Embracing the Infidel: Stories of Muslim Migrants on the Journey West by Behzad Yaghmaian
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was a wonderful combination of heart-wrenching stories and straight-forward statistics. Yaghmaian does a great job of combining the lives of the people he meets, with concrete information about the migration of thousands upon thousands of human beings. You cannot believe how these people have taken the journey that they have, how they live the way they do, and how they find strength and hope to keep going.

On my own previous trips to Europe, I have seen many of the people described by Yaghmaian - Africans selling knock off purses, watches, bracelets, etc. Street cart vendors. And I'm ashamed to say that I never gave them, or their stories, much thought. But who knows where these people came from and what caused them to take on this transient and fragile lifestyle?

We are all born into a set of circumstances, some good and some bad - for me, this book helps remind me that I am no better a human just because of where I was born and the circumstances that led me to my life today. And if I can help someone out, I should.

**

"We will never be normal...Of course we are different from other people. We live a different life. Normal is the way the majority lives. We are not a part of that. We hope to be normal, have a family and live the life of a normal person, but we cannot. I am young, only twenty-two years old. I see other young people in the rest of the world. I know how they live, how they look at the world. But I cannot be like them. I am not normal. I have been on the road with no return. The return to normal is not possible. See, some migrants die in the sea. Others die crossing the mountains. There are the fortunate ones. They die with no pain. The rest live to see their slow death. Dying takes different forms. Some shoot heroin. Some go with a baba. They are all the same, those who beg in Patras and those who go with a baba in Athens. Look them in the eye. You will see the same pain of not achieving the goal, not reaching the destination. You change when you go with men for money. You become a different person. You die."

"I knew the difficulties of the journey...What I did not know was that the journey changes you. You can never be who you once were even if you return to the same conditions. The journey transforms you. The person you were when you picked up your bag for the road dies. You are a different person when you put your bag on the ground."

This quote^ really opened my eyes. Again, going back to the immigrant sellers I have encountered on my trips to Europe, I did not give a thought to what led them to that place and time. Who knows what they have seen and done in order to get where they are? How many days they had to trek through forests or deserts, or mountains, without proper shelter, clothing, or food? How could such a journey NOT change a person? If we could look out for just one minute from the eyes of such a person, what would we see?

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Classical Musician at a Rock Show

I had the unbelievably good fortune to attend two brilliant performances today (Sunday, March 11, 2012 - although this will likely be posted on a different day). The first performance was of violinist Ray Chen and pianist Julio Elizalde performing the following works:

Mozart: Sonata for Violin and Piano in B flat major, K 454; Brahms: Sonata for Violin and Piano no 3 in D minor, Op. 108; Ysaÿe: Sonatas (6) for Violin solo, Op. 27: no 2 in A minor "Obsession"; Saint-Saëns: Havanaise for Violin and Orchestra in E major, Op. 83; and Saint-Saëns: Introduction and Rondo capriccioso in A minor, Op. 28. Chen and Elizalde played one encore: John Williams' "Schinder's List".

Chen was vibrant onstage and moved freely and passionately. Technically he is astonishingly precise, but he also featured a mature musicality. The Brahms was the centerpiece for me; the second movement was played with an unbridled emotion that left my heartstrings tugged at every phrase. The concert could have consisted of only that movement and I would have been left satisfied. Fortunately, I was treated to the full Brahms Sonata as well as the other piece that captured me: Ysaÿe's Solo Sonata no.2 ("Obsession").

The Q&A with the artists after the show was slightly disappointing as the performers did not speak as articulately as they played. Then again, they had just performed an intense concert and were likely tired...

But the concert I attended this evening was one that will remain in my mind as one of my fondest musical experiences. In the fulfillment of a dream that was been over 10 years in the making, I finally saw my favourite band on the planet: RADIOHEAD.

I first started listening to Radiohead when I bought the album Big Shiny Tunes 2 in 1997, which was a compilation of popular hits from that year. The Radiohead song featured was "Paranoid Android". I fell in love with the rich texture of the music, the contrasting sections, the funky lyrics - I would listen to that song over and over again. Maybe a year later, when my parents finally got cable and I started watching MuchMusic, did I receive exposure to Radiohead's over songs. Through a Spotlight on Radiohead, I saw several of their music videos including "High and Dry", "Street Spirit" and "Just". A fan was born. I went out and bought The Bends and OK Computer immediately and listened to them non-stop.

When Radiohead came out with Kid A and then Amnesiac, my mind was blown. "Everything in Its Right Place" entranced me the moment I heard the opening notes. I remember listening to those CDs in my Discman and staring out a van window at a changing landscape as my family drove across Canada to visit relatives.

Update/Downdate

Well, it's certainly been a minute, hasn't it? What's happened since March 2012...let's see: I've played a lot of music - Masters recitals in April, 2012; May, 2013; February, 2014; chamber music concerts galore with groups at UMKC, Regina Summer Strings, Black House Collective, Classical Revolution KC, etc; I got engaged, October 2012; I gained family - welcoming my little nephew, Noah, in October 2012; I lost family - bidding adieu to my wonderful Aunt Anne in September 2014; I gained friends - too many to name!; I lost friends - accepting reality when my friend and talented colleague Matt Siegel fell from a university parking garage in October, 2014; I got married on May 10, 2013, and organized a celebratory bash with family and friends a year later; I've been to familiar places (Regina, Calgary, Ottawa, Tenaga, PEI) and new places (NYC, Chicago, Montreal, Valparaiso, Hartford, Portland); and now I'm trying to make life work as a freelance musician. There seems like a lot to say and, at the same time, nothing to say at all. Life is life, and life has kept on going despite me not making huge announcements to the world via this blog. Is my commentary on what's happening out there important? Do my travel experiences and stories matter? Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe people who blog really just do it for themselves...and anyone who happens upon this little online journal-of-sorts gets a brief peek inside my life before moving back into their own world. Blah blah blah Ciao for now