Sunshine and School

Today is the first full day of sunshine in January. I am enjoying it very much even though it is quite cold. Everyone is walking around the city in their furry hats and hoods with strollers, sleds, and even skateboards. I walk past the official residence of the president every day and have enjoyed watching a tussle between some young skateboarders and the security people. There is a nice long ramp leading out of the president's gated and locked parking area and the small street in front. Young boys with big sunglasses are determined to enjoy skateboarding on it. Today there was no opposition.

The sweepers are working hard to clear the park and the area around the Ștefan cel Mare statue with their handmade brooms and other things. Young people are everywhere posing for photos taken by their friends. I have finally decided that the groups of older men debating in the park are not divided into Romanian or Russian language groups. Everyone argues in both languages!

The Academy of Music has started and I have a busy schedule ahead. I will take three classes per week from two different excellent Moldovan ethnomusicologists. I am having three nai lessons per week and practicing as much as possible, although now that the students are back I end up in the hall with the trumpets sometimes. I will teach a class once per week and continue to work with my friend the amazing electronic composer. I look forward to helping with the preservation and digital backup of the 14,000 folklore recordings in the collection at the Academy. We are also planning to use my bass and alto flutes for a tour of Moldova with the Academy flute ensemble.


I will give a presentation every month at the American Resource Center on music in America. These are attended by English language students and their teachers. Yesterday I presented the idea of American Roots Music. In February it will be music at the White House, in March Women in Blues and Gospel, in April American Indian music, and May is yet to be decided. I had fun and enjoyed playing some of my favorite tunes with a very talented guitarist.

And now I must go study for my Romanian language class! Here is a picture of our language school. I have quite a bit to prepare for my next class on Tuesday morning!

Videos!

Thanks to all of you who are reading my blog. Thanks to Liz Lipschultz, a Fulbright ETA living in Comrat, Moldova, I have learned how to add videos to my blog. She recommended two to add to already existing blogs. I think you will enjoy them.

Visit these old blogs from December 2010 to see the videos.

Lautarii and the nai maker

Colinde and school lunch

Enjoy! And thanks Liz!

Photos from a January day

After receiving an enthusiastic response to the photos on my blog, I decided to take a walk on a Saturday afternoon in January, take some photos around my part of Chișinău, and then describe them. Here goes!

1 - I live in a part of the city at the bottom of Bănulescu-Bodoni street that is a combination of some high rise apartment buildings, some smaller and older ones (like mine), a hospital and related training schools and clinics, and parts of the old city that are still pretty simply constructed and quite interesting to walk through. This first photo shows a small park with a walkway in that part of the city. 2 - This old building shows a style of architecture that still exists in some places. This houses a trade school - școală de miserii - and a driving school. Every morning new drivers and their teachers drive on my street very slowly while taxis zoom around them. I have witnessed an event in which the new driver was the middle of the street (we do not have any lines on the street) while three taxis zoomed past making it a four lane road! 3 - Today was the celebration of the birthday of Moldovan and Romanian poet Mihai Eminescu. Here you see his bust in Pushkin Park with flowers. Earlier in the day this was the scene of a commemoration by many officials and some Romanian language enthusiasts. Downtown one of the banking buildings had large loudspeakers broadcasting his poetry over the noise of the traffic. 4 - This is the locked entrance to an underground Russian club where I went to hear and see a Russian jazz quintet last night. There were two rooms - one for smoking and heavy drinking, and one (behind the door with a large WC on it) where the band played. In that room there were no smokers and the drunks were told to be quiet by the other patrons! 5 - This is my apartment building and the ruined building next to it in the twilight. The ruins of the next building are slowly being dismantled using a large crane. One of the neighborhood characters is a large black dog who lives on the site and either barks or begs when I walk past.

Foggy weather and warm hearts

After days of having sidewalks that were literally solid ice, we have had a thaw. Every day has been foggy and cold for a while. It doesn't rain enough to need an umbrella, but everything is wet and cold. The sidewalks are no longer slippery but they are now covered with a kind of brown slime. Chisinau is about 47 degrees north, so even though the days are getting longer it is still dark until 7:30 a.m. and dark by 4:30 p.m. Just as I was getting ready to email my sister in Portland, Oregon to see what she suggests for dealing with the depressing days of winter, I had some great heart warming experiences. On Sunday morning I was walking up the to Academy of Music to practice, just about to cross Stefan cel Mare Blvd, when I heard a voice saying, "Hello - Hello!" It was one of the wonderful young cymbalom players from the Academy who had seen me walking and wanted to say Hi. He was so cheerful and happy to see me that it really warmed my heart! Then when I arrived at the Academy the woman watching the door had her Sunday best on and was so friendly and greeted me with, "La mulți ani" (Happy New Year). Later that day I was walking home and received a phone call (I don't get many calls here in Moldova) from my friend who works at the Azerbaijani embassy. We met for dinner later and enjoyed talking together. This has continued for the past few days with many chance meetings and friendly exchanges that warm my heart in these long days of winter. From the wonderful Skype and instant message sessions with my family to the chance meetings on the street, Chisinau has warmed up in the middle of some days with no sunshine. I was very happy today to see that the accordion player has returned to his morning performances in Pushkin Park, although he is using a small flute on these cold days. I hope I can bring some sunshine to other hearts as well! I did get to say, "Buna seara" (good evening) to Oskar the dog from upstairs tonight (and his owner). O zi buna!

Christmas in Moldova

On January 6 I arrived at the Academy of Music to practice and my friends who are in charge of watching the building informed me that the school is on break until the 22nd. I can still practice each day if I can knock loudly on the front door and wait for someone to let me in. They are very generous with several of us who still want to practice every day. They also informed me that January 6, 7, and 8 are Christmas in Moldova, "Craciun noastra." I made a special trip to the Christmas market by the arch in the center of Chisinau to watch the action. I will attach some photos including one of a large furry polar bear who epitomizes the preference for large furry animals at the market. There were rides for children on horses and a small burro and many of us looked like furry animals as it was quite cold this week. I enjoyed hearing colinde (Christmas carols) being sung in the main cathedral on Friday and Saturday mornings. I saw a colinde parade passing by on one of the large streets with a police escort. About 200 people were walking along, some with bells, followed by a large van with the choir keeping warm inside while their singing was broadcast on loudspeakers. Groups of singers sometimes go door to door and I was a bit afraid they would come to my door and I would not have anything very interesting to give them. It was a beautiful three days and I especially enjoyed the a capella singing. In the Orthodox tradition instruments apart from bells are not allowed in sacred events so the emphasis is on singing. Large backgrounds were set up, as you can see in one of the photos, so that people could take photos with them to wish friends and family a happy new year, "La mulți ani - 2011." So La mulți ani and Craciun fericit from Moldova!