I was recently blessed with the opportunity to take a 10-day tour of Texas with the Colegio Metodista (Methodist School) Youth Choir. It was a blast.
17 high school students and 6 alumni / college students joined their director, Rolando, on this spectacular trip through Texas. They started in Dallas, then headed to Ft. Worth, then made their way down to Llano (outside of Austin), and then back up north to finish their trip in Plano. For the majority of them, it was their first time in Texas.
They sang approximately 30 times, in 4 different churches, in 4 different schools, in 2 different nursing homes, and in umpteen other locations--and they were exhausted by the end. But if you can picture an old, European cathedral near Christmas time, with a beautiful choir singing in the nave, then you can picture the voices of these students. They're incredible. And every church they performed for in Texas was simply amazed.
For the students, they got to see downtown Dallas, to tour the stockyards in Ft. Worth, to shop at some huge Texas malls, to climb a huge granite rock (Enchanted Rock, as pictured above), to swim in a Texas river, to attend a Texas high school football game, to drive through downtown Austin, to take pictures at the Dallas Zoo, to sing at the new Cowboys Stadium, and much more. I think they enjoyed it a bit :-)
For me, it was an opportunity to see my family for the first time since January, soak in some Texas sun for the first time in a year, see new parts of Texas, and show some excited kids all around my stomping grounds. I felt at peace.
As I flew back into San Jose with the choir, I couldn't help but thinking about how, for the first time, I was flying into Costa Rica with a bunch of friends. What a blessing.
17 high school students and 6 alumni / college students joined their director, Rolando, on this spectacular trip through Texas. They started in Dallas, then headed to Ft. Worth, then made their way down to Llano (outside of Austin), and then back up north to finish their trip in Plano. For the majority of them, it was their first time in Texas.
They sang approximately 30 times, in 4 different churches, in 4 different schools, in 2 different nursing homes, and in umpteen other locations--and they were exhausted by the end. But if you can picture an old, European cathedral near Christmas time, with a beautiful choir singing in the nave, then you can picture the voices of these students. They're incredible. And every church they performed for in Texas was simply amazed.
For the students, they got to see downtown Dallas, to tour the stockyards in Ft. Worth, to shop at some huge Texas malls, to climb a huge granite rock (Enchanted Rock, as pictured above), to swim in a Texas river, to attend a Texas high school football game, to drive through downtown Austin, to take pictures at the Dallas Zoo, to sing at the new Cowboys Stadium, and much more. I think they enjoyed it a bit :-)
For me, it was an opportunity to see my family for the first time since January, soak in some Texas sun for the first time in a year, see new parts of Texas, and show some excited kids all around my stomping grounds. I felt at peace.
As I flew back into San Jose with the choir, I couldn't help but thinking about how, for the first time, I was flying into Costa Rica with a bunch of friends. What a blessing.
1 comment:
Will!! Lo encontré en Blogger! Jaja, me alegra mucho, porque yo soy una blogger compulsiva jaja!
Qué lindo post! Lloré y todo! :P
Resume perfectamente lo que fue el viaje... Pudimos haber estado cansados, tensos, un poco enojados a veces :P pero eso era totalmente insignificante... porque todo estuvo increible, cada día era toda una experiencia. Fueron 10 días de emociones, una tras otra!
Como dije en algún momento, yo de verdad no sabía que esperar de Texas. Creo que eso le agregó algo especial al viaje, porque Texas me dio muchísimo más de lo que pensé que podría experimentar. Conocer tantos lugares diferentes y tanta gente increíblemente hospitalaria ha hecho que me sienta como una Texan girl más :D. Tanto que el otro día estaban dando un partido de los Longhorns y por supuesto me quedé viéndolo, lo sentí como el equipo de casa :)
Algo que también fue increíble fue la manera en la que todos logramos acoplarnos. Yo que soy de las viejitas del coro nunca lo había visto tan unido! Todos volvimos con nuevos amigos y por qué no, con unos cuantos hermanitos adoptados!
Ojalá algún día volvamos a reunirnos todos y bueno, por lo menos a lo que a nosotros los mayorcitos se refiere, queda pendiente el café y la salsa! XD
The choir loves you, Willy :)
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