story is that Iowa is wonderful! I'm so glad I had a chance to see where Karisti is from and experience Iowa firsthand, after hearing so much about it. It was great to see Karisti's parents and just spend some time at her house. It was a fabulous trip from beginning to end!

Chicago is my kind of town...

It has already been almost a week since I was in Chicago (and it has been quite the week!) but better late than never for this post. Karisti, Michelle and I met up in Chicago last week and had a fabulous time! For those of you who don't know, the three of us lived in the same apartment building in Berlin for my first year, then Karisti moved to London and Michelle moved to Singapore. The last time the three of us were together was my 30th birthday in Berlin 2 years ago (it was also the World Cup, which was super fun), so it has been way too long. Karisti lives in Iowa, so meeting in Chicago to start our trip was the most logical. I had never been to Chicago before and I loved it! What an incredible city!! I could very easily live there.

We had a couple of fun-filled days in the city, including:
* Taste of Chicago - The annual huge food festival was going on while we were there, so we ate and drank our way through it. Tons of people and lots of great food, even some vegetarian things!
* Bike tour - Chicago is a flat city, so it is perfect for biking. Michelle booked us on a 3 hour, 11 mile bike tour of the city that was fabulous! We biked along the lake and through a bunch of the parks. I had forgotten how much I love to bike and it is the perfect way to see a city.
* Boat tour - I'm also a big fan of boats, so a boat tour along the river and on the lake was right up my alley. Our guide was incredibly knowledgeable and kept throwing information at us about all the buildings we were seeing, most of which I can't remember. But it was very cool to be on the river and look up at all the amazing architecture.
* Fireworks - Chicago does it's fireworks on July 3rd, which worked out perfect for us since Michelle and I were leaving on the morning of the 4th. We camped out in Grant Park, took turns going to get food and beer at Taste of Chicago, listened to the Grant Park Orchestra perform (they did 1812 Overture, which is Michelle's favorite, so she sang along), and then watched the fireworks, which were awesome. They set them to radio music and started out with Bon Jovi's "Livin' On A Prayer", so we had a great time dancing and singing along.

All in all, a wonderful time in Chicago with the girls!

Josh Ritter and the Boston Pops

It has been a busy week, so I figured I should start posting some items, in hopes of covering everything as soon as possible. I'll start with oldest and work my way forward. Last Friday night Karen and I went to see Josh Ritter with the Boston Pops at Symphony Hall. We had first seen Josh at this tiny jazz club in Berlin in 2006. It was just him and his guitar and we loved it! We even went up to talk to him after and he was super friendly, and probably very happy to be talking to Americans in the middle of Berlin. We heard him again last year at the Somerville Theater, then I saw that he was playing with the Pops this year. It was so fun to see him and his band up there on stage with these classical musicians. Josh was visibly blown away by the moment and kept talking about what a big deal this was for him and his band - all their families were there and he just couldn't get over the fact that he was playing on stage at Symphony Hall with the Boston Pops. It was great!! And the audience loved every minute of it - Karen and I were talking about the members of the Pops probably aren't used to an audience that hoops and hollers and sings along to every word. It was cool to hear his music being played with orchestral accompaniment (some songs worked better than others) and he played some old favorites along with music from his newest album. And he made me incredibly happy by playing my favorite song, at least my favorite of the last few months, as his final encore of the night. Check it out below.



And here is the link to his website if you are interested in checking out more of his music. I highly recommend it!!
JoshRitterWebsite

Birthday Dinner

I turned 32 on June 19 (yikes!) and celebrated by going out to dinner with Marc and Megan at Zampas. It was nice to be home for my birthday again for the first time in four years and we had a great night! Good food, good wine, good company - all the things you need for a fabulous birthday!

Boston

I spent a few days last week in Boston, getting a little dose of culture outside the mecca of Epping, NH. It is always fun to go down and hang out with Rosemary and Karen and this trip was no exception. Rosemary and I went to the JFK Museum, which I absolutely love. As some of you know, I've been a JFK fan for as long as I can remember and was particularly infatuated with him in middle school and high school when my political aspirations were in full swing. I remember going to the museum at one point in high school (I think maybe my dad took me down...), but I honestly remembered very little of the museum, except for the architecture and the fact that I loved it - I just didn't have very many details about it still in my head. So it was great to go back now and experience the museum again. It is incredibly well done and just so beautiful.

It was a picture-perfect day in Boston and the museum is in a beautiful location out on the point in Boston. I love the architecture of the building, particularly this dramatic part of it that is all covered in glass. All in all, a wonderful trip to the JFK Museum - Rosemary, thanks for taking me!

The highlight of my trip to Boston was meeting little Sierra Piche Nicholas. Sierra is the 6 week old daughter of my friend Nicole and her husband Joshua. Nicole and I have been friends since the beginning of first grade and we stayed friends even after her family moved to Massachusetts in 2nd grade. Nicole is definitely the keeper of lots of my childhood memories and I love that we are still friends. It was wonderful to meet Sierra and to see Nicole being such a fabulous mother. Sierra is beautiful and I had a great time cuddling with her all day.

Weekend At Wanakee

It is amazing to me how much I can actually LOVE a place. The minute I get anywhere near Wanakee, I am incredibly happy. As I was driving up on Saturday morning, my first sight of the lake and the island made me break into a huge smile. I feel so lucky to have this place be such an important part of my life. Jean and I walked down to the waterfront this morning and were talking about how it just does our hearts good to be there and, for me, having Jean and Mike there makes it even better. I spent Saturday helping Jean out with Work Day - we cooked lunch for the volunteers and just did some general work around camp. I'm hoping to spend as much time as possible up at camp during the month of June. It gives me a chance to be at my favorite place on the planet AND spend time with Jean, Mike and the kids, some of my favorite people. So look for many more Wanakee pictures and posts to follow. Life is good at Wanakee!

Bar Harbor with Sarah

As some of you know, I spent every summer of my life up near Bar Harbor - our camp is on George's Pond in Franklin, about 30 minutes from BH and we were always going into BH since it was the only place around where there was anything to do. My dad was born in BH, so we have always felt close ties to the place and growing up there was an incredibly important part of my life. I wouldn't have traded spending every summer on George's Pond for anything in the world. It was a very idyllic life and I know how lucky I was to have that.

I'm always happy to be able to share BH with people and let them see how special it is, so it was great to have Sarah come up to visit. She took Friday off and made the long drive up here (Sarah, you are the best!) and we arrived in BH by mid-afternoon. It was sunny and beautiful and we had a great time walking around the town and checking things out. A lot of shops were beginning to close, but we made note of which places we wanted to check out the nest day, being the practiced shoppers that we are. :) Here were are in the park overlooking the pier in downtown BH.

Unfortunately Saturday ended up being very rainy, but we still made the best of it. We did some shopping and got some great things - BH has an awesome dog store with all kinds of gourmet treats, so Sarah stocked up for Annabelle and Bentley and I bought a few things to bring to my boy Ralph. We had hoped to do a boat ride around the island and see the sights from the ocean, but decided it just wasn't going to happen in the rain. We would have been freezing! Instead, we opted for a trolley ride, which meant we got to see the sights, while still staying relatively warm and dry. Our trolley driver was very informative and we hit all the big things to see in Bar Harbor - Cadillac Mountain (which was completely fogged in), Thunder Hole (which wasn't doing much, but still always nice to see), Sieur de Mont spring, all the big mansions along the ocean, Jackson Laboratory, and Jordan Pond House.

This photo is from Jordan Pond House, where we stopped to warm up with coffee. When it is warm and sunny, this place is packed with people who've come to eat the famous popovers and drink tea on the lawn. It was pretty quiet when we were there, but the view was still beautiful, even in the rain. The mountains are called The Bubbles, or the Boobies as we used to call them when we were little.

One of the best parts about being in BH this weekend was being able to eat at Rosalie's Pizza. This is my favorite restaurant in BH and my favorite pizza place in the world. It used to be called Napoli's and, to my family it will always be Napoli's, even though the name changed to Rosalie's probably 20 years ago. Eating at Napoli's is always an important part of our summers in BH. It is only open in the summers and, lucky for Sarah and I, it opened for the season two days before we arrived. We saw a line out the door when we walked by on Friday night, but we were able to get a seat on Saturday afternoon. The pizza was as amazing as I remembered it, if not better, and Sarah said it was some of the best pizza she has ever had. We had a great time drinking beer, eating pizza, and talking, talking, talking, as good friends do. Sarah is one of my favorite people to travel with and I always love our girls weekends away. It was great to be able to show her around BH and for her to enjoy it so much. All and all, a fabulous weekend!

Golf Carts, Lawn Mowers, and Hondas

I think the title of this post accurately describes the last couple of weeks up here in Maine. It has been great spending time with my parents - I think we have spent more time together in the past 4 weeks than in the previous 4 years. I've gone golfing with my dad a couple of times and he actually let me drive the golf cart! It's pretty impressive since the last time I drove a golf cart was probably 20 years ago and I ran it into the post that was holding up a deck. Not good! But this time I safely transported Dad around the golf course and he happily told me all about the ins and outs of playing golf. I don't think I'll ever actually be a golfer, but it was nice time spent with my dad and I know he liked being able to share his favorite hobby with me.

Since I've been living with my parents for free since I got home, eating their food, driving their car, and all of that, I decided that it was time for me to get off my butt and do something. It came in the form of mowing the lawn. I've never been a big lawn mower - I tried mowing the fields one summer at Wanakee and Dave Johnston yelled at me because I hit too many rocks with the tractor. Luckily our yard doesn't have too many rocks, though it is pretty big and mowing it takes a lot of time. However, we have a riding lawn mower, which makes it much easier. I was pretty happy to tool around on the lawn mower, listening to my iPod and enjoying the sun. It wasn't a bad way to spend an afternoon and I know my parents were happy to have all of us working out in the yard together. I think Dad is a little sad that I am moving to the cottage and won't be around to mow the lawn for him this summer. Maybe I have a future in landscaping if the whole teaching thing doesn't work out...

One of the big things that has consumed the last few weeks is having to buy a car. One of the things I loved best about living overseas was not having to worry about owning a car, but having a car is unavoidable here. I wish I lived in a city where I could use public transportation, but instead I live in rural Maine and I have to have a car. Luckily my parents again came to my rescue (have I mentioned how amazing they are and how great they have been about my sudden life change, which has affected all of our lives?). When I thought I would be returning from Lima at the end of next year, my parents and I had talked about me buying my mom's Honda CRV from them and she would get a new car. When I came home earlier than expected, we went back and forth about whether that was still the best thing to do financially. Dad and I went and looked at used Honda Civics for me and found nothing. We also looked at new CRVs for Mom and decided that they were too expensive. Now, my mom has always wanted a minivan (I know, it makes no sense - she has no one to schlepp around anymore, but she still loves them) and luckily the people who live next to my grandparents own a car dealership with a lot of minivans. They were able to give my parents a good deal on a year old minivan that my mom absolutely loves, which means I get the CRV. The CRV is a great car and it was really the solution I wanted anyway, but I needed to let my parents work through the different options. None of the solutions were perfect, since we weren't planning on 2 car payments right now, but this seems like it will work out. And now I have a car!!

So, that is my last few weeks in a nutshell. Being in Maine has been good - my counseling sessions went well and just being home has made me feel better. I leave tomorrow to move to our cottage at Hedding for the summer. After having been in Maine for 4 weeks and basically spending all my time with my parents, I am ready for a change of scenery and a chance to catch up with friends.

Home

It is amazing the restorative effects of home, of just being in this place. I returned to Maine last Tuesday afternoon, after a weepy goodbye with Reada, Dave and Tim in Lima on Monday night. As sad as I was to leave them, I was incredibly happy to be leaving Lima and the situation there and returning home to Maine and my family. I've been feeling bad lately that I haven't been feeling more guilty about leaving school and my students, but my counselor made a good point - we feel guilty when we've done something that we think was wrong, so these feelings just further support that I made the right decision. I'm still struggling with a lot of things and have been having some unexpected crying moments that have come out of nowhere, but hopefully being home will continue to help me heal. Thanks to all of you for your emails and phone calls over the past few weeks. I appreciate the support and love more than I can ever tell you - I'm so lucky to have you all in my life.

It is hard to believe I have already been home for a week. As I am writing this, I am watching the torrential downpour that is happening outside my window. It is taking some adjustment to be back in a place where the weather changes daily, but I like it. The past week has been beautiful spring weather, the best Maine has to offer, and I don't mind a good rain shower here and there. I'm just hoping for sun tomorrow - I'm meeting Stacey and my 3 year old goddaughter Christel in Portland and we are going to the Children's Museum and out to lunch. I'm really looking forward to spending some good time with them - the joys of being back home.

One of the best parts of the past week has been hanging out with Ralph, my brother's 2 year old black lab. Marc, being the good brother he can be sometimes, decided that Ralph would be good therapy for me when I got home and he was right. It does the heart good to have a dog to take care of and Ralph is especially lovey. As long as he is around his people, he is content, so he snuggled with me and followed me around for 6 days and made me incredibly happy. We went on walks and played in the yard and just laid around for days and it was great. I was very sad to see him leave today (Marc and Megan were missing him and wouldn't let me keep him any longer), but I'm hoping to convince them to let me have him one day a week this summer while I'm down at Hedding. And I think a dog of my own might be in my future. We'll see...

The other highlight of my first week home was my friends Becky and Betsy coming up to Maine for a visit. We've been friends forever - we were all percussionists at UNH together and then all taught music at the same time and would meet in Manchester for dinner once a week for years until I left for Berlin. They were on school vacation last week and immediately asked if they could come up and see me. They are the first people who have ever offered to come all the way up here, so I of course said yes! We hung out in Bangor the first night and I took them to a fun Irish pub. Then Friday morning we headed for Mount Desert Island. As lots of you know, I grew up spending my summers on a lake about 30 minutes from MDI and it is one of my favorite places on the planet - right up there with Wanakee and Berlin. It was so fun to be able to show Becky and Betsy around the island and play tourists for a day. The weather was perfect and the island was pretty quiet since the summer season hasn't started yet. We drove to the top of Cadillac Mountain and the view was incredible - it felt like we could see forever. Then we went to Sand Beach (where this photo was taken) and Thunder Hole, then into downtown Bar Harbor for lunch at Geddy's, the only restaurant open in the off-season. It was a perfect day and I'm so glad Becky and Betsy came to visit and I could share it with them.

So, that sums up my first week back in my non-international life. Future posts may not include exciting destinations like previous posts, but I'll try to keep you updated on life back in New England.

Earthquake Season??

I woke up this morning to an earthquake, not the most pleasant way to be awakened. It was short, but felt very strong. Ever since the big earthquake in August, I often think that I am feeling one, but I'm pretty sure it is just my brain playing tricks on me. But I was talking with some friends last night and Deb said she had been feeling some little tremors the last few days. I've felt nothing, so I didn't think much of it until this morning when my entire apartment was shaking and rattling. Apparently the epicenter was really close to Lima, which is why it felt so violent this morning. Here is an article on the earthquake that was posted on the English language Peruvian news website:

Lima: Two earthquakes hit Peru's capital city

(LIP-ir) -- Two earthquakes, one a magnitude 4.4 and the other a 5.4, which were felt across Peru's capital and throughout the province of Lima, struck Peru's coast early Saturday morning, said the U.S. Geological Survey.

The first occurred at approximately 1:41 a.m. and was not perceived by many of Lima's citizens.

The second, however, which was felt at 7:51 a.m., alarmed many and caused people in the country's capital to dart out of their homes and business establishments.

According to Peru's Geophysical Institute (IGP), even though there were no immediate reports of damage, citizens in the region were alarmed by the seismic movement and immediately took to the streets seeking safe places to stand.

The first earthquake's epicenter, which was just off the Peruvian coast, was at a depth of approximately 61.3 km (38.1 miles) and 75 km (45 miles) north of Lima, Peru.

The epicenter of the magnitude 5.4 quake, which was felt much more by citizens on the coast, was registered to be at a depth of 41.2 km (25.6 miles) and just 14 kilometers (9 miles) west of the country's capital.

Every time there is an earthquake, people down here start talking about it being "earthquake season". Yes, I know it sounds completely illogical, but people here think that the earthquakes happen during certain times of the year and are related to the change in weather. I'm sure there is no real science to support it, but the weather has been changing lately. The mornings are cooler when I wake up and the weather is staying grayer in Miraflores during the day, instead of always been sunny. Winter isn't here yet, but any stretch of the imagination, but it is on its way and the weather is becoming different than it was in the height of summer. Maybe there actually is something to the earthquakes/changing weather idea...

Band Geeks

I had a great moment in symphonic band rehearsal yesterday that I just have to share. We are working on this great piece called Abracadabra, by Frank Ticheli. Ticheli is my favorite band composer and we've played one of his pieces on every concert I've done in the last 2 years here. The kids really like Abracadabra and always want to play it all the way through, from beginning to end, but I am constantly stopping and starting to work on different sections (as you should do in rehearsal). They worked really hard yesterday on another piece we are doing and there was 5 minutes left at the end of class, so I told them we could finally play Abracadabra through, beginning to end, no stops. They did a great job focusing and played it pretty well (it still isn't ready for the concert in 3 weeks, but it will definitely get there). They were playing with lots of energy and there was just a good feeling about it as we were making music together. And the best part was the end. After they played the last note, they sat there for a second, then broke into applause. It was wonderful!! I love that they had that reaction about their playing and that they felt so great about what they had just done. It was an awesome moment!

The Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu

Karisti has been visiting from London since last Monday and it has been great to have her here. I had Thursday and Friday off from school, so we went to Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu. My friend Reada had been to MP twice over Christmas break (she had lots of visitors) and she gave us great advice about what to see and where to stay. She also hooked us up with a great driver named Jose. He didn't speak any English, but he was very patient with my Spanish and it was nice to be able to practice it so much.

We started the trip in Cusco and then drove through the Sacred Valley to Ollantaytambo. The ruins at Ollantaytambo are incredible. They sit right on the edge of the little town and it was cool to see them from everywhere. We hiked up to near the top of the ruins and had a great view of the town and the valley. Here we are walking along the ruins.

The most amazing ruin was the one at Moray. The Incas built this site as an agricultural experiment. They planted different crops on different levels to see what altitude was best for growing. The site is incredible and this picture doesn't even do it justice. The bowl it sits in is enormous and it is amazing to stand at the top and look down into it. It is all laid out so perfectly and so logically. As our driver Jose said, the Incas really were so much smarter than us. They figured out all these things, just using the resources they had. And they thrived for hundreds of years, developing a very advanced culture.

Though I had been to Machu Picchu before, this trip was even more amazing than the first. We spent the night before in Aguas Calientes (Karisti likes to remind me that we were in hot water on the trip), which is the town at the base of the mountain Machu Picchu is on. Because we had spent the night in AC and didn't have to take the train in from somewhere else in the morning, we were able to get on one of the first buses up to MP Saturday morning. We were at MP by 8am and it was amazing! The sun was shining, but there were still clouds covering some of the mountains. It made for beautiful light and some incredible photos of MP. Standing up above the site and looking down on the entire complex is one of the most overwhelming experiences. It is definitely the most amazing place I have ever seen in my life and I'm sure I will never stop being blown away by it. What the Incas created and the way it has been preserved is just incredible. We spent about 3 hours wandering around the site and managed to pretty much walk through the entire thing. We tagged onto the end of tour groups in English every once and a while to hear the guides were explaining, but for most of it we just wandered around, checking out the things that looked interesting to us.

We were back down in Aguas Calientes by noon, happily eating Mexican food and watching it rain, pleased with ourselves for getting up to MP early and back down before the rain that tends to happen there every afternoon. We took the afternoon train back to Ollantaytambo, where Jose picked us up and drove us back to Cusco. We had a very yummy dinner at this great place called Jack's that I highly recommend to anyone going to Cusco, and flew back to Lima Sunday morning. Overall, a fabulous trip. Everything went perfectly - trains, driver, weather, everything. It couldn't have been a better trip. It was great to be able to share Machu Picchu with Karisti and she said over and over how much she loved it. It was a wonderful experience!

Here is the link to all of my photos on Picassa web albums if you are interested in checking them out:

Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley with Karisti

First Full Week of School

We all managed to survive our first full week back at school and it really went well. It is great to be back with the kids - hectic, but great. I had some good rehearsals with my band and orchestra this week and I'm excited about the new music we are working on. Our next performance is the 3rd week of April, so we are pushing to get all this new music learned by then. The kids don't seemed to be as worried about it as I am, but hopefully they will step it up and work hard the next few weeks.

Wednesday was WOW (Wild On Wednesdays) after school for all teachers, staff, and workers. We were all split up into 4 teams (with corresponding colored t-shirts) and played games all afternoon. It was fun to see everyone together, playing volleyball, soccer, giant Jenga, Apples to Apples, and other random games. It always makes me happy when they do things that involve everyone, including the workers. And they gave us free beer, ice cream, and Chinese food, so that was nice too.

The week ended yesterday with a fabulous vocal ensemble rehearsal after school. There hasn't been a choir here at FDR for years and years, from what I hear anyway. A couple of kids have mentioned it to me, but I never felt comfortable starting one, since I don't have a ton of vocal experience. Luckily David, the new theater teacher, is a vocalist and has directed choirs before, so he and I decided to collaborate and offer after school choir. We didn't know what to expect in terms of turn out, but we had 13 girls there for the first rehearsal yesterday and it was great!! They were really into it and we had a lot of fun singing for an hour. David is directing while I accompany and it is nice to be playing piano again too. I'm really excited about this whole thing and am so happy to be able to offer choir and reach some kids other than the ones in band and orchestra.

All and all, a very good week!

P.S. My friend Karisti arrives next Saturday for a 2 week visit and we are spending Easter weekend at Machu Picchu, so look for more posts over the next few weeks. I can't wait for Karisti to arrive and to be able to show her around Lima, and around Peru.

FINISHED!!!!

It is official, I have completed my final project for graduate school and just submitted it to Boston University. I am done with my masters degree!!!! Now I just have to wait for the project to be graded and make sure I do well enough to pass and receive my degree - I should know in a couple of months. Graduation is in May and, while I won't be there, I am looking forward to my diploma waiting for me in the mail when I get home in July. It has been a LONG, often frustrating, process and I am incredibly glad to be finished. So keep your fingers crossed and hopefully in a few months I'll have a masters degree in music education. Thanks for all the support along the way!!

Babies and the Bioferia

As most of you know, I often make reference to the number of women who are pregnant or have just had babies at my school. I really do worry that there is something in the water here that makes women incredibly fertile. The elementary principal got up at our all school faculty meeting on Thursday and announced that for the first time in years, there were no elementary staff out on maternity leave at the beginning of the semester - it is VERY rare!! My friends here have all had their babies and now it is fun to be able to watch them grow up. Last night we had a baby shower for little Maximo, who was born almost 3 months premature and spent a month in the NICU. You would never believe it to see him now at 5 months - he is a chunky little monkey and very cute. There were 4 babies under the age of 1 at the shower yesterday and I enjoyed snuggling a bit with all of them. Here I am with little Lucia Belle, just 2 and 1/2 weeks old. I love holding all these little babies, but I'm also very happy to hand them back to their moms and not have to take them home with me. :)

Now, to change topics completely, I finally went to the Bioferia this morning. The Bioferia is the organic market that happens every Saturday morning in Miraflores. My friend Judy goes every week and has invited me a million times, but I've never made it. After reading "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver while I was home (you HAVE to read it - it is the best book I've read in a long time) and thinking about eating locally, I decided I really needed to check out the Bioferia. After being there, I can't believe it took me so long. It is great!!! It isn't very big, but there are stands with organic produce, grains, ready made vegetarian foods, and little gifts. I bought some amazing cheese, a loaf of yummy wheat bread, some all natural granola, and some empanadas. Everything is so good, and so inexpensive. I can't wait to go back next week! I think it is going to become my Saturday morning routine.

Back in Lima

These are the extremes of my life recently. The snowy photos is from my brother's yard in Epping when I first got home at Christmas. Of course, there has been tons more snow since then. I think I can actually tolerate the snow more now that I don't have to live with it every day. It didn't put too much of a damper on any of my travel plans while I was home and it was actually nice to be snowed in at my parents' house last Wednesday. It gave me an excuse to stay in my warm fleece pajamas and read all day!!

Now I am back in Lima, enjoying a beautiful Peruvian summer day. As lots of you know, there are things about living in Peru that drive me crazy, but days like today make me like it a lot more. Yes, there are car alarms and sirens going constantly (the car alarm on my street that always goes off went off the minute I turned out my light last night and I'm listening to tons of obnoxious sirens right now), but there is also lots of sun and warmth right now and that makes me happy. I love that I am sitting next to an open window in a sleeveless dress and flipflops and I am not cold at all. Wearing sandals again makes me happy, so here is a picture of my happy feet this morning (good thing Sarah and I had pedicures a few weeks ago)!


And here is my view this afternoon - windows open, green trees, lots of sun. Life is good!! I had a great trip to the States and loved being home. I'm so thankful I got to see so many people and just catch up and feel like a part of everyones' lives again for a little while. I know I talked with a lot of you about some of my frustrations with Lima and my thoughts about coming back to the States. But I am also relieved to feel good about being back in Lima today. I still have a year and a half here and it would be pretty horrible if I started to count down the days already. I'm lucky to be able to live in both worlds - home and away - and am so thankful for both.

I'm off to meet Reada and Dave for lunch at Arugula, my favorite neighborhood restaurant. I'm excited to catch up with them and to see others friends as we all come back over the next few days.

Obama in Maine

Okay, I know I am WAY behind on updating my blog, so I decided to start with the most recent things and work my way back.

Barack Obama was speaking today at the Bangor Auditorium and my mom and I decided to go. We were told the doors would open at 2:30, so we got there around 2:15, expecting to maybe have to wait a little while, but not long. We were so wrong! When we arrived, the line stretched around the auditorium, down Main Street, and up the street that runs beside the auditorium for at least 6 blocks. It took us 10 minutes to walk to the end of the line. It was really exciting to see all those people there, especially since I didn't know how many to expect. We waited in line for an hour, at which point we had made it down to Main Street, but were still a ways from the entrance to the auditorium. The people in line behind us got a phone call from someone inside who told them that the auditorium was completely full and that Obama would probably be coming out to address the crowd outside. As much as I wanted to hear him, it was FREEZING and Mom and I had not dressed appropriately, so we were really cold. We decided to ditch our effort and go get warm. When we left the line, we saw that it still stretched forever and that there were still people lining up. It really was a neat thing to see all these people out to be a part of this. It made me feel good about the democratic process and the fact that people were inspired enough by this man to stand in the cold for hours to pack into an auditorium to hear him speak for a few minutes. When we got home, I found out that there were 10,000 people there today - 7,500 in the auditorium and 2,500 outside. Pretty impressive!!

I've been doing some more research on Obama, since I am really intrigued and inspired by him. I found this great video on YouTube that you should check out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fZHou18Cdk
If you can't click on the link (I'm not so computer savvy with the links, so it may not be there), then go to YouTube and type in "Yes We Can Obama Song by will.i.am".

I'll be honest, it is pretty exciting to actually be excited about politics in America right now. It has been a long time since I have felt this way. Whoever you are supporting and decide to vote for, I hope you are feeling the same way too.

FDR Christmas Party

Our school Christmas party was last night and we had a good time. It is at a nice restaurant in San Isidro and all the teachers and staff go, so there is a huge group of us. It is fun to get dressed up and to see everyone else all decked out. Here are the girls - Anne, me, and Reada.

Tim and Dave were enjoying each other's company last night. They look like a scary Christmas card picture.

Family

My parents were visiting the same time that Dave's mom was here from Texas, so we had to get together for a true family dinner and have our Lima family meet our home family. We took our parents to dinner at a great Peruvian restaurant and had a really nice time. Here is the whole gang: Dave, his mom Janice, Reada, Tim, me, Mom and Dad

Reada's birthday was this past Thursday and since we had family dinner Wednesday night, I decided we needed to start celebrating early. I made a yummy Betty Crocker cake (thanks to the commissary) and I didn't have any candles, so Tim and Dave decided that she should blow out the flame on the lighter I use to light my gas stove.

Lima Tour

Mom and Dad were heading back to Maine on Wednesday, so I took Tuesday off from school and we went on a tour of Central Lima. I haven't been down to Central Lima during the day since right when I first moved here, so it was nice to go back and see it all again in the light of day. We started out in Plaza San Martin, which is just as lovely during the day as it is all lit up at night.

We then went to the Plaza de Armas and did a tour of the cathedral. Francisco Pizarro is buried here in an elaborate tomb with gold covered walls. It is pretty impressive, especially for someone who treated the natives so horribly.


We had a great tour guide in the cathedral who spoke English well and gave us tons of information about the cathedral. I'm not really a huge fan of Catholic art (it just seems like too much most of the time), but the interior of the cathedral in Lima is really gorgeous. There are 8 altars along the sides of the nave and each has a different style and architecture. They are pretty ornate, but I found them fascinating, instead of ostentatious. I can really appreciate the craftsmanship that goes into creating them and it was so interesting to see how different they all are.

We finished the tour by checking out some of the Inca ruins that are in the middle of Lima. These are actually pretty close to where I live. Our tour guide said he used to play in these ruins when he was a kid, before anyone really cared about preserving them. Now they are considered historic sites and are well taken care of. It is amazing to think about the length of Peruvian history. The United States is so young compared to even Lima. It is pretty incredible!

Mirabus Tour

I've become a big fan of the Mirabus Tour in Lima. I went on one for my birthday last year and loved it, and the tour my parents and I went on last week was even better. It is a great way to see Central Lima at night (safely) and all lit up. I'm beginning to believe that Lima really is a beautiful city, at least parts of it. Here is the cathedral in the Plaza de Armas.

San Martin is a great hero in the history of Lima and Peru and this plaza is named after him. It is right around the corner from the Plaza de Armas and, while all the buildings in the Plaza de Armas are this beautiful orange/yellow color, all the ones in Plaza San Martin are white and are very striking.



A new part of the Mirabus tour includes stopping at a water fountain park in the middle of Lima. I didn't even realize it was here!! It was built in July and has become a huge hit. There are 6-8 fountains set up in this park and they are all lit up at night. For 4 soles (a little over $1) you get admission into the park and can walk around, looking at all the fountains. Some of them are even built for you to walk through and get wet. There were tons of Peruvian families at the park the Sunday night we were there, and lots of wet kids running around who had obviously had a great time playing in the fountains. It is just a really cool place. Who knew Lima had such interesting things?? :)

Santiago

My parents and I went to Santiago, Chile for Thanksgiving and had a great time. The weather was amazing - sunny and in the 70s/80s. Santiago is a nice city - very European compared to Lima, so that made me happy. Things just seem more organized and there are lots of beautiful buildings and parks. Every city in South America has a Plaza de Armas, with a church, and Santiago's Plaza de Armas is really beautiful. It isn't a wide open as some others I've seen, but there are lots of trees and it feels very cozy. The cathedral is beautiful and they light it up really nicely at night. And the best part was there were some pedestrian streets leading into the Plaza. I love pedestrian streets!! For some reason, to me they seem to signify a well-developed city. Lima doesn't have any and I wish they did. But the ones in Santiago were great and we walked on them a lot.

There is a beautiful park in Santiago called Santa Lucia and we spent a very happy morning there, wandering around and enjoying the sites. It was built on this hill and every time you go up a little higher, there is something new to see. It is really great!! Here we are in front of the fountain on the first level of the park. It was such a nice morning.

Chile is know for its good wine, so I was determined to go to a vineyard while we were in Santiago. Mom and Dad aren't wine drinkers, but they were willing to check it out (and they both even sampled some wine, though neither one like it - I just don't get it!). We went to Concha y Torro, the largest vineyard in Chile. They produce a lot of different wines that end up in stores around the world. We actually drink one of their wines pretty regularly at family dinner in Lima. We had a great tour of the vineyard and got to sample some nice wines. It was a beautiful day and it was nice to see outside of the city a bit. The vineyard was huge and very impressive.

Mom and Dad in Lima

My parents arrived Wednesday night for a 2 week trip to Peru. They got in really, really late Wednesday night, then came to school Thursday afternoon to spend some time with me before my concert. Here they are in my classroom. Aren't they cute? We had a nice afternoon just hanging out at school. My students were all excited to meet my parents, so they all kept stopping in to introduce themselves. They were so great. And my parents loved meeting all of them.

My concert at school was Thursday night and it featured the jazz band, orchestra and symphonic band. Here I am conducting the symphonic band. The concert went really well. I was very pleased with all the performances and it was so nice to have Mom and Dad sitting in the audience again. They sat in the same spot in the auditorium that they always sat in when I conducted in Manchester so it was fun to see them there. There was a decent crowd at the concert and it was nice to be able to introduce my parents to some of the music parents that I have gotten to know.

I had to teach all day Friday, so Mom and Dad spent the day walking along the Malecon and checking out a little bit of Miraflores, the district where I live. I sent them to lunch at the Park Hotel, since it was the one spot where I could guarantee they would have an English menu and a waitress that spoke English. They said it was really good and they had a nice time sitting out on the terrace.

Mom and Dad are off to Cusco and Machu Picchu this morning. I just got a phone call from my driver guy who had taken them to the airport and he said they have boarded the plane, so they are off. I know they were a bit nervous about traveling without me, but hopefully they will be fine. There is a tour guide who will be meeting them at the airport in Cusco and will be with them for their whole time in Cusco/Machu Picchu. I wish I could have gone with them, but I have to teach this week and it would be crazy for them to come to Peru and not get to see Machu Picchu. I really hope they have fun and don't get too stressed. Keep them in your thoughts and hope that they have a good trip. They return to Lima on Tuesday afternoon and we fly to Santiago, Chile on Wednesday night. I haven't been to Santiago and I hear it is really nice, so I figured it would be good for Mom and Dad to have a chance to see somewhere else in South America. I'll let you know how it goes...

Mi Casa

I decided that since I am staying in Lima at least another year and my parents were coming to visit, it was time to do some home improvements. When I moved in, my apartment had been painted an off white, yellow-ish color that was fine, but a little bright. I was ready for a change, so I had my living room and my bedroom painted.

It was interesting to pick out paint colors here in Peru. I went to Ace Hardware and looked through these books that showed the paint colors they have. After much deliberation, and input from Judy and Ben, I decided on a light tan for the living room and a dark green/brown and a darker cream for the bedroom.

Reada's maid's son was hired to paint and over the course of a few days, he had it finished. And the cost for two large rooms to be painted - $80. Sometimes I love Peru! I'm really happy with how it came out. I think it makes my apartment look much more cozy and warm.

Don Juan

I had a really interesting experience last night - my Spanish teacher, Silvia, invited me to a play "Don Juan Tenorio", the story of the famous lover and heartbreaker. They do it every year around the time of Halloween and All Souls Day, since it involves love, betrayal, death, and spirits returning from the grave. And it was held in a cemetery. Yes, a cemetery!! At first I thought it would be kind of creepy, but it ended up being so neat. There is a huge, beautiful cemetery in Central Lima where a lot of famous Peruvians are buried. As a side note, cemeteries in South America are much different than in the US. Lots of people are buried above ground in these elaborate tombs that look like little buildings. And the ones that are buried underground are buried in crypts where you have to go down a set of stairs to get to it, and there is usually an elaborate marble statue or some sort of marker on it above ground. I didn't bring my camera last night and I know my descriptions aren't great, but hopefully you can sort of picture what I am talking about. So this cemetery has tons of these very large, fancy, beautiful tombs and crypts and they use them basically as the staging for this play. The play has 3 parts and each part takes place in a different area of the cemetery. They use some flat tombs as stages and put candles everywhere to light it. It was really incredible. The entire play was in Spanish, of course, but Silvia was there translating for me, and she had given me a printout of the story in English to read ahead of time. I thought I would be freaked out by being in a cemetery at night, but it was really beautiful. The actors were amazing, they wore gorgeous costumes, and it was so cool to see how they used the setting in the play. It was really clever. Definitely an interesting, Lima-only experience.

Looking at Lima through fresh eyes

As most of you know, I very rarely have days when I think "Wow, I am so lucky to live in Lima". I had them all the time in Berlin, but Lima just doesn't have much to make it particularly endearing. I've been feeling sort of anti-Lima lately and wondering why I've decided to stay for another year, so this couldn't have come at a better time. I was walking along the Malecon this morning on my way to book club and I was looking out at the ocean thinking "Wow, I am so lucky to live on the Pacific Ocean. I never imagined I would ever live in a city that sits right on the ocean, particularly the Pacific." Of course, it was gray, hazy and polluted, but it is still the Pacific and I felt pretty good about it this morning. I need these good Lima days to keep me going and it was nice to feel this way today. Things are looking up!

The Bar Harbor Fire, 1947

My mom just sent me a package that included a newspaper article about the devastating fire that destroyed parts of Bar Harbor and Mount Desert Island 60 years ago, in October 1947. My dad's parents were living Hulls Cove (a tiny little village just before you reach Bar Harbor) at the time and I remember seeing a book about the fire at my grandparents house and asking them about it. My grandmother told me how the fire went up one side of their house and down the other and she had a picture that was in Life magazine of all of their belongings in a pile in the middle of the town baseball field because they had to evacuate their house.

It is interesting to me that the anniverary of this fire, which is a big deal in the history of Maine, is happening right at the same time as the devastating fires in California. In the Maine fire, over 17,000 acres burned, 10,000 in Acadia National Park alone. The damage was over $23 million, including the loss of many of the summer "cottages" of the rich and famous on the outskirts of Bar Harbor. It took over a month for the fire to be completely put out - it burned out of control for a week, then continued to smolder for another 3 weeks.

I've spent some part of nearly ever summer of my life in Bar Harbor and I've always found this fire fascinating, partly because I know my grandparents lived through it (my dad would be born 2 years later in Bar Harbor) and partly because it dramatically changed the face of Bar Harbor. I can't even begin to imagine what the town looked like in its heyday with all the mansions. The fire also destroyed Jackson Laboratory, a cancer research lab, and years of cancer research were lost. Here is a photo of Bar Harbor now, the way I know and love it, but it is interesting to think about how it looked 60 years ago when the fires were coming down the hills towards the town and the water.

It is incredible how destructive a fire can be. The pictures and stories on the news about the California fires are heartbreaking. It must be so scary to be there right now - in the path of something that people have such little control over. It is interesting to me to see history repeating itself, just on a different side of the country. The combination of the current news and the newspaper article my mom sent me got me to thinking, so those are my thoughts...

Census Day

It is national census day in Peru and I have never seen Lima this quiet. No one is allowed to be outside their homes between the hours of 8am and 6pm, except tourists and emergency personnel. There isn't much advantage to being a tourist though, since nothing is open, and I mean nothing - no stores, no restaurants - and there are no cabs. It was very weird to wake up this morning and not hear anything. Lima is usually a very loud city - honking car horns, people talking very loudly, traffic, car alarms. None of that is happening today. All I hear is the occasional dog barking, and birds - who knew there were birds! And there is not a single soul on the street, at least from what I can see from my window. Even the guard who watches my street isn't there. Maybe they figure the streets should be safe today, since everyone is suppose to be home. It is a very weird experience - looking out onto empty streets and not hearing the usual city noise.

Inspiration

I am in the process of writing a paper on Jewish contributions to American popular music - the final paper for my second to last grad school class (hooray!) - and in my research I came across these great pictures of two of my favorite musicians.

Dave Brubeck - amazing jazz composer and performer. He is in his late 80s now and is still performing occasionally. I love this picture - look how the piano keyboard is reflected in his glasses. Brubeck was in the army in WWII and led an integrated band, the first example of black and white musicians playing together in a group in the military. I saw him in a video (Ken Burns' "Jazz" - amazing, I highly recommend it) and he talks about how difficult it was to come back to the States after the war and still face racial discrimination after all they had fought for in the war and all the time his band had spent touring together as a group in Europe.

How great is this picture? That is Leonard Bernstein conducting, my superhero! I love the little girl standing there, listening in wonder. I think I would have been the same way if I had had a chance to hear Bernstein conducting live. :)

Peruvian Census

So, it looks like I get to participate in the Peruvian census next weekend. Check out this notice we got from the US Embassy about it:

"Sunday, October 21, 2007 is National Census Day in Peru . Peru ’s National Statistics Institute (INEI) will conduct a nationwide census on Sunday, October 21 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Embassy has been informed that all public establishments (markets, supermarkets, convenience stores, restaurants, gas stations, and all commercial establishments) will be closed during census hours. All cultural activities, sporting events, church services, and access to museums and archeological parks will be suspended during census hours. In addition, the sale and/or excessive consumption of alcohol is prohibited during the census hours. The government of Peru has directed that the population of Peru remain in their homes during census hours. U.S. citizens in Peru are subject to Peruvian law and must comply with any legal restrictions imposed by the government."

Crazy, huh? I guess it makes sense to force everyone to stay in their homes to be counted. I've never participated in a national census before, so this should be interesting. That and the fact that the census people will be speaking Spanish and I'll be speaking English. Got to love it! I can give the basics - name, age, job - in Spanish, but there is no guarantee we'll understand each other after that. I'll let you know how it goes. And obviously I'll be home between the hours of 8am and 6pm next Sunday, so feel free to give me a call. :)

Thoughts...

It has been a interesting couple of days - nothing huge, just some random things to tell you about. I am currently on a mini-vacation, which is very nice. We have Monday and Tuesday off from school - Monday is Battle of Angamos Day, a national holiday in Peru. I don't think most people, even Peruvians, actually know what the holiday is for, but according to what I have read, the Battle of Angamos was when a Peruvian ship was surrounded and captured by the Chilean navy. The Peruvian navy was unable to protect the shores and Peru and Bolivia were open to attack by Chile. This all happened during the War of the Pacific in the late 1800s. Isn't it amazing how little we all know about South American history? I'm trying to learn more and more, but it is incredible to me how we learn about European and North American history, but nothing about anyplace in the southern hemisphere. Anyway, I'll take the holiday, whatever it is for. A lot of people are traveling this weekend, but I decided to stay in Lima and get some grad school work done. My current class finishes up in 2 weeks and I have a 20 page paper to write on "Jewish contributions to American popular music" between now and then. I'm hoping to get a lot of research done this weekend and maybe even start writing. I'm also enjoying catching up on some much needed sleep.
I went to a fun event on Friday night - a new bakery tasting. The parent of one of my students is friends with this man who is opening a new bakery and they invited me to come to the opening. It was held in the ballroom of a casino nearby and it was fun to get dressed up and wander around tasting yummy pastries. The owner is Taiwanese and the food is an interesting mix of Asian and Peruvian traditions. It was a fun, random night out.
I just received an email from a friend of mine here at school and she and her husband (both teachers at FDR) are leaving Tuesday to pick up their new adopted Peruvian children! Yes, after a year of paperwork and Peruvian red tape, they are finally going to get their daughters. They decided a while ago to adopt and then, much to their surprise, found out that Angie is pregnant. So, as of February, they will have 3 daughters - a newborn, a 6 year old Peruvian girl, and her 15 year old sister. Can you imagine??? Instant huge family!! I'm really impressed with them that they are committed to adopting these girls. They said all along that they wanted older children and it is nice that the girls are actually biological sisters. The girls are currently in an orphanage in the highlands and my friends will be bringing them back to Lima next weekend. The girls don't speak any English yet, but my friends speak decent Spanish, so I'm sure they will figure out how to communicate. Crazy, huh?
That's all for now. The sun is shining, a little, and I think it is time to get out and enjoy it.

Band Photo

Here is a photo of my band performing at the Nueva Acropolis Music Competition in Lima a few weeks ago. They look pretty small on the enormous stage, but they have a great, full sound and I'm really happy with how they are playing. The tech guy at school is suppose to be putting the recording of our performance up on the school website for people to listen to, so I'll let you know what that happens. And if you check out the following link, you can see photos from the band and orchestra lunch hour performance at school: http://photos.amersol.edu.pe/HSOrchestra_2007

SPRING!

It seems that spring has finally arrived in Lima. It has been sunny, warm, and beautiful the past few days, which is a huge difference from the cold, damp weather we have been suffering through since I got back in July. And the nice weather has come at just the right time. I had a very anti-Lima weekend - lots of little annoyances and frustrations that added up to make me ready to get on the next plane for anywhere but Lima. But now the sun is shining and all of a sudden Lima, and life here, looks better.

It has been a busy month at school: my symphonic band performed at a competition in the city and made it to the finals (I don't really believe in band competitions, but they did really play amazingly well and deserved to get to the finals); the orchestra had their first performance of the year, and my first performance with them as their conductor, at a festival at another school and did well; and both groups played at a lunchtime, outdoor concert at school (I'm trying to build up interest in the performing groups and get more people to come to our concerts). In addition to all the performing committments, my IB music classes have been keeping me busy - my 12th graders are working on a couple of big projects for class that are time and labor intensive, and the 11th graders are working their way through music history and theory. All in all, it has been a great start to the school year and I am so pleased with how everything is going. I've let the school know that I am planning on coming back for next year and it is nice to be able to plan ahead and look forward to another year in this job I love.

Madeleine L'Engle

I had a moment of great sadness today when I read that Madeleine L'Engle passed away yesterday. She was 88 years old and had lived a full, beautiful life, but I was, and still am, a bit devastated. She has been my favorite author for a long as I can remember. I started reading her books 20 years ago and they were essentially THE books of my childhood and young adult life. For years I have tried to read "A Wrinkle in Time" and can never get through it, but I love all her other books. "A Circle of Quiet", "Certain Women", and "A Small Rain" are probably my favorites, but all the other books, including her books of poetry, are amazing.

No, I haven't completely dropped off the planet...

I realized it has been ages since I updated my blog and figured it was time to fill you in on the last month or so. Here are some of the highlights:

* The earthquake, of course. I never thought I would experience an 8.0 earthquake and I hope I never do again. Luckily there was no damage to my apartment and all my friends were safe. The aftershocks lasted for over a week and were not very fun. It has been weeks since the big quake but we are still getting little ones fairly regularly. There was a 5.1 Wednesday morning around 5:55 and my students said they felt one yesterday morning around 7:30. October is supposedly "earthquake season" so I should probably expect to feel the ground shaking a lot more in the next few weeks.

* The start of school. We have been back to school for 5 weeks now and it is going really well. I can't believe I am already in my 2nd year. It is amazing how time flies!! I am still incredibly happy in my job and having a great time with my students. Both my band and orchestra have performances at local music festivals next week so we've been preparing for that since the start of school. My band is playing really well and my orchestra (I wasn't the conductor last year so it is a new group for me) has made great progress. I'm excited to do these performances and then get started on new music for our November concert.

* Babies, babies, babies, though luckily not for me. It seems that every woman at school is pregnant - I swear I think it is something in the water, which kind of freaks me out. My friend Anne had a daughter a few weeks ago, my friend Julie gave birth to a son very prematurely (he was born at 31 weeks but is doing incredibly well and should be home from the hospital in a few weeks) 2 weeks ago, my friend Linda is having a girl at the end of October and my friend Angie is due with a girl at the beginning of February. I've been spending a lot of time and money baby shopping lately, which is fun. It doesn't awaken any maternal urges in me, but it is fun to see other people going through it. And the clothes are really cute.

* Grad school, grrrr. I am enticingly close to finishing my master's degree, but am still slogging through more classes than I would like to. The class I took during the summer was pretty painful, but it ended last week and I think I ended up doing okay. My new class started this past Tuesday and I am already up to my eyeballs in work. But after this 7 week class, I only have one left, then I have to do my thesis project and I am done!!! It looks like I should be finished by the end of February. It will be nice to get my life back and not spend every weekend writing papers.

* The weather. We are currently experiencing the coldest winter Lima has seen in something like 80 years. And when I say cold, I mean cold. No, it is not NH cold, but is freezing for a city that is so close to the equator. Winter here is a very damp cold (kind of strange since Lima is technically in the desert, but we get moisture from the ocean) and it is impossible to get warm. The only time I am warm is when I am conducting band or orchestra rehearsals, waving my arms around and working my butt off. It has been a grey, miserable winter and everyone is desperate for it to be over. Luckily the sun has actually come out the past 2 days - only for a few hours in the afternoon, but that is all it takes for you to feel a little hope - so maybe "spring" is on its way.

I guess that covers the last few weeks. I'll try to be better about updating more often. Now off to write a paper for grad school...