"Vacation"

I was going to spend my 10-day Fall Break travelling with some Venezuelan friends, but then they decided the morning of the trip that next week would be a better week to go.  Since I have classes, I am not able to go with them and did not have time to make any more plans for my Fall Break because every other person had already left.  So it was wasted.

However, I decided to make the most of the free time I had remaining in the break.  Since about mid-September I have been playing with the local El Sistema youth orchestra, in hopes to learn more about how it works and why it is so successful.  I went to the director and asked if I could start observing the other classes, and he said yes, and helped me find all of the times and places of the rehearsals.  So far I have observed 4 classes: the Kinder Music program, which is ages preschool and kindergarten singing songs and learning dances and sounds; the Mozart Orchestra, which is ages 6-9 with beginning strings, percussion and winds; the Children's Orchestra, which is ages 9-13 with intermediate level instrumentalists; and and Instrument Repair class. Having played in the Youth Orchestra, I think that also counts as having observed it. So far it is very interesting.  I want to observe a little more before I post anything on here though.

I was also given the great privilege to join the other music professors on a trip to another El Sistema music school in the nearby town of El Vigia (last mentioned as the town we flew into from Caracas upon arrival). We met at the Merida El Sistema building at 7 AM, and left quite on time when you're considering it was 12 Venezuelans. So we started on the way. But before we got there, we stopped for a break.  Pasteles and Empanadas at a small restaurant on the side of the road called El Sabor de Maria. When we arrived, I was under the pretense that I would observe the flute professor there, and maybe chip in here or there to get a little experience.  What I learned when the director gave us our instructions was that I would be teaching all of their flute students the whole time, and their flute professor would watch to see what I did. PRESSURE.  Teach. Kids. Flute. In. Spanish.  So I was introduced to the four flute students.  They were all at slightly different levels, but were more or less beginners.  So I took them through a couple technique exercises and helped them with notes.  And the best part was that they were actually learning and listening to what I said.  That I was impacting their musical education.  Next, the flute professor brought over four six or seven year old girls, saying that they wanted to learn flute but still didn't have instruments.  So I talked with them about the flute, a little of the history, the types of music the flute plays, and how sounds are produced.  I had them stick their finger into my headjoint while I played to let them see how the sound changed. I let them put their hand in front of my face while I played so they could feel how the air went across the instrument, not into it, and I helped each one of them produce a sound on the instrument before they left, which anyone will admit is a good feat because there are people who never seem to grasp how to play the flute.  They all left quite happy, and the older girls had me write down my facebook so they could friend me and ask questions if they had any.  The flute professor talked with me about what I had done with the girls and lent the technique book we'd been working out of to one of the students so that she could have it, because they would be working from the foundation that I laid that day.

It was a tremendously rewarding experience.  I could totally do that every day.