Relaxation

James Carroll once said, "We spend most of our time and energy in a kind of horizontal thinking. We move along the surface of things but there are times when we stop. We sit still. We lose ourselves in a pile of leaves or its memory. We listen and breezes from a whole other world begin to whisper." This in mind, Thursday was a day of relaxation and sheer enjoyment.
I think, and I think I speak for most, that we are still adjusting to the nine hour time difference and although we sleep, we just don't sleep the same. Sleeping in and catching up on sleep was wonderful none to say the least and most of us opted for that option as we had nothing planned for the day except rehearsal. The sun coming in through my balcony was the perfect wakeup call and for once I didn't seem to mind the techno as much.
Grabbing our towels and swimsuits, we hit the beach hoping to go lay by the sea but when we got down to the sand, we saw it probably wouldn't be so. The tide was coming in and it was too high to lay where we would normally. It we wanted to lay in the sand, we would have to pay leva for an umbrella. So we wandered down along the sand and just looked.
Apparently Golden Sands is a place where a lot of Europeans holiday at. They are used to foreigners, but not really Americans. It was interesting to watch people's reactions when they realized we were American. Most would instantly slip into smooth English as they tried to convince us to eat here or buy this. Others who didn't know English still communicated with their bodies whether it was with smiles or nods as we pointed to the fruit we wanted.
Lunch was an interesting meal. I had what was called a Doner Kabob I think... not sure that's the right name, but I can't really read Bulgarian and frankly I just picked something and pointed. It was a good choice though. It was similar to a pita back at home, but it was filled with the Doner meat (cooked lunch meat pretty much), lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, french fries (odd I know), something like a Catalina dressing, and then a mayonnaise dressing. It was good though. As me and Kristen sat and ate our meal I watched a little boy building a sand fort. It was sad though because he was getting so frustrated as the tide kept washing away the one side of it. Finally he gave up and just wandered into the waves.
Sunbathing was nice. Its kind of funny though because the locals here think we are crazy. Apparently it is still to cold for them. They walk around in jeans and long sleeve shirts while we are running up and down the beaches in our swimsuits. Granted I am not good at converting their temperatures here since they are in degrees C I am not sure what it is, but I do know that its hot.
Rehearsal was fun tonight. We worked with each individual conductor again they picked new movements to direct. Its just amazing to me to see each one's interpretation of the movement. However, they still have to remain somewhat similar to the way Brahms would have done it and that is where Dr. Larry and Mistro Dion come into play as well as Mistro Chonev. They help the directors conduct the way they would and the way that the Bulgarian Orchestra and Choir know how to do it. Granted it's in their own style, but there are certainly guidelines to follow. Also watching Mistro Dion conduct is like watching art. He's incredible and you can't take your eyes off of him. He gathers the entire choir and makes them move like one. I would love to see him direct the orchestra... Which we get to soon hopefully, but not tomorrow as we get a day off. Yay!

Christa