Heather's Adventures in Lesotho

As I mentioned in my last post, I went to Leribe to check out a piano that was listed for sale in the expat email newsletter. Some of you may not know that I have played the piano since I was 8 years old. I took lessons all the way through high school and then kept up my skills by playing in church for many years after that. It was only when I joined the Peace Corps in 2005 that I stopped playing. Although I hadn’t touched a keyboard in 7 years I always called myself a “piano player.” It was only when we had our musical – “Little Shop of Horrors” – earlier this year that I finally touched a keyboard again. It definitely ignited a spark in me. In the back of my mind I had considered looking into keyboards so when this listing came up I knew it was meant to be.

Even though I was at the beginning of my two week trip to Germany when the listing first came out I responded IMMEDIATELY to express interest and then begged them to wait until I returned before selling it. I’m sure they could have sold it much sooner to someone else, but the seller told me several times on Thursday, “I just felt like you should have it.”

I didn’t even know exactly how much the seller wanted for the piano when I left for Leribe on Thursday, just that I was most likely going to buy it no matter the price. Fortunately the piano is gorgeous and in really great condition. I wish that I had taken a picture. I’ll definitely share one when it finally comes. The seller also took my first offer of about 80% of the original asking price. Thanks to a strong dollar/weak Rand I’m getting a pretty good deal on it.

I cannot express how excited I am to play again. Thanks to my work putting together the accompaniment for our musicals I’m feeling brushed up on reading music again. I even went on a bit of a binge buying sheet music. Here’s my list of songs that I want to learn to play:

• Pretty much the entire soundtrack to “Pride and Prejudice” (the version with Keira Knightley)
• Shelter by Birdy. This came up while shuffling my iPod and it immediately stood out because of the strong piano accompaniment so I thought it would be a fun “modern” song to learn.
• Where Are You Christmas? One of my all-time favorite Christmas songs. Note to Maseru friends that a Christmas sing-along will definitely be in store for December!
• Turning Page by Sleeping at Last
• Christmastime is Here by Vince Guaraldi from the soundtrack for A Charlie Brown Christmas.
• Anne’s Theme from “Anne of Green Gables.” This used to be one of my favorite songs to play. I actually teared up a bit when I saw the song listed on one of the websites I was searching. I CANNOT wait to play this one. (I was also super excited to find it available on iTunes and immediately downloaded it.)
• Downton Abbey Theme
• Skyfall by Adele – the new theme song for the newest 007 movie coming out in November.