ANIM, beginnings

The suicide bombing on the 8th (mentioned in my last blog entry), claimed the lives of several children who hung out in my neighborhood. I actually met one of them, Khorshid, the day before the attack. There was simply no way of knowing that this beautiful young girl would be senselessly killed the very next day. My heart goes out to the families and friends that lost loved ones. This is a powerful article about the kids whose lives were forever changed by the attack.

A Kabul view

Another view

I just finished my fourth day teaching at ANIM! The kids are absolutely wonderful. They are so eager to learn and hang on my every word like it's pure gold. Speaking of words, I am picking up more Dari every day, but my vocabulary is still pathetically limited. Today, I needed to count to ten and only made it to six. Sad. I have five terrific cello students and two bass students. Given my limited experience with the bass, it's an exciting challenge to simultaneously learn and teach an instrument. The challenge is especially daunting due to the fact that one of my students wants to learn jazz bass; jazz is something I definitely have no business teaching. I am also in charge of leading a young string ensemble consisting of ten adorable young violinists, violists and cellists. After the ensemble, I coach a string quartet made up of four young Afghan girls.

ANIM students waiting for the morning bell

Another exciting development is that I will be helping the ghichak teacher, Murad Zarabi, create the first ever ghichak method book. The ghichak is a bowed, two-stringed, Afghan instrument. He wants the book to resemble a western-style beginners technique book, with Dari and English. It's a fascinating project and I can't wait to see what we come up with.

Playing ghichak with Murad Zarabi

I have been so struck by the warmth of my Afghan students and colleagues. Indeed, Afghans are some of the most cheerful and friendly people I have ever met. I am constantly saying hello, returning smiles, shaking hands, giving and receiving enthusiastic pats on the back. Even outside of the school, I am making new friends and am greeted with smiles and handshakes. After only four days I have made friends with virtually everyone at the school and have started several running inside jokes. It's a welcome change from the social landscape of New York. During my time at Juilliard, I struggled to have a healthy social life and to make good friends, and as a result, I lost a great deal of self-confidence. I never expected it, but being here has allowed me to reclaim that lost confidence, to open up, and to rediscover a more loving, generous side of my nature.