Chili Con Carne

I am truly deprived of choir! I miss singing in a choir so much that it’s slowly eating away at my music soul! Not really, I don’t even know if that is possible, but I do miss it A LOT. On Friday night I went to a choir concert of a friend of mine here. He sings in an accapella choir [funny enough one of my lecturers sings in it as well] and invited me to their first concert of the year. I went and it was amazing! They did very well, and I was told over and over to wait until I hear them at the end of my 6 months when that have had more time to prepare. I cannot wait. The high school boys’ choir that sang before them was spectacular as well! I miss hearing the Troubadours of Beckman High School back in the good old days when people actually worked hard to be in it and make it the best choir Beckman has ever seen. If was a large boys choir, and of what looked like a large age group, but freshman in high school look so tiny to me know that I am older.
My friend, Tristan’s choir that I went to see was stellar as well. They sang some amazing pieces. Some were in English, which I thoroughly enjoyed being able to understand. There was an Eric Whitacre piece, one that I have never heard before, probably because it is one of his newest pieces and I have been keeping up on my Whitacre lately! Oops! They also sang Bruckner’s Ave Maria which I have sung before so that was good to hear from an outsiders view. You don’t always get to truly enjoy the sound that a choir makes when you are part of the sound. It is different from the singer’s ear to the spectator’s. And here come the plug for Loras College Choir: They also sand Chili con Carne. But when I heard Loras choir sing it three or four years ago I enjoyed it much more. It was more empowering…expressive…energizing…exciting…elaborate…none of these adjectives are the one that I am looking for but I feel like it starts with an “e” that is what’s up with the all the alliteration that’s going on!! So Bruce and the Loras choir [please if anyone from choir reads this pass the message onto Bruce because I think that he should hear this] thank you for giving me the experience that this piece deserves to be given! I’m not saying that Tristan’s choir was not completely and utterly exceptional in their performance, maybe it was the space, maybe it was the different sizes in the choirs, maybe it was the difference in the mood that I was in, or maybe it was that I knew more people in the Loras choir when I heard them sing it, but Loras this time you have succeeded to excel beyond a professional choir from a country filled with music! Bravo my friends, Bravo.
After the concert there was a party that the choir had won in a competition the year before. I was also invited to this. The venue was amazing. It was at Capitol Theatre, which is literally an old theatre! The bar was in the foyer and the band was playing in the entrance hall to the theatre so if you were looking at the stage; to your left you could see a set of very regal looking stairs going up both sides to the level above to get to the gallery of the theatre. There were massive paintings of very renaissance looking people hanging all around and the walls, floor, steps, and pillars throughout were all made of marble. We even went to the gallery of the theater as well as on the roof! WAY COOL! The venue was great, but the band…well let’s just say that I’ve heard better! This band was supposed to be one of South Africa’s best bands. Maybe that’s why most of the music that I hear around here is American! But it’s not always about the venue or the band. It’s mostly about the people that you are with and what you make of your time with them! I was with a great group of people who had a great time just dancing and goofing around. When the party at Capitol Theatre died down we all headed to Hatfield Square. It was pretty packed there, but the group that I was with was pretty chill. We stood around talking for a while, during this time I ran into the group of exchange students that had gone to the foam party that I skipped to go to the concert. They all seemed like they were having a good time, some were maybe having too good of a time but we’ll leave that up for discussion. The exchange students left after a while to go to another part of square but I was content with the group I was with. I had some great discussion with some of the guys from the group and most of them are really great guys and a lot of fun to hang out with. {Don’t worry mom I’m being careful! I’m not making too many friends with weirdos, only a few to make things interesting! =] } As the night went on some went home but those of us that were left went up to Dropzone for some dancing. We were there for over two hours just being goofy. Abrie and I started imitating the dance moves of the people around us, starting with Andy of course because he has a very…”particular”…way of dancing! I’ve never seen someone who looks so tense in their shoulders yet so relaxed while dancing! It was a great night and I had a great time! At the end of the night I got talked into going with the guys the next morning to take part in the Shavathon which is an event where you can shave or spray your hair for cancer awareness.

Don’t worry ladies I did not shave my head. But don’t worry guys, I was told many times over by the guys that they would pay me to shave it. They just didn’t offer enough! Life is good when you have great friends and plenty of activities to bring you closer! I can’t wait to show you all some of the crazy dance moves I’ve learned here! Hope all is well back home and where ever else my readers are!
Peace, Love and Jesus