Editor's Note...Christmas Eve 2010

Finally I have a couple of weeks all to myself. I just love my employers for making it possible, closing down the offices every Christmas season so that no one will work! I think this policy is just great. Some people just know how to do things the right way, don't they?  

Personally, I've not had a break for a long time now and I think this holiday is just on time to unwind a bit. I've been indoors all day. I heard that there's going to be a party at the Philippine Embassy tonight, but I am not going. Another one tomorrow too but I also intend to stay indoors.

As I write, I am looking at four bottles of wine in front of me (photo above) and I'm tempted to open one of them. But I can't. Although I take a sip during occasions, I'm not the kind that will drink a bottle of alcohol until the bottom is up and my head is down, which is what I will have to do if I open a bottle now since there's no one here to drink with me!

In Nigeria (as in some parts of the world) it is a custom to give a bottle of wine as a gift, especially during Christmas and New Year. So far I have received four bottles: two from Joy, my friend from Zenith Bank, one from Marilu Glanznig, and the one on the right, with the name card attached to it, is from the Embassy of Italy.

Job vacancy

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Italy's BelCanto Ensemble Concert in Abuja

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Rosaria Buscemi from Italy gets ready to sing at
 the Transcorp Hilton Hotel; December 6, 2010.
Photos by Araceli Aipoh

A concert featuring the BelCanto Ensemble, composed of five classical music performers from Italy, was organized by the Embassy of Italy on December 6, 2010, at the Lagos Room of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel.

The members of the BelCanto Ensemble are: 1) Rosaria Buscemi, a soprano who graduated with honours at the Consenza Music Conservatory in Italy and has won several national and international competitions; 2) Alessandro Vuono, a pianist who is both a performer and a teacher, and who’s been successful in several national and international piano competitions; 3) Antoni Arcuri, who plays the clarinet and has degrees in Clarinet and Orchestration at Cosenza Music Conservatory in Italy and teaches clarinet; 4) Massimo Celiberto, who plays the horn, has performed over five hundred recitals in Europe and America and has worked with international artists including Andrea Bocelli; and 5) Francesco Clemente, a violinist who is a member of Quinteto Porteno (a formation devoted to tangos) and co-founder of a group with which he performs classical and contemporary repertoire.

Prior to this concert, two other cultural events were hosted by the Italian Embassy in a span of 12 days. These photos were taken at the BelCanto concert.

Christmas at the Dunes

The Dunes, one of Abuja's landmarks and which houses a restaurant and a supermarket, takes a new look. Photo courtesy of Milad Zeitoun, a member of Abuja Expats.  



Julius Berger Christmas Bazaar

Once a year Julius Berger Nigeria PLC invites the general public to their Life Camp in Abuja for their Christmas Bazaar. This year, the event took place on November 27, 2010, starting from 7:00pm. Different types of food were sold as well as arts and crafts. Later in the night was a raffle draw.

The following photos were taken at the event. You may click on the photos to enlarge.

An evening of songs at the Italian Ambassador's residence

Those who love to sing can sing and have a concert anywhere. This particular concert was held at the spiralled staircase of the Italian Ambassador’s Residence on 26th November 2010, featuring the Metropolitan Chorale Abuja. His Excellency Ambassador Roberto Colamine personally welcomed the guests. Those performed during the night included Godswill Okafor (Conductor and Artistic Director, MCA), Prisca Enyi and Agatha Ibeazor (Soprano soloists) and Michael Obinyan, Precious Omuku, Frank Okoye and Valentine Aghesimba (tenors).

AMEMUSO Plays the Sound of Unity in Abuja

Believing that a “flourishing artistic community, supported by the general public, is a clear sign of a healthy city,” members of the Abuja Metropolitan Music Society (AMEMUSO) have embarked on a mission to sing, dance, and act their way towards the realization of their dream of building a performing arts centre in Abuja. In line with this, the musical body and Mrs. Maria Cecilia Toledo de Schmillen, artistic director of AMEMUSO and wife of the Ambassador of Germany to Nigeria, gave one of their performances on Monday, the 15th of November 2010, at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel with the staging of the opera Sound of Unity, an adaptation of the film Sound of Music. Supporting AMEMUSO were a selection of international classical music performers such as Walter-Micheal Vollhardt from Germany Omo Bello from Nigeria, flutist Julian Manthey, violinist Maria Azova, and violoncellist Robert Steep, all from Germany, and Nigerian music sensation Dare Art Alade who played the role of Captain.  (Click and re-click on the image on the left to get a better view of the photos or CLICK HERE FOR LARGE FORMAT VERSION.)

The opera was supported by Julius Berger Nigeria PLC, the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Federal Capital Territory Administration, Chrome, Lufthansa, Hilton, Central Bank of Nigeria, Total, Momo, Dantata and Sawoe, Expo Solutions, PML, Parmigiani, Yaliam Press Limited, Xplus, and the Embassies of Germany, France, and Austria.

Scroll down to view more photos of the Operabuja 2010.

Comments? Send email to insidetrackabuja@yahoo.com

Abuja

Opera in Abuja

The following photos were taken during the Opera in Abuja on November 15, 2010.



Inside Track Print Edition - December 2010

The print edition of  INSIDE TRACK ABUJA MAGAZINE is out. On our cover is His Excellency Toshitsugu Uesawa, Ambassador of Japan to Nigeria, who kindly granted our request for an interview in his office at the Embassy of Japan in Maitama.

Paint the town red is our theme for this edition and it contains a pictorial report on the events that took place in Abuja for the past one year, when many people in Abuja practically painted the town red with one function after the other. Art and culture events, receptions, bazaars, and a beauty competition are just some of the most interesting ones.

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Loy Krathong Festival in Abuja

The Thai Community in Abuja and several invited guests from the international community celebrated Loy Krathong (also spelled kratong) in Abuja on Saturday, the 20th of November 2010, at the poolside of the American International School of Abuja. Present were the Ambassador of Thailand and his wife who led the ceremony.  Our internet research says: "Loy Krathong is as old as Thai heritage and represents a close bond between Thai culture and water. The festival takes place on the full moon night of the twelfth lunar month when the water level is high and the climate is cooler. Participants ask water spirits to sail away their troubles in their krathongs, which are containers traditionally made from banana leaves and carrying offerings of incense, lotus flowers and small money."

The following photos were taken by Inside Track Magazine:

Loy Krathong Festival (of Thai origin) was held at the poolside of the American Internationl School of

Abuja on November 20, 2010. Photo by Araceli Aipoh

Latin America and the Caribbean Film Festival in Abuja

GRULAC (Group of Latin America and the Caribbean, composed of the Embassies of Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela, and the High Commission of Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago) is holding a Film Festival from November 22 to 28, 2010 at the Silverbird Entertainment Centre. Following is the complete timetable:

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2010
Argentina
19:00 - Nine Queens: Two small-town grafters team up to pull off a big-time score involving a set of counterfeit stamps know as the Nine Queens.

Trinidad and Tobago
21:00 - Joebell and America: Joebell, a young man from the countryside, fancies himself a Yankee (Dixieland style) and believes it is his destiny to live in America.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2010
Brazil
18:00 - The Psychoanalyst’s Couch: Married and a mother of two, 40-year old Mercedes decides to consult a psychoanalyst. Lying on the couch, she puts her marriage, professional success and power of seduction into question.

Jamaica
20:00 - The Harder They Come: Ivanoe Martin comes to the city to make it big singing Reggae. However he finds life in the city to be a bit harder than he thought, and is taken advantaged of by both the record producer and marijuana boss he later starts dealing with.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2010
Cuba
18:00 - El Benny: Just back from Mexico where he consolidated his career in the late forties, Benny More is the artist who, through music and dance, makes the crowd delirious.

Venezuela
20:00 - Nicolas Petrov reads the sentence issued by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, through which it ordains the Venezuelan State to compensate the family and victims of a tragic event.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2010
Mexico
18:00 - Cilantro y Perejil: After 10 years of marriage, a couple decides to separate to look for other romances but soon afterwards he finds out that without her, he cannot even distinguish coriander from parsley.

Argentina
20:00 - The Secret in their Eyes: A retired attorney writes a novel hoping to find closure for one of his valuable past unsolved homicide cases.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2010
Trinidad and Tobago
18:00 - The Ghost of Hing King Estate: On the Hing King Estate in Las Cuevas, Trinidad, six people die over a five-month period, under very mysterious circumstances.

Brazil
20:00 - Two Sons of Francisco
Francisco is a humble farmer in the interior of Brazil. He has seemingly impossible dream: to turn two of his nine sons into a famous country music duet.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2010
Jamaica
18:00- Countryman: A young woman crash-lands her plane in Jamaica. A local called Countryman rescues her and leads her away from the authorities, who have fabricated a story about the plane, involving drugs and arms smuggling by the CIA.

Cuba
20:00 - Pages from Mauritius Diary: Havana, September 1, 2000, the Sydney Olympics are taking place and is the sixtieth birthday of Mauritius, a man who stands alone and devastated by the unexpected loss of his wife.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2010
Venezuela
18:00 - Performing and Fighting. Tells the fascinating story of six Venezuelan children and their love for music.

Mexico
20:00 – 7 Dias: We all dream of something but what do we do about it? Claudio gets into trouble with the mafia and has seven days to solve the problem.

Films are shown in original language with English subtitles and entrance is free.

Also, Transcorp Hilton Hotel is holding a Mexican Food Festival with buffet and live music every evening from November 19th-23rd, 2010 at the Fulani Pool Bar.

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Philippine Bazaar 2010

The PHILIPPINE BAZAAR 2010 was successfully held on Sunday, the 14th of November, at 10:00am to 4:00pm at the Philippine Embassy Chancery, No. 2 Kainji Crescent, Maitama.

The Star Prize in the Raffle Draw was a return ticket with Qatar Airways (90 destinations worlwide), plus lots of other major prizes from various donors, including AFP Furniture Production (Julius Berger Nigeria PLC).

The major beneficiary of the Philippine Bazaar is the School for the Blind in Jabi, Abuja.

This event was organized by the Pusong Pinoy Association (an association of Filipinos in the FCT) in cooperation with the Embassy of the Philippines in Abuja.

Photos by Ramon Ruste.

Philippine Bazaar 2010, held at the Embassy of the Philippines in Abuja
on Sunday, November 14, 2010. Click to enlarge.
Photos by Ramon Ruste

 

Philippine Bazaar 2010, held at the Embassy of the Philippines in Abuja
on Sunday, November 14, 2010. Click to enlarge.
Photos by Ramon Ruste

COMMENTS?
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Jazz Concert at the Hilton

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CLICK TO ENLARGE

The Embassy of Switzerland organized a jazz concert featuring Squeezeband from Switzerland and Tee Mac's Gold Convention at the patio of the Bukka Restaurant, Transcorp Hilton Hotel, on Friday night, the 12th of November 2010. Cocktails were served at the swimming pool after the two-hour concert.

Halloween at the Embassy of the Philippines

The Embassy of the Philippines and the Filipino Community in Abuja (also known as Pusong Pinoy) held a Halloween Party on Sunday, 31st of October 201, at the Philippine Embassy. Photos by INSIDE TRACK MAGAZINE.

Click on the photos to enlarge.