Hello again

I have some wonderful images to post but the internet cafe that i'm at wont support my flash disk so we will have to wait... Sorry.

Some things have worked out quite well and other things have failed miserably. I did get to adjudacate in a national choir competition. It was about 40 choirs singing western, african, and gospel music. It was quite an earful but a very intereting experience. Right now I'm finshing a piece that I was commissioned to write for the Twelve Apostles Church national assembly that happens next week. Its one of those deals where the choir is already rehersing the begining and the end is still being written. They only asked me to write something for them 5 days before they wanted to reherse! The audience will be well over 5,000 when they pergorm the piece. We are renting out a whole stadium...

The text for the work comes from 1 Cor. 13:
Love is patient and kind, Love is never angry or spiteful...

People in South Africa use the word 'love' 5 min. after they meet you. That's not love.
I thought that it wold be a good text to set for SA. Its in Zulu, Setswana, and Xhosa. I'll post it when I get a recording.

My music classes failed entirely though. Its quite sad, I did quite a bit of prepatory work back in the states to make these classes the best I could. Well, thats africa. I have lived here long enough to know thats how these things go.

I'm going to try and find a different internet cafe that can take my flash disc or I'll put the images on CD and do it that way.

Peace.

Greetings from Botswana

Its been a very fast two weeks. The first weekend down here I traveled to the Kingdom of Swaziland with the Gauteng Corristers (the premirere semi-professional choir in Johannesburg). They were invited to come and sing at a big music celebration of traditional African Music in Swaziland. It was quite amazing, the music was wonderful (even if the ear tires of tonic-dominant harmony), the country was beautiful, majestic even... deep ravines, sharp mountinans, all very dramatic.

This weekend I'm in Botswana touching base with my host family and letting them know of my plans. Life continues in Botswana much as it has for time out of memory. The country is modernizing but the basic day to day life remains unchanged for the masses of Batswana. And for the most part they are content. Life just is. I think that is one of the elements that I find attractive in this counrty. Everything remains simple.

So, I go back to South Africa on tuesday and I will post some pictures and recordings I have collected. Now, that I'm established here it shouldnt take so long to get to my next post.