Herald Brass: School Visit and Mate

Yesterday we went to the British school to play during the lunch hour for the equivalent of high school in the states. We had a great time playing for the kids there, however there was a somber atmosphere because a young women who graduated from the school tragically died the day before. After we finished playing at the secondary school, the director of the school (along with his super cool British accent!) asked us to play for the primary school (K-6). We agreed and we are so glad that we did. We added a little bit of teaching time of each of the instruments, which delighted the music teacher and the students. We played a few songs that required a few bells to be rang along with. Normally we have some trouble getting teens and adults to ring the bells, but not here! Poor Anita was mobbed my kids wanting to get the privilege of ringing the coveted bells. She ended up making many children sad because all of them wanted to have opportunity to play. We finished with the song Feliz Navidad. The kids loved this piece, and we loved watching them respond to it! They started to sing along, sway back and forth with the music in rows, clap along, and their faces just lit up. It looked like a sea of synchronized swaying. We have a video of the kids singing and Nathan will try to get that uploaded this evening. It was just incredible to see joy in the kids' faces. When we finished they started chanting, "Another one, another one...". We obliged and played We Three Kings. When we finished that one they started to chant all over again. We were actually saved by the bell. We finished the song, looked around at the chanting children, and suddenly a bell sounded calling for a period change. As the kids walked out, the teachers greeted us and thanked us for coming. The one teacher looked down at her student, saw his smile and said to us, "Look at his smile!".

That afternoon we did some shopping and got to experience the different culture even in shopping. Instead of picking up your item and carrying it to the check-out booth, you asked for it and then they gave you a ticket so that you could pick it up at the front desk, wrapped and waiting. It's a great system... if you speak Spanish! =D

Later in the evening we went to another international worker's house and had a pizza party with the group. The pizza here is different. Traditional pizza is on flat bread with sauce. We ate "mozarella", which is closer to our traditional pizza, but the main topping is cheese. The pizza was delicious! We also experienced a cultural tradition called, mate (maw-tay). Mate is a very strong green tea that a lot of South Americans drinks. Below are some pictures of events listed above.

Playing at the Senior British School