American Jazz Museum

Last Sunday, we visited Kansas City, a city in the state of Missouri, 65 kilometers from Lawrence. In this trip we visited the American Jazz Museum. Jazz originated in black communities in New Orleans, USA. I could learn a lot about this style musical. I saw many musical instruments. I could see the use of blue notes and improvisation.

The museum is quite interesting. Wow!!! You can not imagine how amazing it was to be there and to learn much more about this style musical.

I got fascinated when I saw the mural with pictures of Ella Fitzegerald and Louis Armstrong, the most popular Jazz musician. It reminds me a singer from Brazil called Elza Soares. She said in a funny interview that she met Armstrong in Chile in 1962  World Cup and he got fascinated with her voice. Armstrong called her "my daughter" and want to take her with him.

Making a comparison Jazz means so much to United States as Bossa Nova means to Brazil.

Elza Soares and me in Brazil

Old Praire Town

Last Sunday we and my classmates from the Betusa program went to Topeka, capital of Kansas States. We visited the Old Prairie Town. We saw how people lived in states of Kansas in the past. We saw The Old Mansion, a Train Station and an old school. 

We saw how was school and how were classes at that time. We learned that at the time that  the classes were divided into two groups. Girls in one side, boys in the other, at the same time it was difficult for the teachers to have differente groups in the class because the students were also divided into groups according to their levels. The woman teachers could not be seen with a man. They were not supposed to get married. They were paid $ 1 dollar a day. They used to live in a student familiy for one month and then they moved to another student family. Disruptive student would seat in front of the class with dunce hats. 

Teacher Rule

Students Rules

Daily Schedule

 Dunce hat