- gathered in the early morning before the hunt of Amoro and Binta. On their heads, the women of both
- families brought containers of ceremonial sour milk and sweet cakes of pounded rice and honey.
- Kamado Sia, the jaleba of the village, was there with his tong tong drum, and Amoro's two brothers who
- had journeyed from far away to attend the ceremony when the drum talk news of their nephew's birth had
- reached them. As Binta proudly held her new infant, a small patch of his first hair was shaved off,
- as was always done on this day.
- And all the women exclaimed at how well-formed the baby was. When they quieted, as the jaleba began
- to beat his drum, the alamano said a prayer over the sour milk and cakes. And as he prayed, each guest
- touched a calabash brim with his or her right hand as a gesture of respect for the food. Then he turned
- to pray over the infant, asking Allah to bring him long life,
- success in bringing credit and pride and many children to his family, to his village, to his tribe,
- and finally, the strength and spirit to deserve and to bring honor to the name he was about to receive.
- I'm
- Tula mana, Tula mana, Tula mana, Tula mana, Tula mana, Tula mana, Tula mana, Tula mana, Tula mana,
- Tula mana, Tula mana, Tula mana.
- The man to the man
- To the man, to the man, to the man. To the man, to the man, to the man. To the man, to the man, to the man.
- Du-la-mana, du-la-mana, du-la-mana, du-la-mana, du-la-mana, du-la-mana, du-la-mana.
- The streets here are generally wide and straight, intersecting each other at right angles, but the houses
- are very irregular in the old parts of the town, and the middle of the streets are kept in the worst
- areas. There are no fine squares such as Stevens Garden, nor are there any buildings that can be called
- elegant. Many ranges of houses and new streets are very handsome and uniform, but not to be compared
- to the leading streets in Dublin or London, or even George's Street in Limerick, with the exception
- of Broadway, which is the principal one.
- with a flagged footway on either side, 12 to 14 feet wide. The shops, which here are called stores,
- are not so well stocked, nor are their proprietors so wealthy as those of Dublin or Cork. Rents here
- are enormously high. A house much inferior to yours, situated in one of the leading streets of business,
- would let for $2,000 to $3,000 a year. Honesty and integrity appear to me to be at a low ebb. And if
- a stranger be not very cautious and circumspect,
- He will soon be shorn of any wool he may have, and then must turn to shearing himself. Several respectable
- merchants and traders in this city are Irishmen, but our countrymen here, as in every other place, are
- generally employed in the most laborious occupations, as digging canals, attending bricklayers, loading
- and unloading ships, carrying berthens. There are several fine converted markets in every part of the
- city, all well supplied. Beef is good, mutton much inferior to ours.
- Poultry in general, not quite so well flavored as the Irish. Potatoes abundant, but very bad. The prices
- of provisions about the same as with you, but clothing is dearer. The climate of New York is unhealthy.
- Deaths average 100 per week. Consumption is the most common disease. I fear your patients will be worn
- out. Therefore, I will bring this long, desultory letter to an end.
- Let's go.
- learning.
- the pure language of the world. It required no explanation, just as the universe needs none as it travels
- through time. What the boy felt in that moment was that he was in the presence of the only woman in
- his life. And with that, with no need for words, she recognized the same thing. He was more certain
- of it than of anything in the world. He had been told by his parents and grandparents that he must fall
- in love and really know a person before becoming committed.
- But maybe people who feel this way had never learned the universal language. Because you know when someone
- in the world awaits you, whether it's in the middle of the desert or in some city. And when two such
- people encounter each other and their eyes meet, the past and the future become unimportant. There is
- only that moment in the incredible certainty that everything under the sun had been written by one hand
- only. It is the hand that evokes love
- and creates a twin soul for every person in the world. Without such love, one's dreams would have no meaning.
- It's a long way down to the bottom of the river. Hold my hand. Oh, baby, it's a long way down,
- long way down. If you get sleep, or if you get night, God's going to call in the morning, baby. Check
- the cupboard for your daddy's guys. Red sun rises like an early warning. Lord's going to come for your
- firstborn son.
- Go to the river where the water runs. Wash in deep where the tides are turning. And if you fall. And
- if you fall.
- the world.
- so apparent. Thank you very, very much. It's so wonderful to be in front of you. My name is Chris Albanese.
- I'm the new director of the Singing Hoosiers. It has been an absolute... An absolute pleasure and a
- joy to work with these 85 amazing, amazing, amazing young people, and I cannot
- emphasize that enough. The first nine weeks of this year have been absolutely fantastic, and it's just
- such an honor for me to stand in this place where so many great people have stood, and with the history
- and the tradition of this ensemble as well. Over the summer, I had the opportunity to email some of
- the Singing Hoosiers returners, and I asked them a few questions, one of which was, I said, what of
- all the Singing Hoosiers traditions and things that are meaningful to you means the most? What is one
- thing that stays with you?
- And many of you in the audience who are singing Hoosiers can probably think back to these things as
- well. And the one thing that kept coming up where there were a few, and one word was family. They talked
- a lot about the closeness and the connection amongst members of the ensemble. And the other thing that
- kept coming up was diversity and the diversity of style.
- that you've seen today that these people are able to embrace and develop and learn and present is just
- absolutely unbelievable. So thank you so much for that. And that gets to the heart of this program and
- what it's all about is looking at
- this tradition of American music through the lens of all these different styles that came together and
- formed it. And all these things that we have to be thankful for for our music. So again, thank you so
- very, very much to be here today. We will be out afterwards to meet and greet with you as well. And
- please enjoy this last arrangement. This is Light of a Clear Blue Morning by Dolly Parton, arranged
- by Craig Halley Johnson.
- Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, with conquering limbs astride from land to land, here at our
- sea-washed sunset gates shall stand a mighty woman with a torch, whose flame is the imprisoned lightning
- and her name mother of exiles. From her beacon hand glows worldwide welcome. Her mild eyes command the
- air-bridged harbor that Twin Cities fame. Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp, cries she.
- With silent lips, give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The wretched
- refuse of your teeming shore, send these, the homeless tempest tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the
- golden door.
- It's gonna be just fine, it's gonna be okay.