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!

I have no Wi-fi in Caracas!

(My trip is over, I'm back home, and I'm going to reconstruct the events starting with two posts I wrote there!)

My first day in Caracas was an eventful one! The flights from Aruba to Curacao and then to Caracas went well, no problems with immigration or customs. Then fun in the airport! I had trouble trying to use the ATM, it just doesn’t work, and changing money was interesting. Seems the airport employees are very helpful but want to change money for you also. I would be a fool to take the bank rate, so they say. I did have a very helpful man who stayed with me, pulling my bag (that way I couldn’t get away) and took me from place to place. Finally I had to convert some of the Traveler’s Checks I brought for emergencies! Well, this was one. Got a taxi with a very nice driver to take me to the hotel. Enjoyed the drive, lots to see. The mountains are very impressive, even close to the sea.

My room at the "Hotel Limon"


I’ve now set up house-keeping in a very cheap place, the Hotel Limon. It does save me money!
I made my way over to the big buildings and area known as Parque Central. It’s a gigantic area with shops in the lower several floors and offices/apartments above. One of theses towers houses the offices of Fesnojiv. I found my way there by asking some students I saw with instruments. They were on the way to a rehearsal. You just can’t hide carrying string instruments! They took me up to the office and after waiting awhile I had a great talk with Mr. Angel Linares. He started out as a Tuba player, played with the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra and is now the Musical Coordinator and General Director of the system for the entire country. The office was very busy but he spoke with me for about an hour, answering my questions and explaining the organization. It is truly remarkable to me that the program is set-up mainly to bring about social change through music. The passion with which he spoke of the program was inspiring.
After that I walked around the area then back to the hotel to meet Pablo. When I checked in he helped with some translation. He is a rice farmer in the Los Llanos area of the country and used to be a tour guide. Now he runs the family farm but is in town on business. He speaks English and took me up on my offer for dinner. We had a traffic filled cab ride to the Sabana Grande neighborhood and then a nice meal and conversation. Back to the hotel and sleep!
Tomorrow I hope to see some sights with Pablo and then a rehearsal of a young string group at Parque Central.

Hola, from Merida

Finally got to an internet spot to post some things. Won´t be much today but better than nothing.
Just generally, I´m having a great time and things are going well. The people I´ve met with the youth orchestra program have been helpful and nice. Tomorrow there´s another rehearsal at 4:00 PM.
Today I took a car ride to the highest town in Venezuela, named Mucuchies (sp?). I hope the videos and pictures I took will come out well. It is truly spectacular. Clouds, mountains, "Andino" culture everywhere!

Tried to put in some pictures from my Ipod but it doesn´t work. (darn Windows).
So, best to all and lots more about the entire trip to come later.
John

A phone call from the Andes

John called home today.  He's having  a great time, although he is often without phone or internet access.  He asked me to update his blog for him.  Thanks to everyone who has been checking on his progress.  He tells me that he has video footage of some great rehearsals to share.

Here's a brief outline of his trip 

7/6: Aruba (the last time he was able to blog)  

7/7 - 7/9: Caracas

7/10 - 7/11: Barquisimeto

7/12 - 7/15: Merida (where he called from today)

7/16 - 7/17: Valencia

7/18 - 7/20:  Back to Caracas

"Every day is an adventure!" - John Bradford

Cynthia

Coming to you from Aruba!

So why am I in Aruba, you may ask?  Well, I'm going to meet Cynthia here on the way home for a few days so it was easier to book round-trip flights to here and to-and-fro Venezuela.  Actually, when I first looked at it the fares were cheaper than going direct to Caracas!  It was tricky getting a flight to Caracas from the states, Travelocity only deals with one airline and they were booked.  So I called my friends at Dutch Antilles Express and I have flights to Curacao and then Caracas, landing about noon!

Had a pleasant though long flight from Chicago, had all of two small biscuits to eat on the plane!  That made my swordfish dinner here even better! (With spicy mango sauce!)

Gotta set an alarm so I can get my ride to the plane by 6:20.  Only about ten minutes away.  I'm staying in a Bed and Breakfast type place.  My hostess is Ingrid, a native Aruban.  Very nice, satisfactory room at only $65.  (and obviously, wireless internet!)

So tomorrow it's off to VE.  Hope I don't get lost (or need my phone - don't ask me what I think of Verizon right now!!!)

Later, JB

Estoy dispuesto a viajar!

That's right, I'm ready to travel!

Spending today packing, getting some sun, listening to the Yankees/Boston game (they'll probably be in first place when I get back!) checking in on my flight and just wondering what I'm forgetting.  Spending tomorrow night in Aruba then on to Caracas by way of Curacao.  Should be fun.

Yours, JB

Montalban plays Marquez 2006

Here is a YouTube video which I found, inspiring me to learn more about "El Sistemo".   It is the Centro Academico Infantile de Montalban orchestra.  Notice the age of the players and the guest conductor!

Lilly Foundation pays the way!

My interest in "El Sistema" was already there when I heard about the Lilly Foundation Teacher Creativity Fellowships.  Two friends of mine had earned the grant in the past and the application process was easy so why not give it a try.  Of course I was surprised and thrilled when I found that I had been awarded a grant.  $8,000 to make my project happen.  Well, after putting away $2,000 for taxes (it is income!) that should be enough money to complete my study.  I'd recommend it highly as they award 120 each year with up to 10 others for $25,000!!!

Check it out here and think of something you'd like to study in 2009!

http://www.lillyendowment.org/ed_tc.html

You might be interested in checking out the web-site of the "Fundacion del Estado para el Sistema Nacional de las Orquestas Juveniles e Infantiles de Venezuela"  (Henceforth - Fesnojiv)

Aqui esta el enlace - Fesnojiv

Knowledge of Espanol would be beneficial!

An "El Sistema" article

Here's a link to an AP story in the Washington Post, (You can find it several other places, too) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/26/AR2008062600785.html

It does a nice job of describing the program.

Getting Ready to go!

Hi, It's Tuesday July 1 and I leave for Venezuela on Sunday, July 6. I'm checking my recording equipment today, making sure I have the cables and connections I'll need. I cleared out one of my computers so I'll have plenty of memory for pictures and recordings.  I hope to be able to post to this blog continuosly during my trip.  It'll be just like you're there!