Hello everyone, and welcome to the post for day 3! I do not have much time. So if the post seems rushed, know it is.

A Chant Service

Waking Up and Breakfast

Yesterday I woke up at 8:45am. Staying up so late may not have been the best idea. I felt tired the moment I woke up. Instead of getting ready before breakfast, I got breakfast before getting ready. I was literally a zombie. I sat down in the seat and asked for the pitcher and someone passed it to me, but I didn't grip it tight enough with my fingers and it fell. Luckily it landed upright, but everyone was looking at me. . . Then when I went to leave, I dropped my knife on the ground. Sometimes it feels like life is just a series of moments of embarrassment. I decided to take a cold shower to wake myself up.

Hearing from a Survivor of 9/11

So then I wrote yesterday's article. When I was about 3 sentences shy of finishing it, I realized that it was 10:45am. The time we were supposed to be in the church. So I left frustrated that I hadn't finished the article and that I hadn't looked at the clock.

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When I got there, a man was already speaking. So I snuck in and did my best not to draw attention to myself. He was discussing his story and told us he had been stuck under one of the towers on 9/11 and then was talking about moments of trauma like that and the pandemic being similar to fractures on a teapot. He talked about how we all experience trauma in our lives and how the fractures are important to acknowledge in ourselves and in our society.

He and his wife then talked about the ministry they run in India. They were discussing the caste system and how women must work in brothels because there is no way to get out of extreme poverty. There is no way to educate their children, and there is a seemingly unbreakable cycle of poverty and trauma. They established what was meant to be a daycare for these children, but later turned into a beacon of hope for the community rit large. His wife discussed how the mothers of these children would cover themselves up when bringing the children to the daycare. But eventually came to trust the place and uncovered themselves at a meeting. She told us a story of one mother who heard her daughter speaking in English and asked them to teach her. The woman pointed out that that shows hope, and that shows trust.

She pointed out how children go on from this daycare to attend higher education, and she said that their vision is to see these children become the leaders of the next generation. The people involved in this were people of much faith. In the video, I watched children who have known so much more pain and trauma than I can even begin to imagine praising God and thanking Him. This reinforced in me the idea that we can overcome our suffering. No matter the circumstances of one's birth, there is meaning, beauty, and purpose in life. God can take the worst of situations and make it for the better. God can take the biggest of traumas (like living through something as horrible as 9/11) and use it for good. We can look at all of these traumas and ask "where is the good?", or we can realize that good can come despite bad, and love and compassion can arise where there once was pain and suffering.

All that to say I was very inspired by this ministry, and I pray that God will give them all they need and more to change the world.

Lunch

After this, we went for lunch. During this time, I finished yesterday's article. Typing these articles on a ohone is very tricky. Forgive me if there are typos. Blame it on the width of my thumbs.

Reading Renaissance Part Books

Learning to read Renaissance notation was not as easy as learning to read chant notation. Especially factoring in that the british have different names for notes than we have. We spent two hours learning to read Renaissance music. At first, I was doing ok, but eventually I got lost (when the texture was more polyphonic). I was very impressed by the lecturer because he was reading all of the parts at once in the old notation. If I had to do that, I'd cry. The next time someone tells me reading modern sheet music is hard, I'm gonna show them how it used to be done. By the end of that, my head was spinning. It was fun though. It has been very interesting experiencing all of this music after learning about it in Music Historiography.

Here's an example of the style we were singing (I can't find the piece I photographed on YouTube):

Tea Time

One of my favorite times of the day has been tea time. I now understand why the founding fathers were mad about the tea tax.

During tea time we played Pokémon Go and tried to catch a moltress, but my one friend (publicly known as Benedict. Privately known as Brutus) didn't believe we could win and quit before the raid was over. We ended nearly having won. If he'd stayed, we likely would have won. I figured I'd include that story since he reads these posts when he's making his reports for King George III (I'm kidding).

Conductor Session

At 4:30pm, we did the sessions with the conductors. Things are going very smoothly. I think the conductors enjoy the time to experiment, and I've been very surprised feeling how the group responds to what they do. Especially yesterday. One conductor walked around and made eye contact with each of us while we were holding a note, and it made me shocked to see how much better the sound was. The point of the exercise was the importance of connecting with the singers. It's really surprising how much that really matters.

Dinner

For dinner yesterday we went to an Amerucan themed restaurant. I ordered the All American Burger with USA cheese and USA fries. It was really funny seeing their idea of America was plastered with comic book characters including a spiderman model on the ceiling. I wish America was like that.

Chant Service

After dinner, we went back to the chapel for a chant service. We first practiced for about 30 minutes (during which time I came in with the women twice by accident). It was a very interesting experience being in that accoustic. Every little sound got amplified which didn't bode well for me since I kept readjusting because my legs are long and don't fit in the pew. I almost laughed in the rehearsal because my roomate volunteered for a solo thinking it was one measure, and it turned out to be a billion words in many measures. To sing it, obe must sing at the same speed as a auctioneer speaks.

Anyway, we did a full run of the service with all of the sitting kneeling and standing like the monks used to do. That was interesting. During the lord's prayer, my friend and I (who are blth protestants) were both going from memory. It was here that we learned the catholics don't say "for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever". We said a couple words and then noticed that everyone else had stopped talking. Remember what I said about life being a series of embarrassing moments? At least I'm not alone in the embarrassment.

Going out and then reading

Tonight we all went out again, and our director came to. So we got to sit with him and talk. I drank two cokes and then went home to read. On the way home I stopped for ice cream. I'm gaining pounds here and not the British kind.

When I got home, I read Sherlock Holmes. I read about 30 pages and was intending to read 30 more in order to finish the book, but my friend came in and we talked. We had a debate about a controversial topic. It got heated and we got shushed from the people next store. He made some interesting points, and I made some interesting points. Then I went to bed around 2am.

Conclusion

Thanks for reading this! Thanks everyone for your comments and support on the last two posts!