The Results are... In?

Greetings to all!

I forgot to mention in yesterday's post it RAINED!! I've never heard of it raining in Brazil in July.  Even our friends said it was a rare occurrance.  The cooler weather was a welcome change. I only remembered it today, as the students and I sat in the creche auditorium feeling very warm.  I think the heat may have affected all of us, but I wasn't too sure the kids were understanding a lot of the lesson.  More than that, I'm not sure I made it very enjoyable for them.  Despite the language barrier, they were all so engaged yesterday--did the cooler weather really have a more positive effect on their energy? Perhaps. I tried to keep mine up all day, which is why I am dog tired tonight.  

I will say our middle/high school boys really showed their stuff today!  In order to pique the kids' interest, we are moving to a lot of our songs. The boys (who were all sitting in the front row!) showed wonderful coordination and even seemed to enjoy the small amount of dancing we did.  Love it! All the students in the middle/high school group are picking up the English.  

Soon and Very Soon is finished! Each class has sung through the entire piece! I am really proud of them for picking it up so quickly.  I hate to say it, but we may be abandoning Ubi caritas this trip.  We have two days left until our final rehearsal and I don't want everyone to stress about not knowing the Latin.  It seems English is easier for them to learn.  Who'd have thought so!?

After our last class, we went to the local radio station to be interviewed. How cool is that? One of the young men conducting the interview is the director of music for Our Lady of the Rosary parish (Nossa Senhora de Rosario) here in town.  He sang with us on our last trip. I wish he were singing again, but he has no time. Not surprising, when you run the music program of the largest church in town!  They asked us questions about why we're visiting and what we hope the kids will gain from our visit.  Sue, Ann, and I had the opportunity to answer a question. It was very nice of them to show such interest in our visit.  I was also asked to sing. After a full day of teaching, I'm not sure I was in good voice, but they seemed to enjoy my rendition of Soon and Very Soon.  

Off to plan for tomorrow and then get to bed early.  Until tomorrow!

Jamie