Three years ago I started violin lessons again in Minneapolis. For 3 months, I tried to find a violin teacher in Mexico, but all my enquiries produced only a possible person in Merida, 6 hours away. I took my violin anyway; at least I could practice on my own.
Our second month on Isla Mujeres, I was taking an
Inspiration Day, something I learned from Julia Cameron’s book The Artist’s Way. I set out for Cancun
with no plans. On the ferry I ran into our condo administrator and his wife. I had been going to their house every week for Spanish lessons with Cecilia. Joaquin
and Ceci were taking their baby for his 4-month check-up and then going
shopping. Would I join them?
After an extraordinary hour (yes) with a caring, knowledgeable
pediatrician, we took a taxi to a mall. While Ceci went clothes shopping with the
baby, Joaquin and I found his favorite hair salon. While waiting my turn, I saw
a young woman exchange a few words with one of the stylists and then leave. She
was carrying what looked like a violin case.
I got that stylist. The woman was his wife, and she taught
violin. In fact, Valeria was a founding member of the Cancun Philharmonic Orchestra,
which I didn’t know existed.
Two days later, I began lessons with Valeria. She is the
best violin teacher I’ve ever had: strict, inspiring, caring, and funny. Sometimes
the lessons extend way beyond my allotted hour. Occasionally her next, more
advanced, student arrives and I’m invited to stay and listen to them practice
Vivaldi or Mozart. At her urging, I composed my first violin solo: “Sunset on
Isla Mujeres,” something I’d never dreamed of doing.
What are the chances of finding any violin teacher, much
less an ideal one, in this corner of Mexico? Thanks to an Inspiration Day, good friends, and a synchronous hair cut,
it happened.
[Right: Valeria's shot of me during a lesson, with her violin in the foreground. We are in the small condo in Cancun, where she lives with her husband and their two children.]
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