Grinnell College, IA (part 2)

Dec. 2 - Today we had the full workshop, followed by an evening concert / presentation, during which Sarah gave a summary of her project. It was entirely delightful! Everyone had a great time and I was quite impressed with Sarah's work & what she had to say. Grinnell purchased three Georgian folk instruments, which I helped obtain from Georgia: a chonguri, panduri, and chunir. I taught one song for each instrument and we performed them in the evening, formally presenting the instruments to the college at the same time. Following the concert, John Rommereim invited us back to his house & we had a lovely evening - especially when our visiting Georgian guitar player from Iowa City, Tariel Barimelidze, began singing Tsangala. It certainly helped warm everyone up - and boy, did we need it! As Alan & I departed the next morning the Bank displayed 6 degrees Fahrenheit. A cold time made warm by lots of great singing & good hearts. Thanks, Sarah, John, and everyone who made this visit possible for Alan & me.