Ciao, tutti! Don't worry, I haven't forgotten you, I've just been traveling the globe, battling cockroaches, and enjoying the holidays.
Wow, many things have happened since my last blog post. At the end of July, I was one of the finalists in The Stage TLV's Poetry and Storytelling "Grand Slam" event (if you haven't seen it: https://youtu.be/trO5cIlzCDQ). I didn't win, but I was happy with my performance and just happy with the fact that I was a finalist at all! The topic was "that explains everything," so we had a very diverse range of poems and stories. I spoke about my journey with pain and fear and how it has affected my singing (and performing).
Soon after that, I closed up my apartment (I thought) and headed to the States for some high quality cat, I mean, family time. I spent two weeks in Wisconsin and then continued on to Denver to visit my sister. As you might remember, we put on a concert together which was a big hit! The concert was called "Alma Mahler in the Mediterranean" and featured songs inspired by Mediterranean countries like Italy, Spain, Greece, France, and Israel, as well as a set by Alma Mahler. I had a nice break in the middle of the concert while Adriana whirled through a piano solo rendition of Gershwin's "An American in Paris." Afterwards, we had a small reception with bubbly, blackberry and mint-infused water (posh!), and tasty chocolates handmade by Adriana's friend, Vanessa. Afterwards, we went out for drinks and dessert with some of Adriana's friends - it was a lovely evening.
In between and after concert preparation, we visited the Red Rocks (relatives of the Fountain Formation rocks with whom I became acquainted during my geology fieldcamp), Dinosaur Ridge and Triceratops Trail. Dinosaur Ridge's claim to fame is that the very first Allosaurus fossil was found there and also the first Apatosaurus and Stegosaurus, which is Colorado's state fossil. There is also a mega-fossil of dino-prints which can be traced over several states - pretty cool! We amused ourselves by doing our best dinosaur impressions throughout the trek (well, mostly Adriana did them since I had the camera).
We also visited the Denver Botanic Gardens, where we witnessed the rare
blooming of the Corpse Flower
(http://www.botanicgardens.org/our-gardens/whats-blooming/corpse-flower)
and also Deborah Butterfield's intriguing horse sculptures made of
found materials. A few days after our concert, we drove up to the Grand Tetons National Park for a week of hiking and communing with nature...from the comfort of our rental cabin (my sister refuses to camp because it entails not having one's own shower). But it was nice to have a real bed to sleep in and a real kitchen to cook in. We saw quite a few different species of animals; pronghorn and mule deer, many different kinds of birds, marmots, pikas, grouse, snakes, elken friends...even a moose family in somebody's front yard and a black bear from very, very, very far away. In addition to wearing a bear bell and bear spray, we invented songs to alert the bears to our presence. So either there were no bears in the area, or our songs worked because mostly, we just saw a lot of chipmunks. We nicknamed them "Chip McKaze" because they have a tendency to run out in front of cars. On the way back to Denver, we stopped at the Bighorn Sheep museum and took a small sidetrip in search of bighorn sheep (we saw one) and petroglyphs (we saw many!).
Then I flew back to Wisconsin for another week, made a short stop in Amsterdam where I stayed with my friend Pauline (whom I met last year in Munich) and paid a visit to my friend Lotte and her family. It was the first time that I met her daughters (aged 4 and 2), and they are quite the characters. It's funny to think that I've known Lotte since I was 10, but so nice to be able to visit as if no time has passed.
It was lovely to be back in Amsterdam, if only for a short time, but I was itching to get back to Israel. I landed during the tail-end of a chamsin - my flight was an hour delayed because the air was so thick with dust and then when I walked out of the airport, I felt like I had stepped into a sauna. On returning to my apartment, I found that a few different species of cockroach had taken up residence during my vacation, so after a week of trying to catch and release the wee beasties, I finally had somebody come to spray the apartment. It's nice to be able to sleep in peace, not worrying about "visitors."
Since returning, it's been one holiday after another: Rosh haShana, Yom Kippur, and now a week of Sukkot. I had two more training seminars for my English teaching and this week I teach my first classes. I'm a bit nervous, but mostly looking forward to finally working with the kids and getting into a routine.
I'm also beginning to prepare repertoire to take to a Lieder competition in the spring. I realize that when I tell people that I'm "going to be doing voice competitions," they think I'm auditioning for The Voice or something like that. I suppose the principle is sort of the same (many singers competing for a prize), but this competition is not televised, there isn't a massive audience, all of the judges are actually musicians, and I won't get offered a record deal if I win. So...no, not really the same at all. The competition I'm preparing for requires one hour of music (to be sung over three rounds, assuming that you advance), so I have my work cut out for me!
Adriana and I are working to put together a CD and/or DVD of our August concert, so stay tuned for more information. Hopefully they will be ready by Christmas...
I hope that you are all well and enjoying a lovely fall (or spring), wherever you are.
Un gran abbraccio,
Daniella
