Our singing trip to Spain in May 2012

Our traveling choir under the direction of Tim O'Connor will travel throughout Spain for two weeks from May 15 to the 31st. Our choir is composed of 50 members from the Bay Chorale, Music Makers from St. Joseph's Church, and the pros from the Divas and the Dons. The tour will begin and Malaga, and continue to Gibraltar, Tangiers, Granada, Seville, Toledo, Madrid, El Escorial, Logroño, Corera, Barcelona, and Montserrat. Our concert is called, Concerto de Musica Sagrada,kand is composed of sacred music from the Renaissance to contemporary American music. Singing Alto, I have been practicing our music since March in an effort to know it well enough to walk independently singing my notes while surrounded by other voices. This is difficult when the song is in the ancient language of Latin. By divine inspiration and humorous coercion by our director, our chorus came through with shining colors at our Bon Voyage concert on April 29th. Our next concern before departure was packing for the trip. Ed, our travel director gave us ideas about how to travel safely in Europe and what to pack. Keeping in mind that the suitcase weight must be below 50 pounds, it was suggested that the clothing be "mix and match" Our itraveling uniform is khaki pants or skirt and polo shirts of pastel colors. Our group picture, dressed in this ensemble, resembled a lovely bouquet of flowers with smiling faces For formal concerts we are to pack black pants or skirts and a white long sleeve shirt. A red accents in the form of a tie or flower complete the ensemble. So for the last month I have been shopping for khaki pants and polo shirts which are all new to my wardrobe. I have cut and beveled the shirts to keep them from hanging below my knees. I have hemmed the pants to midcalf. Nothing quite seems to fit my size, unless I shop in the girls department. Girls sizes 12 to 16 usually fit my size, but nowadays pants for girls hang abvove the knees and just under the butt. So back to sewing and adjusting my wardrobe. Besides the suitcase, Ed has encouraged us to bring a backpack. This is fine with me as I carry everything in my backpack and never carry a purse. This is the item that we carry on the plane, bus, and train so it has to have all the creature comforts that one needs for the majority of the trip. Knowing this,I rolled my favorite red blanket around my massage stick and attached it to the back of the backpack. I also found a pillow in the form of a red ladybug that I attached to the front. Inside I will put my new IPad, music books,exercise bands, snacks, toiletries, IPod, and crossword puzzles. Our money and our passports will be carried under our shirts in a special pouch worn around the waist to discourage pickpockets.