Anecdotes from San Antonio de los Altos

Hello everyone! I guess it's been a while since I've written. I think I considered writing previously, but decided to wait until I had more good stories. My life in Caracas has settled into more or less of a routine, which is on one hand rather odd, but on the other, I really like routine. It's nice to know I have some things that will most often be scheduled any given week, and I still have sufficient free time to practice oboe and investigate.

These are some of the girls I teach!

I have been spending just about three days a week (Tues, Thurs and Sat) teaching at the orchestra nucleo in San Antonio de los Altos, which I mentioned in a previous post. It's been really great to establish a relationship with a nucleo, and to get to participate in El Sistema so regularly, and learn about pedagogy that way. I really enjoy that I have 8 (!) oboe students there (and will probably have a few more students other places), and will hopefully work with them throughout the year-I sometimes feel like they've improved already. Maybe it's just because most of them are by now playing the reeds I make them ;) No, just kidding. I conduct oboe sectionals and teach individual lessons with them. It's really refreshing to be somewhere where there are lots of children playing music, and in need of teachers-it's really great experience and quite fun. The three littlest girls are referred to at the Powerpuff Girls, they have a lot of energy (and include the 2 smallest in the above picture).

This is Ana Paola with Sara, the little 6 year old. I taught her a new song last week-Merrily We Roll Along.

Today when I was teaching lessons, one of the boys I teach (who is 10, tiny and skinny but plays just about better than everyone else-he always looks like he works really hard to make any noise) needed a new reed. I gave him one, and then told him that he could pay me whenever (teachers charge a small amount for reeds, to teach the kids to be responsible about them). He said that he would as soon as he could, right now he was about $1 short. "How do you get money?" I asked. "I have to do chores around the house." He was saving up for a new reed! Adorable!

Besides that, there are always exciting concerts to go to. The Italian oboist Guido Gatti was just here giving master classes, in which I got to play. We're right now in the middle of a Young Latin American Clarinetist music festival, so I've been going to some of those concerts too. I'll be substitute teaching in a really interesting nucleo this next few weeks, so hopefully I'll have more stories soon, after that I'm going to travel for a little bit. I'd love to hear from you all soon!