Vada, 4:41pm

Hello all,

How are you?!  I know it's been a little while since our last update.  Most days recently have been pretty similar as we have been rehearsing as a group to get ready for our showing tonight.  Things are in pretty good shape.  We have done 2 full run throughs and one dress rehearsal this morning.  The showing is about an hour long with a mix of dance numbers, songs, choral and instrumental pieces, with a lot of Italian flavour included. 

As a group, the singers are doing "Funiculi, Funicula", which you would all know if you heard it.  It makes me think of a fat Italian man making pizza everytime I hear it! ;)  And then we are doing the main theme from "The Barber of Seville", all on consonants and vowels.  It's actually quite fun and entertaining.  What is usually done as an orchestral piece, we are doing with our voices.  Then there are my two solos-- in one of which, I am wearing only a towel... (secured by two clothespins, with shorts and a bikini top underneath).  It's a bit of a steamy number, I guess you could say... ;)  And then there's the very classical "Time to Say Goodbye".  I am feeling pretty good about how my pronunciation has come along and I have worked a lot on the dynamics of it.  One of the most fun pieces is probably "Mambo Italiano" which we are doing complete with cheesy choreography and actual mambo steps.  Sure to be a crowd pleaser!  We will see how it all goes tonight...  :)

Other than that, Stephen and I have just been soaking up the sun as per usual and we went to Florence on Sunday and saw "The David".  Wow- is he ever a stunning sculpture!!  I wasn't sure if he would be everything everyone said he would be and yes, I am happy to say he is.  The detail is exquisite and he is so large and grand, it's hard to move on to the other exhibits.  A lot of the others seemed dull in comparison.  There was also an interesting photography exhibit on...Robert Mapplethorpe.  He is quite controversial apparently because of the nudes he has taken.  A lot of the photos were from the 80's and there was talk about them being pornographic at the time but because of the way he posed the bodies and used lighting in such an interesting way, I actually found them quite beautiful and not the least bit offensive.  (Might be something to check out online for those of you into photography.)

Also walked around the Florence open air market while we were there.  I tried my best to negotiate a good deal on a purse, but when the guy wouldn't budge (and I realized after walking around that he was offering a very good price), I went back and picked up a very cute green one; very nice but also sensible so that it won't take up much room in my backpack as we continue our travels. :)

So, we're off to have dinner and digest before the show.  Will give you all a full report next time.  I'm actually really looking forward to it being done.  I have really enjoyed the experience but I also look forward to doing things on our own schedule again.  In Spain, we had to walk, in Italy, I have had to go to class...I am looking forward to seeing what flows as we just do whatever we want whenever we want.  Ahhh.....

Ciao for now.

Andrea & Stephen