Hey everybody,

I'm pretty much sick in bed today, but I decided to take some time to check e-mail and such. Yesterday a few of us went to one of the free clinics set up by the Chávez administration and were treated by a Cuban doctor. They took some blood to rule out the really nasty diseases and had the test results back in half an hour. We were told that it was just a flu, but we were all glad to hear that it wasn't something worse.

Anyway, for now we're mostly resting and waiting for our fevers to break.

Venezuela - End of Festival to Coroni

Well, it's been more than a few days since I've been able to blog, so I'll just post some of my memories: (Sorry, still no pics!)

At the final night of the Festival, SPC won an award for best song: "Si somos americanos," a song celebrating the shared heritage of all Americans, from the northernmost villiage in Canada to the southernmost tip of Tierra Del Fuego. Our director's own composition, "Let America be America Again" got only a lukewarm response, but it was cut down from 20 minutes of choir and brass ensemble to the last 6 minutes accompanied by keyboard, so I expect a better response when we sing it in its full form in Caracas.

Another of the groups that performed that night was Sies Seis, a Venezuelan vocal jazz group. I'm definately going to find a way to get one of their CDs, because it's exactly the type of music I listen to. I already know of a couple German a cappella groups, but this is the first time I've been able to find a South American group in this style. All their songs were in English or scat, but I hope they have some in Spanish too.

Yesterday we stopped in a small town to see the Festival of St. John the Baptist. Crowds of people in red were in the streets dancing and chanting "eh áh" (apparently an African word). At each intersection, four people carrying an alter with St. John as a boy made the sign of the cross, and people threw rice, lentils, and confetti.

After a couple of days on the road, we're relaxing for a few days in Coroni, a small beach town. I've got a bit of a cough, so I'm taking the day off to relax instead of going on one of the day trips. Last night there was another fantastic group of drummers. They were mostly just kids, but I couldn't manage to count most of the rhythms they played. We sang a few african songs and they played along lightly. Then we sang "Si Somos Americanos" and we had some problems. Some drunk guy misunderstood the point of the song and started chanting "Viva Venezuela." Doug tried to explain it too him, but he didn't want to hear it.

Usually Sergio explains our songs before we sing them with a particularly long speach before that one, and now I see why. Though many latin americans protest that they too are Americans, they've come to expect that estadounidenses use the word americanos solely to refer to themselves.

I'll try to get photos up later today using another computer, but that's it for now!

Venezuela - Days 1-3

This is the first time I´ve had access to a computer since I left, so I´ll try to catch everyone up on what´s been happening:

The Seattle Peace Chorus flew via Houston, so during our layover we gave a practice concert at a local church, which gave us a delicious dinner. Back at the airport, we passed the remaining time singing along to a guitar, violin, and flute that various members had brought along. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 11:59PM, but when we got there the sign informed us that our flight had been delayed until midnight.

When we arrived at the Caracas Airport we had another, shorter layover, and I had my first taste of la comida venezolano. I ordered una tortilla con jamón y queso and was surprised that the word "tortilla" in Venezuela does not mean a type of flat bread like it does in México, but an omelete, like in España. We also traded songs with a children's choir called "Sonata" that was going to the same choral festival.

We got on our final plane, which took us to Isla Margarita, and a bus took us from the airport to the hotel. After we had a bit of time for swimming and dinner, we performed at the first of several nights of concerts in the festival. There was some sort of audience-choice awards for the evening, and "Seattle Peace Chorus" won second place. "Sonata" won third, and an amazing women's choir from Cuba took first. They had an entire song about how they were not going to sing or dance the congo, but hidden underneath the the avant-garde choral sounds were recognisable conga rhythms and a bit of choreography.

I warmed up my Spanish ear on the flights by watching The Bridge to Terabithia and The Kid en español. I finally managed to work up the courage to speak some Spanish at dinner. I decided to sit with a choir from Marida that was about my age. I haven´t felt so tounge-tied in my life! It took me a good 15 seconds to remember "Tengo dieciocho años," and even longer just to say the number seven in Spanish rather than German. This morning Justin (the only member of our choir close to my age) and I tried again with better results.

Both the Houston concert and our first concert on Isla Margarita have been well recieved. Last night a guy named Andreas(?) told me that he especially enjoyed "Shenandoah," because it reminded him of a group he had sung the song with. I´m surprised that our hit song seems to be "This Little Light of Mine." In Houston four girls started dancing in the aisles, and we had the whole audience on their feet at our last concert.

I'll write again soon, and hopefully be able to post pictures!