I should really be creating an index. But it’s just so boring. I really thought I’d got over all of this when I finished the masters, but no, it’s back into reading about disciplinary identity and conceptions of ethnomusicology and musicology and paradoxes of alterity (that’s one of Philip Bolhman’s), although thankfully representation is only mentioned once. This is something that Henry’s given me to do for the new book that he’s editing entitled ‘The New (Ethno)musicologies’. And I really need the money after having paid a whole bloody £420 pounds to change the date of my flight, which is now set for the 7th of March. Virgin Atlantic charged me a mysterious extra £300 which was not mentioned anywhere on my ticket or their website. Bastards.

Anyway. Apart from creating an index very little of interest has been happening. Rob is now in Bolivia (hooray) but we haven’t had much time to really do anything exciting so far. Oh well, it’s nice to have the company. Although this weekend I don’t have any company at all as the Stobarts have gone off to Cochabamba and Rob has gone off to Oruro on an adventurous instrument hunt, although I do have my index. It’s very strange being in the house all on my own and I don’t particularly like it, although I will make sure that I take advantage of all of the terribly cheesy films that we have to watch.

I’ve recently started having charango lessons and that’s been good fun. It’s very strange starting to learn a new instrument all over again; my teacher William has given me a book of really easy Bolivian pieces which have a range of about 10 notes each and are three lines long and it reminds me of playing the violin when I was about nine. Hopefully this time round though I’ll improve a lot quicker.

Rob and I have now made some exciting Carnival plans for the start of February: we’re going to go to Oruro for a day (which supposedly has the best Carnival in the whole of Bolivia), and then out into the countryside to a little village that Henry knows to hear pinkillus, and then we’re going to find somewhere else to go and hear tarkas. In order to do so we’re going to simply stop people on the street in Oruro and ask them where to go, and then jump on a bus and hope it takes us there. It’s going to be an adventure.

Yesterday I went out for a drink with Rene and Lesley and Rosalio after the rehearsal, and it was so nice just to go out and have a bit of a laugh. I drank too much wine. Rene has just recently taken to phoning me up around midnight or one in the morning to have a chat; he obviously goes to bed a lot later than I do and I wish he’d phone at a more sociable time.

I’m really, really looking forward to coming home now.