Free Time Fun

We have been very busy with rehearsals which are typically quite mentally taxing but the group is beginning to sound fantastic. We have been working with Ben Zander this week who has also worked with my mom at New England conservatory while she studied there. Full circle! Amidst all of our rehearsals we've been able to find a few moments of free time to unwind. We had a very patriotic and fun Independence Day celebration in one of the cabanas, complete with American flags in the window, a certain game involving ping pong balls, and even some piscolas, a local beverage with pisco and coke. A large portion of the orchestra joined in the festivities and some South Americans even knew the tune to the star-spangled banner, which we sang very loudly at too high of a key. I felt more patriotic this fourth than other celebrations in past years. I'm looking forward to seeing how the other members celebrate their own country's holiday while on tour. I'm sure there will be salsa dancing involved, as it found its way to our American celebration. We've also had the chance to tour a pisco vineyard/maker and go star gazing at an observatory in the mountains. I've never seen the sky that clear, enough to see hundreds of stars, many constellations and several planets. It was incredibly beautiful and our guide at the observatory was great. It was fun to be enthusiastically nerdy about something other than music for a few minutes.

Feeding an orchestra and its staff for each meal is definitely a huge task that is challenging for any kitchen crew but it often means that we eat a lot of basic food staples like rice, potatoes and some kind of simple protein. Having that food everyday made me very thankful when our horn prof took the section out to lunch at an Italian cafe down the street from our rehearsal space. I had gnocchi with bolognese that really hit the spot and was cleansing to my taste buds and soul. Mom, as rejuvenating as this bolognese was, yours is still the best. After growing up where I have, I am an Italian food snob. I'll admit it. I also really miss having Greek yogurt everyday and spicy food. It will be nice to sample some more local food once we get on the road and have a bit more free time. I hope to be posting more frequently now that we've figured out when and where we have wifi access. I feel bad for our hotel staff because with the large amount of people trying to get their Facebook fix, we usually crash the Internet everyday. Oops! RKV