Capital City Minstrels

Since grade school, I have sung in choirs:  school choir, church choir, community choir.  In fact, I have sung in every city I've lived in, even overseas!  Some groups have been small, all-women choirs. Others have been large ensembles of men and women accompanied by a full orchestra.  Many people only associate choirs with church.  While my choirs have always sung some religious music - how can you ignore all the classical greats like Handel and Mozart and even the modern composers like Lauridsen and Bernstein who composed beautiful music based on the Latin mass? - I've also sung plenty of secular music like Broadway tunes, rock ballads, folk songs, pop hits, and more.

Erica singing with Capital City Minstrels

Here in Delhi, I joined the Capital City Minstrels in February 2018.  CCM, as it's known, was formed in 1994 with only 10 singers.  It has now grown to over 40 members and traveled periodically to Europe for performances.  Currently, the group is made up primarily of Indian singers, with a smattering of expats from America, England, Germany, and elsewhere.

Capital City Minstrels in concert

This December, we performed a holiday concert on the theme of peace, with songs about the beauty of winter and the hope of the Christmas season.  One song about a moonlit winter's night inspired our outfits of silver and blue.  Yes, that's me in a sari!  I have to give a shoutout to my fellow choir members who helped drape the sari on me beautifully.  I was hopeless at it myself.  At home, I simply wrapped the sari around myself like a mummy so I could get out the door fully clothed.  Then once arriving at the concert venue, I begged others to fix me up appropriately.

Erica with her fan club!

I was lucky to have several of my embassy friends come see me in concert.  I was really touched by their support and praise.  Some of them had never been to a choir concert before!  Below is a short clip of my favorite song from the concert:  "Sing Alleluia" by Sally K. Albrecht.  May it bring you a moment of joy and peace this holiday season.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

Pushkar Camel Festival

I had heard about the annual Pushkar Camel Fair before arriving to India and had been looking forward to attending ever since.  My chance came when the embassy organized a group trip.  Upon arriving at the fairgrounds, we were immediately met by a swirl of sounds, colors, smells, and dust. We proceeded to the stadium to see if we could catch any of the popular contests such as camel dancing or longest mustache.  While there were lots of camels, horses, and people milling about, no organized activity was going on, so we left to see other parts of the fair.

Erica at Pushkar Camel Fair Stadium

The pathways of the fair were lined with vendors.  Some were selling the usual foods and souvenirs you'd expect.  Others were selling horses!  We inquired into the price of a horse named "Prince" and were quoted $300,000.  I'm betting that was the foreigner price!  There were also lots of stalls selling horse and camel accessories, like saddles, harnesses, and tassels.  While I declined decorations for my nonexistent pack animal, I did buy a small paper mache camel to use as a Christmas ornament. As we browsed the offerings, we had to be mindful of camels moving up and down the paths.  Camels definitely had the right of way at this festival.

A colorfully decorated camel

The highlight of the trip came the next morning.  We woke in the dark for a sunrise camel ride.  As we climbed onto the camels in pairs, we were also treated to the sight of hot air balloons being blown up for sunrise rides.  It was quite stunning for the darkness to suddenly be brightened by a literal blaze of color from the flames inside the balloons; they looked like light bulbs.

Karime and Erica ready to ride!

Once everyone was in the saddle, we proceeded on a tour through the slowly awakening fairgrounds. The venders and traders at this fair did not stay in offsite hotels; they pitched tents right on the fairgrounds.  As dawn broke, we watched as they came out of their tents to drink tea, eat breakfast, brush teeth, and go to the bathroom.  It's the reality in India that going to the bathroom does not always require an actual bathroom or anything besides the ground at your feet.

Camels dine at communal breakfast platter of grass and grains

We ended the ride in what felt like a camel parking lot.  Camels were all around - sitting, standing, eating, some gathered in groups.  Perhaps they were tailgating for the start of the festival day.  But it was a great opportunity for us to wander around and get our fill of camel photos.  You'll notice some of the camels have one front leg bent up and tied.  This is essentially a hobbling device to prevent the camels from running off.  Simple, yet effective.

Erica with the camels

While I never did get to see any quirky contests, I enjoyed the camel fair and another weekend trip to the state of Rajasthan.