Day Eight - From Finland to Estonia
Tuesday July 1
We woke up this morning and had our last breakfast in Helsinki before boarding the bus, heading to Tallinn. All the singers were quite excited to go on to our next destination in anticipation of what comes ahead, but also sad to leave Finland, for we all had such an amazing time and created lasting memories.
We arrived at the port of Helsinki where we caught the Tallink ferry line. We snaked our way with all our luggage through crowds of people, drawing a lot of attention, as we went to our gate.
Once we made it on the ferry, we piled all our luggage in a corner and the kids were off to explore all the little shops and snack areas on the ferry. We made sure to make a comfy nook for Katrina, temporary guard of the luggage, to keep post. Many of the kids spent time in the shops getting such goodies as gummies and sweets to hold them over for the next few days, being the good, obedient choristers that they are, I am sure they are packed at the bottom of their suitcases!
The two hour boat ride seemed to fly by and before you knew it, we were heading towards Tallinn. Off to the left, we could see the huge dome where the kids will be singing in a few days, and the excitement started to stir. Many of the girls started to sing one of the songs for the festival.
As soon as the ferry docked, we gathered our bags and were greeted by the Estonian TV crew who had been anticipating our arrival all morning. The cameras were on the kids, taping them as they walked down the escalators and towards the exit. The kids felt like celebrities, who could blame them!
Bob had them stand in performance order as they sang a few Estonian songs. As they were finishing one of the songs, Aarne Saluveer, conductor of ETV Girls Choir and one of the festival conductors met us. When the kids sang Vaid See On Armastus, he was weeping freely and talked with the kids about how cell phones and distractions keep you from being within yourself and when they sang that song, he heard singing coming from a place that was much more personal. Very moving. Everyone gave him a big round of applause, as they were all excited.
Running through the rain to our bus, we loaded up and headed off to Paide, which is about an hour out of Tallinn, where we met the Girls Choir of Järva County who will be our hostesses for two nights. Despite the rain, they were all anxiously waiting outside for our arrival. We arrived at a school, where we finally unloaded and about half the members went off to host families while the rest stayed at the school dorms with the chaperones.
We unloaded our luggage, hopped back on the bus and went to lunch at a school cafeteria. The kids were served a traditional Estonian meal of either potatoes, pasta or rice as their starch, with some cream sauce, a fried chicken patty, and some salad. Most all of the kids ate every last bite, and after about an hour, we were back on the bus, heading back to the dorms to change into our concert attire for our last solo/joint concert of the tour.
We performed at Paide Kultuurikeskus with the girls choir. Two representatives from the US Consulate were in attendance and welcomed everyone. We also had nice support from the community who was excited to see the kids perform and the kids were thrilled at how well the concert went.
They concluded the program singing several of the festival songs and the audience seemed quite overwhelmed with the beauty of their voices. Our kids still can't believe that we are just days away from this huge event. In a few days, we will be sharing the stage with 32 plus thousand singers! Amazing!
We concluded the night with another traditional Estonian meal back at the cafeteria. The kids either went home with their home stays or back to the dorms for hopefully a good nights rest.
Click through the slideshow below to view some highlights from today:
