Last Thursday’s visit to La Ladrillera was a very fun time. Painting was the activity at hand and the idea was to let the kids unleash their creativity, although some used objects (placed on the tables) as inspiration, such as a small Peruvian hand-crafted doll that some participants liked, including Miluska…

 Jordy, bien concentrado…
Diego kept on painting until the end, while Noel had already finished
and opted to play with his neighbour’s dog for a few minutes…

As summer is approaching, there is more light in the afternoon, so we decided to stay for a bit of play time after the snack. Below is Eber with a “taka taka”, a common toy here. The idea is to use a precise movement so the balls bounce off one another and eventually spin up to bounce off each other in a vertical position. It requires a steady hand and a lot of concentration!
(Meanwhile, Melany and Yoselyn were happy to spin around together in circles…oh so joyfully…)

The sun did eventually set–and what a sunset my fellow promotoras (teachers) and I were treated to
on our walk back to the nearby city district of La Victoria!
* * *
Tonight I will finally be playing in a concert with the chamber orchestra I have been playing in since August. We are presenting three Bach violin concertos: A minor, E major and the Bach’s Concerto in D minor for Two Violins. Our concert will be in the auditorium of the ICPNA, Instituto Cultural Peruano Norteamericano, or Peruvian-US Culture Institute, one of the best English language schools in Peru.
I look forward to sharing our hard work with the public, one that is not very familiar with Bach, but will hopefully enjoy the music we interpret.
This is about demonstrating a different genre of music–not one that is better than the many local genres–but simply different. The other young musicians I’ll play alongside are very funny, bright, and passionate individuals. I am happy that my host family, some co-workers and friends will be at the concert!