contemporaries

October 12, 2010 at 10:11 PM

there's a 12 or 13-year old girl who sees my teacher after me - says she's been studying for 4 years. i complimented her on her 3/4 (i think) violin and asked her where she got it. "turkey," she said "in the grand bazaar."

i don't know how much she paid for it - don't want to know - but having visited istanbul recently and having survived a claustrophobic whip-round the grand bazaar (you've got to see it ... got to go - what a trip!) it's not hard to imagine a very happy little girl, clutching a newly acquired violin, with some happy parents forking over who knows how many euros to a not entirely unsympathetic and equally happy vendor of musical instruments ... surrounded by a heaving mob of entirely uninterested bargain hunters, searching for something cheap from the (exotic) near-east.

i hope i get to know this girl better - she is (no doubt) a way better player than me. but i had to marvel at little girls - and waaay older guys - and their very first violins.

From Tom Holzman
Posted on October 14, 2010 at 10:00 PM

The Grand Bazaar is truly a fabulous place. My favorite memory of it was my 13-year old daughter's comment as she looked around initially and got wide-eyed: "Look at all the bongs!"

From bill kilpatrick
Posted on October 17, 2010 at 4:19 PM

ho-ho - that's funny.

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