Orchestra de Jalisco

Today Nikiya and I bought our bus tickets to Morelia for Sunday and Monday! Cassandra scheduled our final excursion for the Saturday of our last three day weekend which was a bit of an oversight, but, oh well. A bunch of people are going to the beach (a group left today for Puerto Vallarta), but I didn’t want to leave because this trip is already paid for. Instead, Nikiya, her friend Dennis, and I are going to make the most of our remaining two days and explore Morelia a bit. It’s the capital of the state of Michoacan and is supposed to be a beautiful, big colonial city. Penelope told me there’s a candy factory there! I’m SO going! It’ll be a good weekend.

Tonight I met up Paula, a girl from choir, at La Sacra (the music school) and we took the bus downtown. On the way, Linda’s new amigo Amistad, Ivan, got on our bus which was just a weird coincidence. I hadn’t seen him since the first time I met him over a week ago, but he remembered me! We chatted, all three of us, for the rest of the bus ride.

Paula and I got off right next to the Teatro Degollado in el centro and wandered around for like half an hour. We went into the state music school nearby in this old colonial building. It used to be a convent or something. At 7 we went into this small salon in the back of the theater where we sat through an hour long class about listening to and appreciating classical music. It was pretty cool because it was taught by a member of the orchestra (a cellist) and we listened to one of the movements they performed later that night.

At 8 we rushed to the front of the theater where Paula got a free ticket from one of the orchestra members (a fat, oddly proportioned percussionist) and I had to buy a ticket up in the balcony but it was with her student card which made it half price.

The first half of the performance was classical stuff. There was one movement by Mendelssohn with a huge violin solo. That was the song we listened to in the class beforehand. The whole thing was basically a sixty piece orchestra vs. a single violinist. For the part they brought in a beautiful young Spanish woman with crazy fast fingers, Eva Leon. The best part was that during intermission I met up with Paula and we went back stage and met her! She lives in New York (of course) and speaks English, but she was still surprised when she asked me what my name was (because she was giving me her autograph) and my name turned out to be American. I guess if I hang with the Mexicans I look like one?

The second half was with a mariachi band and I was down on the first level with Paula. I took a bunch of videos because the whole thing was so priceless. At one point the whole audience started singing along, complete with those stereotypical whoops and whistles. For their final song they sang one about Guadalajara. Paula was shocked I didn’t know it and told me if I didn’t learn it before I left then I couldn’t really say that I lived here. I better get on that. She’s going to make me a CD with all the traditional songs and another one with pop songs, hopefully.

After the performance her friend from La Sacra who also plays cello in the orchestra drove us home. I didn’t say much the whole ride because I was really tired but Paula made up for the both of us, plus maybe ten more people. That girl can talk! Well, time for bed.