Cajón Peruano

This morning, I had a taller de cajón peruano (a cajón peruano workshop).  El cajón is a box-shaped instrument that originated in the Afro-Peruvian culture.  It is the national instrument of Perú!  It's pretty much a drum and it's really fun to play!!!  And I kind of want one now.  It was so fun!  The guy who taught us was really good too...see...

 

Anyway, the beats we learned were from the Festejo style of music, which if you remember from our dance workshop, the Festejo is a type of Peruvian dance too.  We also learned about three other instruments that are used in Afro-Peruvian music.  This first one is an instrument called a cajita.  What is used as an instrument now used to be a collection box for the offering in the Catholic church.  The priests would wear it and collect the money, but somewhere along the lines it became an instrument... :)

This next one is called a quijada and it is the jawbone of an animal, like a cow or horse, which is really strange, right?  Anyway, you play it by hitting the bottom part of the jaw, which causes the teeth to rattle inside the bone.  Also, you can hold a stick and use it to actually play the teeth by scraping them.

Again, see...

The last instrument we learned about is one we all know so well.  It was made popular by an SNL skit.  Yep, you guessed it...the infamous cow bell (campana).  I don't think this instrument needs anymore explanation.

Anyway, here's the final run of our Festejo cajón skills.  I hope you enjoy...

Okay, so there is supposed to be a video here, but I got tired out waiting for it to load, but I promise it will be up as soon as possible!

Also, if you would like to read a little bit more about Afro-Peruvian music/dance, I found a pretty short online article that is worth a look:  http://www.afropop.org/explore/style_info/ID/30/Afro%20Peruvian/ :)

Anyway, when I got home, it was already afternoon and again, I really didn't do much.  I did a little homework, but not a ton.  I'm going to have a lot to do tomorrow, but that's okay.  I should have the day pretty free besides Sunday lunch with my host mom.  Tonight, I went to a movie with Tonisha at our local theater.  We shared popcorn and pop (or as she says "soda") and it was really cute.  We went and saw 8 minutos antes de morir (Source Code).  It was a good movie, but I always think that movies are good.  I'm a terrible critic.  Anyway, after the good movie, the good popcorn, and the good CocaCola, Tonisha and I headed out and started walking towards Café Z and we actually ran into her boyfriend and his friend.  We walked to Bembos, a fast food restaurant, and ate.  Then, we played on the jungle gym that was there and may or may not have gotten yelled (well not yelled at) because there was clearly a sign that said "For ages 5-10."  But that's okay, that's when you pull the "I can't read Spanish" phrase.  I didn't do that though.  I just slid down the slide and then walked away. :)

Although this blog is short, I did have a really good day today between the movie and the cajón class.  I'm not looking forward to tomorrow being dedicated to homework, but it should be okay.  As long as I sit down and focus on what I have to do, it really shouldn't take me that long. :)  Buenas noches!