I was in Ecuador earlier this month with cellist Christine Walevska.
Ecuador is one of the few countries where Christine has not
concertized yet among all South American countries – the other being
Bolivia. For me, it was the first time to be in South America.
Christine and I performed a concert for the benefit of the country’s
sick and poor children. The concert was held at the oldest colonial
church in the South America, and at the Museo Guayasamin.
Surrounded by the Andes mountains, Quito is 9,000 feet above sea level.
The dynamic cloud that touches the mountains, the thunder storm every
afternoon around 3PM, the crazy traffic of the narrow street in the
old town, colorfully dressed Indian woman selling goods on the street,
exotic fruits and birds in the Rainforest—everything I saw was new
to me and made a big impact.
The Church of the Society of Jesus, la Compañía, is the oldest colonial church in South AmericaOutside of the church – my iPad camera could not entirely capture the magnificent church.Covered with Inca’s GoldPiano is moved with much care, with assistance of Mr. Luiz Verdugo’s son.They had to remove the piano legs in order not to damage the sacred alterI had the honer to perform on the piano by Luiz A. Verdugo, the only piano manufacturer in the South America.What a joy it was to share music with these wonderful people! I learned some had to drive hours from Santo Domingo.View from the Museo Guayasaminat Museo GuayasaminConcert at Museo GuayasaminWith Christine, and sister Auria.We also performed at the Children’s HospitalWe brought the keyboard for this occasionWe also enjoyed watching traditional Ecuadorian danceThe children gave me flowers after the concertThe Japanese Ambassador Toru Kodaki prepared Okayu (rice porridge) for my mountain sickness. How delicious, comforting, and almost moving to eat Japanese Okayu right on the equator, far from home.At the Center of the EarthArasha, the rainforest resort. Famous place for bird watching.On November 2nd, they eat the sweets called “guagua”
