Day 4 - Shopping!

This morning we traveled first thing to one of the inner city cathedrals where we met up with another children’s choir for an exchange of music making.  As with yesterday, we practiced together for our combined performance on Wednesday.  The piece their director taught us was highly improvised, as the singers were asked to create the sounds of the city.  The cathedral was in need of repair, as the front doors were completely broken.  The panes of glass which used to be in the doors were missing, which meant anybody could enter the building anytime they wanted.  It also meant that all the noise from the street outside would waft through the building.  It added a level of authenticity we weren’t quite used to.  Even so, we were quite happy to sing in this old inner city cathedral.  The other children’s choir was great – energetic and eager to sing. 

This lunch was perhaps the best I have had so far.  It’s hard to explain the food here.  Usually it’s some combination of chicken or pork with rice.  It’s certainly a meat-eating culture, with few vegetables to choose from. Our vegetarians in the choir are doing well, however.

In the afternoon we all went shopping in the tourist square.  It’s an indoor shopping complex full of small kiosks where you can buy any combination of tourist paraphernalia – small wooden sculptures, hats, purses, leather goods, trinkets, key chains, etc.  We spent an hour there and no one came back empty handed.  It also gave our students a chance to practise their bargaining skills.

Then, it was time to head to the beach again.  We all managed to go swimming this time.  The weather has been perfect for it – hot and not a cloud to be seen.   Both the sky and water are a beautiful deep blue.  And in the distance, you can see the freighter ships going by.