Singing together was a big part of family gatherings when I was a little girl. My mother is one of 12, she and all her siblings learned to play the guitar from their mother. They all play and sing beautifully! When we had family gatherings everyone would bring their guitar and the singing would begin. We sang Buddy Holly, George Jones, Peter, Paul and Mary, John Denver, Anne Murray, gospel, country, honky-tonk, folk, rock-n-roll, whatever anyone felt like singing we sang! No performances, no…. We sang together, and in harmony. Sitting there, tucked between my aunts and uncles as they swayed and played the guitar, all of us singing, was a little bit of heaven. It filled my whole being with the sweet vibrations of music. I could sing in harmony by the time I was nine.
My family still carries on the tradition of singing together. Not every gathering, mind you, but as we feel the desire. For years I used to try to get my friends to sing along when we would get together, but it seems to be a dying art.
I love group singing. It’s like dancing together. There is a sense of rhythm, a sense of what your partner is doing, and together you blend your voices as one. There is no feeling like it on earth. Perhaps this is why music is universal, because it creates this sense of unity.
In October of 2013 my husband Brett forwarded an email from his Rotary club announcing a music exchange to Uganda for the spring of 2014. He said that he thought it would be right up my alley because they were looking for those who had a love of music, some musical ability, and a willingness to learn about Ugandan music and share some American music in return. I read, and reread the email and it brought tears to my eyes to think of going and meeting new people, being immersed in a new culture, and having the opportunity to raise our voices as one and letting any differences fade into the background. I knew I wanted to go, and Brett was excited for me to apply and see what would happen. Long ago, adventures began with a knock at the door, a letter, a telegraph or a phone call; my adventure began with an email.
I filled out my application and sent it in by the early November deadline. Shortly after that I got a call for an interview the week before Thanksgiving. The evening of the interview I arrived early at One City Center. All the businesses were closed, and the cafeteria was empty except for the janitors cleaning up from the business day. Way in the back I saw, through a row if windows, the meeting room off to the right. I could see tables set up in a square, and people sitting all around it. I also saw a bearded gentleman sitting outside the meeting room at one of the cafeteria tables. I went over to say hello and ask if he was there to be interviewed. He introduced himself as John and said he had already been interviewed but was waiting for his friend who was in there at the moment. I liked John right away and hoped that if I was chosen for the team, that he would be going too. We chatted a bit longer when his friend Ken came out and it was my turn to go in.
I wasn't so much nervous as I was excited. There were six people conducting the interview. They asked me what it was about the opportunity that interested me. I responded that I was a people person and loved meeting new people, and I especially enjoyed learning about other cultures and seeing the differences and similarities between cultures. I told them that I am the mother of nine children, which none of them knew because there wasn't anything on the application about family life, only the level of education achieved, employment, and travel experience. Needless to say, they were a little surprised.
Other questions they asked pertained to getting along with others, a willingness to try new things and experience. One gentleman told me that grasshoppers and ants are considered a delicacy in Uganda, so how would I feel about being presented with a steaming plate of grasshoppers. I laughed and told him the just the other night I was driving home with a container of crickets for my son's gecko, contemplating how to cook them, because I read that insects are a sustainable source of protein. He was surprised at my response, and we all laughed. I'd like to think that this answer was what put me over the top.
Less than a week later, the day before Thanksgiving, I got the call saying that I made the team. I was beside myself!!! An email came in the days that followed and I was especially pleased to see John's name on the list. Even now, I still can believe that a little ole' homemaker like me, made the cut. It had to be my willingness to eat grasshoppers...
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