December 11, 2004 at 2:18 PM

Customs... Well, crap, I forgot to include the country on the receipt for Nicolá, but you would think that the age of the violin was pretty obvious, so I shouldn't have to pay duty on her. Since the Strunal was under $400, I think it should be duty free too. However, I think travelling with two violins (one to be left in the U.S., the other is coming back with me to Hungary) will be, ah, challenging.

However, there is an alternative. I think Mr. Mata said that he might be able to show the Strunal around to some people to see if anyone would like to buy it. That would be nice, because I then I could use the money to buy a better violin case for Nicolá. (Right now I'm using the case I bought with the Strunal and wrapping Nicolá with a pashmina shawl to protect her.)

My other thought for the Strunal was to find a needy child who wants to learn the violin but can't afford one, or else donating the violin to a middle school rental program or something. It isn't a bad violin, really. In fact, from the top it's quite pretty. It's just that since it was manufactured nobody cared about the curl for the back, but the ribs are very faintly curled... As if the violin is trying very hard to overcome it's humble origins.

I should try playing the Strunal again today since I've been playing Nicolá for about a week now. Perhaps I'll be able to better hear the difference between the two instruments. Not that I couldn't hear it before.

I had a whole lot more entry right hear, but since it goes on forever, I think I'll separate it into it's own essay.

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December 11, 2004 at 2:18 PM

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