My flute students are still wonderful and actually showing a good bit of improvement. It's refreshing. It makes me feel as though I'm actually making a difference here. Even if it is "only music".
Our first concerts went well. After the Symphony concert, a party of 18 went out to eat at this restaurant called "Trio" that has the best shi-sha and lemon-mint smoothies I've had yet. Side note: smoking shi-sha is terrible for flute-playing lungs and after not being able to make simple phrases in rehearsal on Saturday morning, I've officially quit smoking save incredibly special occasions.
Since my last post I've ventured to both Mt. Nebo and the Dead Sea, and they are just as beautiful as I imagined they would be. We played a concert at the Dead Sea, and I watched the sun set over Palestine. It was incredibly really powerful. When we arrived, the orchestra had a sound check. And then we waited. For hours. This wouldn't have been bad if the dinner party for which we were providing music found it fit to feed its musicians, but instead, we all sat around enjoying pleasant conversation and occasionally (okay, pretty consistently) complaining about the lack of food in our stomachs. No problem. I learned a good bit of Arabic that night from twin 14-year-old girls named Dana and Lana. And from Heifa. I also met a man that evening who is so funny that I couldn't help but crack up at his jokes - that were told entirely in Arabic. Wonderful people.
I've moved into a new apartment in a house near Allyss, Artie, Tim, and Christina. The location is really amazing, and the apartment is beautiful. Three big bedrooms, three porches, a giant living room (that happens to be very conducive to dance parties), a nice kitchen, a working washer for laundry, a dining room, and excellent company. Maryellen and I moved last Monday, and Aggie moved in on Saturday. We had a house-warming gathering on Saturday that was overall a success. Maryellen made chicken (that I was told was very delicious), and I made some lentil soup. Other food brought to our party included really delicious home-made hummus, green bean salad, fatoush, fried rice (Taiwanese-style) and a plethora of alcohol and sweets. Nadeen made this chocolate mousse pie that was so delicious - and I am thrilled to know how to make it! We danced and played charades. And I can't really explain to you how funny it is to see a room full of adults - some of whom have never even heard of charades - get up and try to act out movie titles. And try to dance to American pop music from the 1990's. And then your conductor is one of those people. It made me happy.
This morning Andrew taught me some new Arabic phrases and encouraged me to buy a notebook so that I can keep this new language glued to my hand. "It's the best way to remember new phrases!" he keeps telling me. I agree. I'm excited to start learning how to write, too. I think the script is so artistic. And since Arabic is phonetic, it will definitely help with pronunciation.
I had a hilarious cab-ride back from lunch at Abdoun Circle today with Artie, where the driver put on dance tunes with a pumping bass. Including Jock Jams. And then I started singing and dancing in the back of the cab, and that just made all three of us laugh. I can really appreciate when an event (even as silly as this) is understood so cross-culturally and in spite of a language barrier. And actually because of a language barrier. It happens to me so many times in a day, and it's a wonderful reminder to me that we are all the same despite our heritage, language, or location.
I think that's all for now. I will be better about keeping regular updates here - there are too many events for me to possibly remember without writing them down.
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