Days of wine and tamtams

Sunday night, another rainy day… but at least it’s not raining now.

This Middlebury Summer is not what I’d hoped it would be in some ways, and yet in others it’s been magical. The weather has been dreary, wet and cold; not what any of us were hoping for. It depresses me in particular to think about going back to a dreary, wet and cold Parisian climate after my stint in S.E. Asia. But there is sun on the horizon: plans which might well give me a few welcome occasions to slip off to sunny climes for a week or two during the year.

These last two weeks on campus will be busy, busy. The summer will, as usual, seem to have slipped by, and soon I’ll be in Maine, where I’ll carefully avoid looking at any trees showing tell-tale signs of fall. As beautiful as the golden-orange leaves are, August seems indecently early to see them!

Listening to Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini – probably not a good idea on a melancholy, rainy Sunday evening… Ah, well, I’ll give in to it for a few more minutes, and then put on something with a “beat” to get me inspired to do some work.

A few highlights: a wine-tasting at the Lincoln Peak Vineyard, a few miles from the campus. I discovered some very nice Vermont wine and bought a few bottles to take home. To my surprise, they had a delicious ice wine. I didn’t buy it, as it was 35 dollars for a half bottle (or a slim, tall bottle). That’s not a bad price, and it was truly wonderful stuff, but I didn’t have my credit card with me and had to borrow money for the wine I did buy… Just as well, I suppose!

Yesterday, an African dance and music troupe (the Jeh Kulu Dance and Drum Theater, based in Burlington, Vermont) came to the campus to give some dance workshops (in which I was unable to participate, unfortunately) and then a performance in the evening. After their show they came over to the Grille, Middlebury College’s wine and fruit bar and “social space”, where the French school was holding a “tribal” evening – complete with face-painting. When they pulled out their drums and began to play, I gathered up my courage and went to them to ask if I could join them. The man next to me signaled to another, playing towards the back, and he handed me his drum. I asked him to show me the rhythm I should use, and discovered what gave them that particular rolling percussion sound. My drum had to play a series of pickup notes before the beat, but without playing the beat itself. Imagine… “ta ga da DUM, ta ga da DUM, ta ga da DUM, ta ga da DUM” is the sequence, but I played “ta ga da –, ta ga da –, ta ga da –, ta ga da –”… Not easy, but once I caught on I didn’t want to stop. They didn’t quite have to wrest the drum away from me, but that’s only because I’m a well brought up young lady…

I’ve seen a few movies, have had some interesting chats with people which I will relate to you once things are consolidated… Am doing some new research and reading, and have done almost NO shopping. Wow. The one very definite advantage to not having a car at my disposal is that I haven’t spent much money. T. J. Max won’t go bankrupt because of this, as the rest of the French school is still doing their duty there, but they just might notice a slight slump in their summer revenue…

Cross your fingers that the choir will pull off the Fauré Requiem excerpts. They’re not hard, but we haven’t had much time to work on them. The concert is 10 days away, and we’re still pounding out notes. Ah, well, the Middlebury Magic will work on Mr. Fauré as well, I’m sure!

Once Middlebury is over, I’ll most certainly feel more in the mood for blogging. It’s strange – since I’m here in a place where we aren’t supposed to speak English, I feel oddly guilty using it myself. I, however, didn’t sign any language pledge, so there’s no reason for me to worry… It’s just that I’ve played the game, so to speak, since the days I was a student here, and it doesn’t feel right to change now.

A few pictures for you, as there’s nothing much to say. When I have a little time, I’ll have a recounting of my whirlwind visit to Montreal, and I’ll recap the end of the session here as well.

Me working in town… the campus library at dusk… St. Joseph Basilica in Montreal (just a teaser, until I get the other photos ready.)

Kisses to everyone… and wish me luck holding it all together for just a couple more weeks!

XOXOXOXOX

B