The weekend following the one in London was absolutely amazing. I was in the company of three of the nicest people one could ever hope to meet - all completely different from each other - but all tremendous fun. Johnny, Carlos and Julio (three members of the Andean band KAUSARY) came down for the weekend and we had such a fun-filled couple of days.
Just to recap (explain), I first met Johnny Rodrigues on 29 July - his band was playing in Bath and I came across them while killing time until my train for London and Contigo Peru (a Fiesta to celebrate Peru's 179th anniversary). Kausary (which means "To Revive" in the ancient Inca language: Quechua) were playing in Bath that weekend, having been booked by the town council to play at half hourly intervals at the huge Fete in the Bath Rugby Club taking place that Saturday and Sunday. In between half hour gigs they dashed to their busking spot and did a short set there as well and luckily for me they were in the process of a quick music set in their busking spot when I happened upon them! I already had one of their CDs which is fantastic but hearing them live I was absolutely enraptured and when the others disappeared to do the next set at the rugby club leaving Johnny behind to guard their equipment I got talking to him and bought a cassette and he gave me the band's business card and said he would definitely let me know any time they came to Bath. When the others returned I still had time to listen to them for almost the whole 20 minutes before disappearing to catch my train. Looking at that date I met him a week before I met Aquiles - two incredible people met in an 8-day period and what fun I've had as a result of meeting two such fun-to-know people!
Having visited London the previous weekend to say farewell to Aquiles before his return to Peru, I saw Johnny again on the Sunday. (Between 29 July and then we'd maintained contact with a couple of phone calls and emails - the first phone call was while I was in Edinburgh. I was listening to Kantaro and my mobile phone went and it was Johnny to say he was in Bath and I could hardly hear what he was saying because Kantaro were playing so loudly, but of course it meant I was unable to see Johnny on that occasion. He hadn't forgotten that either as he told Aquiles about it with a laugh when we were all at the dinner table in the Peruvian restaurant last week! As I result of seeing Johnny in the restaurant last week I invited him and his band to stay at my house if they should come to Bath and he said he would try to come the following weekend and if not then it would definitely be soon.
All the ensuing week I was hoping it would be that following weekend and I still didn't know up until the Friday but assuming they would be playing at Bath even if they did come I made plans to meet my friend Verna in Bath, saying we could have lunch at Las Iguanas and then go and spend an hour or two in the internet cafe and still be able to listen to Kausary for a few hours as well. Johnny rang briefly just before I went out Friday night to say they thought it was possible they were coming down, but that he'd ring a bit later to confirm for sure. I asked him to ring after 11 pm as I was just going out and he said he would. I had a nice evening out with Colin - a meal and drinks at one of our favourite pubs - The Bear and Swan at Chew Magna - and got home about 10.30. I was translating something into Spanish in bed whilst awaiting Johnny's phone call who finally rang at midnight - apologising for the lateness because they had been recording in his little studio and time ran away with them - I was delighted when they confirmed they would be coming down and he said he would ring back in the morning when they were almost there.
Next day, I rang Verna to confirm I'd meet her at midday for lunch and then had a leisurely morning, continuing with my Spanish translation. I knew I had some housework to do as the spring clean done on Thursday evening was already a thing of the past - my boys are so untidy! - but thought I had plenty of time. Then at 10 o-clock my phone went and it was Johnny to say they had already arrived and would be playing in Bristol all day. He told me where to find them and I said I had to go to Bath first but would join them as soon as I could. From then on I was whizzing round so fast that anyone around me would have got dizzy - a quick hoover of the house, tidy up, shower, washing of hair, etc etc, and managed to get out the door by 11.30 to drive to Bath and meet Verna. I picked her up and we decided not to rush ourselves at Las Iguanas but go for a pub lunch instead which would be quicker. I paid for two hours parking at a car-park near the pub we'd decided upon, and we did have a nice couple of hours and she didn't mind me cutting our time short when I said the band would be playing in Bath next day on Sunday and that she could meet up with us there too - and finally have her lunch at Las Iguanas!!!
I was on the road for Bristol by 2.20 pm and just dying to get there and hear Kausary play. I found a car park and luckily there was one space left on the top (5th) level. I flew down the stairs to ground level, feeling a bit uneasy in the process as there were youths hanging about in the stairwells and no one else about but I whizzed past them so fast I was like a whirling dervish so they had no time to react!!!
At the bottom I only had to walk for about two or three minutes and could hear their music and when I got there they were in full swing and had an enormous crowd of people around them enjoying their music. There were benches nearby so I only had to wait until a space became free in order to sit down and enjoy the music, facing them with a splendid view. Before that Carlos spotted me and said "Hola Angela" during a pause in the lyrics of the song!!!!! They played until nearly 6 pm and all that time they were surrounded by huge crowds and doing a brisk business in CD sales! I was really loving the music and regretting that I hadn't been there since 10 o clock that morning!! Although it was cold, I had dressed warmly so hanging about was no problem.
After a while I was kicking myself for forgetting the camera in the rush, until I suddenly remembered that Boots was just round the corner and one could buy single-use cameras in there which I did and used up half a film during that afternoon taking various pictures of them. It wasn't until my arrival there that I realised there were three of them and I was wondering where the third one would sleep. They looked lovely - were wearing identical Andean ponchos and I simply couldn't take my eyes off them. Watching them play was as enjoyable as hearing them play. Johnny looked very handsome with his wonderful long thick black hair loose upon his shoulders and hearing him play the charango again made me remember why I'd spoken to him the first time we'd met in July. He's an incredible charango player - he really plays with feeling - as well as playing the panpipes at the same time. Julio plays guitar and has a really beautiful singing voice and Carlos plays an assortment of panpipes and flutes including the long panpipes (Toyahs). Carlos was in fine form, dancing jauntily as they played, with Julio joining in at times and they really created an aura of joy around them that people simply couldn't resist. I was in heaven the whole three hours I was with them.
At 6 pm we had to work out how to bring both cars together as Johnny (the driver) was unfamiliar with Bristol and wasn't sure how to get to the multi-storey car park where he was parked. I told him I was a bit worried about the youths in the stairwells now it was dark and he said we would go together to get my car and then I could drive him to his, while the other two got all the equipment packed up in readiness. That worked out nicely but because of the one-way system it took three attempts to find the car-park with Johnny's car in, but eventually we succeeded. We then drove back, and loaded the equipment into their car. Carlos then kept me company in my car and the others followed my car back to my house and it was gone 7 pm by the time we got there and I still had the Rocoto Belleno to cook and Colin was due over at 8 pm. We'd originally planned to spend the evening in Bath but I phoned Colin to say we'd be staying at home instead and for him to join us for the meal.
I put some good music on in the kitchen and left the door ajar so that the others could hear it as well as watch a bit of TV with Adam whilst I got busy cooking. Colin arrived at 8.20 just as I was getting it out of the oven and putting it on the table. All three Peruvian pairs of eyes lit up when they saw the big dish of stuffed peppers placed in front of them along with two different rice dishes and three bottles of wine! We had a very pleasant evening and Colin stayed just till about 10 pm as his son was arriving from abroad by about 10.30 and he wanted to be available at the end of his phone so that he could pick him up at the station. We arranged to see each other again on Monday as it suited Colin that I would be tied up with the band all next day, meaning he could devote all day to his son during his short visit.
So Johnny, Carlos, Julio and I sat at the table for hours, chatting about this and that, and the Andean music scene in general, and I was able to practise my Spanish on them and they in turn spoke a bit slower so that I could join in and after a while I was holding my own in the conversation (asking Julio whenever I couldn't think of the Spanish for any word or how to express certain phrases (Johnny had told me that Julio used to be a teacher in Peru and he was brilliant at teaching me Spanish and I learned a lot just in those few hours. In the end I went and got the print-outs of two letters I had written to Hugo in Spanish and he "marked" them for me. He was impressed at what I had written and we had a laugh about some of the mistakes I had made. The rest of us were teasing him while he "marked" my letters because he had his glasses on the end of his nose and was so involved and really looked the part as a school master!!!! We all ended up going to bed pretty late. Fortunately the problem of where the third one would sleep was solved by the fact that when we arrived home Adam said Tristan had gone to stay overnight with his cousin Andrew, so Johnny had his bed and the other two slept on the settees downstairs. Before retiring for the night I asked Johhny what time he wanted to get up - just as well I did as they like to get moving early. He said 7 am (whereas to ask Aquiles the same question the answer would be more like 9 am!!)
There was a really hard frost in the night and it was really cold, so he wasn't quite so keen next day to get up so early and when he asked if he could get up at 8 am instead I was happy to agree and left the others sleeping! I called him again at 8 o clock and while they got ready I cooked an enormous breakfast before we set out and we took our time with it and had several cups of coffee. It took ages to defrost the cars but eventually we got going. We were all well wrapped up in lots of layers. I had trousers on, thermal vest, three fleece tops and topped that lot with a long knitted heavy poncho plus warm socks and fur-lined boots. In addition I had a scarf, gloves and the lovely furry hat I'd bought the week before at Portabello market, so facing a day out in such cold weather was no problem at all! They followed me into Bath and I went straight to the spot where Aquiles normally plays and they unloaded everything. Johnny and I then went to park the cars.
Luckily they had brought a couple of fold-up stools with them and I sat down whilst they got all the equipment set up. Suddenly I recognised the bars of my favourite Markamaru song as Carlos was tuning his guitars and I said how much I wished they could play it and at that, once the instruments were ready, they spent about half an hour practising the song on the various instruments until they were happy with it and when they started playing the first song they played was that Markamaru song. I was so delighted with them that they'd gone to that trouble just to please me!! It didn't take Johnny long to master the rhythm and Carlos is amazing on any instrument whether charango, guitar, flute, panpipes or whatever. If he knows the lyrics, he can play any song without even practising and in some songs he plays a bit of everything - guitar, flute, panpipes, and dances jauntily and sings - he's brilliant to just watch in action!
About midday I thought I had better get my mobile phone out of my bag as I was expecting Verna to ring me just after midday for me to confirm exactly where they were playing. So I got the phone out ready but when I looked up there she was and she was laughing. She said she had gone up to one of them (Johnny) and said "Do you know where Angela is?" and the reply was "She's over there somewhere under that lot!" (All the layers of clothes). We kept laughing off and on all day about that! Verna had been to church first - quite a distance away and the person who had given her a lift wanted to stay at the church for coffee etc whereas she was anxious to get to me so she walked instead. Although she had originally intended to pop home and get her heavy coat she was a bit tired from the long walk from church and decided not to bother. Only problem was once she stopped walking she couldn't stand the cold. Luckily the band had a spare Peruvian coat - the one that Carlos had left in my house the previous May - and she put that on. She looked lovely in it too - I told Carlos that had I known how nice it looked on I would have been wearing it the past eight months!!!
When they started playing we stayed and listened for about an hour and then went off to Las Iguanas for the lunch there that we didn't manage to achieve the day before. She practically had to drag me away as I was so enjoying the band and reluctant to leave them. Walking through the town to get the restaurant we were both hysterical at some of the funny looks I kept getting because of the hat (you could read people's thoughts in their eyes). She said "don't you dare wear it into the restaurant!2 but I did, but only just inside the door and straight down the stairs to take it off and adjust my hair!!!
The restaurant was busy with only two people to look after everyone and as Verna had set her heart on the three course lunch I was fretting all the way through it to get back to the band, so the fact that the two waiting staff were so inexperienced didn't help either. I gave our order to the waitress, including two large glasses of Argentinian wine and half an hour later we were still waiting! When I asked the waiter if we could at least have the wine now, he hadn't even been told about the wine part of our order!!! He was most apologetic and brought it immediately and after that did his best to speed our order through the kitchen. The lunch was lovely although I would have enjoyed it more if that was all I had to concentrate on. I just couldn't bear to be away from their beautiful music! They played on and off until 5 pm and I didn't budge from my stool the whole time (although Verna nipped off here and there to do a bit of shopping). Bath wasn't very busy - it was too cold I think for many people to want to go shopping, but they didn't do too badly in CD sales. I was really impressed at one point when a baby girl toddled over to the manga box to drop in some coins and Carlos went straight into a popular nursery rhyme on his flute which the band promptly accompanied. It sounded wonderful and I could see how enchanted all the people around watching them were. They did two nursery rhymes and all the children were wide-eyed with delight!
When they were packing up the equipment afterwards I said to Johnny that we still hadn't done the interview and he said not to worry as we could all go for a drink in a pub and complete it there. So we went to get the cars and Carlos asked if we could go to the pub where we'd been last summer with Edwin and Juan and they followed me there. In the pub we spotted a pool table so Johnny and I had three games. I won the first and he won the second so we had a third deciding game which he won!! It was great fun. Carlos then had a couple of games with Johnny. Meanwhile Verna was getting on really well with Julio.
After a while Carlos had a phone call and it was an English musician friend of his on the other side of Bath who had no transport so we arranged to meet in a different pub. I asked Carlos if we could swop ponchos for the evening - I was only kidding really but he whipped his off and gave it to me and put mine on! When we got there I was about to pull into a big parking spot outside, remembered their car was longer than mine so left it for them and went on a bit further to find a place to park. That proved difficult so we had to turn round, go back and ended up turning up a street behind the pub and parked there. We went in the back entrance of the pub but there was no sign of them, and I noticed a man looking at my poncho and wondered if it was Carlos's friend Benjamin. We went out the front entrance and their car wasn't in the spot I'd left for them. Meanwhile my phone was ringing in my bag but by the time I got it out it was too late to receive the call (and I still haven't worked out how to retrieve my messages). I was fumbling in my bag to find Johnny's business card for his mobile number written on it, when they drove past, flashing their lights and waving!!!! They turned up the street where I had gone to park. So we went back in the pub and through to the back entrance but couldn't see them anywhere so decided to wait inside the pub. Having passed the man who'd looked at my poncho so many times I said 2Are you Carlos's friend Benjamin?" and he said yes! So when Johnny, Carlos and Julio arrived a few minutes later we were chatting away with Benjamin as I had spoken to him on the phone in the other pub and he already knew he'd be meeting me as well.
We found a table and got drinks in. Benjamin had brought his guitar and charango with him to show Carlos and the others and it wasn't long before they were playing them quietly, Carlos, Johnny and Benjamin taking turns. Johnny was really impressed with Benjamin's playing on both charango and guitar. He has been a close friend of members of Rumillajta for years and obviously learned his skills from him. He had just joined an Ecuadorian band - Ingapirca - and showed us a couple of cassettes of the band from before he joined them. Unfortunately they were his copies that he'd brought to just show us otherwise I'd have probably bought them!!!! Well one of them anyway - the other one had English songs on it as well whereas I prefer all the songs to be of Andean origin.
We must have arrived at that pub about 8 pm and were there all evening and beyond. They played all the time, quite quietly at first so as not to disturb the other customers. Some lads were watching a football match on a big screen but no one complained about the music - on the contrary one man came over and said what fantastic music and bought us all a drink to show his appreciation - all six of us!! - and a bit later another one approached and said he'd only popped in to buy cigarettes but couldn't bear to leave when such fantastic music was playing. About 10 pm I left the others and drove Verna home as she was tired and it wasn't far to her flat, then went back and loved every moment of their improvising and playing.
I was trying to remember the name of a lovely song that Ingapirca had sung just for me once when they were playing in Bath last October (before Benjamin had joined them) and after a while I remembered - La Gotafria - and Carlos knew it well and they played it and Carlos sang it for me. Once they started singing - Julio and Carlos together much of the time - it was even better. Such a lovely bonus for me as I'd thought it all over at 5 pm and instead could enjoy their music for several hours more - it was wonderful. The pub stopped serving drinks to customers at 11 pm and when the other customers had gone - with reluctance as they were still playing - the landlord still didn't ask us to leave and went on upstairs and left us to it. We stayed til 1 am and the landlord really enjoyed the music. When we finally left, he asked if any of them could play panpipes and when Johnny said yes, he said he loved panpipes and could they bring them as well next time!!! Johnny promised he would and said how pleased and surprised he was that they had been allowed to play all evening like that as it wouldn't have been the case in London, not in general anyway. I could see that the landlord's reaction to them pleased him a lot and would probably be a contributory factor in when they next come to Bath.
By this time we were all really hungry and most places to eat were closed but I suddenly remembered a Turkish kebab takeaway place and Benjamin said yes, they would probably still be open and we all set off there. In the kebab house we all ordered enormous chicken kebabs and the band told the man serving us that I was their manager! I tried out my two words of Turkish on him and he was so delighted he gave all of us a free can of coca cola with our meals! We were allowed to eat them inside as well, whereas normally in a takeaway food shop one is expected to take the food away!!!
By the time we finished that it was 2 o clock in the morning and time to say goodbye. I was really sad to part company with them and they seemed just as reluctant. They said they'd had an unbelievably good time and that it wouldn't be too long before they came again. Johnny is going to help me get more involved with the Andean music scene - I'll be writing articles for QuipuAymarinka, which is produced regularly by AIMA, and read by Andean musicians all round the world. Julio had already given me his address - for Spanish lessons by post - and Carlos said again that anytime I wanted to visit London I could stay at his flat, and Johnny said next time I was in London I must go to his house to eat with them. I was a bit worried about Johnny driving to London at that time of night in such cold conditions and after having had several beers but he promised to send me a little email next day so I'd know he got home alright. I drove home and got into bed at nearly 3 am and had to be up again by 5.30!
Luckily I was okay when I got up except that I'd put my glasses down somewhere when I got into the house and couldn't find them the next morning!! I wasted half an hour trying to find them and gave up and had to drive to work in my reading glasses which is better than none at all, but I took a pair of contact lenses with me to put on later (I can't wear them too long as they make my eyes tired and I was tired enough already!!!!).
Next day was a busy one - work and then a mad dash to salsa class in the evening - our second lesson - and by the time I got home to bed (around 10.30 pm) I was more than ready for a good night's sleep! All in all, another wonderful weekend, and I shall be living for the next time they come to visit. I loved their company so much - Johnny is a wonderful person, fun-loving, caring of other people, and so interesting to talk to - and Carlos was brilliant at helping out - for example, he leapt up and washed all the breakfast dishes. Johnny was buttering the toast while I made breakfast, as well as jotting down thoughts for AIMA onto a piece of paper before he forgot them again, and the whole time from the evening before, all through the day and evening on Sunday (eg, whenever he wasn't singing or playing) Julio was giving me non-stop Spanish lessons. It paid off too, because by that Sunday evening after Verna had gone home we hardly spoke any English at all. I was listening to spoken Spanish all around me and understanding about a third of it, enough to join in and I did, with Julio helping me whenever I got stuck. Benjamin spoke Spanish too, so it was lovely to be able to keep up with them in their language. They all remarked at how very much I had progressed just in that one weekend and were impressed!
