Nivnice

We did a lot of really fun things today. In the morning we got up, ate a delicious breakfast (doughnuts, cereal, bread, eggs, sausage, cheese and fruit, YUM) and then we left to go to a rehearsal space to practice, and the walk was longer than I expected. We are all still dealing with the effects of jetlag; some singers even woke up at 5:00am, while I was struggling to stay awake during rehearsal! After rehearsing for an hour and a half and teaching another choir how to sing one of our songs, we were on our way back to our cabins.

Cora, Maddy, and Alexis with two of our new friends from the Little Nivinčka Youth Ensemble

The tenors and basses teaching “Yen Yere Guma“

When we got back from the rehearsal, it was free time, so you know what that means… POOL TIME! Most of us went swimming and the few who didn’t took time to relax. I hope they were able to get some rest, even though we were being very loud in the pool area! After I got out I still had a little time left before lunch, so I decided to read a little bit more of my book, and then head down to eat.

For lunch we ate fish, a tomato salad, and potatoes. After lunch we got back on the bus, to go to a workshop with the members of the “Little Nivinčka” youth ensemble. It was so amazing, and they taught us a traditional dance from their town and a few songs as well (I later learned that Jane took a picture of me and sent it to my mom, so…).

Interactions with the members of the youth ensemble

During the break, we taught the other youth choir our “cultural” dances such as “Cotton Eye Joe” “The Macarena” and “ the Hokie Pokie”. After the workshop and eating lots of the lovely cultural foods they prepared for us, we were on our way to hike. We hiked a hill that was quite steep, but we managed. When we got to the top, we learned that we were at the border of the Czech Republic and Slovakia! We then sang a song that we learned to perform it with the youth choir called “Vadrovali Hudci” (Vah-droh-va-lee Who-d-see) and it was lovely. Then, I had a talk with a boy from the Czech Republic about the differences in the school systems.

The amazing leader of Nivinčka

A picture from the Czech Republic from the Slovakian side!

After our lovely workshop we went back to our cabins to find a strange dinner waiting for us. They were buns filled with jam, like jelly doughnuts but not quite the same, topped with chocolate syrup and powdered sugar. Now, according to BCS’s own Emmie, whose mom is from the Czech Republic, this is a normal dinner here, but my stomach said otherwise. It was expecting something savory before the sweet, and that’s not what it got. But it was delicious so I’m not complaining. After dinner we met up in a field next to our cabins to have our evening meeting, a time where we fix things in the itinerary that have been changed, make any announcements, and do a fun activity. Today we had to get into alphabetical order by middle names, however, when you have two middle names like me, you had to choose one. So after that we did a speed dating-style explanation of what your middle name(s) were and why. After that we got into family groups, and we were asked to talk about your favorite birthday memory. And after ten minutes of that, we attempted to play “pass the pulse” where someone squeezes someone’s hand and it goes around the circle. And may I just say, we are horrible at it. We tried twice and couldn’t get it around the circle, so we’re going to try again tomorrow. Tomorrow, we have an exciting day planned, including a festival, and a change of location; I’m really excited. Oh, and mom, don’t eat all my chocolate while I’m away.

-Sadie

(p.s. Sorry for the late upload today. We had some rapidly changing plans that were an adventure, but made it impossible to upload until now. Hope you enjoy! - Zach)