Life, Music and Haiti

Friday, August 16, 2013

Funny Things I Notice About Americans

Since I've been back, these few things have struck me as odd in typical (generally speaking) American Behavior:

1. They are very smiley
2. They are very quiet in general (don't want to disturb the neighbors)
3. They are tense and reserved
4. They walk funny (they lean forward a lot)
5. They don't have "flow" like Haitians do
6. Americans look at you funny and think you're narcissistic if you think of yourself as beautiful and say so.
7. They are not very touchy
8. They do not like waiting for anything

It has been interesting noticing these things in Americans and remembering noticing the opposite in Haitians and thinking it was different. Now looking back, the "Haitian Way" became normal to me and even part of me so that the things that WERE normal and part of me became abnormal. It's all what you get used to and accept as part of your culture. And by "your culture" I mean the culture you become inside of you. For example, I am not all-American anymore; I have some Haitian in me; yet I am not completely Haitian either. Each person chooses what they let become part of them and shape them into the person they are.

Friday, August 9, 2013

What grand camp is really all about...

Grand Camp follows Mini-Camp (update to come) and is three weeks during July. Following is a list of the true priorities of Grand Camp:

1. Students doing my hair
2. Students finding out who my crush is
3. Posing for my paparazzi (no joke)
4. La Bouille
5. Strategic peeing (i.e being at a bathroom with tp and soap when I need to pee--not very good at this)
6. Stinky dusty feet
7. Taking naps when I can
8. Being hot and sweaty
9. Being loud and obnoxious
10. Dancing
11. Sight reading quartets, trios, etc
12. Enjoying the lovely trees and bugs
13. Ants my food
14. Stairs. Lots of stairs.
15. Hanging out with my friends
16. Did I mention music?

What we should really call Grand Camp is:
ASCWA - A Swirling Chaotic Whirlwind of Activity

Pics still to come!

Monday, July 8, 2013

Meditations with Kelsey

Meditations with Kelsey, entry #1

“Cultivate a way of looking with your spirit. Training your spirit is more important than defeating an opponent.” “You see only with your eyes…” …Become still, like water… “Being still and doing nothing are two very different things.”

Meditations with Kelsey, entry #2

A quote from a Kendo artist: “Your sword is your mind; only those who have attained a supreme level of technique, experience and character are awarded…” the highest level of swordsmanship. In Japan, only after you have held the next to highest level of swordsmanship for 10 years and are still studying are you eligible to test for the highest level in Kendo. This made me think of the pursuit of violin. It takes years to master anything well. Your violin must be your mind—whatever your mind thinks comes out in your instrument, an extension of your very thoughts, feelings, emotions.

Meditations with Kelsey, entry #3

Da Da Dadadada Da Da Circus

Da Da Dadadada Da Da Afro

Circus Afro Circus Afro

Poke-a-dot pok-a-dot pok-a-dot AFRO!!!

Just a reminder to live life full of color! Live life with abandon!!

(I couldn't figure out how to flip the picture...so deal with the neck cramp)

Meditations with Kelsey, entry #4

“Mere change is not growth. Growth is the synthesis of change and continuity, and where there is no continuity there is no growth. “

~A Mind Awake: An Anthology of C. S. Lewis

Yes, I am the same person but oh! so very different. Perhaps the more different you become, the more the sameness is retained; maybe some changes enhance the continuity.

Meditations with Kelsey, entry #5

Sometimes the answer is in the question; the solution is in the problem. You may find the answers by asking the questions; you may solve the problem by living it.

Meditations with Kelsey, entry #6

“The more joy I find through my art, the more liberated the genius who accompanies me becomes. Take darkness, for example, when it surrounds you, you are completely lost but when a light is illuminated it literally creates a way.” ~Wilner Lemite, Haitian Woodworking artisan

When your work is a joy, you improve and spread joy to those around you; when your work is a task, it becomes a burden to yourself and everyone else.

Meditations with Kelsey, entry #7

This is the miracle of abiding in Jesus, being connected to Him, being in and with Him, my source of Life:

Luke 6:12-19

“It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God. And when day came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as apostles . . . Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place; and there was a large crowd of His disciples, and a great throng of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were being cured. And all the people were trying to touch Him, for power was coming from Him and healing them all.”

This is true for me just as it was true for Jesus, for He has given us the same relationship with God—we are adopted as sons and fellow heirs with Christ! So when I spend time in God, in prayer with Him, I become as Jesus was—power flowing from me to heal others.

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

June Highlights

Please Enjoy the Photo Journal of June!!

The Rutledge Family, my adopted family in Haiti :)

ABI!! :)

Shannon and Junior chatting

Dinner with two of the most AMAZING people ever!

Dirk and Karen

I told them to look natural :)

We found a random swing...? On which we proceeded swing.

Great fun.

Student recital--my three 6th year girls

playing Amazing Grace and

Halo

Our MC and my good friend, Wenson

Joe-Annie, Jessica, me, Rolande

The Prison visit, took care packages to the women's prison

Stuffing

Visit to

Also known as the Apparent Project

Hires local Haitians to do art projects which sell and then

support the workers

A Few Artisans

Goodies come in a box!

My AWESOME rainbow wig!!

PianoGuys, I love you. I even wear fan clothing...

BEEF!

Shannon and Abi helping me with a very LARGE bag of

peanut M&Ms

hey...they were tasty...

My very dear friend, Wenson after singing with his accompanist

My friend, Mario's, Graduation

The Class of 2013

Concert at Ecole Ste. Cecile

Percussion Group

Mini Ochestre

Monday, June 17, 2013

Harold, Gerald, and Ford

Well, this has been an exciting week for sure! Last Friday, my sink shattered; Wednesday, the handle on my shower stopped working so I couldn’t turn my shower off (it ran all night and then some the next day before the plumber finally came to fix it); I walked to and from the post office twice in one day without accomplishing what I walked to the post office to accomplish (the first time I didn’t have enough money, the second time it was closed), and had three guest cockroaches which I named Harold, Jarold, and Ford (honestly, I’m not sure if it was the same one in three different places or three different ones…).

On the other hand, there were calmer, nicer things that happened to me this week: I was treated to dinner and the delightful company of Dirk and Karen Martin, my precious adopted parents in Haiti; visited a cool Haitian store that sells handmade teas, lotions, soaps, etc called Mel’Ange (if you like that sort of thing and are in Petionville, you should stop by!); and visited a Capoeira class at the Brazilian Cultural Center.

That’s my week in a nutshell! Happy Adventures, everyone!

P.S As a great kick-off to my week this week I HAVE A NEW NIECE!!!! Chelise Renae. 21", 6.6 lbs I got to be at the hospital via Skype!! Thank you, most gracious Lord, for a beautiful baby niece!!