|
|
|
|
CHRISTMAS 2002 Dear Friends and Relatives, May 7, 2002 Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! That’s right, my letter is 7 months early this year! This is because I won’t be around during the holiday season later this year and I wanted to get this out to you before I left. As most of you know from my previous letters, I have been trying for five years now to get a teacher exchange to New Zealand. Well, that has not happened due to the comparatively few music teachers interested from New Zealand, and an exchange rate that is horribly against them. Two years ago, when I was in the Indian Himalayas trekking, my friend Herb and I found a Moravian Christian church there in the middle of the Buddhist province of Ladakh. They run a government-recognized private boarding school, and upon finding out that I was a music teacher they invited me to teach there for a year. When a lady from New Zealand who was interested in exchanging backed out a year ago, I turned my focus towards India. And, in March of this year, the school board approved a sabbatical for me to go over there and teach, as well as research the music of that culture. So, I will be living for a year in the city of Leh, which is the main city of Ladakh. Leh sits at 11,500 feet elevation, deep in a mountain valley surrounded with mountains which go up as high as 20,000 feet. It reminds me of a movie I saw as a kid about Shangri-La, the perfect hidden paradise (which in the movie later proved not to be so). There are three access roads to Leh. To the west is the main road, which goes to Srinigar, the capital of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. This is a dangerous area, and I will avoid it. To the south is the road to Manali, and then Dehli. It goes over the 2nd highest motorized pass in the world and it takes 3 days to get to Dehli. To the north is the road over the HIGHEST motorized pass in the world. It goes to the Nubra Valley, and then on to the Saichen glacier where Pakistan and India have been fighting for 20 years. All three of these roads are usually snowed in for 8 months, so air travel is then the only way in or out. Although primarily Buddhist, Leh has a mix of cultures. The Ladakhi people have a Buddhist tradition as old as Tibet, and the ancient palace above the town is in the same style as and predates the Potala in Lhasa by 30 years. Also in Leh are thousands of Tibetan refugees from when China took over that country. These are some very nice and friendly people. Also present are some Nepalese people, and a fair share of Kashmiri Moslems from Srinigar who run most of the shops on the Main Bazaar during the tourist season. I plan to befriend as many of this latter group as possible during the tourist season, so that later when I am the only Westerner there, they won’t say “There’s that American,” but rather “There’s Keith.” I’m also growing my beard longer. Although run by the Moravian Church, the Mission School is government recognized. This means that they will admit people from all faiths, and that they can not teach Christianity as a religion (they can answer questions about their faith as they arise, however). There are 1,500 students there, which are separated into 24 classes. 900 of these students are Buddhist, most coming from the smaller villages throughout Ladakh that can only support primary schools. I will be teaching Western music 5 days a week, as well as on Saturday morning to students aged 11-17 years old. In preparation for this, I have purchased 60 recorders, instruction books, and other aides to take with me. I have been dubbing samples of Western music from Classical to Country to Rock to Jazz to Gospel to almost anything else I can think of. These will also go with me, as well. And, I plan to bring a good variety of American folk songs with me to teach my classes. On my own time, I have been arranging to research the music of that culture for graduate credit. When I was there 2 years ago, I found nothing published showing notation of any kind of their music - only a few translations of songs into English and summaries of their music and function. So, I hope to take maybe a dozen of their folk songs, get the background and translations of them, and then put them into our notation as close as I can. A lady from CU in Boulder has given me some good ideas. Also on my own time, I will be helping out the church with music in their services. I have been asked to write new hymns in the style of Nepalese and Tibetan music to replace the old ones brought over 100 years ago by missionaries. I will be in Leh from early July this year into August of next year. On the way there, I will be going the Pacific route and visiting friends in Guam, Hong Kong, Singapore, and possibly Bangkok, Thailand. >From there, I will be flying to Calcutta, India and taking the train overland to Dehli before heading up to Ladakh. Due to visa restrictions in India, (6 months max per stay), I will have to leave the country twice during my 13 and one half months there. So, I plan to fly to Kathmandu, Nepal in October some time, and again in late March or early April, and then re-enter India. While there in October, I plan on doing the Annapurna Trek for about 2 weeks, and in the early spring Everest Base Camp for about 2 weeks. If you are interested in doing either of those with me, or if you are interested in visiting me in Ladakh (highly recommended!) to see the area or to do a trek, please let me know. Probably most important for you now, is to know how to reach me when I am over there. My mailing address will be: Keith Koepsel When writing to me, please don’t try to send anything other than a personal letter. I tried to send pictures of my ponyman, whose horses carried my backpack, as well as a $5 bill this winter (their slow season). He got my letter, but not the picture and not the money! And, be aware that mail to or from there could take 3 weeks each way. But, if you send me mail, I promise to send you a postcard or a letter, your preference. I have a Palm Pilot, on which I will be doing my journal and my research project, and may be able to email a picture to you from over there. Besides the postal service, email COULD be the quickest way to contact and/or hear from me. (note: to keep spam down, I will give out his address if you e-mail me trailhead@oktrails.com and ask for it, otherwise it will not appear on the web site.) If I already have an email address for you, this letter will be sent to you there, providing your email address is still good. Others of you can also feel free to contact me via email if you have it. As I am also giving this address to all of my students here, I am trying to save storage space at that site. So, I ask a few favors as of June 1st: 1. Send only personal emails from you to me telling me
what you have been up to, and asking questions of me. Other things I
simply won’t have time to read, so I ask that there be This having been said, I must tell you that I have recently been hearing rumors on the internet that due to all the talk between Pakistan and India, all telecommunications have been cut off from the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir, including the safe area I will be staying in. This means no internet, no email and no long distance phone calls. I have also heard rumors that this supposed ban (I called there and got through) may be lifted before I get there. Having been there and knowing how things operate in India, my hunch is that this “official” ban can be circumvented, and that if I find the right contacts (for a price) I’ll still get onto the internet up there. I found similar to be true when I got to a village that was on strike and everything was padlocked. By going to the alleyway or back door, I was still able to buy kerosene and was still able to get a room at a guesthouse. Even the contact who told me about the ban said he was able to get 1/2 hour of internet for about $7 in Srinigar. Worst case scenario would be that I would only get online when in Delhi (July and October 2002, April and August 2003). If this is the case I’ll answer all email then. Still, I think I will feel safer there than I would in Gunnison, Colorado this summer. The fire danger is already high, with bans going into effect today (May 8), the Hells Angels are holding their national convention here at the end of July, and yesterday a pipe bomb was found in a mailbox in the next town east of here. This reminds me that many of you have asked about my predictions in the wake of 9/11. Having made it through the winter without anything happening (I anticipated something more contagious than anthrax in crowded areas during the height of flu season), I am assuming that Bin Laden and his network are out of commission. If so, my only remaining predictions are minor copycat terrorist acts (like the pipe bomb) by imitators or Al Kaida leftovers, and then a short series of finger-pointing and lawsuits back in New York. note: some personal comments deleted here... That’s all I have for now. In Colorado, the best reaction someone gave me when hearing of my sabbatical was just 3 days ago (May 14 now). A guy who was here from the music store in Denver said “Well geez, Keith, couldn’t you find a creative idea for your sabbatical!" Keith Koepsel |
|
|
