Formal Concert in Santo Domingo

We left Ezcaray feeling pleasantly full and a bit tipsy with the wine.  We had about an hour drive to Santo Domingo so we all settled into our seats for a short nap.  Just as we were nodding our heads, we heard Tim's familiar voice saying that he needed our attention. He asked us to get our singing books out and to turn to the page with the song "Ti Seguiro."  This is a song we learned to sing in Latin and Father Cadarso requested that we sing it in Spanish.  Tim asked that we write down the Spanish words over the Latin words so we could sing the song in Spanish the next day when we visit Father Cadarso's village.  We all took out our pens and wrote the words that Tim dictated and them we san the song in Spanish so we could see how the words would flow.  By the time we were done we were rolling into Santo Domingo.

First we were going to visit the church and have a blocking rehearsal so we would be ready for the evening.  Then the rest of us would visit the town while the Divas and Don had a rehearsal with Carolyn and a new keyboard she would have to get used to playing.  So we got off the bus and walked down the street toward the Santo Domingo Cathedral.  As we were walking there we noticed our advertising flyer. Several of us stopped and took pictures.

We continued and saw pilgrims who had just visited the church.

Adding two new pilgrims Jean and JJ

We continued and was a store selling plates with roosters and hens.  Then we went by a sweet shop with roosters, hens and chicks.  What is this thing about roosters anyway?

Chocolate Roosters, cookie roosters, and yellow chicks!

Well, the story goes that Santo Domingo, who was a real person, wanted to become a monk.  So he went to several monasteries and asked to become a monk.  But the monks said he was not worthy and was too mentally slow.  But Santo Domingo wanted to help the pilgrims, so he decided he would do so by fixing the roads and build bridges. For this he is the patron saint of people who build roads and bridges, like my brother Henry who was a civil engineer! He also set up hostels to make it easier for the pilgrims to find shelter along the way to Campostella.  One day a family with a young son from Germany stayed in a hostel near by.  The inn keeper's daughter became enamored with the young man and asked him to stay, but he put off her advances and said that he had to go on the pilgrimage with his parents.  The young girls became angry and put a valuable cup in the boy's nap sac.  After they had gone, she went to the judge and said the boy had stolen a valuable cup.  The judge sent the constable to fetch him. He caught up to the family on the road and brought the boy back for trial.  He was found guilty when they discovered the cup in his sac and he was set to be hung for his deed.

Santo Domingo heard about this and knew the boy was innocent.  So on the day of his hanging he placed himself below the boy behind the scaffold and held the boy up so the noose would not tighten around the boy's neck.  The parents went to the judge and demanded that their boy go free as he could not be hung.  The judge had just sat down to a meal of rooster and a hen and was not to be disturbed. So he said, "If the chicken I am about to eat gets up and flies away, I will let the boy go."  All of the sudden before his startled eyes the hen and the rooster, got up grew a head and feathers and fluttered away from his table cockle-doodle doing with joy as they flew.  The judge had to keep his word, and let the boy go.  So from that day on, the city celebrates the rooster and hen which is why there are so many around.  For years there was a chicken coop in the church with a rooster and a hen that was kept there as a reminder of the Santo Domingo story.

We continued walking to the church, and suddenly we were approached by a large group of children in costumes going the other way.  They were all singing a simple melody, so we sang their song and they repeated it.  The exchange went on all the way down the street.  You could see in their eyes that they enjoyed it as much as we did.  We heard from one of the counselors that  they were on their way to the theater and would be taking part in a play.  That sounded fun and I hoped we would have time to see the play before we had to leave to get ready for our concert.

We finally reached the church and went in to get familiar with the church.
We left the church and the Divas and the Don stayed to practice, but they had to wait for a Christening to take place.  We all were in awe that in the span of twenty-four hours, we had been witness to a funeral, a wedding, and a christening! That goes to show you that what goes around comes around and the life is reborn.

While the others needed to rehearse, several of us decided to visit the church tower.  We were told that we would be able to climb all the way to the top and take pictures from there.

The clock mechanism was renovated just recently in 2009. We wanted to be sure we were not up there when the bells started ringing.

We took the step two at a time to get to the top and what a sight to see!  It was worth the climb.

The village of Santo Domingo

The Sight from the tower with a view of a smart looking sky light!

When we came down we still had some time and we took pictures of Santo Domingo model.  First Tim put his face in then Father Cadarso. We really enjoyed their antics!

Tim as Santo Domingo holding his rooster! He looks like he wants to eat it!

Father Cadarso as Santo Domingo with his staff, gourd, and rooster.

We all walked back to where we would meet the bus to take us to the place where we would be changing our clothes for our performance.  When we arrived at the bus stop we still had an hour so Meg and I went to the theater where the children would be performing and got in to see at least the first act.   When we got there we got seats in the center section and looked around and found the children from the street.  They were sitting in their costumes quietly in a group in the far back of the auditorium.  Meanwhile in front of us a whole group of little children were getting their booster chairs so they could see.  Soon all of them sat and waited for the show to begin.

The auditorium is filling up quickly

The children we saw earlier out in the street, now sat quietly waiting

Booster chairs for everyone!

A booster seat for Amelia

Now everyone is ready

Amelia gets her picture take with an IPAD

Soon the lights go down and everyone claps.  The directors say how much they have enjoyed bringing the show to Santo Domingo.  They are from Madrid and they are presenting "The Hunchback of Notre Dame."  It is a musical but the singers are lip-singing to dubbed music. Which is fine when you have children singing since it is very hard to understand them.  The company travels all over Spain and they stay in a place for a month teaching children about theater and it culminates with the play.

The Directors explain the program

The Hunchback of Notre Dame begins

The first song ends

The children we saw in the street all rush to the stage!

The first act ends with a large finale!

We decided to leave the theater at this time so we would not miss our bus.  We saw everyone waiting near the bus stop and told everyone what we had seen.  Some waned to see it for themselves and use the bathroom.  So we showed them where to go.  In the meantime an oriental girl came up to me asking for directions in Spanish.  I asked her where she was from and she said she was from Korea, so I found Choo who was sitting at a near-by bench and introduced her and her friend to Choo.  Well, it was if they were old, lost friends as they started talking in Korean laughing and having a great time.

Choo with her Korean friends!

Soon the bus came and we were taken to where we would be changing for our concert.  This would be where we would meet to have an after performance meal that the friends of the church arranged for us.  We quickly donned our white shirts and black skirts or pants and plopped on our red roses and we were ready.  We grabbed our song books and took off down the hall.  Tim had arranged for us to get to the church early and to have a short rehearsal.  Many of us needed it as we had to feel comfortable in our singing voices again. We stood in the front of the church and sang the first few phrases of each song so we would have a good start once the concert got moving.

Then Tim gave us last minute instructions that we would be in the back for the mass and then move down the isle to get to the altar.

Then the mas began and gathered at the choir loft for the mass and sang the "Kirie Eleison" and and the Celtic "Alelujia."  When the mas ended, we were announced and we began our march to the front singing, "Jubilato Deo." 

Mass in singing in the choir loft

When the mass ended, we were announced to the audience and we began our march to the front singing "Jubilato Deo" in a round.  Tim had all of us in the pontifical choir stop mid way down the isle to sing our potion of the "Ave Maria" with the choir in STEREO.. The crowd loved it!

We then sang a Gregorian chant to get us to the front at the altar.  For this concert we san every song on our list and we were well received by the sound of the applause.

The the Divas and the Don sang their three songs that ended in thunderous applause!

By the time we sang, "When the Saints Go Marching In," the audience was on it's feet clapping and singing with us.  It was one of the best concert so far and we were exuberant!

After leaving the church, we went to the reception room where we were presented with a wonderful meal topped off with Rioja wine.  The ladies of the parish had spent the day creating a feast for us and we were most grateful.  Again we ate our fill and left satisfied in heart and soul.

We couldn't eat another bite!

Father Cadarso was pleased and in great spirits.

When the food was gone, we thanks the ladies of the parish and headed for our bus.  We had about an hour drive back to Logrono and many of us would settle in an sleep the whole way dreaming about tomorrow when we would be doing it again in Corera father Cadarso's home village.