My three-month vacation back in the islands was certainly a break from the two years of hard freakin' studying I did in NY. Apart from the three DVDs I watched almost everyday in July (that's apart from HBO, the Hallmark channel and StarMovies), I did something I never thought I would again. I re-learned to play the piano.

In maybe 15 years that our piano had been laying idle, I decide to see if I could still play. I was never talented, but I thought maybe I could actually learn to play it if I'm not being forced to. So the entire month of August was spent trying to learn five pieces. I started with the Grade 3 pieces in my cousin's book. This was certainly bonding time with my 12-year-old cousin Ericka who's had lessos only recently. I also forced my cousin Eunice who used to study music to remember the stuff she learned from her stint in music school.


My favorite piece was Camille Saint-Saens' The Swan. I remember crying to this being played on cello (I think) by a soloist of the NY Philharmonic. And so in a month, I learned a grand total of five piano pieces. I don't think it's too bad since I used to learn only one piece maybe a month. Actually, in the four years that I took lessons, I can only remember one piece that I perfected: Ballade Pour Adeline. It was just a good feeling to be able to learn something that I thought I'd already failed at. I know I'll never be a concert pianist, but I know too that I can always have something to do when I'm at home again for a long time.