AMA Post 4: July 7th

Hello! On a bus again, on our way to Obernai this time. 

On Sunday we got to Paris and dropped off the trailer with all the instruments at the hotel. After that quick errand, we went to Nortre Dame Cathedral and took pictures and went in search of a bathroom. We walked all over, asked the chaperones and followed some signs, but couldn't find any. Finally we found then, it took like half an hour, and then we had to wait in line for an extremely long time. There were lots of other people around too, since it was probably the only public restroom in a 5 mile radius. We had been extensively warned about pickpockets and there were lots of Hispanic or gypsy women around, asking us to sign petitions or something. We just didn't make eye contact and tried to look like we knew what we were doing. One of the women left and actually went through a hedge into nowhere and just disappeared. It was crazy. After a few minutes of waiting for the people in front of us, I felt something tugging on my backpack. My heart rate sped up to inhuman levels and I spun around "excuse me??!" ready to fight off anyone who might be behind me. It was a little like 3 year old girl who was playing with the hand sanitizer hanging from my backpack, and her mother apologized extensively. But we all were so scared after that, it was terrible. 

After that, we went to find an atm and walk around and maybe buy some crepes. We found a fountain park thing and took pictures, then had the best crepes I have ever had the pleasure to eat in my life. I had a sugar lemon one and it was incredible. We made it back just in time to meet back up with the group. 

(Highlight of the day: Asia had pigeons land on her head!) 

Mr Memoli, the head director, decided that we should take a group photo in front of the Cathedral. However, since he planned the schedule to tight, and we all were exactly on time, we did not have enough time to take a photo and make it to dinner on time. Everyone was telling him we didn't have time, even his wife, but he still tried. Our tour guide, Sophie, yelled at him that since there is nowhere for the busses to park legally, they had been moved and now we had to walk even further to meet up with them. That finally changed his mind and somehow it was now our fault for being late. To make up for the time we lost, and to meet the busses on time at their new place, all the chaperones yelled at us to "RUN!!" And we all literally sprinted through downtown Paris. They wanted us to push people out of the way and stuff, it was awful. We made it and boarded the busses in record time, completely upset and stressed. We drove "quickly" through Paris to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. 

(On the bus to dinner!)

At dinner I say with Daniah, Reid, Asia, Margaret (sort of, she was supposed to be at the table next to us but...) and 2 boys we didn't know and attempted to talk to, but they weren't having it. Apparently you could request songs, so our group requested things like Let It Go, a Grease medley, and YMCA. It was fantastic. The food was pretty good, but the general consensus was that we all would rather go to a Parisian restaurant rather than something we could eat in the states. 

From dinner we were bussed to a poet and went on a river cruise down the Seine. It was nice, there were lots of nice views of things and we had a good time. There were also lots of Asian women who would pose awkwardly with scarves for photos, which was pretty funny. I don't know why they were doing it, but it was all anyone could talk about for the rest of the day. It was cooler on the water than on the mainland too, which felt good. 

(Being cute on a boat)

Finally around 11 we made it back to the hotel, all the way at CDG airport. Asia and I were together and Daniah had her own room. We showered, talked much too long, and fell asleep in the most comfortable beds we had slept in in a lonnnggg time. 

The next day, yesterday, we woke up early for breakfast and then went to he Montparnesse tower. We took an elevator up to the 65th floor, then stairs up to the 68th(?) and from there you could see all of Paris. It was great. We took bunches of photos, ran down to the bottom to make it in time, and went from there to the Louvre. We had an hour for lunch before we could go in, and we had crepes and water from a carnival (the same carnival we went to last year actually!) It wasn't the healthiest, but we finally found an atm to use and it was good, so we were alright with it. We went to the Louvre at 2:45 ish and were led around by Mr Richter, one of the chorus directors. I saw the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and tons of other things. It was a good time. It was very very hot inside though. We had 45 minutes left and just sat on th floor and played 20 questions with Reid, Margaret, Ani, and Reilly, super fun. We sat on the floor which was cold too, nice. Daniah and Asia got lost, and they didn't come back until *right* before we had to leave. But they made it!

(From the tower)

(At the louvre. Show this to nick haha, I took it cause I thought of him)

(There she is 😱)

(Reid, Margaret and I playing games on the floor...)

We had to be out at a certain time so that we could run to the Eiffel Tower to quickly take pictures (everything we do, we do quickly, if you haven't noticed. They say Europe moves slower than America, and everyone can definitely tell we aren't from Europe by the rates we are moving at!) We were hustled off the bus, given 15 minutes and ran to take pictures. They came out pretty cute actually, I was happy. Only of the only things I wanted to do in Paris was take a jumping photo in front of the Eiffel Tower, and we did that, so it was satisfying. It came out super cute too 😄

(Someone messed up in each one, but collectively they're super adorable)

We went back to the hotel and showered and did laundry for an hour or 2. We ran to dinner and were all looking forward to the "special liberty tour activity" planned for that evening. It ended up being a rehearsal. Woohoo. 

The band and orchestra both got rooms in the hotel to practice, but, like usual, the chorus got pushed to the least convienant place, a park outside the hotel. It was really pretty, but since it was a public place, there were bunches of people who came by to see who was singing and why. Kinda awkward... 

(The building in the park we practiced in front of)

We practiced and preformed our acapella songs for a handful of people who came by, it was fun. And then we were finally allowed to go to the hotel and sleep 😴

This morning we woke up and started out for Obernai, a ~6 hour ride. We stopped at a rest stop on the way, and were given 45 minutes for bathroom and lunch. But there were 150 of us and it was a small place, and the chaperones (eg Memoli) got mad at us when we couldn't make it back to the bus in time for the 45 minute deadline. *sigh*  

Excited for the discotheque (disco tech) tonight, party in a castle! Write soon,

~Taylor 

AMA Post 3- July 5th

Hello again! This whole "driving somewhere knew every day" thing is really convienant for writing, I think I have another 3 hours before we get to Paris. Some bus rides are full of games and talking with everyone, but this one I have just taken an hour nap and everyone is still asleep. It's ok though, I'd rather be chilling than talking with people anyways. 

So yesterday, the Fourth of July, we got up and out to go to 2 museums in Brugge. My group first went to a chocolate museum. It explained the chocolate making process and history, and why Belgian chocolate is so good. At least, that's what they told us it said. It was already like 85 degrees and the museum was in a 4 story Belgian house in the middle of the city, we had walked 15 minutes to get there, there was no ac, and ~60 people flooding into the house/museum all at once. So it was kinda hard to pay attention. The chocolate they gave us though was really good! (I'd have brought it home but it's so hot, it would be melted 😕)

From that museum we went to the Oude Steen Objects of Justice museum, and museum devoted to medieval torture weapons. It was really interesting and really really disturbing. All of the descriptions made me cringe, but most of the things they had on display were original to the time period, and the building it was in was "probably the oldest house in Brugge, and also a 12th century prison" So that was cool. The tour guide was really funny and nice too. 

Around 12 we got done with the 2 of those and had until 3:30 to explore the city on our own. I had arranged to meet Lynn, our exchange student for next year at the market place in the center, just a 2 minute walk from the museum. Daniah, Asia and I all went and met her and her parents and sister there. We all introduced everyone, then Lynn came with us and the rest of her family went to do errands or something. 

I had been a little worried she wouldn't like us, would have too much of an accent to understand, or just not have anything to talk about, but everything worked out perfectly! The four of us went to a church that has the only statue carved by Michelangelo north of the Alps. It was pretty, but the rest of the cathedral is in the process of being restored, so there wasn't much else to see there. 

We continued on from there to a few different shops, looking for souvenirs for ourselves and friends and family. Asia and I got a few things there, then we all got either waffles or fries, of course. We all had a fun time, got along just fine, and it was great! 

(Lynn and I having "the best fries in the world")

Daniah insisted we go to "all" the chocolate shops, so we could find the best, but we stopped after a few, since there was so much more to see in the city than chocolate over and over. We all got some to bring home, and got a little freezer bag to keep them from melting. It actually worked too, and mine are only a little bit damaged. 

Around 2, with an hour and a half left, we decided to go up the belfry. The stairs were kinda tricky, and Asia didn't want to go all the way, which was too bad, so she stayed at the middle floor while the other three of us went all the way up. It had been a half hour wait in line, and 366 spiral steps to the top, but totally totally worth it. You could see for miles and miles. All the red roofs and there was a river and it was just amazing. The bells were all in the tower too, and so pretty and loud! I had left my nice camera with Asia, I didn't want it to get hurt if I fell up the stairs (a real possibility, I do that sometimes even when they aren't slippery spiral stairs... 😉) I did take pictures with my iPod though. 

(The belfry from the ground)

(From the top)

(My super artsy shot. They had city names carved into the stone windowsill with the direction and distance to them)

We made our way back down and were a little less than half an hour early back to our group meeting spot. It was still "wicked hot" and Asia and I had sparkling iced tea, which was quite good but it didn't taste like regular iced tea. Lynn had to go back to her family, and we said goodbye, but see you in 2 months! 

We went back to the hotel, showered super quick to get rid of all the sweat and grossness we had aquired from climbing up and down 366 steps in 90 degree heat, and put on our uniforms for dinner and a concert. The concert was at this hotel castle thing that was absolutely gorgeous. I didn't have time to take pictures, and it was killing me because the light and the clouds were literally perfect. Our bus got there first, (more on that later, I'll tell yall in person about this one) and everyone was warming up. Then the band played, we went, orchestra, and Stars and Stripes combined piece for the finale. 

The castle was a restaurant and there was a pond and fields and it was very old and gorgeous. There was a cow pasture on the side of the driveway from the parking lot to the castle and I overheard one of the boys saying to his friend, "oh my god, those huge-ass goats just freak me out honestly." But like, they weren't goats. They were cows. Cows. I told Margaret Daniah Asia Alex Reid and a few other people and we all had a hearty laugh about that one. They were cows!

("Weird-ass goats")

After it was over, everyone was freaking out as to how bad everything went, since we didn't have enough to time warm up and all the solos across the board went badly, key changes just didn't happen, and tons of other things. Everything that could go badly, went badly. But we got on the bus and the directors congratulated us on our "fantastic" job. Okay....

(Me, Asia, Daniah, in red white and blue for our concert, but also for the Fourth of July)

There was a guy there in a sash with the German/Belgian colors on it, and he made a 3 page speech, which was probably important but it was in Dutch. So that was great... No one knew who he was either, but he looked important. I asked around, one kid, Alex, told me it was the prime minister. Since we had been so bad, my face must have looked horrified, cause he laughed and said how I was like the third person he got with that one. Thank you Alex...

(On the bus home, so tired, such a mess.)

We got back at like 11:30, cleaned up the hotel room, and passed out. So tired. Every day here is a Long Day, they always feel like 3 days in one honestly. It's exhausting. But it's a lot of fun too! 

Tonight we are going to Notre Dame, Hard Rock Cafe for dinner, and then a river cruise! I'm so excited 😄

~Taylor 

AMA Post 2- Thursday July 3rd

Hello! Another busy few days, but I've been having more fun for the most part. 

Wednesday we were in the airport and had to pack the busses with everyone's luggage and instruments and stands etc etc. It took a very  v e r y  long time to complete, but finally we were on a bus on our way to Caen. 

We had a rest stop half way there and there was a cow bouncy house, which we all agreed should a a standard all American rest stops should follow 🐮

We got to the hotels around 8:30 and dinner was supposed to have started at 8, so the chaperones were kind of stressed and upset. We hurried our suitcases upstairs <to the  t h i r d  floor> and ran down to eat dinner. 

(Our view out our hotel room window)

The hotels were set up in such a way that there were "two" of them, but connected in the ground floor with a large dining room that could probably be used for business meetings and weddings and things like that. So even though we were technically in 2 hotels, we all still got to eat together, which was really nice. 

We got back to the room, showered for the first time since the night before we left the college, and crashed. We had followed Mr Memolis advice and slept on the first plane but not on the second one or on the bus, and it really worked to ward off the jet lag. As of the next day I was barely tired, other than just from walking everywhere and the stress and excitement. But this meant we were immediately able to sleep, which was really good. 

Thursday (yesterday) we went on bus to basically a world war 2 tour of the northern coast of France. First we stopped at a museum that was all about the Allied efforts in that part of France starting with D-Day planning all the way up to the liberation of Paris. I knew a lot of it already though, and seeing everything while being there in real life was a lot to take in. It made it real, and I could barely reconcile that. We walked across the street to the British cemetery, which was gorgeous. All the cemetaries we went to were very very well kept and looked pristine, but it was hard to admire that because there were just so many headstones. 

(A small small part of the British cemetery)

We watched a movie and before it started, Asia and I were talking to these 2 men siting next to us who wanted to know where we were from, since they were from Rhode Island. We told them about our trip and they thanked us for representing our country so well. It was so nice to hear that, and made the stress and everything seem worth it for a while. 

After the movie we went to a town called Bayeoux, which had lots of shops and a 10th or 11th century cathedral. It was super cute and we went to a sweets shop for lunch, since none of us were too hungry and the desserts looked amazing. I had this thing that was in the shape and size of a peach and had pieces of peach inside it, mixed with this crunchy nougat stuff. It was really good but so rich, I could only eat half. We wandered all around and on our way back it just started pouring out of no where. There was thunder and we wanted to stop in a store to not get soaked, but if we did we would've been late to the concert. So we sucked it up and ran through the rain. My hair was so wet it was just dripping onto my face the whole next bus ride. 

(My attempt at stitching the 2 halves of the cathedral picture together since otherwise it would've been too small to see)

(My peach dessert lunch)

From there we traveled a little ways to Omaha Beach and the American cemetery. We set up for our concert and performed, with a sizable audience. I had several people tell me afterwards, since we all were in the same polo shirts, that my group did a really great job, which meant a lot. Everyone here has been so friendly and even if they don't speak English, they try to help and are always so polite and kind, it's been amazing. Europe is just "more chill" (as we've been saying) than the U.S. No one cares if they're late, one lady straight up stopped her car in the middle of a 1 way street today to run into a store and blocked traffic, but no one got upset at her. Just little things like that which would never happen in the U.S. 

(We sang/played in front of this memorial made by the U.S.)

We wandered the cemetery and realized that we only had half an hour to see the actual beach. You would think that it would only take a minute or 2 to get to the water, but it was a HUGE hill and it took us a solid 10 minutes of speed walking/jogging to get down. We stood there and looked at it but other AMA people were already on their way back to the busses, so we hurried up and took some pictures and then ran back up the hill. Daniah runs usually for fun, but Asia and I nearly died, especially cause it was pretty hot and the sun was finally out. I found a rock and it was shaped like a heart, so I took it (shh don't tell)

(Omaha beach featuring Mr Richter one of the choir directors)

From Omaha beach, we drove again a little ways down the coast to i think around either the eastern end of Omaha or the western end of the other American beach, the name of which is escaping me right now, to see the remains of German bunkers and fortifications. It was like a park, you could climb on and inside all the cement creations that used to be stands for giant guns and underground shelters. It was a little morbid though, to imagine that this place with little kids and us running up and down the craters left by bombs had once been a major Nazi stronghold. The view of cliffs and the water was spectacular, and we all had a decent time climbing in and around the ruins, it was good to move after so much traveling for the past several days. 

(Not sure what these boxes would've been used for, but there were 3 of them and 3 of us, so we sat in them)

(Daniah and our other friend Alex (there's 5 Alex's) asleep on the bus ride back to the hotel)

We bussed back to the hotel for dinner at that point, and were given free time to explore Caen from until dinner around 8.  Asia, Daniah, my new friend Margaret who sat with me all through the choir rehearsals, her friend Sarah and all walked around together. We went to a 10th century castle and walked all around there. You could walk up stairs and stand on the wall of the castle which was maybe 8 feet from the ground inside the castle grounds, and probably at th very least a 30 foot drop if you went off the wall the other way. But the view, since the castle was on a hill above the city of Caen, was absolutely amazing. We walked around and saw the place where the dungeon used to be, reduced to ruins complete with a single sheep nowadays though. There was also some sculpture done by a Chinese man in 1997 that was called "1 man 9 animals" and it was bunches of animals with human heads or legs all up on separate 20-30 foot poles. It was... interesting...

(Daniah, Margaret, me, Asia, Sarah, on the castle wall)

(Hanging out in a castle with a dungeon behind me... No big deal... 😉)

We went back for dinner and they gave us more free time from after dinner (9pm?) until 11 to keep exploring Caen. The sun doesn't set here until after 11, and it rises at 6. The days are so long! It's fantastic though, means we can stay out later and wake up earlier and still see our surroundings. Asia, Daniah, Margaret and I walked up and down the harbors sidewalk and took tons of cute photos. Then we wandered the town in search of a "crepe with just chocolate, nothing else" for Margaret, as that was her only request for France. We finally found one around 10:15, and all sat down outside a cafe to eat/ have hot chocolate, which was nice. 

(Margaret Daniah Asia and me at the cafe having crepes/hot chocolate/coffee)

The weather here, although Paris was a horrendous 100 degrees when we arrived, has been actually quite temperate. It's gotten down into the 60s at night and only maybe high 80s in the daytime. Plus it has been cloudy/raining most of the time, which sounds crappy, but we are all in agreement that occasional spot downpours are better than humid and 100+ degrees. 

This morning we got up and loaded the busses to go to Belgium. We just made a rather long stop, from 9:30 to 12:30 in a French harbor town called Honfleur. It was absolutely beautiful. The buildings were all so cute, we were thinking maybe there was some Dutch or German influences in the architecture perhaps. 

(Honfleur. Why is France so pretty???)

The same 4 of us from the night before walked around the town together. We all went on a really old carousel that had horses, but also a plane, a terrifying pig, and a creepy giraffe, among other creatures that you could ride on. It was super fun despite the creepy factor! (They played carnival music on the ride, but at the end the the music ran out and they played a carnival rendition of Taps, which was kind of odd, but we just went with it)

(Cuties on a carousel)

We went in and out of shops, I found a few things to bring back to people (shhh don't tell them!) and we had paninis for lunch, which were so so good. We went to another candy shop, but it was all chocolate and candied fruit that you could buy by weight. Daniah got so chocolate and Asia and I both got the fruit. I got candied kiwi, banana chips, pineapple, "melon" and a few other things that I can't remember the name for. We moseyed on back to the busses and took lots of photos on the way. 

(On a gigantic anchor in Honfleur)

Currently I am on the bus to Brugges, it'll be another 3 hours minimum til we get there. We have 2 double decker busses, I'm on coach 2, and on the bottom floor, everyone around me is sleeping. You can hear all the kids upstairs talking loudly though. There's people from Rochester area, I think I heard them debating whether it's "dog" or "dawg" and "coffee" or "cawfee" (we know that accent, right mom? 😉) 

I'm really happy and not that tired, because I get to meet Lynn tomorrow! I had a chance to message her these past few days and we know exactly where we are going to meet, and we are both really excited to see each other in real life. 

But for now, that's all. I'll keep you updated!

~Taylor

AMA Post 1! (Wednesday-ish July 1st)

Hi!! I've had such a busy time since Saturday, it completely slipped my mind to write about it! But now I'm writing this on the plane from Zurich to Paris, which will only be about an hour, so I figured it's the perfect time for a recap of the last...3? 4? days. 

On Saturday, mom dad and I got up very early to drive down to Pennsylvania. Check in at East Stroudsbourg University was at 1. Once there, everyone's bags had to be weighed and lugged up to the third floor dorms, where I roomed with my friend Daniah (pronounced Dan-yah) for the weekend. At the college was all the kids participating in our tour, some from other Massachusetts towns, some from upstate New York (right by Rochester!) and some from Virginia. We had 3 hours of rehearsal and an informational meeting that first day, and got to bed around 11:30 😴

(Asia, Daniah, me, forcing smiles and falling asleep at breakfast)

On Sunday we had to wake up for 7:30 breakfast at the cafeteria down the street, and then a total of about 10 hours of rehearsal that day, broken up with lunch and dinner. Again, that night we had an information session that was basically "don't do drugs, don't get kicked off the trip" etc etc. It was a lot of non helpful information to attempt to listen to at nearly 11pm. 

Monday brought more of the same, around 6 hours of rehearsal including a run through of the concert we were going to preform for our parents that evening. It was very stressful and exhausting. My friends in band said their lips hurt from playing so much, and I could feel my high notes not being as comfortable to hit as they had been. The good thing however, the one thought that kept all of us going, was that after that nights concert and the next day's intensive travel, we would be in Europe. 

Our concert went fairly well, they took recordings of each song as we played them, and on Tuesday we re recorded anything that didn't go as well as they wanted it to. The band had to redo lots of their songs, but only due to an unfortunate crying baby and a mistimed cellphone call that went off right in the middle of their performance. Choir didn't have to re record anything other than the songs we sing which the band, yay!

(Me, Asia, our new friend Alex, Daniah suffering through the orchestras re recording session)

Tuesday we woke up bright and early to pack and have breakfast. All our stuff had to be out to the athletic building so we could pack the bus to the airport quickly and efficiently. That's a really important part of doing things here, everything that we are asked to do is always required to be quick and efficient. We count off for roll call and they time us. To see how long it takes. They said their record is like 60 people in under 20 seconds.

(Daniah and I being cute at the airport 😉)

Our flight didn't leave til 9 though, so we didn't have to get on the bus until around 1. I was in a bus with Daniah, our friend Asia, and all the kids from WA and New York. It was a really good group of people, we played games and actually got to talk to one another. Even though I've been here almost 5 days now, I still hardly know people since we have only been in rehearsal or asleep for the whole time. I have gotten to know some of the chorus people, but there's only so much time we had for breaks and only so many things you can talk about. So it was really fun to talk to new people and a great way to kick off our traveling. 

Our flight to Zurich was uneventful really, though several of our group were motion sick :/   We hustled to another terminal to catch our flight to Paris, and had lunch on the plane there. It was like noon and none of us could tell what time zone we were in.

(Daniahs snapchat had this sticker thing you could put on, and we were so tired and bored that this photo came into existence)

We're all caught up now, it's been really stressful but I'm hoping it'll be more fun soon, only a plane ride and a bus trip left til were there! 

~Taylor