new fav mode of transport

This is from a rickshaw ride from my apartment into the center of town. I take these nightly home from work, cost is around $0.30 for my one-way commute. This video gives a bit of the flavor of the constant motion around you in the streets, although I feel pretty adjusted to it now and don't really have the same fear that I did the first time I got in one.

week 4...

welp, here we go with the start of week 4 already.

thus far, we've found a few good local restaurants, I've booked a gig at an artspace here where I'll be playing and singing some of my songs accompanied by a local tabla player and my job is starting to fill out.

I am primarily a budget analyst here at the university helping with organization and management, but I am also going to begin teaching non-credit music classes, specifically directing a choir and teaching guitar. I started teaching guitar last week and began by teaching "I Walk The Line" by Johnny Cash. I taught a very simple version, and then played a more complicated version of the song, at which point one of my students' eyes bugged out and she said "WOAH. I WANT TO LEARN HOW TO DO THAT." which was awesome because it wasn't that difficult and she'll totally be able to learn it.

My choir class has yet to meet, as we just got it going this week. We had a university-wide sign-up for a musical performance class/quasi-choir with 45 spots available. It filled up in less than an hour and there was a waiting list of 42, so I added another section and will now be teaching two choirs. What will we be performing? We'll be starting off with a smattering of pop songs that I know that have good female harmonies and will be very easy for the students to learn, and then learning what the common ground is between skill levels and musical heritage, (i.e. it's probably not the western scale), and going from there. I have been told by several people that I'll inevitably be doing a few bollywood songs as that is what the students are really into, which I'm happy to oblige, and I've also been told that there are a few performers and musicians in the student body who have signed up and I'll be asking them for some assistance on music selection.

So yeah, I'm pretty excited about that aspect of things, and a little bit terrified at the same time, mostly because I've never taught music in this capacity before. I'm pretty sure it's going to be amazing though.

whole bunch of rickshaws

i dunno what this building is, but it was in the middle of this great park in the middle of the city, very peaceful compared to the chaos outside of the gates.

reflecting pool in front of the building in the previous photo, in the park. there's a path that goes around the pool, very nice.

More walkin' around photos...

This is the lobby of the university we work at...

and the outside of the University...

this is on the way to the music shops, where I went with Micah, one of the professors at AUW.

Sorry this is so shaky, there are a lot of potholes everywhere. I took this from the back of a CNG today at rush hour.

Tabla!

Yup. Bought a Tabla today. Best shopping day here so far! I got a few other percussion toys too, but this was by far the best of the bunch! Can't wait to piss off my neighbors with my ragas...