Fortunately, my roommate and I escaped unscathed, but the problem arose when the water at the hotel became unsafe to drink, and about 40 USingers had to stay behind in Prague today and go to the hospital. (They're mostly fine now)
The rest of us drove from Prague to Krakow/Weilicka, where we toured the famous salt mines.
Back when these mines were built, salt was like gold. It was used as a preservative (so basically I'm well-preserved now and will be around for a looooong time), and it could be used to buy cities (I'd like to buy Cambridge and Prague please).
These impressive mines are almost 300 kilometers long and are now used for people with asthma/allergy/skin problems. The salt in the air is supposed to be good for your health, so people with these conditions go there for a couple hours a day and are advised to either sleep (because your breathing changes when you sleep) or sing.
(Did I just accidentally develop an asthma/allergy/skin condition?! Looks like I'll have to go to the salt mines every day... #oops)
 |
| The chapel (picture not mine) |
One of the pieces on our concert program is the well-known folk song Shenandoah. Singing this song in Europe is completely different from singing it at home. Many of us from USingers were raised in or close by the Shenandoah valley; it is our home. But many of these people to whom we sing don't know about this land we love and don't know what's so special about it, and our job is to convey that to them--across language and cultural barriers. My hope is that when we sing of our home, the Europeans listening can feel our passion for our home and a tinge of homesickness from us.
Here's a video of us singing it back home. Let me know if you think we're worthy of representing this gorgeous land of ours.
And finally, here's a short (10 second) clip of our performance at the salt mines from a fellow USinger's insta.
I hope to post more of our performance tomorrow. Goodnight and sweet dreams...
Marina
No comments:
Post a Comment