Concerts and classes

I attempted to update yesterday (I swear I did), but the website for some reason thwarted my effort to inform my adoring public about my activities in Israel. So today's entry will have to suffice.

On Tuesday night, I went to an Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra concert in Tel Aviv with Janie and her friend. It was a really great experience. The orchestra first played a Schubert symphony, and after that there was a soloist who played Mozart's fourth violin concerto in D major. She was very good, but her encore (a piece by Paganini) was even better. The last piece was a Dvorak symphony.

Amazingly, there is a music store in the symphony building, allowing attendees to purchase cds and such. So I got two awesome cds. It was a lot of fun.

Yesterday, I had a piano lesson and then I started my new volunteer work. I really didn't enjoy the first place (a day care). First of all, I kind of felt like I wasn't actually helping anyone. Second, they gave me no direction whatsoever. And third, I usually get paid when I watch kids, and the kids are usually much cuter. Apparently, the other two girls who also volunteered there had similar reactions to me.

Now, I'm volunteering with the retirement home. The idea is for me to play the violin for them every so often. Yesterday, however, we met at a local pub in Arad and had coffee, soda and ice cream. None of the old people speak any English at all, and half of them only speak Russian! I talked to the ones who could speak Hebrew. It was pretty nice, and I came away feeling good that I can actually communicate in Hebrew.

Next week, I'm supposed to go to HUC to see the director of the cantorial program there. Naturally, I have received no instructions on anything related to this rather important visit. Should I have expected more? Probably not. However, I'm pretty frustrated by the lack of information. Tonight, my roommate has concented to accompany me to the mall, in order to procure items to make me look nice for the interview/audition/whatever the hell the thing is supposed to be.

That's about it for now.