CUWinds Costa Rica

Poas is a town about the size of Ithaca nestled on the side of a mountain, which pushes up into the cloud forest of Costa Rica.  Like Ithaca, the streets of Poas tend to run at alarmingly steep angles; every street in Poas is Buffalo street.  As in Ithaca, the dogs of Poas tend to lounge around, sniffing the sidewalks and taking up with the friendliest passerby. The vibe in Poas is relaxed. The shops are shuttered and church goers linger at the village square. It’s Sunday. and the CU Winds have come to play.

After about ten mintues of lounging near the hotel pool in the morning, the CU Winds slathered on some more SPF 55 and headed to their first day-long gig, teaching master classes at the Liceo de Poas school, followed by a late afternoon concert.

The Winds were greeted enthusiastically in Spanish, English and semiphore. They dispensed with their language issues quickly, unpacked their instruments, and went straight to work, communicating in the only language we all share.

The Winds set up with their master class students in a string of classrooms which were open to the elements and to the sounds of marimbas, tubas, piccolos, trumpets and french horns blending in together. At one point I heard the Cosa Rica National Anthem played on trumpet coming out of one room and “Stars and Stripes Forever” on flute coming from another at the same time. By the times the tunes reached each other it and braided themselves together in the mountainous breeze of Poas, it wasn’t a nationalistic mash up, but a beautiful duet.

Amy Dickinson

Sunday Jan 10, 2010

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