rehearsals in bahia

We have finally begun to rehearse in earnest. In the last two days, I have played for more than seven hours each day. We are all tired.
I am playing principal flute on the Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances, one of the hardest pieces in the repertoire for woodwinds. This I discovered after we started rehearsing it. It is nearly impossible to actually play all the notes. It's insanely fast, and the rhythm is very complicated throughout the piece. But it's an amazing piece. The orchestra is fantastic. The strings especially sound wonderful. I think I'm finally getting my wish -- the wish to play with a bunch of people who are way better than me for a while!

When we don't have orchestra rehearsal (six hours a day), I'm either practicing or playing with a chamber music group. I'm actually playing Debussy's Trio for Flute, Viola and Harp -- maybe my favorite piece of all time! I've also been asked to play a piece by Ibert with the harp teacher. My plate could not get any fuller!

Speaking of plates, the food here is great. It's pretty vegetarian friendly, which is what a lot of you have asked me in emails. Believe me, you have not tasted pineapple until you have tasted Bahian pineapple. I'm also eating some delicious fish. I think the people who have been eating the Brazillian beef have been getting sick. So luckily I'm not tempted by that stuff. Another thing - they have a lot of juice here. They make their own watermelon juice! And papaya juice, and pineapple juice, and mango juice. It's a juice festival. Unbelieveable.

It's been raining here, but that's good because we're inside all day rehearsing anyway.
I'm sure I could tell you something more, but I'm drawing blanks. More soon.