The End of the YOA Mexico Tour

The last week of the Mexico Tour went by in a blur.  From Orizaba, we moved on to Leon, where we stayed in a very nice, if somewhat creepy hotel, and Stella and I got away to enjoy some street food.

While Leon was the place to go for leather, we only found the cheapo Tourist leather goods, and I never did find anything worth buying.  Whenever I found a pair of shoes that looked cute, I would realize they weren't actually made out of leather, or they would be cheaply made leather, that upon closer inspection looked like they would fall apart after a week.

Still, the street food was fantastic, and the architecture in the city was beautiful.  We went into some gorgeous cathedrals, and walked through large parks with fountains.  We also had some delicious and much-needed ice cream.

The nice but somewhat creepy hotel

The Lion of León

Tacos al Pastor, baby!

Faltan Pocos Días

Only a few days left!  In fact, only two more concerts, and two more days until YOA's 2011 Mexico Tour comes to an end.  I am here in Puebla at the moment, figuring out the last few things that I can take care of here in Mexico with the orchestra, and preparing for tomorrow night's performance as well as the finale performance on Wednesday.  My pictures have been doing a better job of documenting my experiences throughout my travels, so at least I have been pretty consistent with uploading when I had internet access.  Here is a quick recap to get you up to date.

Orizaba:

Concert in Orizaba went very well.  I hiked a mountain path at 4,000 meters in elevation.

Home Stretch

Two weeks from today I will be with Patrick and Mom and Dad in Pennsylvania watching the Allentown Drum Corps show.  YEEEEYYYYYY!  Can't wait.

I have some catching up to do for the last few days, so here we go.  Basically, I got to test out public transport to get from DF to Tuxpan.  It was an odd experience.

Me at the bus station

There was pretty much no one else on this giant Tour bus for the 6-hour trip.  When Nina and I finally got to Tuxpan, the drivers told us it was the last stop and got off...  Little did we know that there was actually one more stop, much closer to the hotel we were supposed to go to, but luckily Stella figured out which stop we were at and came to pick us up.

We made it though, and Tuxpan was such a nice change of pace!  It was super hot and humid, which normally I would say that I don't care for, but it at least made our stay feel more like a vacation than like work.  There was a great pool and pool-side tables to sit at, and the chef and cooking staff was amazing.  They made really good, home-style Mexican food for us, and they were very accommodating for some of our musicians' special dietary needs.

Pool-side

Patrick in DF

Though I am trying not to look at a calendar too much, I believe I am about half-way through the Tour of Mexico.  Thankfully, Patrick took the time off of work and bought a flight to DF to come visit me while I was here.
---Thursday---

It was really comforting to be able to talk to him in person for once, and it was great to be able to do some tourist activities with him.  We don't get to go on enough real vacations together, so for now, this is our time to explore different countries together.  It was perfect timing for him to come actually, because for most of the Tour I am busy with work every day - all day.  Here in DF though, not only was there a free day where we got to go see the pyramids of Teotihuacan, but I was also more free during regular days to just hang out and see Mexico with him. He got in in time to see the first concert of YOA in Mexico City and meet many of the musicians.

---Friday---

Stella got our bus drivers to work on their day off and take us to the pyramids, so a large group of about 70 people all pitched in 100 pesos each to pay the drivers to take us there on our day off.  Considering the complications that would have been involved if we had to all arrange our own transport, it was a pretty sweet deal for us - less than $10 USD. 

Though the bus ride was really long (2 1/2 hours each way) it was still a great trip.  The weather held out for us, and I even got a little sunburned in the end.  The pyramid was pretty steep, and I was very out of breath by the time I made it to the top, but we just took it easy and enjoyed the view and hung out until we could catch our breath. 

I thought going down was going to be more difficult, but as long as I kept my balance by holding on to the cable on the way down, it was pretty easy.

Friday night Stella, Maria, Patrick, and I went to Coyoacán, which is a very nice district with fancy restaurants, mercados, and a lovely park.  The weather stopped cooperating by then, and it was absolutely dumping rain on us.  We took refuge in the nearest restaurant and drank some margaritas and had tiramisú (an interesting combination...) 

We eventually found a fantastic restaurant that had mescal tasting and real Mexican cuisine.  It was on the expensive side, but was a fantastic experience anyway. 

---Saturday---

One of my only work commitments Saturday was a meeting with our Board member who was hosting a luncheon on Sunday after the concert.  Nina and I went to the Board member's mother's house in the Mixcoac district. Her house was really sweet- the family is German, so it is like a little Bavarian oasis in the middle of a busy city.  After that, we had the rest of the afternoon free until the concert in the evening, so we went out in search of a market - we ended up going to a Mercado in a completely different part of the city.  The cab driver we had on the way there was especially chatty, so I got a lot of good practice with my Spanish.  Once we got there, we checked out some of the artisan crafts, and I did a poor job of haggling in Spanish.  We then checked out the street food, which Patrick and I were both very much looking forward to.  We got pork and beef tacos, and delicious tortas.

---Sunday---

Patrick had to leave Sunday morning so he could go back to work on Monday.  The concert Sunday afternoon went great, and after the concert the musicians loaded up the buses for the 6-hour ride to Tuxpan.  Nina, Mark, and I had a fancy luncheon to go to, to solicit potential sponsors for fundraising, which was in a beautiful restaurant called San Angel Inn.  The food was absolutely exquisite, but since I had to be on my game and pitching the orchestra, I didn't end up eating very much of the cream of spinach soup, or the duck in blackberry sauce, or the fancy cream and espresso cake...  Luckily, the people I were talking to were very receptive to the idea of supporting the orchestra, so I didn't miss out on an amazing dinner in vain.  The three of us went back to the hotel, which all of a sudden seemed extremely quiet, empty, and creepy.  I didn't have 78 musicians to say hi to by name and ask how their day has been.  And I didn't have Patrick there beside me. 

---Monday---
Today the three of us catch a public bus to Tuxpan (which should be interesting...).  I am looking forward to being around a lot of people that I know and who know me. 

Tuxpan is supposed to be much warmer, but we won't be in nearly as nice of a hotel and there won't be nearly as interesting restaurants and shopping to go to, but it will be an experience anyway.

On to Tuxpan!

YOA Media

Not to plug my work too much, but we have some pretty cool videographers and photographers with us on Tour this year.  Here is one of the videos they put together to summarize YOA's arrivals in Xalapa for our Residence.  Enjoy!

First YOA Concert 2011

Wow.  Eventful.  Mexican politics are a bit crazy.  Ok, starting from the beginning.

So we are told that the governor is attending YOA's opening performance in Xalapa.  Apparently is it customary to wait until the governor arrives to start the concert, and it would be extremely inappropriate for the orchestra to start until he arrives... (Do you sense where this is going?)  They would also like remarks to be made at intermission thanking the governor for coming, and they would provide those remarks for us to give...  Not talking about a simple "thank you for coming..."  Fine.  We're not exactly happy about this, as YOA does not side with any political party, but as it is so important, we are prepared to make some remarks thanking the governor for his kindness and support, etc. 

Anywho...  The orchestra goes out onstage to warm up, and everyone is ready for the 8:30 pm concert.  The audience is seated, and contentedly waiting for the concertmaster to come out and tune the orchestra. 

...10 minutes...  Still haven't started, but hey, it's Latin America, 10 minutes late is normal.

...20 minutes...  Getting a bit restless and the audience is now talking loudly amongst themselves.

...30 minutes...  Now everyone is downright rowdy.  The audience starts clapping in time, and the musicians too are obviously restless now, and join in with the audience by stomping their feet along with them. 

...40 minutes...  Not only is the audience alternating between clapping in time, whistling loudly, and talking loudly amongst themselves, but now we have people yelling things.  Luckily, because it is so typical to wait for the governor to arrive, everyone apparently knew exactly why the concert was late, and that it had nothing to do with YOA.  They started yelling things about the governor being disrespectful, and that they didn't want to wait anymore, and other loud (but maybe not uncalled for) comments. 

...50 minutes...  The press is all swarming around the entrance taking pictures, and the governor is arriving.  The audience erupts in loud boos and yells very rude and unrepeatable things right at the governor.  The governor, his two children, and the huge possy of maybe 30 government officials all hustle to their seats, looking down at the ground as they walk in. 

The concert finally starts, and the musicians sound fantastic.  I don't know how they were able to stay fresh and ready to go for that long, but the challenging repertoire and long concert sounded fabulous all the way to the end.  

All talk of podium remarks is withdrawn, and the governor skipped the post-concert reception, even though the whole thing was centered around the fact that he was coming...

What a night.

4th of July YOA Party

Though I am still fighting the slow internet connection here in Mexico, I WILL at some point have a video online of the YOA brass musicians playing our national anthem in my hotel room as we celebrated the 4th. 

YOA Tours are all about learning about other people's cultures, sharing languages, and instilling a sense of pride for your country while appreciating the cultures of others.  So, for the 4th of July, we Americans threw a party in honor of our independence, and were joined by our friends from 20 other countries...

...in my hotel room.

It was a great time, and my room is by far bigger than everyone else's, so it seemed the appropriate time to throw a party.  We all pitched in to buy (extremely cheap) cervezas, plugged in someone's iPod with lots of salsa music to my TV, and posted a USA flag on my hotel room door.  Even though we were celebrating the 4th of July, we were all having a great time getting to know our friends from the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Colombia, Argentina, and all of the other countries of the orchestra. 

There were a lot of beer cans to pick up, and of course some spilled beer here and there... but I tidied up nicely before going to bed, and left a tip for the cleaning ladies in the morning.

One of the musicians (still don't know who!!!) left me a present...  When I was finished cleaning up and was getting into bed, I found about 5 copies of the sheet music for The Star Spangled Banner in my sheets, and under my pillow...  Thanks, guys.

All in all, it was a really fun party, and all of the musicians thanked me very nicely for hosting it in my room.  I really like the group of musicians this year.  They are very polite, extremely talented, and they are fun and interesting people to get to know.

It has only been about 2 weeks since I've been here in Mexico.  It has seemed like a lot longer.  Still, I am looking forward to the rest of the Tour because of the great people that I get to be around.

Also, it doesn't hurt that this year Patrick is getting to visit me halfway through the Tour!  Next Thursday Patrick will be arriving in Mexico City and will get to see two YOA concerts before heading back after four days.  This will certainly make life easier than last year's 7-week tour where I barely could even Skype...  Difficult.

¡Qué Ojos!

Phew! I have made it through musician arrivals! For two days in a row I was "on" from 7 am to 2 am the next morning, being happy, helpful, excited, and having to speak in both English and Spanish. I made it through, and have had two nights of a full night's rest since to make up for it. Today should be more laid back - almost a "day off" for me, although I wouldn't particularly say that any day on Tour is a day off.

Last night, the secretary of education hosted the YOA Faculty and Staff at a fancy dinner. We got all dressed up and were brought to the restaurant.

Me all dressed up for dinner

After a while in the van, I realized we were passing the same block over and over... It turned out that the restaurant wasn't ready for us yet, so the drivers were looping around trying to kill time. (Kind of a funny way to coordinate timing, but hey, it worked.) Once we arrived, they brought us through the kitchen to a private back room, where we were received by a group of traditional musicians and dancers, who entertained us as we got seated and were served drinks.

Musicians

After a while, they served the appetizers, and then a man came around and gave each of us the business card of the Secretary of Education, and let us know that he would be arriving shortly...

In comes the Secretary of Education, we all stand, he goes around to each of us to shake our hands, and we tell him our names and where we're from. He gets around to me, and as I'm shaking his hand, he shouts: "¡Qué Ojos!" (What eyes!) Everyone laughs and I quickly say my piece and that it is a pleasure to meet him (in Spanish). Then Gilberto, our Stage Manager (who has been coordinating our Residence here in Xalapa) gives a speech welcoming everyone, and introduces everyone around the table. When he gets to me.... he introduces me as "the girl with the eyes, Emma Moores".... Oh geez...


Anyway... We have dinner after that, and it is delicious food, great music (videos here and here). We had a good time. At the end they gave each of us a set of books about the state of Veracruz, and then the Secretary went around one more time to shake our hands.

All in all, it was a strange but very nice event, and we all felt very honored to have been hosted by these people. I'll tell you one thing though... Next time we have an event like this I think I will wear my glasses so I don't get as many comments about my gringa eyes...

Xalapa

Hey ya'll.  I made it here to Mexico safe and sound.  I am sitting here in the hotel lobby waiting for the musicians to arrive.  There will be about 20 arriving tonight through about 2 a.m. tomorrow, and then all of the rest of the musicians arrive through the day and night tomorrow.

So far we've had a violinist from Cuba and a harpist from Seattle arrive.  The next wave of musicians will be here late late late tonight, so I'll be up a while yet.  Good thing I snuck a nap in there. 

Xalapa seems like a great place.  The weather is perfect: warm enough that I feel like I'm in an exotic country, but not so muggy and disgustingly hot to make it uncomfortable.  Because it's rainy season, we've been getting downpours every day for an hour, but then the sky clears up and it's perfect the rest of the day. 

As usual, I've started uploading my pitcures to my Picasa album online, and will continue it throughout the Tour.  Enjoy!

YOA Mexico Tour 2011

Off We Go!

Heading to the airport!  My next post will be from Xalapa, Mexico.

Relaxing Relaxing Vacation

It is SO GOOD to be back home, and even better to let myself do absolutely nothing for a little while. Pretty soon I'll be starting up the ol' engine and getting down to work and an actual daily routine again, but I've still got one last weekend to revel in the glory that is sleeping in late, reading out on the deck, playing Bioshock 2 until it is too dark and scary in my living room to take on the Big Sisters, and having to dig up an excuse to get out of the house and go shopping.

This week I've gone out every day to do random errands or try to find more things to make our house more "finished" looking. We have serious acquisitions to make in the next couple of months, including probably:
a grill
outdoor furniture for the deck
a ceiling fan for the living room

I've been keeping my eye out for all of those things (and others that are on our long laundry list of things we want someday in our house) but ended up getting some pretty neat things, including the following:

Gold Shower Curtain, from Home Goods

And matching towel sets for our guest bathroom #1


Two vases, from Home Goods, to help tie together the assorted Knick Knacks that I am putting up on the ledge in our guest room slash office.

Afore mentioned Knick Knacks.


Silver Shower Curtain, from Home Goods for our guest bathroom #2


Rectangular flower pot, potting soil, two basil plants, and a cilantro plant. (I had these out on the deck as initially planned, but the sun totally fried them, so they are sheltered in the kitchen until I can find appropriate shade out there on the deck where they belong.)

Flower pot, stand, and two plants that I got from Home Depot to make our deck look less abandoned.

They're OK looking...

And, last but not least:

a Mat Cutter and 4 large blank mats for me to get to work on with making our posters and pictures look a little more finished, without having to get them custom framed and matted. We'll see how good they look, but I am hopeful. As long as they pass for Not-Looking-Home-Made, I'll be happy. I might try fancier things with framing later, but for now it's just me trying to improve our "style" little by little.

I spent a GREAT amount of time reading for pleasure over my vacation, and finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. You know, that book everyone else read about a year ago, and that Patrick says you're an a-hole if you like it... Uh oh... Anywho, here was my little review on Goodreads (which I now officially like better than Living Social - Books).


The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Sadly, this book is not about dragons. Once I got over that tragedy, and the droolingly slow beginning, I got pretty into the crime drama. Unfortunately, the book had two stories to tell. The overarching story, which was also what the last portion of the book was devoted to, was not in the least bit interesting or entertaining for me. Who cares about the Wennerstrom Affair? Not this reader. Get back to Harriet's disappearance slash murder mystery and the skeletons in the Vanger family's closet. But overall, I'd still say that the book had me on edge and entertained. I hope the next book in the series sticks with one plot line, or at least has a more captivating second plot line...
View all my reviews

Day 50 - Travel Day to Rio

The concert last night was really unexpected.  The entrance was free, so we knew it would be a popular concert, but it was also in Araraquara, which didn't seem to have a ton going on in it.  When we pulled up to do our sound check an hour and a half before the concert, there was already a line wrapped around the building of people trying to get in.  There were so many people that they had to add chairs to the back of the hall, behind the orchestra on stage, and STILL there were more people, so they added video feeds and projectors to the lobby and set up still more chairs for people to watch from the lobby.  And it was PACKED.  They absolutely loved us and didn't want to leave after it finished, so several of the musicians played on after the concert was over, and people were dancing on stage and singing along.  It was a very cool night.

After the concert we got dinner, then drove back to the hotel.  I will be VERY glad to be back on a schedule when I eat dinner BEFORE midnight, and can be in bed at a reasonable hour too.  This is really tough.  Departure today was at 8:30, so I just went straight to bed.  After a quick breakfast, we loaded the buses for the 9-hour bus ride to Rio de Janeiro.  It actually went faster than I was expecting.  I listened to old-school 1up and GFW podcast episodes... They are podcasts by videogame journalists, and these guys are hilarious.  These are also from 2007, but they are my favorites, so it was fun to listen to them again.  I was cracking up by myself in my own little world.  I am sure the people around me thought I was insane.  Hahaha.

We made it to the hotel in Rio around 9 and had dinner, then walked around the area a little bit.  The neighborhood we're in is a little sketchy, with bums, lots of graffiti, and gross smelling alleys, but me, Ana, and Stella walked with a group of a bunch of guys so we were all good and safe.  We found a pub place that served Chopp (draft beer) and chatted over a glass or two.  Was a pretty chill night.  Tomorrow I will go see Cristo Redentor which is going to be awesome.  It is our last concert tomorrow too.  Can't believe it is almost over.  Going to get some shut eye before I have to get up to go see the statue, but expect great pics up soon from my excursions!  I already uploaded the ones from today, but there wasn't a ton to see...  Still, check um out:

From YOA Tour - Brazil

Day 39 through 49 - Lima, Campinas/Paulinia, São Paulo, Poços de Caldas, Ribeirão Preto, Araracuara

HOKAY!  Sorry everyone for the EXTREME delay in posting.  I had a mixture of the usual: limited internet access on top of being ridiculously busy.  We have officially reached the point of the tour where any free half-hour is Emma's nap time.  Every bus ride- I am passed out.  It's pretty much the same for the musicians too, but they are a lot better at recuperating apparently.  I think performing helps them gain energy, especially after a responsive audience.  For example, the audience in Poços de Caldas was a very casual young audience, but they absolutely LOVED the orchestra and were whistling at them and everything.  Well, on the bus ride back to the hotel afterward, everyone was so hyper that the whole bus had a huge pillow fight with all of the pillows that are provided in each seat for the long bus rides...  It was hillarious.

I have been having an absolute blast though.  I got to have my birthday in Brazil, which was pretty amazing.  It was really nice being around so many people for my birthday- I had "Happy Birthday" sung to me SO MANY times, and in three different languages!!  hahahaha.  Brazil is pretty cool.  The language sounds really funny to me, with all of the "oau" and "sch" sounds.  It sounds like French with a Boston accent to me. Hahahahaha.

In Ribeirão Preto I got to meet friends of Patrick and my friend Jay from Seattle.  He studied abroad in Brazil, and the person he stayed with, who is basically a brother to him, happened to live in Ribeirão Preto, so I invited him to our concert and he was able to make it!  He brought a friend from his Residency (he is a neurologist....  FANCY!) and we were able to go to this famous pub next door called Pinguim, which is a very old establishment that is well known for their draft beer (or Chopp).  It was really cool getting to meet people that I almost felt like I knew!  Friend of a friend of my husband.... and his friend.  Hahahaha.  Still, it's a pretty small world when you can meet people in the opposite hemisphere that know the same person as you.  And the girl is actually going to be traveling to John's Hopkins in October, so I will have to let my Aunt Kathy who works there know to look her up, as I'm sure they are dealing in the same departments.  I think she is in rehabilitation, which has to be related to neurology somehow...

Anywho, this is a bit of a lame post, but it has been so hard to get anything up here at all, that I think we will just have to call it good.  Meanwhile, there are photos up on Picasa, as usual:

Colombia:
http://picasaweb.google.com/emma.yantis/YOATourColombia?feat=directlink

Ecuador:
http://picasaweb.google.com/emma.yantis/YOATourEcuador?feat=directlink

Peru:
http://picasaweb.google.com/emma.yantis/YOATourPeru?feat=directlink

Brazil:
http://picasaweb.google.com/emma.yantis/YOATourBrazil?feat=directlink

Day 37 & 38 - Lima

Welcome to country number 3 of my 4-country tour!!! We arrived in Lima, Peru on August 1st- the best month of the year! August has my birthday, my anniversary, my parents' anniversary, my sister's wedding, and Patrick's birthday, as well as being just an awesome summer month anyway.

Well, August is not so summery in Peru. In fact, it is winter here. Cold, bleary, gray winter. But that's ok. I FINALLY got to do some touristy things, thanks to the presenter here in Lima, who set up the orchestra with a great night-lights city tour of Lima on an open-air bus, and a tour of some ancient ruins and a horse show the next day. It was an amazing treat, and I am so glad that I finally got to take a break from constantly working.

I got to try some REAL cerviche here in Peru- not just that salsa-tasting shrimp stuff they fed us in Quito. This is serious raw fish, and it tastes like it. It's really good, but something that I am having to work myself up to appreciate.


Here's us on the top of the tour bus, in FREEZING Lima. It was really cold, but we were having such a good time that we forgot about it after a while. The air here is really moist, so the coldness really sticks to you, which makes it that much more freezing.

There was something historically exciting about the preservation of these balcony windows. That was the extent I understood, so I took a picture.



We went to a BEAUTIFUL "Water Park", which was not a water park at all, if you're thinking slides and wave pools. It was a park that had 13 fountains, all with some cool characteristic, like cool colored lights, one that was an archway you could walk under, another was a circle that would stop long enough for people to walk inside and be surrounded by the fountain when it started up again, and the coolest one, that was basically a means to project a laser light show on, complete with soundtrack. It was awesome.






Today we went on another tourist attraction- the Pachacamac ruins, followed by a horse show and typical Peruvian lunch. It was an awesome time, and I have a lot of great pictures, but I am pretty tired from a really REALLY long event that I just got back to the hotel from, so I will have to let the pictures speak for themselves. Maybe I'll be able to elaborate more on it all later.