(This was written last night, but our Internet was down. :))

Wow. Today has been such a full and amazing day. We began bright and early with a sound check at 7:00 a.m. Which was fine since I’d been up since 2:30. I thought I would sleep a little bit later today, but I was mistaken. It’s all good. I can sleep when I get home.

We had our first group meeting at 8:00. It was somewhat like I was expecting, but a little bit more subdued reactionwise. I think we may have been a little bit much that early in the morning, when they’re not used to anything like that, with all our brass and drums and everything. But throughout the day we have had so many comments that have been totally affirming, so I’m really looking forward to going back in the morning. They were invited to join us, and when we had rehearsal, those who showed up were SO excited to be there. It is going to be a beautiful time together.

After the meeting, Jeff and I both had our childcare rotation. He has 1-yr-olds, and I have babies. If I wasn’t homesick before, walking that first sweet 10-month-old baby boy to sleep definitely did it. I know my baby is in wonderful hands, but I sure would love to kiss on him a little bit!

From the baby room, I ran to grab a bite of lunch. They were serving native thai today, and I had some delicious, but incredibly spicy, red curry soup. I had to mix my rice in it to try and tone it down, but it still made me tear up a little!

Then it was straight to group rehearsal for 30 minutes. Some of the ladies in my section hadn’t read music in years, but they were thrilled to death to have the chance. I’m really looking forward to tomorrow morning, getting up on stage with the 30 or so that will be joining us.
Once rehearsal was over we finally had a little bit of free time. I went up to the gorgeous outside pool on the 7th floor to see all the kids out there. I ended up deciding to join them for a little bit. It was great fun to get to play with some of them, and it made me miss my big kids. I know they are swimming the days away in Florida with MiMi, and I can’t wait to get them back to the pool again.

Jeff and I went up to the room for what we thought would be a short nap about 2:30. I asked if he thought we should get a wake-up call, and he said he thought we would just sleep about 45 minutes or so. We were supposed to be at a group meeting at 5:25 and rehearsal at 6:00. So we lay down, and I suddenly woke up what I thought was just a few minutes later and looked at the clock and it was 10 after 5. We struggled to force ourselves awake and hurriedly got down to the meeting room, just a few minutes late for the meeting. We ended up not getting to have rehearsal because the M’s have the room every night. So it looks like we’ll be doing full sound checks each morning. That’s fine. It‘s definitely what we’re used to at home. Jeremy is doing a fantastic job, but definitely could use some supernatural energy.

Tonight we went to the night market. It was much like the market we went to on Sunday, but a little bit more claustrophobic. The gypsies are unbelievable. No matter how many times you turn them down, they keep coming back, over and over. It makes me think I’m about to be pickpocketed, but I’m not carrying anything, and my money is shoved way down in my pockets with my hands over them. It’s sad at first, and then it just gets annoying because they start touching you and just will not go away. Very, very frustrating. Our little buddy group had a great time together, though, and I bought some fun things.

Right now I’m sitting in the lobby with Jeff, Brandon and Debo, and we’re listening to Asian Elvis singing live. We are so amazed by all the western music we hear everywhere. They sing it in perfect mimicked English. There is a girl named Koy who sings with the band who has the most beautiful voice. It is so delicate and mesmerizing. We got to meet her a few minutes ago, and she was just so sweet and gracious. We’ve also met an American, “Billy Smith,” who was so excited to talk to us and keeps offering to buy us drinks. He said he’s here to save money in taxes, so we’re not quite sure what that means. But he plans to be here in the lobby every night, so we’ll hopefully get a chance to share the love we have within. It’s just hard because we have to be so careful about what we say when we are out in the open areas.

On the way back down from getting the computer, I just met an M from Vietnam in the elevator who asked me if I was one of the ones singing on stage this morning. When I said yes, she just embraced me and said thank you so much. She has no idea what a privilege this is for each of us!
I just want to say thanks again to all of you who have been my support back home. I could not be doing what I was called to do this week if it weren’t for you, and I love you deeply.

Back tomorrow. Have a great day everyone. Time for bed!