Down to Bo...

12/2/07

Today we drove to Bo... more like bounced to Bo. The road on the way here, well... let's just say that it wasn't up to code. The embassy drivers are quite accurate though... we were zooming around potholes and through dips and ruts like it was nobody's business. It's pretty hot here... probably 85-90 degrees and the humidity is real high as well.
We were supposed to have an informal jam session at our hotel tonight, but no other musicians showed up to play... bummer. There were quite a few people there though, so we had an informal gig instead. I must say that after two days on the electric bass, I'm getting pretty good. :) I'm even soloing... and it's not that bad either. Even though the sound isn't what the upright bass can bring, we're still swinging hard.
Well... this is a short entry today. We have a busy day tomorrow- two master classes and a gig that will be broadcasted on the radio. It's about 11:30 pm... I think I'll get some good sleep tonight.

12/3/07

You really don't know how lucky you are to have been born in the US. I've found myself complaining about fairly petty things... and now I'm questioning that. We may have been having slow service and the meat may have the consistency of rubber, but you know what? We're eating... quite well in comparison. Danna, our embassy representative, told me today that Sierra Leone just scored last on the "Human Development Index", meaning It's the most undeveloped country in the world. It really brings things into perspective. She had a good idea... it should be mandatory for everyone who travels overseas to go to an undeveloped country for at least two weeks before they go on there nice posh vacation. I may, or may not go back to the same habits after I get back, but I will think twice before complaining about anything.
Well... gotta leave for our last show in Bo tonight. See ya...

Our show was good... not as many people showed up as we expected. One of the school brass bands made it though. They didn't get a chance to play at the master class earlier in the day, so we let them open up for us. Brass marching bands are quite common here in Sierra Leone due to the English rule early on. It's great that they have music... although it would be even better to see traditional Sierra Leonian music.
Well... I successfully played the %#@ out of the electric bass. On our second song for the night, my A string broke. It was kind of a drag but I made the best of it. I ended up tuning the E string up to A so I didn't have a big hole in the middle of my range. Things were going well... we played two more tunes after that with no problems... ... ... then guess what... my G string broke! Wow... yes, that's the one on the bass. By this time, it was just funny... I was completely expecting another string to break but we decided to only play one more after that and it made it. The best part about it is not that many people in the audience noticed anything. We were all laughing on stage though... this is definitely one of those things that will probably become a story to tell later in life.
Anyway... it's late and I'm tired. We leave back for Freetown early in the morning and I'll finally be able to post these entries. Bye...