I don’t even know how to start today’s update… After 2 semi-exhausting days of travel and being stranded in London, it is lovely to be in Poland with Hope Singers- all of us in one place at last.
We started practice this morning at 8. We sang til mid morning and then had a delightful brunch that Gustav and Maria prepared for us. More singing followed. At 2:30, after a fantastic snack, Marcin came. This sounds like an innocent enough statement… but Marcin is a native Polish speaker. He critiqued us thoroughly and tried to help us wrap our minds and tongues around vowels and consonant combinations that are quite foreign to us. One of his first comments was, “I am here to laugh” Suffice it to say, he had plenty of opportunities to do so. It was fun though. He kept us laughing with his comments. Marcin was very helpful and I’m very glad that he could come.
We had a short recess and dove into our Russian/Slavonic hymn. Yilia, who is Ukrainian, helped us with our diction. She was very sweet to assist us because those sounds were a whole nother ballgame.
This evening was laid back. Once again, our dear hosts prepared a delicious meal. Afterwards we did as we wished- took walks, threw discs, played a choral version of apples to apples, had discussions, played corn hole with varying levels of skill, and so on. It was very nice. All in all, it was a lovely day. Quite intense during practice but it was truly a joy to sing together and praise our gracious Father.
–Natalie Heatwole