Two Concerts, a couple meals, one week.

A couple of nights ago I was dressed up in my tuxedo, waiting outside of Magdalene College's Theatre, in the dark, in the cold. I was in a line, yet I was not waiting for tickets or to get to my seat, I was waiting for my queue to walk in behind the rest of my jazz group. Yes, we had what I consider our first real concert (after a small gig for charity and a set we sang for a college banquet). We sang a total of 9 songs, mostly jazz standards and a couple jazzed up popular songs, which considering that we had only first met each other 4-5 weeks ago... is not half bad. Our show was only half good however, for we messed up bits and pieces and we were not tight. That was a shame really, because, as tends to happen in these things, we had sounded pretty good in various different rehearsals. But I know that time heals all wounds, and when that time goes towards extra practicing it heals the musical gashes that we have at this particular moment. It was still fun though. I am getting to the point where I am getting to know the people in my group more and slowly changing our relationships from colleagues to friends. Right now we are passed the first stage but not quite to the final one. I would say we are in an intermediate level called camaraderie. I take every chance I get to hang out with them though, since they are my only real form of interaction with British people here. It is somewhat unfortunate that most of my time in Britain is spent either alone or with Americans; though in either case I am in good company, hehe. But all in all, the concert went well, the fact that we played with the Oxford Big Band helped for sure and it was essentially a sold out show. Afterwards we went out for Indian food, which is quite prevalent in this bland tasting country.

Actually, my generalizations about the food here are a bit unfounded. I remember when I came to Britain as a teenager with my family and every meal (almost) was pretty terrible, and those that were not bad were just... not much of anything. However, this time around things have fared a bit better. Either I have accidentally avoided the bad food locations, or I haven’t had money to afford them. To be quite honest, I have found myself eating out quite a bit. In some ways it is cheaper than eating at home. Eating at home is only financially feasible if you wish to eat very very simple meals that involve no meat products. So, if I wanted to live off of eggs and rice, which I do sometimes, or quesadillas, which I have also done... today in fact, then it is possible to eat at home. However, that is too depressing for someone like me, to whom meal times are the highlight of the day. It is cheaper to buy a whole apple and cherry pie for 2.50 pounds at the market than it would be to buy the ingredients and make it. Or it is cheaper to buy a kebab than to buy meat. And every now and then I splurge and go to a pub for a meal. Now here is where the reality about British food comes in: It tastes good, but it all tastes the same. BUT it tastes good, so every now and then a good steak and ale pie hits the spot. Of course there are exceptions. There is a Pub outside of town called "The Trout" that makes phenomenal dishes.

Last night I had another concert, but in this one I was an audience member rather than a participant. I went to see an English folk singer by the name of Kate Rusby. She sings many traditional ballads and folk songs as well as many of her own. Many have a very old Celtic feel to them. Let me say that she is one of the few people that I have heard that sounds just as good, if not better, in concert as she does in her recordings. Her band was nothing short of stellar (it was comprised of a fiddle, accordion, upright bass, two guitars... as well as a brass quintet for some songs, and the violin player would also play a bouzouki type instrument and a recorder of sorts). If anyone ever has the chance to see her play (doubtful since she rarely travels outside of the UK... except for Kenny, dude, she is headed your way, try to go, fliparás en colores) they should take advantage of the situation, she puts on a fantastic show. On the downside, her new CD wasn’t as good as the last one for some reason. Or maybe listening to it right after seeing her live was bound to be a letdown. Either way, she is good though.