Monkey see, monkey do

Here comes a massive update. This past Sunday, I was supposed to go up to Tzfat to interview Yair Dalal and meet a group of musicians (Arabs and Jews) that he teaches. Due to miscommunications about housing, I wasn't able to go, and when I wanted to go the next day, the weather got really bad (for those who don't know, the rain has been so crazy that it is flooding in the Negev . . . the Negev!). Instead, I went back to the Arts Center and got an opportunity to actually interview the Shani Choir that I filmed before. Though most of them were a bit shy in front of the camera, a few of the older girls in the group were incredibly helpful and offered wonderful insight. The way that group uses music to transcend barriers is really inspiring. One Arabic girl shared, "it feels like there is a wall between Arabs and Jews in Israel . . . we don't have this wall."

I then found out that I would not be able to visit the Arab Jewish Youth Orchestra in Ayanot (near Rishon Leziyyon). All of my housing opportunities fell through. Today I was supposed to go farther north to meet George Samaan, but the weather was once again awful and it wasn't safe to travel to where he lives (flooding and whatnot). Basically, it was a constant barrage of missed opportunities that I'm trying to make up for. Yair I will meet in Jaffa for an interview (but I wont get to see his group), the youth orchestra is our entirely, and I'm going to try to see George when I come back north the second week of February.

Instead, today I got a different opportunity. My whole experience here has been witnessing this important objective, using music to bring together Jews and Arab, but as of yet I had never participated. That changed today. There was no filming today, only experiencing. Through Tally, I was introduced to an all-Arab Waldorf school in Shfaram (pronounced Shef-amr in Arabic). I was greeted by Lana, the teacher of the third grade class, who asked if I would start the class by playing a guitar and singing to the children. I tried teaching them a few folk tunes (Amitai definitely taught a class of 8 and 9-year-old Arabs Janis Joplin's 'Mercedez Benz') but mostly just sang to them as they giggled. They also asked me to give them a demonstration on the Darbouka (some call it Doumbek). For the first time since I was a beginner at the instrument, I felt embarassed to play it, considering my audience happened to all be from the culture that introduced it to the world. They were appreciative nonethelss.

During their recess, a boy came up to me and asked (with Lana's translation) if I would teach him a little piano (they have a piano in the classroom!). So I spent 15 minutes today teaching a 9-year-old boy how to find C and then play a major scale on the piano. The best moment for me today was when I was leaving and I saw him head over to the piano to play a C Major scale at every octave. I felt like I had just taught a man how to fish . . .

After school, I went home with one of the students, Daniel, to have lunch with his family. They were wonderful hosts, overfed me, gave me strong Arabic coffee with cardomom afterwards, and then sent me on my way. Before I left they told me they would gladly host me if I needed to stay in Shfaram, which showed a lot of trust considering they had daughters (it is usually considered inappropriate to house a man if that is the case).

This was my first real experience of Arabic culture. I have never spent a day at one of their schools, eaten lunch at one of their houses, taught piano or sung "over the rainbow" with them. I can't even describe how tranformative it was to be there today. I finally got to have a taste of what the people I'm filming experience every day.

In other good news, next week I will have an opportunity to meet with Yair Dalal and David Broza (he just finished making the rounds playing music at schools around the country with Peter Yarrow). I've also been given the opportunity to come back to Nazareth on February 8th to attend a concert of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (one of the best in the world, conducted originally by Leonard Bernstein) and interview their principal conductor Zubin Mehta (formerly of the Los Angeles Philharmonic). I'm pretty stoked.