A house of music

In Ricardo and Lillian’s house the front room is filled with musical instruments (I counted 21 not including smaller percussion instruments like washboard and castanets). The strange part is that when I asked Ricardo about it he said he only played mandolin. It wasn’t until yesterday night that I met the other musicians.

Early in the afternoon Ricardo said something which Ira and I understood to mean “I have a friend coming over tonight”. When evening came you can imagine our astonishment when one knock on the door was followed by another and no fewer than 17 people tromped over the threshold. They all greeted each other, laughing and chatting and the next thing we knew, half had taken their seats at their respective instruments. As they struck up a lively tune, the other half began to dance.

Some of the songs sounded vaguely familiar and others completely foreign. Ira and I watched in amazement, occasionally joining in the dances. We are both awful dancers, and it made us appreciate that much more the grace with which they twirled and stomped and shook their hands.

As it turns out, they are practicing for some sort of music festival in Iquique. On Tuesday we will all drive down to the costal city and stay there for a week. I’m not exactly sure what it will be like, but I understand that it involves lots of jazz music and dancing in the streets. The group will be back tonight to practice some more and I couldn’t be more excited.