Sept 7thNew York to Costa Rica
The people at Continental Airlines are idiots. Yumi, Tomomi and I arrived at the Elite Access counter with our three suitcases, large taiko and koto cases to apathetic workers more interested in chatting with each other than helping customers. AFTER we had checked ourselves in and paid for our overweight baggages, one of the idiots walks over and asks if we paid for oversize as well. I say no because it wasn't an option at the self-check-in kiosk. The idiot tells me to try again. I do but of course there is still is no "oversize check-in" option. The idiot tries himself and gets the same results. After quite some time, with much scratching of their heads, the idiots finally figure everything out, we pay our fees and are on our way. Throughout all of this the idiots' acted as if somehow we were a burden to them and interrupting something important in their lives.
OK, this has nothing really to do with the trip. I was still too used to service in Japan and was taken aback by the ineptitude of Continental Airlines workers. Starting over...
Sept 7th
We leave New York for Costa Rica and after circling over a fogged in San Jose, the pilot heads over to Liberia, where we land and without deplaning, refuel and wait the lifting of the fog. We take off after a little over an hour, head back to San Jose and circle for a couple more hours before giving up and heading back to Liberia, where we spend the night in the Hilton there.
Sept 8th
We leave early and arrive in San Jose and are greeted at the airport by embassy officials. Although it was sunny when we landed, it was raining by the time arrived at the National Arts University, where we gave a workshop. Yamaguchi san from the Embassy did excellent work translating for us and the audience was very attentive and enthusiastic throughout. Many students and teachers came up afterwards to get a better look at the instruments and to ask questions. There was no problem with sound or lighting and everything went smoothly.
Sept 9th
Early in the day we do a television appearance. The popular television personality host, a very charming woman in perhaps her sixties, asked about Japanese culture and music while occasional urging the viewers to call in to buy waffle makers and toasters. Later we head to the National Theater, a beautiful Renaissance building with marble statues and paintings on the ceilings. We received a standing ovation from the audience for our rendition of Patriotica Costaricacense. Afterwards, we enjoyed drinks and delicious food at the Consulate's house where we were joined by two professors from the Arts University. The people of Costa Rica were warm and generous throughout our time there.
Sept 10th
We travel to Honduras. Through talking to Embassy people, we soon find out that although the city of Tegucigalpa was subject to frequent landslides due to rain that resulted in loss of traumatic loss of property and life, the people continued to build and live there. With rampant poverty, corruption in the government, drug wars and natural disasters the norm, the city was not the most idyllic place to live perhaps, but people seemed to make due with what they had and maintained a certain air of dignity and joy despite everything. We performed at the local television station and because it was Children's Day, there were many kids also being featured on the same show. A few sang karaoke, singing passionately and looking very cute in their suits and dresses while singing surprisingly off key.
Sept 11th
In the morning we make an appearance at the National radio station. Yumi and I don't bring our koto or taiko but opt for playing her CDs and my playing only fue. Things go very smoothly for the forty minute long interview, until at the end I am asked for a final message to the people of Honduras and I blurt out "I love being here in Costa Rica!". A diplomatic disaster is narrowly avoided by much apologizing and laughter. Later, we perform at the National Theater, a grand old European style Opera house with a stage the was set at an angle towards the audience and that had bats living above the stage. At one point during the day I felt like taking a walk to the nearby public square where I saw throngs of people shopping and listening to live music being performed in front of the town cathedral. I was told by an embassy official that I most definitely should not go, that it was too dangerous and unequivocally a bad idea. I said okay and stayed in. A local Japanese restaurant, or more accurately, the only local Japanese restaurant, delivered some delicious onigiri for us before the concert. I left one on the table for after the concert and draped a paper towel over it. The concert went very well, the audience very receptive to each piece. We gave an impromptu autograph signing session in the lobby and we were swarmed with people, many teen agers and young adults. Many people came up speaking some Japanese and English. People were very warm and friendly- a stark contrast to the poverty and crime that I was repeatedly warned of. When I went back to the dressing room, I found a few flies buzzing around my onigiri and when I lifted the napkin I found a large cockroach had claimed the property for himself. After the concert we are taken to sample in the some of the local nightlife and saw that indeed Honduras folk love to have fun and dance as anyone in the world.
Sept 12th
We expect to travel to Trinidad via Miami, however we end up stuck in Miami due to no fault of our own. American Airlines provides a hotel room and food vouchers for Holiday Inn, which in turns provides deplorable service in every conceivable aspect (shuttle service to and from the airport, luggage service, restaurant, etc).
Sept 13th
We arrive in Trinidad and make our way to the theater, a brand new "modern" building that looks like a space ship from an alien movie from the nineties landed in the middle of a park. We meet Watanabe san, a recording engineer and world music scholar who is currently working on documenting and promoting Trinidadian steel pan players and who helped organize our concert. We set up and rehearse and in time, our collaborators, Mr. Earl Brooks, Ms. Sharda Patasar and a group of young musicians- box bass, percussion and guitar, show up to rehearse. The young musicians were very enthusiastic and passionate about studying and performing music and took every chance they could to ask questions and pick up on things. Earl Brooks is an acclaimed musician in Trinidad and his experience and mastery over his instrument was evident in every note he played. We worked out some simple arrangements of Sukiyaki Song and a song made popular by Mr. Brooks called Hammer.
Sept 14th
Today is dedicated to the evening concert. During some down time in the afternoon, I visit a museum that happened to be next door to the theater. Within this Victorian style mansion was an art museum, a natural history museum, an anthropology museum, and rooms dedicated to athletes, musicians, political leaders of Trinidad Tobago. A friendly security guard approached me and asked many questions about Japan- particularly regarding karate and samurai. We ended up speaking for a good twenty minutes or so. The concert went very well, with many people coming up afterwards asking us to return again soon, including the ambassador himself, who enthusiastically introduced us to the head of the large Trinidad jazz festival. The two rehearsed songs were very well received, although an impromptu improvisational session that I led seemed to impress people the most. Afterwards, we partook in some of the Trinidad nightlife with our hosts from the embassy, who introduced us to some of the cuisine and local rum.
Sept 15th
We have lunch with the Ambassador and his lovely wife at their residence. While eating fine Japanese food, we enjoy a lively conversation that ranged from Japanese music, our lives, Trinidadian culture, enka music, J-Pop, architecture, painting, to finding a piano tuner in Trinidad.
Afterwards, we travel to Panama, the final country of this trip. We are taken to what is described to us as the New York of Central America- Panama City. Our hotel is located in the downtown area, one of the countless, brand new beachfront high-rises.
Sept 16th
We start the day with a sightseeing trip to the Panama Canal. We are told of the nearby Lake Gatun, which becomes "Gatsunko" in Japanese. For the rest of our stay in Panama, "gatsunko" becomes the go-to word for anything that strong and impressionable. We set up and rehearse at the beautiful National Theater in the old part of Panama City. We have a fun and loose workshop/lecture demonstration for high school students studying music, after which I have the idea that we should perform an old Panamanian song while wearing the famous Panama hat. One of the directors of the theater escorts us to a nearby shop, a somewhat rundown place that has no sign in the front, but is inhabited by a shirtless elderly gentleman, a parrot, a blaring television and a couple stacks of Panama hats in the corner. Yumi and I select our hats and head back to the theater hatted and happy. The audience that evening reacts with incredible enthusiasm to the concert, especially to the old Panamanian song (which by the way has a title that roughly translates as "The Tears of an Unattractive Woman") despite Yumi and my best efforts to completely botch it's melody. Afterwards we were again inundated with requests for autographs and photographs. The Consulate of Japan and other embassy workers treat us to a late night of lively conversation, Cuban cigars, rum, food and drink while listening to Sonny Rollins. I couldn't imagine a better way to celebrate our last concert of the journey.
Sept 17th
After some late night packing and an hour of sleep, I am up and off to the airport to come home to New York. In the end, the trip was a whirlwind of plane travel, hanging out with diplomats and hearing about life at the embassy, sampling local food and drink, performing, teaching, paying for excess baggage weight and size, resigning to while resisting jet lag, television and radio appearances, buying souvenirs, changing clocks, packing, unpacking, taking pictures, having pictures taken and in general trying to create, as much as possible in the fleeting time, something of a connection with the people and places of the four countries we briefly had the privilege of touching down on as we leapfrogged from one city to another. It was an unforgettable experience and I thank all those at Japan Foundation, the Japanese Embassies of Costa Rica, Honduras, Trinidad Tobago and Panama and my patient wife Mari back home.[gallery]
Also, if you are an educator or artist who may be interested in facilitating an activity (i.e. arts and crafts for kids, poetry workshops, open-mic), please know that we are open to your ideas. We want to fill July with many events that our communities can tap into.
I'll be performing with my good friends On Ensemble in Seattle next week.