Sedona

First morning post insanity hike: UGH!  Even after dosing up with ibuprofen I could hardly move.  Actually it was all in the calves. My feet hurt a bit, but they hurt all the time so I hardly notice anymore. Thankfully my knees, which honestly felt mildly injured at the end of the hike, didn't hurt at all in the morning, and nothing else was particularly sore besides my calves. But let me tell you, you notice it a LOT when you can't use your calves properly!  I was somewhat comforted that even Jonathan felt a bit sore the next morning. 

The pain didn't get me at all when stepping up--I think if I were helicoptered to the bottom of the canyon I could have hiked out again. However, even a single step down was enough to make me stop for several seconds and figure out how exactly I was going to manage it. 

We had to get back over to Bright Angel to pick up our car, so we decided, despite feeling somewhat decrepit, to walk there along the rim.  It's only a mile and is flat, and gave us another chance to take in the views before leaving for Sedona.  Along the trail we came across a beautiful elk which we didn't see until we were literally right beside it, maybe 8 or 10 feet away. 

I also don't think I mentioned that it was really, really cold in the morning and evening--below freezing. Although it warmed up to tank top and shorts temps during the day, we were completely bundled up with hats, scarves, gloves, and the works both in the morning and basically as soon as the sun set in the evening around 5:30 or 6pm. 

We had tried both of the previous evenings to get a reservation at El Tovar, the nice restaurant at the rim, but it was pretty booked up. Since we were having a leisurely morning and didn't get over there until around 9am, past the rush, we decided to have breakfast there.  It was amazing, and we also got to try prickly pear sauce on our corn cakes--yummy!  Jonathan is going to try to replicate this at home. :-)

After breakfast we collected the car, returned to the room for our luggage and headed to Sedona. The drive was gorgeous and we had some really great conversations along the way as well. 

Because we were so sore (interpretation: I was so sore) we abandoned the plan of doing a hike in Sedona. We stopped at the uptown shops and visited the olive oil shop, did a bunch of tasting and had them ship several bottles for us. 

Then we headed down to Tlaquepaque and found a spectacular restaurant, Rene. Although it was the middle of the afternoon by this point and we were nearly the only people at the restaurant, there was a woman playing the piano and singing old jazz standards. So we just sat out in the Spanish courtyard, ordered tapas and listened to the music. Absolutely idyllic. 

We went back uptown for ice cream and then headed out towards Phoenix along 179 with all the red rock views. It was right about sunset, and the rocks were vibrant. 

Once we got to I-17 we started turning our attention to the fact that the next morning we were scheduled to fly right into Hurricane Sandy. Jonathan spent over an hour on hold trying to reach the airline to find out if our flights were scheduled to go or not. In the end it appeared that our flights were to run on schedule, so eventually we left our Starbucks wifi in Scottsdale and headed over to Karen and Bradley's condo that they had kindly offered to us. We were supposed to stay there Thursday night, and in fact Jonathan did stay there, without me.  It was fun to see their pad,  including a piece of art that they bought at an art sale we hosted in our house several years ago.  It was also fun to see Karen's many crocheted creatures around the house, as well as little touches like crochet samplers used as window valances. We were also fond of the saguaro cactus made from barbed wire that "grows" in their front courtyard. 

The Grand Canyon

Up at 4:15 to get ready for the epic hike.  At 5am, just before we left our room, the alarm clock in the room went off. Yikes!  It's a good thing we had gotten up early because if we were planning to sleep in it would have been a real bummer for the alarm to go off unplanned at 5 in the morning!!!  

It's difficult to park over near the Bright Angel trailhead, but we took our chances and drove over since the shuttle bus doesn't start until later in the morning (meaning 5:45am)   :-) 

We started down the trail in the pitch black with the use of our headlamps. There were a surprising number of other folks doing the same thing, so as you looked up and down the trail you could see a drawn out string of lights bobbing along. Very shortly after we started we were passed by a couple that were running down the trail. It turns out that they were going rim to rim to rim, meaning across to the North Rim and then all the way back (a 42 mile trek).  Suddenly it made our crazy hike seem almost sane!

It was pretty incredible to have the canyon gradually take shape around us with the dawn. The first part of the hike takes you down between massive rock faces and although we couldn't see them, we could tell they were there because of the quality of our voice echoing. If we shined our headlamps up on them, we could barely make them out--or at least see that our light was landing on something solid. 

After the second rest stop (did I mention that I absolutely LOVE composting toilets?) we apparently reached the "fun" part of the trail.  First we saw a dude hiking in full Batman costume. When I took his picture, he gave us his email and asked us to send him the picture later.  We also met people coming the other way who would send messages with us to other people further down the trail, such as, "OK, when you pass the guy with the green backpack, tell him he might want to empty out the rocks that I filled up his camp shoes with," etc.   Basically we were having a ball!

The thing that surprised me the most on the trail was how we saw so many lush areas. From the top of the canyon the whole area appears to be so arid, sandy, and dry, but down at the base of even the little side canyons, where the little streams run down, it's an amazing thread of vibrant green. At Indian Gardens there was apparently a native American tribe that farmed there for centuries. It is so picturesque there with big, beautiful shade trees, sprawling meadows, and then of course these massive red and white rock faces rising up on either side. 

We made it down to Indian Gardens in good time. We had been carrying less water to that point because we knew we could refill there for the rest of the hike.  Below that rest stop was my favorite part of the hike--a winding slot canyon with smoother rock than other areas along the hike, and the lush stream in the bottom, the random tree reaching up to where our trail hugged the edge of the cliff, about 20-25 ft above the stream.  Spectacular!!

Below the slot canyon we had a bit more to descend, but much more gently and before we knew it, we were at the river!  I probably would have been more emotional about our arrival if I hadn't suddenly taken notice of the fact that my ankles, calves, and knees were completely shot.  Somehow when you are hiking down you just don't notice for a long while, and so it was pretty much when we stopped at the river that I realized how much pain I was in. It was 9am and we had the whole day hiking ahead of us, going up!  To say that I was worried would be a bit of an understatement but I was relieved to discover that when we started going up, the different set of muscles I needed for that were still fresh and strong. 

From there we hiked along the river for a couple of miles as we had decided to go up on a different trail.  The other trail was supposed to be four miles shorter (which also means a lot steeper!) but we decided that it would be nice to cut the distance, as well as just have a different set of views on the way up. In the end we only save ourselves two miles rather than four, but we were still glad we chose that route.  Plus, the hike along the river was pretty awesome.  When you are down in that lower slot canyon where the river is, you can only see to the top of that little tiny crevasse--it's hard to get any feel for the massive greater canyon. It actually *feels* like you have huge walls rising on either side, but then you come out to a few spots where you can see all the way up to the rim and it is positively breathtaking!

When we got to the bridge we were about 15 minutes past the point at which we had decided our turnaround should be, so we bypassed the side trip to Phantom Ranch. It would have added an extra mile for us, plus we would have started our ascent too late. That was disappointing, as we were hoping to postmark a postcard from there--apparently they carry the mail out by mule, and it's kind of a novel thing to do. Anyway, we headed straight on up to meet the South Kaibab Trail. 

It was pretty grueling, but spectacular. By the time we got to Skeleton Point, which is where you come out of the lower river canyon and onto the plateau, I was literally in tears and not at all sure I was going to be able to make it.

Somehow I was able to put mind over matter and work through it. One way was by just forcing myself to walk normally (rather than hobble) and pretend that I wasn't in pain. Interesting how when you do that, you actually do experience less pain. Important life lesson. The other way was to look at a place up the trail and decide that yes, I was capable of getting at least to there. Maybe not any further, but at least that far. If I couldn't manage either of those approaches, I would resort to just focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. 

We found a completely amazing place to stop for our lunch, at a red rock outlook somewhere above Skeleton Point. It felt delicious to rest, but the pain was fifty times worse when I started again, so I decided against any more long breaks. It was easier to not break the rhythm and momentum. 

Our trail up was along a ridge, as a contrast to the valley we hiked in on the way down. In many places we had sloping cliffs going thousands of feet down on either side of the trail. I didn't feel particularly frightened going up because the trail feels close when you have it directly in front of you, close to your face and hands. However, when I would turn around periodically to take in the view, I was glad we didn't hike down that trail. It seems much more scary with everything dropping away in front of you. 

After many, many, many agonizing steps, we made it to the top. I had started talking to some people at the rim when Jonathan noticed that the shuttle bus had arrived at the parking lot. We were anxious to get back, shower, and find some real food that didn't involve salty nuts or Luna bars, so we were in fact forced to run--yes, that right RUN, to the bus stop. I thought I would collapse and die!  I guess that's the motivation of food...

We somehow climbed the stairs to our room and showered, but the real fun was going back down to catch the shuttle over for dinner. It turns out I simply couldn't go down the steps. At all. Eventually, by hanging into Jonathan with one arm and on the rail with the other, I could sort of hop down, crutches-style, as if I had both of my legs in casts or something. Then,  believe it or not, we had to run to the shuttle bus AGAIN!  

Once on the bus, we realized that we had forgotten the car keys (the car was over near the other trailhead, which is also close to where all the restaurants are). After debating what to do, we decided to just take the bus back to our room after dinner and get the car in the morning. 

Our dinner was great, but we were so tired we could hardly stay upright. We basically went straight to bed when we got back around 8:30, and we slept for 10 hours!

Taliesen West

Flew US Airways Friday morning and got to Phoenix at 9am. Jonathan was anxious to see Taliesen West before we headed up to the canyon. Best detour ever!!!  In addition to it being simply a spectacular place, and the fact that we hit the jackpot with an awesome guide (ask for Kathie D), I actually got to play on the Steinway in the living room. Our guide asked if there was a pianist on the tour that could play for us and there was no way I was going to pass up that opportunity!  So amazing to play on the instrument the Frank Lloyd Wright probably played on himself! I hope I can go back and actually do a concert sometime.

I learned that Wright's two absolute essentials in a living space were 1) a fireplace, and 2) space for a piano. For clients who said they didn't have a piano his response was, "Get one!  And learn how to play it.". Also, when asked who was his favorite architect, he replied, "Beethoven.". How can you not love this guy?

The drive up to the canyon was beautiful and we arrived in time to see the sunset. We ate in the Bright Angel Lodge and walked back to our room at the Yavapai Lodge by way of the Rim Trail, illuminated by a nearly full moon.

Airport déjà vu

Well, here we go again... hopefully I will actually make it out of Pittsburgh this morning.

Some random and unrelated observations from the airport:

After I purchased my breakfast for the plane just now, I realized that I still had in my backpack the dinner for the plane that I bought last night. I guess I will be well fed!

I just spent some time talking with a sales person in one of the shops and she was telling me that her husband has never wanted to go sightseeing anywhere, or go anywhere and do things. I'm feeling fortunate that I'm not in that situation!

Overheard as I passed the Bruegger's Bagels shop: "You're not afraid of butter, are you?" Haha!

Delta strikes again

I attemped to leave today for Arizona to meet Jonathan, who has been in Tucson at a conference this week.  I made the fatal error of booking the flight with Delta, and so naturally instead of being in the air at this moment.... I'm back at home!

My parents already fully moved into our bedroom since they are staying with the girls for the weekend, so I get the surreal experience of sleeping in my own guestroom tonight.  :-)

The good part of all of this was that I had an extra night with the girls and was able to read their stories and put them to bed tonight.  Up at O-dark-thirty and hopefully will arrive in Phoenix by 9am.  Shouldn't throw off our plans for the day by too much--except I may be sleeping in the car rather than doing the driving.

Sunday--heading home

5am alarm, quickie bath, haul luggage out to Basil's car.  Oops, all our luggage won't fit in Basil's car!  Good thing Brian (Basil's cousin) and his wife Beverly are heading back to Joburg as well.  We put some of our luggage in their car and head off.

Three hours later, around 9am, we hit the Zim/SA border. We blaze through the Zim side, and drive across the bridge to the SA border patrol.  Basil groans because the buses are still there.  Evidently there are buses that go through the border each day early in the morning.  It of course takes a lot of time to get all those people through, so it's best to not hit the border when the buses are still there.  Basil deftly maneuvers around a different way and parks at the immigration building and we go inside to assess the damage.  We see that there are thousands of people milling around and winding around in an endless queue.  Apparently they have been there for 7 hours already, and expect it will take another 5 before they get through the line.  Since we need to be in Joburg at 6pm for our flight, this is not really an option.  For some reason I'm overcome with an overwhelming sense of calm that everything is going to turn out.

At some point we had switched around and Erwin and Esther were riding with Brian and Beverly, Gail and I were with Basil and Nathan.  Our two guys have Zim passports, but work visas for SA since they go down there twice a week as part of their business.  Nathan went with us up to the counter for the SA residents (since there was no line on that side) to see if we could get our passports stamped there in order to make it to the flight.  The Afrikaner official there (who apparently proudly announces to everyone he sees that he was born on Hitler's birthday) got angry with us for coming in the wrong line and started shouting at us.  His quip was, "This is Africa!  That's just a casualty of international travel--sometimes you miss your flight!"  Unfortunately he saw that we were with Brian and Beverly and so when they got into the line, he wouldn't even stamp their passports (they are SA citizens!!)  Brian had some other connections that he was trying to work out, so we waited.  Meanwhile we are milling around in the oppressive heat and dust with all the other thousands of people there.  We are sweating and the dust is caking onto all of us, and we recognize that we will have no opportunity to shower or get cleaned up for the next 35 hours... or longer if we can't get through this border and we miss our flight.  We try various methods over the course of the next 2.5 hours.  At one point Basil, Nathan, Gail and I are waiting on one side of the building and Brian's gang manages to get someone to help them and stamp all their passports.  We somehow miss out on that batch, so when we come around and they try to repeat the process, the Hitler guy comes all the way outside of the building and starts tirading us again in the parking lot.  He claims that Nathan was rude to him (huh???) and unless Nathan apologizes, he refuses to even consider our request.  So, regardless of the fact that it was him who was rude (not Nathan), Nathan comes and dutifully grovels to him with Gail and me as witnesses.  Immediately he announces in a loud voice, "All right, then!  Now you can see some true African spirit!!!"  and he marches on into his cubicle, quickly stamps all our passports and we are on our way.  Absolutely surreal!

After you get your passport stamped, you get back in your car and drive across the actual border where the police check all your stamps again, and in our case, search through all the luggage.  One official was looking through our carry-on bags which were with us in the back seat.   I had been pretty alert when he was looking through my bag with my phone, cash, passport, etc.   Next he went through my other carry-on.  I saw that he was unzipping the case for the nice noise silencing headphones that Jonathan had loaned me for the long airplane trip.  I made the mistake at that moment of turning and saying something to Gail.  When I turned back around maybe two seconds later, the guy handed me my bag all zipped up again and I stowed it back into its spot.  Seven hours later in Joburg, I discovered that he had conveniently not put the headphones back into my bag.  There's some good ol' African police for ya.  

We have one more checkpoint to go and we are thinking we're totally in the clear, but when we get to that second checkpoint, we realize that we failed to get some particular stamp on a separate piece of paper relating to taking the car through.  So..... back to the immigration building, Nathan goes running in--we have no idea how long this new iteration will take.  Gail and I are holding hands in the backseat and trying to breathe.  Luckily it takes about 3 minutes, Nathan is back, we zoom through the checkpoints and are out on the open road again.  Very glad to be back in a cool, air-conditioned car by this point!

Now Basil and Nathan, who are driving in turns, are really cruising down the road.... FAST!  Trying to make up lost time.  We do make really good time and since it looks like we have a bit of play for our airport arrival, we stop a couple of hours out of Joburg to get a bite to eat.  It takes them WAY too long to make our food, but we think we have plenty of time, so we are not too worried.  But then, to our dismay, when we get into Joburg, we hit a colossal traffic jam.  I haven't been all that nervous all day, miraculously, but at this point I really start feeling anxious.  It seems ridiculous to have gone through everything we did, and then miss our flight because we are sitting in traffic.  Eventually we slog through and pull up to the terminal a mere 80 minutes before our flight is supposed to leave, 30 minutes before boarding.  Brian and Beverly are already there waiting for us, they have a cart to load our luggage, so we grab our stuff and tear into the terminal behind Brian who is running pell mell pushing our luggage cart.

Thankfully we blaze right through check-in and security and we even have time to go to the restroom, fill our water bottles, and spend about 10 minutes browsing in a shop before boarding.  This is the point at which I discover that my water bottle leaked throughout my entire carry-on bag.  Everything is soaked.  Luckily my phone, charger, passport, etc. have all been stuck in pockets higher up along the sides of the bag, so they take a minimal hit, but everything in the main compartment of the bag is absolutely dripping.  So now we are standing in line to board the plane and as we push the bags along as the line moves forward, I'm trying to fish things out, dry them off, put them in my other carry-on.  Wow!  What a saga!

At long last we are on the flight and I start to relax.  I'm especially excited when I realize that there are maybe three empty seats on the whole massive flight.... and one of them is next to me!!  I have a window seat and the guy on the aisle (who is "sharing" the empty seat with me) turns out to be Neven Matthews,  Dave Matthew's uncle!!  ... Yes, that Dave Matthews!  We hit it off and have many philosophical discussions over the course of the 17 hour flight.  He also has musical connections in SA and helps me with some contacts for potential future performances in Africa.  It's an absolute pleasure to have a nice seat mate and a relatively comfortable flight due to the empty seat between us.

Gail also has a window seat several rows ahead of me.  We don't see each other on the flight very much because it's difficult to visit someone on the plane if they are not in an aisle seat.  However, we arrive in Atlanta in relatively good spirits--we've both managed to give ourselves some sort of modified spit bath in the lavatories on the plane so that we aren't so sweaty and dusty.  I even manage to get my hair mostly wet all over!  Don't ask..... there's quite a bit of water all over the place in there to mop up before I can leave with a straight face.  I have not read up on the FDA regulations pertaining to bathing in the lavatories.

In Atlanta we blast through US customs with no problem, exchanging pleasantries with the extremely polite and professional border officials.  We have a private laugh remembering how one of the things the Hitler guy had said to us was that if you "tried something like that" at the US border (referring to Nathan's imaginary "rude quip"), the Americans would throw you straight in jail.  :-)

I walk Gail to her gate and then make my way over to the next terminal for my Pittsburgh connection.  At long last we have wifi and phone service and so I make the most of my time by making some phone calls, checking email, etc.  Flight to Pittsburgh is uneventful for me, although when I arrive I discover that Gail's flight to San Antonio has had mechanical difficulties, so after deplaning in Atlanta they manage to get on another aircraft and get to TX several hours late.

I'm excited that I arrive on a school holiday and the girls are able to come out to the airport to greet me.  They are there at the bottom of the escalator and come tearing over and jump into my arms.  It's so, so, SO good to see them and I get an added surprise that there with my mom is my cousin Sharon, who is unexpectedly in town for a conference!  I haven't seen Sharon for several years, so it's a very fun surprise!

We head back to the house and I try very hard to keep my eyes open--my goal is to try to stay awake until 10pm, to try to kick the jet lag.  Alas, I only make it to about 8:30.  The girls tuck me in and Sierra reads me a story--I'm in dreamland before she even gets through the first page.

Lovely to be home, but already plotting my next trip to Africa.  It gets into your system, that place!

Saturday

After an early morning walk with Gail, we attended the service for the local SDA church, which had sponsored our trip.  Helen and Basil were hosting a baptism afterwards, so there was a lot of hubbub at the house, getting the swimming pool ready, etc.  During the church service I started doodling on a pad and discovered that it's very fun to draw mazes.  All of this was a good distraction from the fact that it was concert day--generally a time that I spend waiting, waiting, waiting for the concert to begin. (If it were up to me, I would schedule all my performances at 10am!)

There was a huge convoy to Basil and Helen's for the baptism after church.  The choir was very picturesque out in the courtyard, singing during the ceremony.  Once that concluded, we all changed and went out to Hillside Dam for a picnic by the water.  I would say there were about 40 or 50 of us there.

As Gail, Lynn, and I were leaving to go rest and get ready for the concert, I had a conversation with Erwin in which he confided that he wasn't comfortable playing the Piazzolla Tango that evening.  Since it was only 3 hours until the concert and taking out the Tango left a good 12 minute hole in the program, I spent the next bit trying to rack my brain for what I could stick in.  I hadn't brought any solo music with me, and hadn't even thought about anything memorized since before the summer.  I fished around in my brain and dug up a few things that I thought were in there solid enough to play in two hours.  I ended up with a Chopin Nocturne, and my signature modern piece where I "crawl inside the piano."  I went into the house at Helen's and tried it out and discovered that there was a passage that I couldn't remember.  I was at a loss for awhile since I didn't have the music there.  Then I remembered that I had a bunch of my CDs there, and that piece was on the recording.  I went running out to our cottage, ripped open a CD, stuck it in Lynn's computer and listened to that section for awhile until I thought I had it.  Back at the piano, I finally sorted it out until I felt comfortable.  During all this time, Lynn and Gail were incredibly supportive and encouraging (which I really needed, as I was kind of freaking out!)

The concert went really well and when it was time for my solo pieces, I decided to play the modern piece first.  There were no printed programs so after I finished that piece I was waiting for the applause to die down so I could announce the Chopin Nocturne.  Well wouldn't you know it, they just would not stop clapping!  (And here I had been worried whether or not the piece would go over with that audience!)  I bowed.... waited.... bowed again.... waited..... I think I probably bowed three times and finally they subsided.  This just made my day that people liked it so much!

Gail and Lynn sang spectacularly on the concert and the trios with Nathan were awesome.  I did collaborate with Erwin on a Bach piece for 2 pianos and that went very well.  The choir also sang towards the end of the concert and so it was very festive back in the green room with all of us there during the second half.

After the concert it was hard to leave because we knew we wouldn't see anyone again.  We had to pack up and pull out in the car at 5am the next morning.  We just lingered and lingered, taking pictures with everyone, exchanging hugs, getting people's email addresses, etc.  Finally we managed to load up and head back to the house, after which we went up to the kitchen and hung out with Helen's family and the other musicians until after midnight.  Eventually we made it back to the cottage to crash for a few hours before our departure.

Friday

We played for a few more schools today--our first engagement being at 7:15 in the morning!  We were at a boys' school and it was incredible to see how organized they were at filing in and knowing exactly where they were supposed to sit.  They filled an entire gym-like room, all sitting on the floor in neat rows, with the older high school students sitting in chairs around the edge of the room.  They loved the music and especially when Esther started playing the Meditation from Thais, they all started looking at each other with broad grins on their faces.  Really cute!  

We came back to have breakfast afterwards, and had a short bit of time to rehearse some things at the house before we went to the next school around 11am.  That was a co-ed school and we had slightly longer there than we had at the earlier engagement, so we were able to do about half and hour's worth of music.  We later found out this was the school that Helen's kids had attended when they were younger.

The afternoon was basically rehearsal time at the hall, making sure everything is in order for tomorrow's concert.  Helen's son, Nathan, is going to be singing some trios with Lynn and Gail and they sound phenomenal!

The highlight of the day was the little girl that I met at the Academy.  I was sitting out in the lobby checking my email and here comes this little 7 yr old girl carrying a cello.  I couldn't help exclaiming, and of course I had to show her a picture of Sierra with her cello.  Her name was Emma and she had just done her exam and was waiting for the results.  We talked for awhile and then they headed off, but about 15 minutes later she came running back over and her mom said that she had some big news for me.  She was very proud that she had gotten a distinction in her exam!  I threw my arms open in excitement and she just jumped right into my arms for a huge hug!  It was so absolutely endearing and made me realize how much I'm missing little girl hugs.  Nothing quite comparable to it.....

In order for Lynn and Gail to rest their voices for the concert, they did not sing at tonight's meeting, so the three of us stayed back at the house and rested.  The two of them went to bed early and I should follow suit as well, so I'm good and rested both for the concert, and for the trip home.

We have to leave at 4 or 5am Sunday morning.  It's a 10 hr drive from here to Johannesburg and we will get there not that many hours before our flight back to the States.  So I've been figuring this out.....  We will leave Bulawayo at the equivalent of 11pm Pittsburgh time on Saturday night, and I will get home at noon on Monday.  That, my friends, is a long trip.  I'm just hoping that it will go smoothly without the sorts of mishaps I had on the way here.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Thursday

Early morning walk with Gail, then breakfast and off to our morning engagement playing for the British girls' school in Bulawayo.  They set up a "stage" for us out on the lawn and we played for the girls during their morning class break.  There was a group of girls that came right up to the front and cheered like crazy for every song.

After lunch back at Helen's place, I called and discovered that my suitcase had been sent on the flight to Bulawayo on the 1st of October.  Hmm.   We called on the 1st and they told me that it was still in Atlanta, and that I would get an email when it was at the correct destination.  Hmmm.  Oh well--I couldn't have picked it up when we were away to Vic Falls anyway, so no big loss.  The nice thing is that I can wear my own gown for the concert this weekend, I will have the CDs that I brought to sell, but most importantly, I will have clothes to wrap all my souvenirs in on the way home!  :-)  I was looking at some of these things I bought and wondering how I'd get them back in one piece, even if I bought a piece of luggage to put them in, since I wouldn't have anything to wrap them with.  Guess that's all sorted out.

I was supposed to have the afternoon to practice, but since I spent it running out to the airport for my bag, I just had a tiny bit of time this evening to get some work done.  Luckily the full day of practice I put in on Monday really paid off and it seems like most everything is pretty well in my fingers by now.  I think this next concert is going to be a good one.

Can't believe tomorrow is Friday already.  This all went by in a flash!

Wednesday

We woke up at 5:00 this morning so we could go see the sunrise from the bridge at Victoria Falls.  The madness of bungee jumpers and zipliners doesn't really get underway until later in the day, so we pretty much had the whole bridge to ourselves.  It was glorious!  And we didn't have any baboons coming to steal our food like we did in the Falls parking lot the day before.  :-)

We returned to our lodge for breakfast and then headed back to Bulawayo.  It's been so great to have this excursion, not only to see these incredible sights, but also because it has given the five of us musicians a chance to really get to know each other and have some real bonding time.  We've been having the most fun!

It is phenomenal to see Lynn in action--he talks to everyone as if they were his long lost brother, and sometimes the friends he makes in the most mundane of situations end up being people that he remembers years later and reconnects with.  For example, we went into an Internet cafe last night so that we could all get online for a few minutes.  As we were leaving, Lynn started talking to the guy at the desk, asking if he had been working at this place in 2006.  Lynn actually remembered this guy specifically, and a ton of details about the conversation they had six years ago.  Lynn got the full update as to what he  had been doing the last few years and when the guy started talking about various things that he does, Lynn says, "Wait a minute!  Then you must know so-and-so!"  And sure enough.... they both had a common acquaintance!  Ok, so that was certainly the most remarkable of the situations, but we've had several instances in which we needed help over the last couple of days.  We had a leaking tire on the way over, so we had to stop at a tiny village and some guys there fixed the tire for us.  On the way back we had misjudged how much fuel we had in the tank and so we had to stop and get some fuel from a different tiny village (they ended up draining some out of a Land Rover there so they could sell it to us!)  In both situations, Lynn was totally buddies with the guys by the end of the transaction, was taking pictures with them, giving them his card, telling them to get in touch with him sometime, etc.  If he ever meets them again down the road, he'll probably absolutely remember everything he learned about them.  It's an exceptional art, and incredible to see it in action--and of course we have a front row seat here!

I've also had so much fun getting to know Erwin and Esther.  As fellow pianists, Erwin and I had an epic discussion in the car this morning about technique, teaching resources, repertoire, and anything else piano-related that we could think of.  Esther, his sister, is good natured and fun-loving and was such a good sport about being squished between me and Erwin for six hours in the car today, not to mention the drive over yesterday!

As always, it's a pleasure to travel with Gail, who is so easy-going and relaxed and easy to communicate with.  And it's really fun to make music together again--it's been too long!
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      When we finally got back to Bulawayo Helen of course had a feast waiting for us.  After our late lunch we got ready and went over to the hall for a bit of rehearsal before the evening session.  Still no luggage, so I'm relying heavily on the good graces of our hosts, and Gail, so that I don't have to wear the same outfit every day.  Hopefully it's not putting out my benefactors too much, but on my part it's somewhat liberating to not have a bunch of stuff here.  Must remember this the next time I travel--if I add maybe three or four critical things to my carry-on luggage, I don't think I should even bother to pack a suitcase.

The stars tonight are spectacular!

Tuesday

Today we left Bulawayo at 5am and drove over to Victoria Falls.  Because of the massive drought the Falls are drastically diminished, but there is still smallish section that is running, and quite impressive.  Unfortunately the whole section of the Falls by Danger Point, which is supposed to be the most dramatic part, was completely dry today.  You could have rock-climbed up the places where the water is usually thundering over (apparently sometimes people do rock-climb those cliffs when the water flow is low like this, but we didn't see any climbers today).  Nevertheless, we had a great time. 

After a rest at the beautiful lodge where we are staying, we went down to our game-viewing cruise on the river.  Wow!  I feel like we totally hit the jackpot!  We saw about 10 or 12 hippos that we watched for a long time, and then further along we came across five elephants munching grass right by the river.  We also saw some giraffes in a meadow through the trees, and also some more common animals like warthogs, baboons, impala, and some really beautiful birds.  It was so lovely to be out on the river and we also got a spectacular sunset.  Can't complain about this day one bit! 

Monday

Monday was basically a practice day for me, so not a whole lot to report.  One fun thing is that we are singing a set of spirituals on the next concert that are arranged as a trio and a singer from here is going to be joining Gail and Lynn for those.  It's going to sound so great!

The people at the Zimbabwe Academy of Music where we are performing have been so supportive and wonderful.  The power here is very unreliable so one minute it's on, the next it's not.  They deal with this with a huge dose of charm and good humor!

There is also a massive drought in Zimbabwe right now, so the water is on a drastic ration--there is only running water in homes about two days a week for a short time.  Our hosts have a large tanks which they fill on these days to keep the running water mostly constant, but since they have so many guests at the moment (I think there are 8 of us) we have to be very careful.  I've gotten really good at taking a bath in an inch of water. :-)

They are, however, feeding us like royalty around here.  Our hosts are in the business of importing fresh produce from South Africa, so they have an overabundance of the most amazing food you've ever seen--avocados bigger than you've ever seen, AMAZING dates, tomatoes to die for..... wow, that's just the beginning.  Anyway, hopefully I will still fit in my clothes when I get home.

Sunday

The choir here, which Helen and many of her relatives sing in, was performing at an event in the morning and Lynn, Gail, Esther and Erwin were all singing with them.  I went along to video the performance.  My favorite part was listening to them warm up and rehearse outside the venue.  They were standing beneath the jacaranda trees with bougainvillea all around.  My eyes have been popping out here because of all the colorful blooms everywhere!  It's absolutely incredible!  

Another feast of a lunch at Helen's followed by a bit of time spent trying to track down my luggage (it's apparently still in Atlanta....)  Later went to practice at the hall before the evening meeting.  Gail and I did a song at the evening event and then I was able to get Jonathan and the girls on Facetime for a very short conversation afterwards, as there is wifi in the building where we perform.  They were so cute--I am missing them like crazy!  They were so excited to show me all the things that they bought for $2 at a garage sale!  I also bought some things today that were for sale along the street..... but, well, I spent more than $2.  :-)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Bulawayo -- Arrival and first concert

Our flight to Bulawayo was uneventful and we came through customs without any hitches (partly because my suitcase, which was full of CDs, was not with us!)  Lynn and Helen were right there to pick us up and we went straight from the airport to the hall where the concert would be that night.  We ran a couple of things and then went on to Helen's place for an amazing meal she had prepared.  A large number of her family were in town because of the special meetings we were going to be a part of, and so we had a big and wonderful houseful of people.

Since we got through customs at about 1pm and the concert was at 6 that night, we didn't have a lot of time to spare.  In 10 minutes' time Helen had whipped up a beautiful gown and shoes for me that miraculously fit me perfectly, Gail and I rigged up our electrical converter box so that we could use the flat iron and fix our hair, and we were off and running.

When we got to the hall a few hours before the concert I got to meet Erwin--the other pianist who I was going to be collaborating with.  We ditched one of the pieces that we had planned to play and decided instead to play three Brahms Hungarian Dances, which we sight-read exactly once together.  The other thing that we were going to play on two pianos we never got to rehearse, so we ended up sightreading that one for the first time in the actual performance.  That was a first for me--yikes!  It went fine, though...

There were no printed programs and so we were announcing our pieces as we went along.  Musicians backstage should probably not be given that kind of liberty because we kept shifting around the order of the program as it went along--it was somewhat hysterical.  You'd walk onto the stage and by the time you came off, the others in the green room had made a different decision about what was coming next!  We really did have a total ball, and somehow the whole thing came off without any train wrecks, despite our lack of rehearsal.

Johannesburg

When I first got my rerouted itinerary through Lagos, I had forwarded that on to our hosts in Zimbabwe so they would know what was going on.  (Our Zim host's brother--who lives in Johannesburg--had kindly agreed to put us up for the night in between our arrival and when we left for Bulawayo the next morning).  Unfortunately my time in the Atlanta airport was so rushed that I didn't have time to sent them a proper message letting them know that I had made the original flight after all.  I didn't think this would change the overall plan much because Gail, who I was to meet and travel with from Atlanta, was still going to be on the original flight and would need the Johannesburg accommodations anyway.  When I met with Gail on the plane just before leaving Atlanta, I asked her to quickly email them while I was getting myself settled in, to let them know I had made it to the flight.  She did this, but her message--that we were traveling together from Atlanta--was interpreted to mean that we were both on the crazy itinerary through Lagos and that we wouldn't need a night in Jburg after all.  At any rate, naturally we didn't then have a ride when we got in.

After waiting for awhile in the Johannesburg airport and discovering that neither our phones nor the wifi worked there, we figured out a way to call them by waiting in line to change some money and calling from the public pay phone.  We hadn't changed any money in advance because we didn't figure we'd really have the opportunity to spend any money in South Africa before proceeding on to Zim.  At any rate, once we called, David (Helen's brother) came and picked us up and took us to their beautiful guest house.  Just a couple of hours before we arrived, the power had blown in several buildings right around there.  So we were sort of "camping in luxury."  The guest house was absolutely gorgeous and luxurious and there were candles all around for us.  It was rather lovely.  We were exhausted and went to bed with about nine hours until we had to get up for our morning flight.  I'd say we slept a good number of those hours and woke up feeling rested and happy.  In the morning we got to see the spectacular grounds of the guest house and there was a lovely breakfast for us there before David came to collect us and take us back to the airport.

How Get to Johannesburg In 22 Easy Steps

1) Purchase a ticket with a reasonable schedule: short afternoon flight to Atlanta, 8pm departure on nonstop flight to Johannesburg, arriving 5:30 the following day.
2) When your short afternoon flight gets delayed by 4 hrs, preventing you from making your Atlanta connection, you call Delta Airlines from airport to sort it out.
3) After you explain that you have to be in Johannesburg by Saturday morning to make your connection to Bulawayo, they reroute you on the following schedule:
       -Thursday evening flight to Atlanta
       -red-eye to Lagos, Nigeria, arriving at 4pm on Friday
       -another red-eye to Johannesburg, arriving at 5am Saturday
       -10:40am flight to Bulawayo.

4) When you think for a few minutes about the reality of spending two consecutive nights on red-eye flights and then playing a concert the same day you arrive, you figure there must be a better way.
5) You start wandering around the airport to see if there are any other flights to Atlanta.
6) You see an AirTran flight that is leaving for Atlanta in half an hour so you ask if it's full and the attendants say "almost".
7) Almost sounds really just fine at the moment, but alas they announce that they don't accept Delta tickets so you wander away.
8) You then look up the new itinerary that Delta sent you on your phone and see that they in fact did book you on an AirTran flight, but a later one--not this one that is leaving in half an hour.
9) You return to the AirTran counter to see if you can go stand-by on this flight since you do have an AirTran ticket after all.
10) The attendant looks it up and discovers that Delta has reserved the seat for you but has not paid for it.  They explain that you wouldn't even be able to get on the later flight unless Delta pays for the ticket.
11) You call Delta and after being put on hold for 10 minutes at a time (meanwhile, the current flight to Atlanta is boarding) you realize that the only way you can get on this flight is to hand the lady your credit card and just buy the ticket.
12) You tell the AirTran attendant that this is exactly what you need to do if Delta doesn't get their act together in time.
13) Finally Delta comes back on the line and explains that they are very sorry, but the rerouted schedule was created in error and you will not be able to take any AirTran flight because they don't have an agreement with AirTran.  You then quickly calculate that there is no possible way (using Delta) to get to Africa in time for your first concert.
14) When you explain to the Delta representative that you are going to buy the AirTran ticket so that you can make your connection, they say "Sorry, if you don't take your first Delta leg, you will not be able to get on the second leg of your trip."
14) Since you've already handed the AirTran attendant your credit card by this time, and have to actually board the flight because they are closing the doors, you explain to Delta that this their problem and they need to  figure it out in a hurry because you are in fact going to make your connection, and when you arrive in Atlanta, you sure as heck better be able to get on the flight that you have the ticket for.
15)  AirTran Goddess Jamie hustles you onto the plane at the last second and AirTran  Goddess Kathy makes sure that your carry-on bag stays in the cabin after the gate check Nazis try to commandeer it--"it's too big for you to carry on and you will conveniently be able to pick it up at baggage claim in Atlanta."
16) You step onto the plane realizing that you may never again see the luggage that you did check.
17) You hold your breath all the way to Atlanta, hoping that the plane will land in time.
18) You arrive in Atlanta 50 minutes before the departure of the Johannesburg flight, and of course you are three terminals over because you arrived on an AirTran domestic flight and you are leaving on an international Delta flight.  You tear through the airport and get to the gate as the last 20 people are lined up to board.
19)  You check in at the desk and of course they think you were not coming because the Delta representative you spoke to in Pittsburgh did not in fact make the proper arrangements for you.
20)  You about bite your tongue off when, after explaining that you bought an additional ticket on AirTran so you wouldn't miss your connection, the attendant says, "What? You missed your original flight?"
21)  They do give you a boarding pass, but immediately ask for volunteers to take a later flight since they had already given your seat away.  You shake your head when they offer a night in a hotel plus a $750 travel voucher--they would have saved a lot of money by paying for your AirTran ticket in the first place....  Inevitably, the seat of yours that they gave away was the aisle seat that you specifically called ahead to reserve and had to pay extra for.  Now you are stuck in the middle seat of the middle section of the airplane.
22) Nevertheless, you are relieved--and relaxed--for the first time since noon and so you do just as you are told: sit back, relax, and enjoy the flight.