On the road again

As I write this, I'm sitting on a bus, headed to Borja, Spain. We arrived last night...more about that in a bit. Right now, we are heading to our first concert on this tour. My choir mates have a variety of ways to pass the time on long bus rides. Some of them use it to go over the music multiple times. Others sleep or read a book. Personally, I enjoy plugging in my earbuds and putting some ocean noises on, while I tune out the world and simply enjoy the drive. While it may make me a bit of an isolationist, I tend to think that the solitude is healthy for me. It allows me to have the energy to spend the time with everyone when I really need to, and not get frustrated. When you are on tour with people, even people you love and respect, tension can get high simply because of the close proximity you all live in. I have developed ways of maintaining my personal space while still being part of the group. 

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So, as I said earlier, we arrived last night. We didn't realize that this was the last day of summer here, and the plaza we sleep in became party central. The hotel we are in overlooks Musika Plaza. It has a bandstand, and there were bands playing until 4am. Loudly. Lol. I have an interior room, so it didn't bother me as much as those people whose rooms are on the outside. We were all up until about midnight, trying to get our internal clocks adjusted to the time zone, but then the loud music made it hard to sleep. There were families with small children out on the plaza until that time. Down by the beach, 300 meters away, there was a techno party of some kind, with dancers enjoying the end of summer all night long. Also, a raucous soccer game had ended with a victory for the local team, and people were quite excited. It meant a sleepless night for many of my choir. I, however, got some rest, and woke up early to go get coffee. I wandered around the mostly asleep town until I found a tiny kafègia (coffee cafè). It was off the beaten path, where tourists don't go. I sat at the counter, saying very little, lest my Mexican American accent give me away when I speak Spanish. I listened to the conversations, sipped my glorious cafè con lleche, and watched people. It was fantastic. 

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Rehearsal today was amazing. I took some video for you. Here's the link. 

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We just drove by Pamplona, where they do the annual Running of the Bulls. Outside town is an ancient roman aqueduct. A sturdy thing, it has been here for over 1500 years!  

We're headed to Borja, which is famous for an event that happened a couple of years ago. There is a church in town that had a picture of Jesus on the wall in poor shape. The painting had degraded over time, but was over 1000 years old. Some person in the church decided to try and restore the painting herself, rather than take it to a restoration service. So...she got out her oil paints...and ruined the painting. Her work made Jesus look like the Cookie Monster. It. Was. Horrid. Lol. The event brought international attention to this tiny church, however, and now they keep the painting on the wall, as a tourist attraction. I'm hoping I have time to see it. I'll keep you posted. 

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I enjoy writing to you guys. It makes me smile, knowing that you're reading my words and living through my adventures. Know that, if I could, I'd have each of you along with us, so you could gain the experience that I am fortunate to have. My hope is that each of you continue to make music a priority in your lives, so that you can know what it is like to be a part of something like this.