DAY 8 (9/3/09): Good-bye Moscow, Hello Perm

Spent the day packing up our Moscow hotel room and catching up on uploading footage. One of the "miscellaneous" tapes has our first day wandering around the nearby mall and meeting the band for the first time. Is that really just 1 week ago? Seems like we've been here for months. I am astounded by the amount of affection I feel for all my new friends and by the attachment I feel to this experience. Sad to be leaving Moscow without having properly explored her history but SO SO grateful for the time we've spent here.

Chad and Joe have been gone since early morning to film the last Moscow rehearsal with the Martynov ensemble in a new venue where later they will be doing a showcase for invited guest and music critics. Wish I could be with them to see and hear the whole thing from beginning to end - feel the energy of presenting it to an audience for the first time. Even though we've only been witnesses to the creation of this piece, I feel as if we'd been folded into its life as well and am nervous & excited for how it will be received.

Now waiting for everyone to come back to the hotel before hopping on a 1am flight for Perm, where the next phase of our adventure begins. I sit on the window ledge of our room looking out over the Moscow sunset - listening to the acoustic recording of Huun Huur Tu and finally understanding the full scope of what Vladimir meant when he described it as "the most magical music in the world." It is the perfect soundtrack for this quiet moment - a little solitude for the first time in a while to reflect on how the universe delivers when you ask for what you want: just 3 months ago I sat at home everyday writhing in my own constipated mind, wishing for change and inspiration, and here I am in Russia joyfully giving all of myself to this project. Thank you universe.

The beauty of this Moscow sky reminds me of how grand life is and how small my existence in it, yet conversely it reflects the infinite space I feel within.

On the other side of the sky is the bright full moon. Could the world be more glorious?

On a side note: I LOVE Huun Huur Tu and all its members. I just want to hug and squeeze them. The simultaneous epic depth of their spirits and very real human fallacies are just as magnificent in person as it sounds in their music.