Teaching Piano Lessons

At the beginning of October, I (Beverly) began teaching piano lessons to some children and adults in our ward. (They were students of a Senior missionary sister who completed her mission and went home). I'm using the Basic Keyboard Course developed by the church, the same materials I used to teach students in Peru during our first mission.

The materials, written in Spanish, include (starting bottom left): the basic course book with CD and note cards for learning the names of the keys, a simplified hymnbook, and a cardboard keyboard. Some of the advanced students also play pieces out of the simplified Primary hymnbook and the regular hymnbook.

Here are some materials and motivators that I also use: my schedule of the lessons I teach, a sheet where students record the time they spend practicing, and stickers and candy that I give the students if they practice five days during the week and/or have a good lesson.   

Nearly all the students have their own teclado (keyboard) to practice on. They received the keyboards from a grant from the Harmon Foundation at BYU after they completed a course on directing hymns. The students may keep the teclados on the condition that they take lessons and are preparing to play hymns for church meetings. Many of the students will be playing in the Primary program this month.

Here are some of my talented and dedicated students (left to right, top to bottom): Abish Garcia (12), Dámaris Garcia (10), Samuel Pacheco (10), Gerlind Camino (13), Angel Diestra (12), Mari Diestra (10), Thedius Zegarra (11), Melani Ninán (10), and Adriana Rodrigues (12). Angel just turned 12 and plays in priesthood meeting. Mari broke a bone in her leg but still comes to her lessons (her father brings her in a wheelchair). 

Recently, a couple of teenaged boys have begun lessons. This is Hans Camino during his first piano lesson. He wants to learn to play the piano so he can be a better missionary.

I am also teaching some adults. This is Sister Duarte, a fellow temple missionary. Even though she can't speak English and I can't speak Spanish, we are good friends. We have a wonderful time Iaughing together during her piano lessons.

I love teaching piano lessons to these eager students. It's an added bonus to our wonderful mission.

Our Neighborhood in Madrid

We live in a great location within Madrid. Within easy walking distance are major transportation stations that can get us to anywhere in the city and almost anywhere in the world. Here are the major stores, shops, and bus and metro stops in our area.

Satellite view of our neighborhood. Notice scale in upper-left corner, where 0.1 mi = 176 yards.

Site 1 is the Madrid Spain temple. Site 2 is our apartment building:

Site 3 is Condis, a nice grocery store where we can buy some fruits and vegetables, nuts, raisins, tissue paper, canned and bottle goods, bread, breakfast cereal, meat, yogurt, milk, drinks, etc. It's fairly complete and only a few steps from our apartment.

Condis grocery store, below a large apartment building.

Site 4 is Casa Elias, where we buy most of our fruits and vegetables because they are the best in the area. It also includes other groceries:

Casa Elias grocery store, with great produce.

Between Sites 3 and 4 is an ATM where we get all our cash ($350-$500 per day per credit card is the maximum withdrawal from our U.S. bank and credit union):

Caja Madrid ATM

Site 5 is a bus stop, located right next to the temple. Here we catch Bus 32 that goes to the huge Walmart-like department store Alcampo (about 30 min) and to Madrid city center (about 50 min):


Site 6 is an area with many shops that we enjoy. Here is Beverly's hair salon:

Maja's Peluquería

Here (still Site 6) is Scott's barbershop, next door to Maja's:

Peluquería de caballero

Across the walkway (Site 6) from where we get our hair cut are three little stores that we use a lot. The computer store, where we bought our printer and WiFi router, and where we still buy our printer ink:

App Informática computer store

The hardware and electrical store (Site 6) where we bought tools, twine, plug adaptors, plug boxes, and other odds and ends:

Ferretería Electricidad Pavones

And a Chinese odds-and-ends store (Site 6), similar to a Dollar store in the U.S.:

Super Euro (Chinese Store)

Site 7 is a pharmacy, located near the hair shops:

Pharmacy on Hacienda de Pavones street

Site 8 is Lidl, a German-based grocery store, which has a different selection of items from the other two little grocery stores near us. Here we buy sweet-and-sour sauce (when it's available), a delicious whole-grain bread that we can't find anywhere else, and a other items:

Lidl grocery store

Site 9 is the Pavones bus station, with about six different bus lines that go to various places in the city:

Pavones bus station

Site 10 is the Pavones station of the Metro (subway). Some senior missionaries prefer traveling by bus, but we prefer the Metro. We have to walk a little more to get to the station, and we have to go up and down stairs, but the Metro gets us to where we want to go much faster, usually about half the time that a bus takes.

Pavones Metro Station

That's our local neighborhood. It's nice to have all these places within walking distance of our apartment.

Ávila

Ávila is one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites within a two-hour train ride of Madrid. We have been there twice, on July 9, 2012, and again on October 14, 2012, with Beverly's sister Dixie and her husband Terry.

To get to Ávila the first time, we took the train from Chamartín, which is near the Four Towers of Madrid:

On our second trip, we took a bus and passed this tiny castle just outside of Madrid:

As we entered the Guadarrama mountains, we could see off in the distance the Valle de los Caídos (Valley of the Fallen) near El Escorial. The cross on the hill is la Santa Cruz del Valle de los Caídos and is the tallest memorial cross in the world. Beneath it, hewn into the granite rock of the mountain is the Basílica de la Santa Cruz del Valle de los Caídos, a controversial basilica built by Fernando Franco, who is buried there:

Ávila is most famous for its magnificent, well preserved 11th century Roman wall with 88 towers (click the picture to get a full-screen view):

Beverly's sister and her husband pose in front of the San Vicente gate into the old city of Ávila:

A view of the Ávila wall from atop the wall:

Scott and Beverly on the wall (during our first trip to Ávila):

The walkway on the wall:

The cathedral of Ávila, which is integrated into the wall:

 

This is the Basilica de San Vicente in Ávila. Started in 1175, the building wasn't completed until the 14th century:

 

This monument (inside the basilica) tells the story of the martyrdom of Vicente, Sabina and Cristeta, three siblings killed by the Romans for not denying their faith.

Scott stands next to a lifesize statue of Christ in the basement of the Basílica de San Vicente:

Santa Teresa (born in Ávila in 1515; died 1582) is the patron saint of the city. She was a prominent mystic, Carmelite nun, writer, and theologian of contemplative life through mental prayer. This is a statue of her situated next to the Ávila wall:

Convento de Santa Teresa, the site of Teresa's birthplace:

Beverly, Terry, and Dixie chat outside the Convento de Santa Teresa. The wall of Ávila is in the background:

The life of Santa Teresa is celebrated each October. We happened to be there on the main day of the celebration. Here a military band marches through the city:

On our first trip, Beverly and I took a little tour of Ávila on this Tut Tut:

We loved Ávila both times we went there and we plan to go back again.

Festival of Nations (Ward Cultural Night)

Saturday evening, October 20, 2012, we attended El Festival de las Naciones in our ward (the Madrid 6th Ward) cultural hall. It featured booths with displays and food, along with a program of singing and dancing. Our ward has members from 19 different countries!

Carla Flores and a friend represented Honduras:

Adriana Gamero from Peru, Beverly, and Vili from Bulgaria. Adriana is one of Beverly's piano students. Vili is an investigator who told us that she and her husband have given up smoking, coffee, etc., to prepare for baptism:

As part of the display for the United States, Beverly made several plates of fudge. (The fudge was eaten quickly!)

A member at the Peru display shows off his country's flag:

Peruvian dancers:

Brother Olivares (counselor in the bishopric and temple ordinance worker) with Samantha Encacada, a Peruvian:

 Armando Cuélllar with his wife Mirtha Vásquez, from Bolivia:

Jaime de la Torre (our ward HP group leader and temple sealer) at the Colombia display:

María Elena (counselor in the ward Primary) was in charge of the Colombia booth, with its delicious food:

A girl in Colombian costume:

 Bolivian dancers:

Sister Gutiérrez and her daughter doing a Spanish dance. (Sister Gutiérrez, is a missionary here with her husband and son; they work in the hostal and in the temple):

The Gutiérrez dancers with the Spanish flag:

Nigerian dancers:

Felix and Jennifer Ogdebor (on the right) from southern Nigeria. Sister Ogdebor is our ward music chorister:

The huge crowd at the ward Festival of Nations:

The next day in Sacrament Meeting, a speaker said it best: Only in the true Church could so many people from so many different countries come together in such love and harmony.