Music Around the World
Music plays an important part in our sensory perception. Music is a link to people and places. I’ll never forget a moment in Transylvania. I had been traveling for weeks. I entered the visitor center at Dracula’s castle. The loudspeaker was playing, “It’s a Fine Time to Leave Me Lucille,” by Kenny Rodgers. My Mother had died a few months before and it had been her and her boyfriend’s favorite song. I burst into tears. Later that year I was in a small town in Morocco. I entered a hotel on the beach. Patrick Swayze had died the month before. They were playing the theme from ,”Ghost.” Another weird encounter took place in Ashkabad, Turkmenistan. I walked into a Chinese restaurant in a Moslem country only to hear, “Ave Maria,” being played. On another occasion I piggy backed onto a Jewish tour group from Israel to hear a concert in a former Greek Orthodox church in a former Soviet country performed by Moslems. The song performed was again, “Ave Maria.” Heightened awareness is one of the great benefits of travel.