Gospel Choir Concert, sábado el 9 de agosto. #45dayofsummer

As I said I would, here are some pictures from the concert that we did last weekend!

I still haven't found a copy of the video but may be able to get a copy of the audio. Either way, if and when I find it, I will post it up here :)

I shared Lluna's book for the week during the practices. These were the songs we did! Recognise any? It was fun to learn some in Castellano, but I'm greatful that many were in English because I would have had a real hard time remembering all the lyrics!

Marta drove us to the castle (it wasn't a palace like I thought, but it was well impressive anyway!). She has a white convertible Audi, we drove with the roof down and arrived in style (with slightly dishevelled hair).

The walk from the car. The castle grew on the horizon as we walked through the busy streets, past fairgrounds and night stalls, cars parked in the middle of the walk way..

This was the set up.

Quick pre-concert selfie infront of the castle. Obligatory. (Nata, Jenny, Eli and me).

Milling around getting ready. Ahh it was so exciting being a part of this!

Esther on the drums. She doesn't smile.

With Betsy. We didn't really know each other here but she helped me remember the melodies (which I forgot frequently at this particular concert because my body was absolutely ready for bed when we started the concert at 11pm, and my brain refused to function fully.) 

Another selfie. We had time. And my nexus. Had to be done. Sunset in the background (atardecer en español)

JP (juan-pablo) was on guitar (incredible guitarist!) and Guille on bass. Guille plays loads of instruments (also saw him playing violin and drums very very well, assuming there are more) - he's one of those people who seems to be good at everything!

Esther across the way. Starting warm up here (calientamiento). As we started singing, the crowds began to grow. Not sure how many were there - my guess is a few hundred. Many seated, many standing, some who came for a while, some who were shouting 'guapo!' (handsome!) at some of our guys who were performing and also some of the group from the camp who weren't part of the performance. Overall, the performance went so well. I had more energy on the previous night, but this was the finale so it felt like it meant more! Whilst there I thought, I need to get involved at a choir at home but I'm not sure I have the time. I'm so glad I can be part of the Earls staff choir at least, so I get to experience a bit of it :) just love to sing! And the challenges of new harmonies, following the music and the director, and remembering the lyrics are really good! 

Post-concert (obviously couldn't take any during it!) But these girls were wonderful and we were all buzzing afterwards! I even look quite brown here stood next to them which is unusual! Must have been the flash of the camera...

Kathlynn, my gorgeous american buddy who is fluent in Spanish and helped me so much during the week. Miss her!

Esther always spoke really fast, and has a really (really!) strong accent so I barely understood anything she ever said to me. But we were still friends and it started with me 'killing' her in the game earlier in the week, only to discover I got the wrong Esther (there were 3). It didn't matter though!

More selfies. Why not?!

Ha.

On the walk back to the car, the castle was all lit up and shadowy. So beautiful. 

So there's a bit of an insight of the evening! This weekend is looking quite different but that's for another post!

I Survived

I returned yesterday, from a week away at a Christian festival / camp called Momentum.

http://www.soulsurvivor.com/uk/momentum/

It's the highlight of any young Christian's year, without a doubt. I haven't been for the past three years and oh! how I've missed it.

I missed the amazing worship, the foreshadowing of Heaven, singing God's praises side by side with just a fraction his church, giving Him all the glory. I missed Mike Pilavachi, his bad (but really funny) jokes and his banter with Crofty and Tim Hughes. I missed actively seeking God and expecting Him to move in big ways. I missed Soul Survivor Hot Chocolate.

I got to experience all this stuff in the past week!

One thing I haven't missed, however, is camping in torrential rain. By torrential, i mean TORRENTIAL. Severe weather warnings. Flooded tents (not mine, thank the LORD). Joggers so wet I could ring them out. The unfortunate realization that 'shower proof' is not waterproof.

But I survived.

And not only did I survive, I got to hang out with some completely awesome people.

Samantha Lola - the girl who made it happen, who wore her wellies all week, who stayed up late with me talking about boys, and who let me sleep in her tent so I could stay (remotely) dry.
Becky - the girl who lives in paris, who took a slight detour off the M5 to meet me in McDonald's and drive me to Shepton Mallet, who was using the burner when it exploded, who got just as fed up with the rain as I did, and who has a date tomorrow night that she's very excited about!!
Ben - the guy who I'd already heard about, who is wayyy over 6 feet tall, who pretended he had nothing nice to say when actually he really did, who I think only had one shower the whole week.
Jessie & Jeff - the couple who camped with us, who spent a lot of time cuddling, and who usually knew all the answers.
Rachael - the girls who's from the south, who came a few days later than the rest of us, who didn't bring much with her, who is also starting Uni this year, and who knew just what to say to make people laugh!
David - the guy with the beard who I met in Canada, who sat with us most evenings in the main meeting, who's mom is a LEGEND, and who I'm slightly jealous of as he's going back to Canada in two weeks.
Lea - the girl from home who has been camping for about 75% of this summer, who hadn't showered in a while and yet still looked hott, who I already miss since we, once again, live in different places, and who introduced me to the following people (thank you!).
Beckie - the girl who persuaded me to sing open mic by pretending that God was texting me (I don't regret one moment! thank you!), who has incredible hair, even after 5 days of camping, and who fell over three times in two days.
Immi & Ellie - the twins who I finally got to meet, who sang on the first night of Open Mic and set the bar high, who couldn't wait to hear me sing and therefore made me feel good, who have the most unusual fashion sense but who always look amazing.
Karl - the guy who I met at Xtreme, who had never been camping before this week (except that time when he was 11), who got in touch, and who graciously let me bore his head off with my incessant ramblings about Christians, theology, my dreams of being famous blah blah...

Proverbs 27:17
"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another".

Thank you God, for meeting with me this week, in a quiet but real way. For surrounding me with encouraging people who love and look out for me. For providing me with friends and acquaintances whom I can both sharpen, and be sharpened by.

The Taylor's Kitchen

I had my first gig in the UK there today!

To an audience of 2.5 people, with a borrowed guitar :)

It sounds like it could be a cozy little bar somewhere in the country side, right?

Well, no. It's actually the kitchen of the Taylor family's home. Lea thrust a guitar in to my hands and asked me to play.
So play I did.

To her and her mom, Cal, and her dad, Clive was in and out at various intervals (hence the audience of 2.5).

Good times.

Plus, Lea now wants to be my UK manager and sort me some real gigs. woohoo! That's exactly what I need!

Watch this space!