I taught a lesson today at 11 to a woman who is in her forties and has only been playing for a year and a half. Her intuition is fantastic. It was in fact one of the most pleasurable lessons I think I've ever taught. Afterward, we had our first quintet -quartet? where is our bassoonist? - rehearsal. I feel that this chamber music opportunity is going to be a really beautiful experience. It will be even better when all of the parts are present!
After quintet, I ate a light lunch and walked around the conservatory and the concert hall taking some pictures to post here. I was sitting with Allyss and waiting for Jonathan to get out of a meeting when a fifty-something, confident, smiling, Japanese woman entered the room. She said hello to Allyss and then announced that she was looking for me. We had a lesson, and no one told me! Not a problem. This lesson was also incredibly enjoyable. The entire time, this woman, the wife of a diplomat, referred to herself only in the first person and was INCREDIBLY enthusiastic. She doesn't know all of her scales yet, but was able to play the first movement of the Bach Partita down - flawlessly. Jordan is full of surprises.
I went home by myself today, and the sun was shining in all of its 5 o'clock wonder. The sky is so blue. A cab pulled up, and gave my directions entirely in Arabic. I was very happy about this (though I know it's not difficult, it still made me smile), but to my surprise, the driver spoke perfect English. His cab smelled like old cigars and sweat. He told me my Arabic was quite decent (fooled him! or he was just trying to lay on the charm...), and then asked why I was in Jordan. I responded on business, and he welcomed me. He then asked my nationality, and I told him that I am American. He began to tell me what a horrible man George Bush is, and I agreed that George Bush has made some terrible decisions, but then he ceased speaking to me until I said, "Han Henna" (Stop here). I said "Shookran" (thank you) for the ride, and he grumbled something that sounded like "you're welcome". It's the first experience I've had here like this - I'm intrigued to document them as time goes on. I don't think I'll stop telling people that I'm from America to avoid an awkward encounter. Somehow, and who knows how, I'd like to learn to show people that just because I come from a certain physical place or have a certain background does mean that is who I am. It does not represent ME. And I wonder about how many times I've absent-mindedly written people off the very way this cab driver wrote me off this afternoon. You really never know who will teach you a valuable lesson.
After I got home and devoured pita, hummus, and green beans, Mary Ellen and I met up with Agnes and Jon at Books at Cafe. We stayed for a few hours where I ate a piece of carrot cake (!!!), had the most delicious cup of coffee I've had since arriving, and enjoyed an apple-mint argehla. Oh, my head. It's good, though. On our walk home, I finally bought a cell phone! Jonathan can now stop his services as my personal secretary, for which I'm sure he's grateful.
Every foreigner I've met here has a spark about them. We're building our own little community and really growing through each other. Each personality is different, yet somehow perfectly balanced. Like a hand-woven tapestry. It's strange - I've only been here a week, but I'm already starting to feel very settled and comfortable in my surroundings. Almost as if I've been here before. I am so blessed. Nothing by chance. Truly.
Pictures (slightly out of order) for those of you who wanted to see them:
View of Amman from outside the Conservatory
View "up" from inside the Conservatory. Winding!
View from Amman from the Conservatory #2
My "studio space"
View of the Concert Hall from my practice room
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