July 14: Free Day + A Concert in the Park

Today was a day that most members of the choir had been looking forward to: our free day with our host families. A lot of people, including myself, made plans to go to the beach. Zareen and I went with our host sister and her friend to a beach that was pretty far away and pretty small, but we still bumped into four other choir members. The gorgeous beach had rocks rather than sand, as well as two floating trampolines, which we spent most of our time on. There was also some sort of floating see-saw and an inflatable iceberg/rock wall, but they seemed a little too ambitious for me.

Zareen, myself, and our hosts parted ways with our fellow singers, and headed home. We stopped on the way for pastries, as well as a whole watermelon. We got home, watched Stranger Things and had delicious stuffed bell peppers for lunch, followed by some fabulous banana cake, as well as the aforementioned watermelon.

It was then time to meet the rest of the choir at the park. We got on the bus and went to an archeological museum, which was a very unique place, having been built around the original site of an ancient Roman temple. The objects on display ranged from old keys and sewing needles to massive statues.

The remains of a Roman Temple preserved inside the museum.

Somachi with a gift from Alexis' host family: a tie.

We returned to the park for our rehearsal and then our concert. We performed a lot of our A capella repertoire, and the crowd especially enjoyed World Rhythm Ensemble and the Jamaican folk songs. We sang a Croatian tango piece and the arrangement of “We are the World” that we had learned during our workshop a few days prior.

Asimbonanga in the park

Everyone singing "We Are The World"

Simone and the choir with Bring Me Little Water Sylvie

For dinner we walked to a local restaurant and had lasagna. We then each went back home with our host families. Zareen and I spent the night watching more Stranger Things and eating more banana cake with our host sisters. It was a great, relaxed day.

-Cookie