GMP Israel Trip October 2014

We just returned from a splendid 17 day trip to Israel.  Part was to visit with our friends, Climmy and Mollie, and work with them to get the right equipment and then return it.  Eight of those days was with a group of excellent musicians providing musical concerts and training in Israel.  This blog consists primarily of a pictorial travelogue.  All the photos are captioned.  There are two accompanying videos.  In the pictorial travelogue are photos of a Bar Mitzvah and a cruise on the Sea of Galilee.  One of the accompanying videos, found here, is of the Bar Mitzvah and the music that goes along with it, and the other is of some of our team dancing to Hebrew music on the Sea of Galilee boat ride. This video is found here.  Here is a link to a compilation of song excerpts at various venues of our orchestra that you can listen to as you view the pictorial travelogue.  The travelogue can be found here.

Uncle Walt's Hungary Traveblog

On 3 July I flew to Hungary for another Global Missions Project Orchestra (GMP) missions trip.  I returned on 12 July.  As far as flights go, it was perfect.  Landed 15 to 20 minutes early at 3 stops on the way out and 2 on the return.  Planes were full but the flights uneventful.  The purpose of this blog is to summarize the trip with photos.  I took over a thousand photos but only selected the most interested for this blog.  All the photos are captioned with information as a help to understand our time in Hungary.  The "traveblog" will be on a day-by-day basis.  The following is a map of the area of Hungary that we were in.  The cities we visited are in red and will be referred to in the blog.  All in all, Hungary is a very beautiful and interesting country.

First of all let me begin by explaining the "Uncle Walt".  As usual I made my presence known pretty quickly, I have a strange habit of doing that.  Allyson, who we have been with on other GMP trips, and our concert mistress, Ardis, soon asked if I minded being called Uncle Walt because of either my goofiness or my wisdom, as manifest by my white hair, or both or neither.  A few days into the trip Camp, our director, happened to join the lunch group that we were in and said, "Uncle Walt, since you are in the middle, why don't you say the blessing?"  So he had heard - thanks Ardis.   Then, when taking role call on the bus, when he came to strings he asked "violins - all present, violas - all present, celli - all present", and then, instead of the usual "string bass" he said, "I guess its official now, Uncle Walt, are you here?"  And so it became official and stuck.  

Since I was one of the first to get to Budapest, 10 am Friday morning, there was a waiting period as others came in with the largest group arriving at 4 pm.  This gave me a chance to meet some of the others that arrived at 12 and at 2 as well as our sponsors who were there to meet us.  When everyone arrived we drove to the hotel in Bicske and checked in.  Then we had our first Hungarian meal, spaetzle and pork.  After dinner we walked to the church and had our one and only real rehearsal.  This can be intimidating as most of the 45 members of the orchestra met for the first time and then ran through 16 songs.  Having been on a number of GMP trips before, this was my tenth, I have to say I was impressed with the professionalism of this group.  Actually, to begin rehearsal we all stated our name, where we are from and what church we go to.  Now to remember 45 names.  Fortunately I knew almost half of the orchestra members from the previous trips.  Photos of our first day can be seen here.

On Saturday morning we returned to the church and ran through some more of the songs.  We then went for lunch in a local shopping center.  We did have a little free time that afternoon so I walked to a village that had a stork's nest on top of the power line poles.  There was a mama, papa and two baby storks.  This is the first time I had seen something like this.  Later that afternoon we had a musicians call at the church in order to get ready for our first concert.  Then after the concert, we ate home made goulash.  Someone provided us all with the recipe.  It was delicious.  Photos for this day can be seen here.

On Sunday we drove back to Budapest to attend morning service at the International Church of Budapest.  The service was all in English but translation was still provided for any Hungarians that may have been in the audience.  After service we drove to downtown Budapest and walked around.  This was the first real closeup we had of the Danube River.  I didn't realize it was this wide.  The first thing I noticed was all the Viking River Cruise boats docked up.  One of these days we plan to do that.  Downtown Budapest looked like any large city with Gucci type stores all over the place.  What is impressive is the transformation that must have occurred in the last 25 years.  After spending time in Budapest we drove to Nagykanizsa.  The closest pronunciation is Nagee-kah-nidja.  Photos of this day are given here.

The plan for Monday was to begin with music classes for anyone who signed up.  We had one boy on trumpet, some recorders and a guitar.  This meant that only a small subset of our orchestra was required for the classes.  Camp brought out some arrangements and we had a flute ensemble play for a while, then woodwinds, then strings and finally brass.  So those of us not involved were treated to some good music and those involved had the fun of playing in ensembles.  We then went to lunch and toured Nagykanizsa.  It is a beautiful town and we enjoyed it immensely.  Then, after eating again at dinner, we held an outdoor concert in the park.  Photos for Monday can be found here.

On Tuesday, since the numbers of students was small, plans were made for small ensembles to visit an orphanage and a home for mentally disabled.  The rest of the orchestra not involved got to see more of Nagykanizsa and do some shopping.  After lunch we traveled to Zalaegerszeg for another outdoor concert in the evening.  The photos for Tuesday can be seen here.

Wednesday began for small ensembles to visit an old people's home.  Others had the opportunity to visit a museum in Nagykanizsa.  After lunch we drove towards Lenti for another outdoor concert.  On the way to Lenti we stopped by the Zalaerdo Arboretum.  It was very picturesque.  Some of us went to the top of a hill that had a large tower where we had a beautiful of the surrounding area.  Others went to a lake.  I chose the tower on the hill.  After the Arboretum we ended in Lenti for dinner and the evening concert.  During the day the sky was threatening rain and lightening.  Sure enough, about two songs short of the end of the concert we had to quickly pack up all the equipment and instruments to protect them from the rain.  However, a rather large crowd hung in there until we packed up.  Photos can be seen here.

We checked out of the hotel in Nagykanizsa on Thursday and departed to Velence to meet up with the missionaries in Budapest.  These are different from the ones that helped us throughout our stay in Nagykanizsa.  When we got to Velence and ate lunch I saw a sign for Langos.  Knowing how good that was, I had to have some and now wish I had seen more places that served this, it was that good.  After lunch and with our missionaries on board, we drove for a more extensive tour of Budapest.  The missionaries arrived in Hungary 24 years ago when there were still Soviet soldiers around.  I sat beside the missionary wife and she was able to tell me how much Hungary has changed in those years.  It is quite phenomenal.  We had an excellent tour of Budapest and is fascinating how a city that was essentially bombed out in World War 2 could be restored to its previous glory in only 70 years.  The Hungarians have done an incredible job, you really can't tell that there was any damage.  After our tour we checked into our hotel in Budapest and then went to the Kispest Baptist Church for dinner and our evening concert.  Pictures of Thursday can be seen here.  The folks at the church recorded the entire concert.  It is in two parts.  Part 1 can be found here and Part 2 here.  This will give you a taste of what the orchestra sounded like.  It is best to use good speakers or earphones.

The last song of the program was the Hungarian National Anthem.  When we began playing they would all stand up and sing with full voice.  This was always very moving, you don't see too much of that any more.  After ending the song they remained standing and it became totally silent to the point you could hear a pin drop.

After breakfast on Friday morning, we were suppose to go tour the Shoes on the Danube promenade.  However it was still raining pretty hard so we went to the very large Budapest market.  On our way there, we passed the square where the Soviets held there military parades.  Our pianist's mother, both of who are Hungarian, sat beside me and told me what she saw in this square during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.  The stories she told me of what she saw here and in other areas of Budapest during the Hungarian Revolution were mind boggling - very difficult to believe.  But, she was an eye witness.  At the Budapest market we were able to purchase all sorts of stuff.  After the market we went on a tour of the Dohany Street Synagogue, the second largest to one in New York City.  They had a holocaust museum on the side and going through that and realizing this was Hungary were Hungarians actually experienced it, I broke down.  It is difficult to imagine humans doing this to fellow humans.  But it reaffirmed in my mind that satan is alive and well.  We then went to Castle Hill and toured the Fisherman's Bastion, a very large castle.  Again, the reconstruction after World War 2 is amazing to behold.  After our tour of Castle Hill we went to Budarok Baptist Church for our final concert, of course, preceded by dinner.  The photos of our last day in Hungary can be seen here.  The interesting thing of this concert is after the program they would clap in unison, which meant they wanted encores.  We usually did the Hungarian Dance No. 5 by Brahms.  At this concert they asked for more so we played one more.  But then they asked for another encore.  At this point Camp said, "this has to be the last one, we have no more music".

I learned an important lesson at this last concert.  A single string bass in an orchestra of this size, you might not think it can be heard and I could ask the question "why am I here?".  But after the concert a young guy in his thirties came up to me and thanked me profusely, in broken English, for coming to play.  He said he just loved to hear the string bass, his favorite instrument.  I asked if he could really hear it.  His comment, "Yes I could hear every note.  I just sat back, closed my eyes and enjoyed every note you played".  Lesson learned is that on a tour like this, you never know what kind of an impact you might have.   I was reminded of Hebrews 11:8 where it talks about Abraham "He went, not knowing where his was going".  The important thing is Abraham's responsibility was to obey and go, the rest was God's problem.  So not knowing where we were going, what we were doing or what impact we had - not our problem, that is God's because He simply called us and we are to obey - that is the lesson.

Finally on Saturday morning some of us got up at 3 am to go to the airport.  Some others decided to stay up.  I had long flights back to Guadalajara so I decided, and I think wisely so, to catch a few hours sleep prior to leaving.  The hotel gave us monster sack breakfasts and we left for the airport, said our goodbyes and returned to our homes.  Was it a successful trip?  God called us to it so the answer is a resounding "YES".

Thailand 2014

We took our yearly January trip to Chiang Mai, Thailand to visit our kids and grandkids there. All but the two youngest girls are in school now so the days are quite quiet around the house. The oldest, Pan, is in her third year of college and is doing well. We had lunch at her apartment the first Sunday we were there. Walt also had the privilege of playing bass at Adam and Cindy's church that Sunday so now he can add Thailand to the list of countries in which he has played his bass. Cindy is very busy teaching at the school that the kids attend, plus teaching a large number of dance classes. Next month she has her school's dance recital - we just wish we could be there to help out on that as well as see it. This blog will again be mostly photos with captions.

But before we went to Thailand we had Christmas with two of our boys, Andrew and Eric.  We didn't get up to see Jason, Caryn, Alexa and Cassandra but we did get to see Kirsty and Brian in October for the Albuquerque International Balloon Festival.  We posted in our blog on that event and it can be found here.  The photos of our Christmas in Mexico with Andrew and Eric can be found here.

Now for our trip to Thailand, let us first of all introduce you to our family there. Photos of all of them, but one, plus some of their activities can be seen here. The "but one" is a teenage girl who doesn't like her pictures taken. Sounds familiar.

We had the privilege of attending Cindy's classes one morning.  It was an English class so we helped with group activities.  Because almost all of the students are Thai, the level of English understanding varies so her class is made up of students from first to sixth grade.  Not only does the level of English proficiency but of course the learning abilities and maturity levels vary.  Here are photos of her class that we helped out in. By the way, we had a blast working with these students.

One special item we wanted to share was our little miracle girl, Asia. Some of you may remember that she was born early and placed in oxygen which is believed to have damaged her brain as well as her eyesight. She is essentially legally blind but can tell light from dark objects. She will come and caress your cheek and, for example, say "Opa?". She came to Adam and Cindy four years ago this summer. At that point she was two but couldn't walk or talk and was very picky on what she ate and had to be fed. After three and a half years in a loving, caring and safe home her progress has been absolutely amazing. Here is a video showing her four years ago and some of her accomplishments now. 

While we were there a friend of ours began a photography class that included a tour of interesting places in Chiang Mai, as well as teaching how to use a camera properly and how to take quality photos. Walt had received a DSLR last year so wanted to take advantage of this opportunity so that he might add photography to his bag of tricks. Turns out Walt was the first paying student and for this class, was the only student. He had excellent one-on-one time and learned a lot. He learned a significant amount of composition and lighting plus getting to see more of Chiang Mai. He ended up taking close to 500 photos, a sampling of which is here. 

While we were with Adam and Cindy, someone began construction on a house right across the fence from where they live. Since living in Mexico we have been interested in the way construction takes place in different countries. So we took photos as the construction took place over the four week period that we were there. They do apply very interesting techniques and are not squelched by OSHA as you can see no hardhats and, in some cases, workers wearing flip flops. A glimpse of construction can be seen here. 

And as we say goodbye to Thailand we include a few absolutely gorgeous sunset shots. These can be seen here.

GBF Christmas Visit to Hope House

We had two visitors from GBF, the church we helped plant in CA, visit us bringing Christmas gifts to the boys. The fact that GBF has chosen to join us in one of our ministries has been very rewarding for us. The visitors were Bob Douglas and his son Grant. They brought presents for each of the boys, individually boxed with a boy's name on the box. This makes it very special and personal for each of the boys. Clearly the biggest reward was received by Bob and Grant as they saw the reaction of everyone at Hope House.

 This blog will be short since the pictures and video will speak for themselves. The pictures can be found here. The video is just a short clip of the boys giving their appreciation for Bob and Grant and GBF for remembering them this Christmas. The video can be found here. Everything is translated into English for Bob and Grant.

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

Kirsty and her fiance, Brian, moved to Albuquerque, NM to work in the Bassett family business, New Mexico Piñon Coffee. We have to say its the best coffee we have tasted. We were invited by Brian's parents to come meet them during the balloon festival. Walt was at the balloon festival 18 years ago so it was nice to go back and see and for Nancy to see for the first time.

We arrived in Albuquerque at 10 pm and stayed awake chatting until 11:30 but then had to get up at 4:00 to catch a shuttle bus to the festival. The balloons typically are launched early in the morning when the wind is the least. We stayed with Kirsty and Brian and pictures of their house are shown here.

Saturday morning we got to the shuttle bus and met some of Brian's family and then spent the time at the balloon festival and were awestruck by how many and how large the balloons are. We took a lot of pictures but here are some just to give a flavor of the festival. Saturday evening Brian's parents invited us to their house for dinner with the Bassett family.

Sunday evening we went to the Twilight Twinkle Glow where they fire up the burners at dusk and the balloons are glowing. It was a spectacular site to see. Here are some photos of the Twilight Twinkle Glow. 

Monday morning we went to the Piñon coffee plant. We had been to a coffee roasting place on our trip to Guatemala a couple of years ago but it was nice to have a small group and everything explained in detail to us. We learned how sensitive coffee is not only to the country where it is grown but to the plantation and part of the plantation that the coffee is grown. We find the Piñon coffee to be the best flavor we have had.  Trader Joe's does carry it in their stores.  Here are photos of the coffee factory.

Sandia Labs was one of the places where the atomic bombs were developed. So they have a nuclear  history museum that we went and visited. It was interesting to see the history of this period. Here are a few photos of the museum.

Aquaponics Update

We now have had the aquaponics systems operational for a year. The first year we had a tremendous lettuce and tomato harvest. There were some challenges with the tomatoes but we feel that all of this is a learning process. First we have to learn and then understand how an aquaponics system operates. Aquaponics is a blend of hydroponics, the growing of vegetables in water, and aquaculture, the farming of fish. One of the key elements is keeping the system in balance so that the hydraulic system is balanced and works, that is, the bell siphons do their jobs as advertised. We believe we have mastered this. There is also the balance of nutrients from the fish and the cleaning ability of the plants. If the ratio of fish to plants is wrong the result is possibility of too much ammonia, nitrates and nitrites in the water. Too much of any of these is detrimental to the fish. On the other hand, there needs to be sufficient nutrients in the water to feed the plants. So far testing has manifested zero ammonia, nitrates and nitrites and a well balanced pH level. Another challenge we are facing is which plants grow best and when is the best growing season for a particular plant. This last challenge is an ongoing process and something that is learned by each growing season.

Our first lettuce crop was bountiful to the point that the boys were tired of eating lettuce. We in fact were able to sell some to another local orphanage. So it was a win/win situation. Unfortunately our second and third lettuce crops were wiped out thanks to the birds. We were surprised how they managed to clean off large lettuce plants in no time at all. In fact, they wiped out an entire lettuce crop in a matter of three days. So  not only were we faced with balancing the operation of the system but now we had to counter the birds harvesting the crops before we had a chance to. The plan now is to envelope the entire system with shade material. The photo below is the beginning of this construction phase. To save cost, all of the material for the walls are being sewn by Nancy, a formidable job with the largest piece being over 24m (72 ft) long – the long wall shown in the photo. We have also purchased a tool to put in the grommets. Interestingly enough it is difficult to find grommets in the local area – just another challenge in the long process. (Although we can find people who will put in the grommets, they won't sell them to us)

On the positive side we had our first fish feast last week. The boys managed to catch a large number of fish. However, only those greater than 300 grams were kept. We ended up with 20 fish amounting to approximately 7 kg or roughly 15 pounds. The comment back was that the fish were very tasty. However, again there is a challenge here. The fish of choice is tilapia since they grow the fastest and are a favored fish in the area. The challenge is that the water is 22C and should be 27C for maximum growth rate and size. So now an approach to heating the water needs to be developed and implemented. We have a concept in mind and now need the funds to accomplish this task. This photo is of our “fishermen” and their catch. Go here to see them catching the fish.

The biggest challenge we face, and one that tremendously impacts completion of the total system, is sufficient funding. We use volunteer labor whenever we can but materials and various special purpose elements, like the metal structure, require money. We are slowly but surely getting to a complete system that we feel is fully functional and producing the desired results. There is always an opportunity for anyone willing to contribute time or funds or both whenever they can!

Curitiba GMP Trip June 2013

This was Walt's 9th GMP trip and Nancy's 7th. Curitiba is special since this is where, in 2004 on his first Brazil trip, God originally touched Walt's heart about going to a foreign country someday and three years later we ended up where God wants us to be in Mexico and serving Him. This trip was a little different in that rather than performances at churches and masters classes in these churches, we were part of a program called Life and Music Space (LMS). This program began in Primeira Igreja Batista de Curitiba (PIB), the church we were working with. The program is designed to teach music to young people with the thought that focusing on music will help them take their focus off harmful distractions. The program was begun three or four years ago in the church and has since progressed to at least five schools with more to come. An important thing about the schools that are being contacted is that they are in the poorer parts of Curitiba, or the favelas. Currently there are approximately 500 students in the program. The sad part is that there are more students than instruments so the only opportunity they have to play is during lessons with no practice time at home. Our group, especially those from the US, were able to bring a large number of instruments and paraphernalia that was left behind for the program. We performed 13 concerts with six in church and the rest in the schools and locations associated with the program. Additionally about five masters classes were conducted where members of our team would work with instrumentalists in the various schools and at PIB.

There were a total of 21 of us in the group. Two were from Nairobi, Kenya, the two of us from Mexico and the rest from different states in the US. As usual, we all met for the first time when we got to Curitiba, had a two hour rehearsal and then off to the races. Here are some photos of our team.

To get a feel for PIB, the church we joined forces with, here are photos of the church. It is not only the size that impresses us but the fact that the building of the church is not complete, yet they worship and serve faithfully each and every day. They are so busy on a daily basis that there is someone at the front desk all the time and many people are continually coming and going. There seems to be something going on all the time, regardless of day or time of day that we were there.

In working with the people from PIB we made some new friends and renewed previous acquaintances in Brazil. Here are some photos of our Brazilian friends.

In support of the LMS program concerts were given at a number of the schools, some of which were already in the program and others that are interested in being part of it. The schools generally are in the poorer areas in Curitiba. All in all there was a large number of students and teachers, in some cases more than 200. In some of the schools that were in the program, the students gave us a sampling of what they had accomplished, which was very impressive. In each school we were very warmly welcomed. Here are some photos at some of the schools. 

We also gave concerts at PIB and at a Seventh Day Adventist Church. The concerts at PIB can be found here and the Seventh Day Adventist Church, which is a very large, are here. The orchestra at PIB easily consisted of 200 members or more making it a very enjoyable experience.

Again, the major reason we were in Curitiba was to support the LMS program. To give a glimpse of the program here are photos of working at the various schools with students participating in LMS. From these photos it can be seen that the students demonstrated what they have learned, we gave them concerts and worked with them as they gave public concerts. As part of the LMS program our group was involved in providing music instruction for the various instruments the students were working with. Here are photos of the Masters Classes and here is a video showing Masters Classes in session. 

A special treat for part of our group was to work with a local Christian jazz band. This band is the result of GMP Jazz Band trips to Curitiba in the past. So it was a great feeling to see something like this continuing. The band consisted of 13 saxophones, 10 trumpets, 8 trumpets and rhythm. Our brass and saxophone folks loved it because they could play for the whole concert. Since there is only one drummer, bassist and keyboard, the rhythm section had to trade off. Here are photos of the band and here is a video of the band playing. The trombone soloist was part of our GMP group.  Walt is not in the video since he was shooting it, but he did get to play some of the songs. With that many instruments, the sound level was measured at 102 db. However, needless to say it was an unforgettable experience. For musicians, note that the Doxology goes from a brass chorale sound to a pegleg waltz - cool. 

In spite of the busy schedule, we did manage to get around to see some of the sites in Curitiba. For Nancy it was great that she could now also see some of the sites that Walt saw nine years ago on his first GMP trip. Here are some photos of parts of Curitiba. 

Something that has intrigued us every time we have been to Brazil is the graffiti, it really is art rather than the type of graffiti we are accustomed to. Curitiba did not let us down and here are some of the graffiti that we saw. 

And, of course, one of the key things of a GMP trip is experiencing the food in various countries. Brazil is especially noted for this. We ate at several Pizza Rodizio restaurants. This type of service is where they continually bring on slices of various types of pizza until you say "enough". Then they bring on the dessert pizza. Needless to say you are satisfied at that point. The best known Rodizio type of Brazilian restaurant is the Churrascaria, where it is various cuts of meat that are brought to the table. They also have a tremendous salad and dessert bar. Here are some photos of us eating.