Debut.

I´d been saving my lucky yellow shirt for a suitable occasion, and if nothing else, I was easy to spot on stage. I was also boiling. I played six songs over the course of three hours, which left me plenty of time to mingle and enjoy the minor celebrity status accorded musicians here. One nice thing, as you can see, is that the only person significantly taller than me in the band is John the Canadian. Alex, the trombone player, has a ridiculous case of perfect pitch -- he can listen to a tune and arrange all the different parts without touching an instrument. This frightens me.

Anyway, I stayed out very late because I didn´t have a beer until after midnight, nervous I would forget all the song structures with alcohol in my system. I had only rehearsed one tune with the band, all the others I had practiced alone in my room. I can´t remember ever getting on stage feeling less prepared. The best thing is that because the show was no disaster, I will have fewer nerves in the future.

Was glad to see that they hadn´t changed the marquee this morning. It says, ¨Viernes 14. Fachento. En Vivo.¨

The King of Leon.

Today is Independence Day in Central America, so all the schoolkids took to the streets, banging drums, twirling batons, etc. This is a right of passage supposedly reserved for students in their final year of high school, but an exception was made for the kid on the right, and rightfully so.

If I look half as cool on stage tonight, I'll be pleased. Yes, tonight is my debut with Fachento. I will be accompanying them for no more than four songs, but I'll be making up for my paltry musical involvement by stacking the crowd with supporters. I've invited just about everyone I know to come, and because it's Independence Day, everyone is looking for an excuse to drink rum. (Actually, most people here don't look for excuses to drink rum -- being alive is reason enough.)

Check here tomorrow for photos of me turning purple, attempting to reach the high notes.

This You Should Know!

I have rented a mailbox. All letters, books, music, and surprises should be sent to:

Michael Heald
Apartado 413, Oficina de Correo
Leon, Nicaragua

Safe and Sound

For those of you I haven´t had the chance to directly communicate with, the hurricane passed to the north and barely touched us.

That evening was my first rehearsal with Fachento. We rehearse on the front porch of the keyboardist´s house, so we turned our backs to the rain and made some noise. It´s quite a privilege to play with the band -- the feel these guys have for rhythm is just incredible. My work is definitely cut out for me, though there is a possibility I´ll be ready to play a few tunes at the show on Friday. I´m practicing two or three hours a day, playing along to my iPod and stretching my range.

The bandleader, John, is Canadian. He moved here six or seven years ago with ´no intention of staying.´ He teaches music at the wealthiest school in the country, in Managua, and has a three-year-old child with his wife, who is Nicaraguan. He invited me over to his beautiful house last night and I made the rather obvious comment, ´wow, it´s like you really live here!´

What else? I´m teaching trumpet to the younger brother of the keyboardist. I´m teaching English to my former teachers of Spanish. I´ll be done with the first half of the novel by this time next week.

It´s hard to believe it´s September! The days are not noticeably shorter than they were when I arrived ten weeks ago. Living up north, we have this built-in expectation that each month should feel different.

Hurricane Felix

There´s an odd mix of excitement and resignation here, not so much for what the storm might do to us, but for what it means for the people on the Atlantic. They are some of the country´s poorest, and none of their homes are built to withstand hurricanes. It´s hard to imagine where their food and shelter will come from in the days and months ahead.

Out on the streets everyone seems relaxed. Leon is in a fairly protected position. I just came from lunch. The majority of the people were drinking. There´s really nothing to do but wait and hope that the storm moves quickly over us -- the problem with Mitch in 1998 was that it stalled and dumped ridiculous quantities of rain.

Anyway, I may be without internet and phone for a little while, but I´ll keep myself entertained, and you guys informed.

In none storm-related news, I am rehearsing tonight with a salsa band called Fachento, which translates to ´snooty.´ They perform every Friday at one of the hottest nightspots in town, so if they are willing to have me, I will earn the kind of notoriety reserved for gringos foolish enough to get up on stage. But seriously, I am delighted to have the opportunity, and am enjoying practicing the trumpet much more than I used to.

Leon from above

This morning my friend Fred and I shelled out the outrageously large sum of two dollars to climb to the top of the cathedral. Fred is from Portland, and is standing alongside his truck, which he plans to drive around Central and South America for the next year. Behind the salmon-colored church you can see several volcanoes. Many travelers enjoy climbing the volcanoes. I have had trouble drumming up the interest to spend hours out on black cinders under this strong a sun. Maybe I`m just lazy.

Uh oh, mustache comes to town.

On Wednesday I took the day off and went to the beach. The bus costs 50 cents. The surf was huge, and my swimswuit threatened to come off with every wave. Luckily, on a Wednesday, I had the beach to myself.

We weren`t actually moving.

Esther, one of my teachers, is in front. A cow can be glimpsed in the distance. After Tuesday, Esther is going to become my student, as I am finishing with my classes then, and she wants to learn English. At this point I`m as fluent as I ever imagined I would be, which is to say that I am able to talk Spanish all night, using maybe 30% of what I know. I have found that arguments bring out the best in me.