Many times, I asked the crew, “Are you sure you’re really going to practice?” Lugging the guitar, cello, violin and viola from San Francisco to Kathmandu felt crazy… but maybe not any more crazy than everything else we are attempting. Music is important to us as a family, and an integral part of Waldorf education, so we decided to try our best. (Picture three luggage carts in the Singapore airport.) There will be plenty of times when our instruments will be stored as we travel lighter. And other times when we are hunkered down in one place, to allow the luxury of making regular playing a priority. As we are settled in to our home-away-from-home in Kathmandu, we’ve settled into our musical groove too.
Kai is just finishing Twinkle, Twinkle, so he still needs a lot of hands-on help. Our friend, Lhakpa, helped us find a teacher for him in Kathmandu. We had our first lesson on our first morning in Kathmandu and it helped us to feel like we had a local “in” to life here. Other moms wait outside for their kids too – so it is for parents all over the world. Mister Rajkumar has a great way with kids and teaches part-time at the local Montessori school. Like most educated Nepalis, his English is perfect. His house/studio is a 20-minute walk through narrow alleys leading to a lovely courtyard with a monkey in the grapefruit tree. We’ve had every other day lessons now, for a total of four before we head up for trekking.
Lucy is finishing up Suzuki Book One and her very dynamic cello teacher at home, Psyche Dhunkase was game to try Facetime lessons. The connection wasn’t great, but Lucy definitely had a good lesson with plenty to work with over Facetime.
Lucy having a cello lesson over FaceTime
Lorna is in Suzuki Book Three and her viola teacher of four years, Aniel Caban, gave her lots to work on and an overview of four upcoming songs. She feels like she has plenty to do before a Facetime lesson with him. She is very independent – musically and otherwise – and will hopefully help coach Kai when we need to leave behind his great teacher.
Lorna practicing her viola on the rooftop terrace
