Leaving Barquisimeto

July 12

My plan was to fly from Barquisimeto to Merida but that didn't work because all the airlines had cancelled their service to Merida.  Juan offered to drive me but it would have been too costly so we went to the bus depot (a slightly scary, very busy place) and bought a ticket for a bus trip.  So very early Saturday I had breakfast at the Segoviana and Juan drove me to the station.  We fought through all the taxi drivers and found my bus.  This was to be an all day bus adventure into the Andes!  I bought a juice and a bag of dried plantains for the trip.

 

Waiting to leave Barquisimeto depot.

While we waited we were visited by many vendors hawking everything from snacks to knit goods from Merida and Crest toothpaste and brushes (a promotion from the company!).  You could buy reading material or jewelry!  Each vendor would walk through the bus, give each passenger their item, give a "spiel" about why we had to have one then collect either payment or the item back.  Really hands-on!  They were very polite and creative in their presentations!

Took a long time to leave, not really on time but off we went through Barquisimeto and up.

What I Learned in Barquisimeto

July 11

After Caracas it was interesting to be in a smaller, yet still large, city.  I found tremendous excitement about music of any kind.  Dancing and music is basic in the culture.  Everyone is proud of Gustavo Dudamel.  

The resources I saw at the Emilio Sojo nucleo were impressive although sometimes less than basic.   Although instruments aren't very high quality and the rooms not the best for rehearsals; noisy, crowded, cluttered with lots of broken down equipment, the enthusiasm for playing and being a part of El Sistema overwhelms all the difficulties.  The teachers are inspired, dedicated veterans of the program who talked to their students about the power of music and what an important thing they were involved in.  The problems in the country are there but the power of music and the dedication of the staff make them seem minor.  

Between rehearsals:  Kids are kids! (and there is an ever-present security guard!)

Barquisimeto Videos

July 11
MI AMIGO playing the Cuatro (a four string folk instrument important in Venezuela):



The Barquisimeto intermediate orchestra:

Fesnojiv in Barquisimeto

July 11, 2008

Barquisimeto is the hometown of conducting sensation Gustavo Dudamel, a product of El Sistema. But I didn't go there to find his ancestral home or see where he went to school, I visited Barquisimeto because I was told it was a beautiful place and to see the program in action.

In the afternoon I had Juan take me to the Conservatorio Emilio Sojo, one of the Fesnojiv centers in Barquisimeto.

He dropped me off and I went inside. I found one of the directors, introduced myself and waited for the afternoon rehearsals to begin.

While I waited I saw:

Pictures of instruments

A Cellist practicing

and then in rushed the students

I was show where the youngest students, first year players were assembling. I dove in and helped tune, learning the words for "Are you in tune? and Are you Ready?" There weren't any staff around until a young HS age girl came in. She was one of their teachers but just waited around while I tuned. The whole time I was there, after they got playing, more students would come in, I'd find them a chair and get them tuned. They warmed up with some "Twinkle" and some other Book 1 Suzuki stuff. I found out they were going to take a bus somewhere for a small concert. They were very excited and, as you can see, all dressed in black and white.

Here are two pictures I took of them on their way out to their concert. The man leaving with them is one of the instructors.

I went outside where the kids were boarding busses, just like me taking the Pierce Middle School Orchestra to ISSMA Festival! One of the teachers handed me off to another who was staying for the rehearsal with the older, Junior high age group. We went to another building, kind of a temporary classroom space where the kids were just beginning to show up.
Here are some pictures of the group and their instructor Senora Cisneros. She was very nice, introducing me to the group and letting me teach them "Mary Had A Little Lamb" by rote.
Notice the small bass player - he played standing on a box. The student on the podium with the conductor was one of the older students and had just warmed-up the group.

Tour of Barquisimeto

Friday, July 11
I made arrangements with Juan, who works for the Segoviana hotel, to take me on a car tour of Barquisimeto. This is the hometown of Gustavo Dudamel and is the 4th largest city in Venezuela with about a million inhabitants. It's the capital of the state of Lara and is sometimes called the "Musical Capital of Venezuela".
We first headed to the airport to see if there was a flight to Merida. (There wasn't!)

Pictures of my Barquisimeto tour.

The Obelisk (Famous Landmark)


New (1969) Cathedral and its carillon

Government Building

Plaza Bolivar

Plaza Bolivar

Here we are driving through Barquisimeto. Just a clip of normal Venezuelan city views.
Enjoy the ever-present music!

More Pictures!

Here's the Plaza Bolivar in Barquisimeto with it's great Bolivar statue on horseback.
(and me, not on horseback!)




Another church plaza with a Bolivar statue.
That's my driver, Juan, inside the church.

The guitar player was in a tourist center off of the Simon Bolivar Plaza

More to come!

Hi and thanks to all who have checked out the trip!

There's plenty more to post but between going to NYC and having a basement water disaster - I haven't had time.

Please remember to post a comment and look back in a few days.

Bradford

Leaving Caracas

Here are a few more pictures from the San Agustin Nucleo.

Lots of parents waiting in the hall!

Wednesday, July 9
I called my friendly taxi driver to take me to the bus depot. From there it was over 6 hours to my next stop, Barquisimeto. This is the city which produced Gustavo Dudamel, the international star conductor who will be the next music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. (If you haven't seen him conduct, you should!)
The "executive" bus transportation in Venezuela is very good. There are regular busses to almost everywhere and they'll let you off in between, as well. My trip to Barquisimeto was only about $25. The busses are motor coaches, double-decker in most cases and very comfortable. They are, however, very cold. I was warned of this by a couple from New Zealand the day before my bus ride and they were right! The bus didn't leave until about 1:45 so I had a few hours to wait in the terminal. I watched TV and had a sandwich lunch. During the ride it was hard to keep from watching the scenery as we left the city and drove the winding roads into the mountains. We stopped around dinner time in Valencia which I noticed was a very industrial city. My plan had me returning here before I left from Caracas but this was my first hint that I might not stop again in Valencia.
I arrived in the early night at the Barquisimeto bus station, a very crowded, noisy, dirty place! I had a hard time getting a cab but finally made it to the "Posada La Segoviana" This would prove to be the most nicely decorated friendliest and best accomodation I would have during my trip.

A Mambo for Band (San Agustin)

I dropped in on a band rehearsal in the San Agustin nucleo and caught this piece. A lot of the kids can really play and they've been playing for less than a year (If I understood correctly!)
The two boys in front are Oboe players but there aren't enough oboes. Notice that there are always people hanging around watching!

Day Two in Caracas

Before I continue: Some pictures from my second full day in Caracas

Up the teleferico to the top of "El Avila" with Caracas at the bottom!

The Caribbean from the top. Me, up in the clouds.

Caracas from a tower in Parque Central. A violin student and "escort" in a studio.

San Agustin nucleo intermediate string rehearsal

Today I ventured up Mount Avila on the teleferico. This is a cable car which climbs the mountains north of Caracas. It used to go down toward the sea on the other side but there was an awful landslide which killed many and took out the cable car on that side. I called my taxi driver from Monday and he took me to the base. I bought my ticket and waited on line with several school groups on field trips. My ride up was with two teleferico workers. It was a striking ride up, gradually getting colder and cloudier. It was neat going through clouds as I saw the terrain and flora changing from tropical to almost alpine. At the top there is a nice park, restaurant, snack booths, etc. You can see to the Caribbean to the north and great views of the city Caracas in the valley below. There is still the Humboldt Hotel there but it is closed.

Here it is:

There are nice descriptions of the flora and fauna in the park, very informative!

The name had recently been changed to reflect the original Indian name. It's now known as "Narairarepan", I have no idea what it means, though!

I taxied back into downtown Caracas to the Parque Central complex. I encountered two violin players, young HS age, with their escort/bodyguard. They had been flown into town for their lessons. I guess they are very good players and will someday soon be in the top orchestras. The escort was in charge of making sure they got to and from the airport and the lessons. I introduced myself and after some conversation they invited me to follow them to the studio. The state provides the teacher with the apartment in which they teach. Asking some questions I found out that this teacher has 40-plus students and that's his job, plus playing in an orchestra. He has a nice studio and a secretary. There was a nice view of Caracas from the studio.

The escort took me back up to Fesnojiv headquarters and I asked them for help finding the San Agustin Nucleo where I understood there was a rehearsal that afternoon. I got there and talked with some of the staff before the rehearsal. I was able to watch the middle school age strings. I helped them tune and enjoyed their rehearsal. Very impressive to me, playing Beethoven #1 and a Corelli Concerto grosso. I got to interact a bit, film, ask questions and had a good time!
Thanks to their director Ms. Tupac Amarie Rivas.

Here's a video of the Beethoven:

Martes, el 8 de Julio

Well, Pablo let me down! He had a rough night and couldn’t go with me in the morning. I took a taxi to the Plaza Bolivar. (If you don’t know who he was, check him out on Wikipedia or someplace like that!) The taxi driver told me to be very careful, even to take off my wedding ring! This advice kept me alert!
Everything here is Bolivariano! Beautiful old buildings, the government palaces (Where Hugo Chavez works!) and lots of people. I got up the nerve to get breakfast. It’s not so easy when you don’t speak the language. I am a little surprised that very few people speak English here. I had two Arepas con Carne Mechada, Coffee and some very good, fresh orange juice.
After desayuno (breakfast) I was ready for the two small museums near the square. Both were about Simon Bolivar and one was in the house of his birth. Very interesting buildings with central, open-air rooms, all in stone. There were lots of artifacts from the time of Bolivar; clothing, medals, stone coats-of-arms, his bath-tub, etc. Both museums were free!
Next I was brave enough to enter a “Mall”. There I was set on getting some money out of an ATM with my credit card. I was beginning to wonder what would happen if I couldn’t. I tried some machines with no luck, asked inside two banks and then finally got lucky with another machine. So, I know my card works. I have enough now for awhile and know I will be able to get some more,
I took a taxi back to Parque Central and in the afternoon went to a rehearsal of a high school age violin/viola section.  But…. Their playing was outstanding! (See video below.)  They were working on Mahler Symphony # 1. Over and over the conductor had them play passages until they were just what he wanted.  He was not much older than them and this is one of the secrets of El Sistema.  The younger kids are helped by the ones who are not much older. Then the more talented move up and, as I see it, become the conductors and teachers. It is becoming more common for the older students to go to the university for music but it isn’t a priority (as far as I could see).   Bad news – I left one of my cameras in that rehearsal and I believe it’s gone. No pictures of the house of Simon Bolivar or that rehearsal. Too bad!

That made for a long day for me. I went back to the Hotel Limon and went to bed!
Good night to me!