We played for a few more schools today--our first engagement being at 7:15 in the morning! We were at a boys' school and it was incredible to see how organized they were at filing in and knowing exactly where they were supposed to sit. They filled an entire gym-like room, all sitting on the floor in neat rows, with the older high school students sitting in chairs around the edge of the room. They loved the music and especially when Esther started playing the Meditation from Thais, they all started looking at each other with broad grins on their faces. Really cute!
We came back to have breakfast afterwards, and had a short bit of time to rehearse some things at the house before we went to the next school around 11am. That was a co-ed school and we had slightly longer there than we had at the earlier engagement, so we were able to do about half and hour's worth of music. We later found out this was the school that Helen's kids had attended when they were younger.
The afternoon was basically rehearsal time at the hall, making sure everything is in order for tomorrow's concert. Helen's son, Nathan, is going to be singing some trios with Lynn and Gail and they sound phenomenal!
The highlight of the day was the little girl that I met at the Academy. I was sitting out in the lobby checking my email and here comes this little 7 yr old girl carrying a cello. I couldn't help exclaiming, and of course I had to show her a picture of Sierra with her cello. Her name was Emma and she had just done her exam and was waiting for the results. We talked for awhile and then they headed off, but about 15 minutes later she came running back over and her mom said that she had some big news for me. She was very proud that she had gotten a distinction in her exam! I threw my arms open in excitement and she just jumped right into my arms for a huge hug! It was so absolutely endearing and made me realize how much I'm missing little girl hugs. Nothing quite comparable to it.....
In order for Lynn and Gail to rest their voices for the concert, they did not sing at tonight's meeting, so the three of us stayed back at the house and rested. The two of them went to bed early and I should follow suit as well, so I'm good and rested both for the concert, and for the trip home.
We have to leave at 4 or 5am Sunday morning. It's a 10 hr drive from here to Johannesburg and we will get there not that many hours before our flight back to the States. So I've been figuring this out..... We will leave Bulawayo at the equivalent of 11pm Pittsburgh time on Saturday night, and I will get home at noon on Monday. That, my friends, is a long trip. I'm just hoping that it will go smoothly without the sorts of mishaps I had on the way here.
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