Suggestions welcome

I don't know if anyone actually reads this journal. Don't worry, I'm not offended if you don't - I don't write very regularly, and I write more or less for the love of writing. I wanted to ask everyone something - how do you all cope with loneliness? I'm sitting in my apartment alone in Detmold during a time period when not much of anyone is here (before the school year), and loneliness is something that I am not too familiar with. However, when it rains, it pours. I think writing here is certainly helping. Maybe some chocolate, too. Hmm.

Helpful...

...in a time of going towards the unknown. Desiderata ~written by Max Ehrmann in the 1920s (although there remains speculation about this) Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Post Mexico Letter

I spent 2 weeks in Mexico with Cultures in Harmony, an American organization dedicated to bettering U.S. relations with the post 9/11 world. These two weeks were simply magical :) Here's the letter I sent to William, the director of CiH, after returning from Mexico. It is a report detailing what we did during the second week of the project. I spent 5 days in New York after the Mexico trip and have considered a move there. It is, without a doubt, the most artistically charged city in the U.S., and I would love to live there for some time. However, I'm not about to change anything just yet. We'll see where it all goes. Dear William, How are you? I hope you've been having a wonderful time in Papua New Guinea. I have been home in Chicago for a few days now and thought to update you regarding how the rest of the CiH Mexico trip went. I discussed this letter with Amelia, Ben, Ryan, and Andrew, so this letter is a group summarization/response from all of us. Amelia, Andrew, Ben, Ryan, Karl, and I had an incredible experience in Michoacan and cannot wait to return. We arrived in Morelia and met Itzia, and then met Marypaz from CREFAL at the bus stop. She took us to the CREFAL campus (you were right - it is very beautiful) where we met Karl and settled ourselves in the dorms. The project began early morning on Monday, August 4th, with half of us working with the orphans from Casa Hogar, and the other half working with the "abuelitos", or senior citizens, from Nuestros Años Felices. There were some apprehensions after that first day because the orphans proved to be a somewhat challenging group at first - they were difficult to engage and had some defensive barriers that we had to work through. After three days, however, the boys opened their hearts to us and we were able to form strong emotional connections with them. We figured out that the orphans group required more help/manpower simply to control, so from 10-1, Amelia, Andrew, Ryan, and Ben worked with the orphans while Karl and I worked with the abuelitos. It was a pity that the other four did not get to work with the abuelitos, and I would recommend that it be better worked out in the future - everyone should get to work with both the abuelitos and the orphans. Our work with the abuelitos was relatively simple in that we would engage in dialogue with them, always ending in singing their songs and learning their various traditional dances. They even brought in their traditional dresses and suits, and explained what the clothing represented. I played a bit of Indian music on my violin and we had a discussion about the purpose of music in various cultures. Karl performed a portion of one of his own compositions and encouraged the abuelitos to talk about their music - many of them spoke of experiences in the church or of tunes they had heard while growing up. From 4-6 PM, all 6 of us would journey to Casa Hogar and led the boys through different musical activities, from a jam session on Cuban tunes provided by Andrew to playing 'Name That Tune'. We realized that the best sort of composition to aim for with the boys would be in a form of creative storytelling with leitmotifs. Andrew, Amelia, Ben, and Ryan helped the boys to write a story together, pick out key phrases, and set them to a particular leitmotif that was sung by the boys and played by one of us. The boys would say whether they wanted something on a certain string or in a particular rhythm - it was up to them (with our aid) to create the musical characters and the story. The Wednesday, August 6th concert in Patzcuaro consisted of performances by the abuelitos, orphans, and ourselves. The abuelitos sang a beautiful regional folk song entitled, "Que Lindo es Michoacan" and danced two dances to songs that we've now also grown attached to. Karl and I learned the songs on our violins and performed the dances with the abuelitos - they even brought traditional outfits for the two of us and helped us wear the clothes, so we were "Michoacan Mexicans" for the evening. The boys danced out onto the stage to some of the Cuban tunes and then performed their story + leitmotifs; the effect was a semi-theatrical piece. A few boys read the story to the audience while Ben & Amelia played the motives, and Andrew and Ryan helped lead the boys in action. The boys were split into two groups: "osos" and "lobos" and the story was about the interaction and sometimes dramatic/confrontational dialogue of the osos and lobos as they both hunted for food. The boys' performance was very well received by the audience; they performed the piece twice that evening. I believe that this concert was a great success for everyone involved. It was great fun to put together and served as a reminder for me that the best musical performances are not given by only trained musicians. I think that the concert was a milestone for the boys particularly- it was something that they created and could call their own. They were proud of their piece. We spent Thursday in Comachuen and Paracho, and were thrilled with our experiences in both places. We first spent time in Paracho where we toured a guitar workshop and met a group of guitar makers. They showed us the small workrooms they had and their tools and methods used for the delicate handiwork of making a guitar. Three of us purchased guitars in Paracho and we all enjoyed walking around the beautiful main plaza area. An international guitar festival was going on at that time so the village was full of tourists and there was a bustling artisan market underway. In Comachuen, we met the director of the brass bands of the village. He eloquently explained that there are 7-9 brass bands in the village, all performing only the indigenous Purepecha music of the area. Many of the musicians lack formal training but are incredibly talented. We listened to a band, and then played some of our repertoire until a Catholic processional started to take foot near us. We discovered that there is a yearly Festival of the Virgin Mary and before it begins, the brass bands + townspeople parade through the town for 9 days, inviting other neighboring villages to come attend. We were invited to walk in the processional and so we took our place with the band and learned their songs as we walked throughout the entire village. A group of women carried an elaborately decorated idol of the Virgin Mary and when the processional came to a pause in the middle of the route, we were literally showered with colorful paper confetti, some of which remained inside my violin until only a few days ago. Participating in the processional was one of the most ecstatic experiences of my life. The six of us just kept looking at each other with speechless wide smiles, not knowing what to think or how to react beyond utter excitement at what we were experiencing. We understood that we'd been bestowed with an honor, and felt humbled by it. The processional eventually ended up back at the village cathedral and then nearly the entire little village sat and watched as we engaged in a sort of "musical exchange." The brass bands played a piece, and then we would respond with something of ours - Bach, Handel, anything that we were prepared to play. We left shortly after this exchange in order to get back to Patzcuaro, but not without speaking with the director of the Comachuen bands. He told us that he is yearning to get his bands out and more exposed to the public eye, and that if we knew of any opportunities or people who can aid him in his search, it would be a great help. He also said that they have a small music school currently undergoing renovation, and would love if some of us can come and give master classes for a few days. I told him that I'd be sure to discuss this idea with you. The experience in Comachuen was both surreal and spiritual, and it would be wonderful to return with even more to offer. On Friday, we spent the whole morning with the orphans at Casa Hogar, playing with them and preparing to say goodbye. Amelia led the "handprint project" with them, and had the great idea of tracing all of our hands onto sheets of paper with our names, and giving one sheet to each boy as a parting gift. Perhaps it was just a sensation of maternal instincts, but I feel as though we built incredibly strong connections with these boys, and so saying goodbye was not easy. We became friends with the ladies who help run the orphanage, and they conversed with us about some of the basic things that are lacking for the boys, such as proper clothing and shoes. It was also suggested that a possible crash-course in computers would be great - apparently one of the older boys overheard a conversation about "sending an email" and asked, amazed, "You can send mail through the computer?" While I realize that a basic computer course isn't exactly musical in nature (although it could be), it is an idea of what we can help them with in coming projects, and also of what they need. We left Casa Hogar for a sightseeing trip to the island of Janitzio and then returned to CREFAL to wrap things up with Marypaz, who was an amazing help through out the week. She asked Ben and me to help her with a translation project for CREFAL, and we tackled a good deal of it together in New York after returning from Mexico. I hope we continue to work with Marypaz and CREFAL in the future. We left for Morelia on the next morning (Saturday), where after finally relaxing for a bit of time, we met up with Karl at CMMAS. The facilities there are beautiful! After our evening concert there, we were able to get to know Carlos and Itzia + her husband a bit better. They are also very nice people with many ideas about future work. We returned back to Mexico City relatively problem-free and flew back to New York/Los Angeles. The entire CiH project in Mexico was an incredible experience, and I cannot thank you enough for including me. We were lucky to have had the group we did in Patzcuaro because not only did we get along great, but we also worked well together. I can't say more about the positivity and enthusiasm of Amelia, Ben, Ryan, and Andrew - it was truly a pleasure. You'll hear more from me soon enough - there is a lot more to report in terms of work/project proposals from people we met along the way in Michoacan, but I wanted to wait until you're settled and recovering in the United States. I wish you the best of luck with Steve and Tiffany in Papua New Guinea, and a safe journey home. Take care, Geeta

Finances

As many of you already know, I keep a very careful record of what I spend and earn. I had started doing this in Boston but wasn't so thorough, and after a heated discussion with my mother during our drive to Chicago when I moved from Boston, I decided to take matters into my own hands. She brought up the fact that I shouldn't be keeping track of expenses just because money came from parents and therefore wasn't my hard-earned salary (most of the time, although I did bring in a considerable sum through part-time work, etc.), but rather as a way of learning to manage my own life. After seeing one of my roommates and his financial woes, I now see the value in what my mother told me. She's a smart lady. Knowing that I would be in Europe for at least two years also forced me to keep careful accounts. Starting in autumn 2006, I would be braced up against a steeped euro that would continue to pulverize the American dollar. I knew I had to economize and budget wisely, so I started tracking every penny I would spend, classifying it into one of six categories: food eaten out, food bought for the house (groceries), travel, music expenses, rent & apartment costs, and miscellaneous things (cleaning products, gifts, etc.). I also kept track of the money that came in via gigs, teaching, and other jobs. After doing this for a while, I've had a clear idea of what my monthly expenses are and what the biggest taxations on my budget seem to be: traveling and food. I would just like to say, though, that money = DIFFICULT! It is spent SO easily, you have to work hard to earn it, and then even harder to manage it. Mom always told me to not curse money, but to learn to work with it. I'm getting better as each monthly expense amount is recorded, but it's still a challenge, and probably always will be for the rest of my life. Friends, if I can encourage one thing, it's to parent the way my mother did, and teach your children about managing money at an early age, and continue to help them improve their skills.

Saintes, JOA, Lille and the journey

I returned yesterday evening after being in France and coincidentally Brussels for two weeks. The coincidence occurred because I took a train from Lille, a northern French city, to Brussels and was supposed to change trains to one going to Cologne. The train to Lille came late from Marseilles and so we arrived 20 minutes late to Brussels and I'd already missed the connection. They put me on a 5:30 PM train but I had the feeling that I'd not have a connection to Detmold, so I called Frederika (my Belgian cellist friend who lives in Brussels with her Italian boyfriend, Alessandro), but she was unreachable due to a master class at the conservatory. Thankfully, I had the number of Alessandro and phoned him; normally he is working in Ghent during the day, but he happened to be home and in front of the internet, so he looked at all the connections, informed me that I'd have 3 minutes to catch the train in Cologne = not happening, and invited me to stay the night at their place. Frederika arrived home a few hours later, surprised (pleasantly, I think!), and invited Mathilde and Benoit (my other Belgian cellist friend from my first year in Detmold, and her boyfriend) for dinner. It ended up being a great night - just goes to show that everything really does happen for a reason. I spent the first week in France in Saintes, a beautifully coastal city about 4 hours southwest of Paris. I was playing in a classical period orchestral festival with a French conductor (he is actually half-American) named Marc Minkowsky. The orchestra was called Jeune Orchestre Atlantique (Atlantic Youth Orchestra), or JOA, and it's part of a year-long series of courses in early music. Phillippe Herreweghe, a celebrated Flemish conductor, is the artistic overseer of the whole organization (called Stages), and conducts during Saintes' summer festival (Festival Saintes) in July. That was originally the course that I'd hoped to do because it's during the heart of this great festival, but with Ajay Bhaiya's wedding and all, I knew it wouldn't work out, so I chose to do this Stages program instead. We stayed in a beautiful old monastery where we also rehearsed and ate, and enjoyed 2 days out of 4 there with nearly 70 F (20 C) temperatures! These four days were crazy with nearly 7-8 hours of rehearsing daily. Yoga saved my back, I must say. The last three days consisted of concerts in Saintes itself (in the beautiful large Gothic church of the monastery), Chatelaillon (about 1 hour from Saintes and right on the beach, so I collected oyster shells during our break), and Paris (Salle Gaveau - they also put us up in a very expensive hotel on the Seine River for 1 night after the concert). We played Mozart's Haffner Serenade, the Concerto for Flute & Harp, and Beethoven's Coriolan Overture, all with gut strings, classical bows, and 430 tuning. Gut strings are literally made from the insides of an animal as opposed to what we use today (steel or synthetic strings), so they are much more difficult to control/stay in tune. The classical bow is an early predecessor to the modern one, but with different balancing properties, so it is also much harder to control simply because you have to feel it a bit differently. 430 tuning is basically a 1/2 step lower than the normal pitch (generally between 440-443), and musicians' highly trained and 440+ accustomed ears have a hard time with it at first. After the festival, I restored my quasi-period instrument back to its normal state with modern strings and played with my modern bow, and it took me a good hour to get used to 440 pitch again. All in all the experience was positive - some of our mentors weren't my favorite people, but I did learn a lot and the people in the orchestra were lovely. Mostly French, but there was also a large number of Spaniards and a few Dutch, English, American, and Swedish people. I made some good friends there, and in fact will see the two Dutch girls in Utrecht in a few weeks! After the concerts, I headed to Lille to see Cristina (my Spanish violist roommate) and Pierre Emmanuel (her French bassist boyfriend who plays in the orchestra in Lille). We spent a fun & relaxing three days together, and I enjoyed seeing Lille again. Some of you may recall that I was already there last spring during our semester break, but I enjoyed Lille more this time - probably because during the first time, I was only there for a day. All in all, the travels were interesting (photos to come: www.geetaabad.shutterfly.com - also Bremen, London, China, and India - I have A LOT of uploading to do) and my comprehension of the French language great improved (rehearsals were about 60% in French). I'm here in Detmold for my birthday (this Friday the 7th) and then visiting my cousin Shashwati for 5 days until the 13th...and then it's off to Utrecht, Holland and then TURKEY!

Happy New Year (a bit late) from Paris

Sorry for not saying that earlier. I know I haven't written much but I can explain why. First of all, China: 9 concerts in 10 days left me with basically no time to write anything between sickness and nonstop traveling. Secondly, it's not as though I could have EASILY found an internet cafe because no one in China understands the word "internet." Thirdly, we were practically dead by the end of the tour. China is one crazy place. We traveled in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Shenyang, Anshin, Beijing, and five cities in the northern Jilin Province where it was -25 C (so about 2-5 F) and snowing constantly. Food was very difficult, as vegetarian seems to qualify that one heartily eats fish, too. Half the orchestra was racked with sickness from flu to you name it, and three people even went home early. However, the last four days were spent in Beijing (we were in China for 14 days total, and I flew home on January 9) and were wonderful. It's a very nice city, and Chinese people are friendly - they try to help despite language barriers. After I came back from China, I had to quickly recover from jetlag and illness and gave two concerts on January 12 and 13 and then started to rigorously rehearse with my trio for the Diplomexam of our pianist, Joanna. We performed the Brahms C Major and Mendelssohn d minor trios on February 8, and she earned a good score from the jury. I've started teaching, too, at a private music school called Musikschule Allegro in Leopoldshoehe, about 20 minutes from Detmold. So far, I'm up to 10 students every Friday afternoon. Most are individual 1/2 hour lessons, but a few are two in a group lesson. It was so exhausting afterwards because while my German is fluent, I never taught in it, and had to figure out how to just make the language work, connect with the kids, and above all, keep them engaged. Friends gave me violin method books, and I had to quickly school myself on how to teach a 5 year old how to play the violin. It isn't easy, but I enjoy the challenge, and it's official work (not under the table like so many other friends of mine) with a work permit in my passport, and I am thankful for a bit of steady income. I'm now in Paris, having arrived after a bad 2.5 hour plane delay from Cologne yesterday. I stayed with my friends Liat and Bryan in their beautiful flat near the Eiffel Tower. They left for Rome with their kids early this morning but were kind to let me stay for as long as I want. I am going to catch a train in 1.5 hours to Saintes on the southwest coast in between Bordeaux and Limoges because I'm playing in a classical period orchestral festival for a week. We have concerts on Tues, Wed, and Thurs of next week in Saintes itself, Chatelaillon (have no idea where it is) and Paris after which I'll go to visit Cristina, my Spanish roommate, in Lille where she resides with her boyfriend Pierre Emannuell during our school vacations. I really will try to update as I go along. Really, I'm serious! xo

Merry Christmas

I'm listening to the Christmas playlist I made on my ipod while eating breakfast with two Spaniards and Sebastian, my Chilean roommate. We're getting ready to catch a train at 9:20 AM for Frankfurt, where we'll take a plane at 5 PM to Shanghai. I'll be in China for two weeks, giving 9 concerts with the Vinorosso Ensemble, a world music/Balkan music group. We'll travel nearly 2,000 miles in 14 days through the cities of Shanghai, Hangzhou, Zhejian, Shandong, Shenyang, Beijing, and the Jilin Province and through temperatures ranging from 50 degrees in southern Shanghai to -10 degrees F in the north. It'll be tiring, I'm sure, but a lot of fun too. Regardless of where you are in the world or what your holiday plans/lack thereof are, spend this time in peace and hopefully with people you love. Merry Christmas, everyone. I'll try to update as we go along in China!