Week....what is this now?

I thought I was finally getting used to the humidity here, but after the rainstorm yesterday and the subsequent sauna-like atmosphere, I realized I'm not quite there yet. The humidity messes with my hair, too.....the frizz that I normally have around my face got all crazy curly! (Josh, you will notice in the background that I FINALLY got a map of St. Louis....I still can never tell what direction I'm headed, though.....there's no mountain to orient myself by!)

On Tuesday I had my first Aural Training test! It was only sightsinging, and it wasn't that scary, even though I sang in sol feg. Mrs. Hylton is really nice, and even though I missed the rhythm on the first part of my assigned example, I hit all the pitches and she let me re-sing the rhythm. I got a 10 out of 10! Yay for sight singing!

The same night was a get-to-know you event with the honors college. We played Twister! It was so fun, and I got to meet a lot of cool new people. I also found out that I'm pretty boss at Twister. I won three games! One of the games went on so long that the person who was spinning began making things up....like "forehead red!" or "left knee blue!" Needless to say, it got pretty intense. I woke up the next day and was most definitely sore from all the unnatural bending. :)

We had our first viola class on Wednesday. It was so much fun! We played through some etudes and caprices. For next week, we're all supposed to learn the same Campagnioli caprice and play it "with our own flair." That should be a lot of fun...I'm looking forward to hearing everyone play. It's nice that there are only 6 of us, plus Joanna, so we each get a lot of attention. I don't feel lost in a crowd and there is a lot of camraderie in the section, and in the music department in general.

Here are some pictures of my music buddies!

This is Stephen. He's a violist, too, and we were stand partners at Britt last year for the Brahms sextet that we played as an orchestra. He's so awesome! He's like a big brother.

The person sitting down is my friend Rebekah. She's a vocalist and a freshman as well. Even though she is a vocalist, and because of that inherently insane, she is still awesome and I love her to death. :) The person providing Rebekah with hair would be Marianna. She's a violinist from Brazil and has such a loving and hospitable heart. She has really made me feel at home here.

I've already introduced Emily, but this was such a great and ridiculous picture of her that I couldn't pass it up! By the way, Shelli, she says "bad news bears" all the time and I smile and think of you. :)

On the left is Natalie. She's an amazing cellist and is going to grad school next year. The middle person is Marianna again. The lovely lady on the right is Renita. She's a great violinist and is also a lot of fun.

Last but not least is my friend Justin. He's a jazz pianist. It's so cool to meet and chill with people who play different instruments and styles of music because even though we play differently, we still share the same love and passion for music. I'm learning so much from all of them!

I got my letter from the St. Louis Youth Symphony Orchestra on Thursday. I'm in! In the preliminary seating chart I'm 5th chair out of 12, so not bad at all. :) I'm so excited!!!! I'm going to learn so much...and I get to play Tchaikovsky 5 and Dvorak 9! Oh manny. There is also a rehearsal this year that is a side by side rehearsal with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, meaning we get to sit next to SLSO members for a rehearsal. I'm quite thrilled.

Aunt Laurel, Uncle Cary, and the Knopp family, THANK YOU for the packages! You are so thoughtful and generous, and you have a strange knack for sending perfect things that make me smile and that I had been wishing for. They're beginning to learn my name at the mail room where packages are picked up....the girl I picked up the package from today told me, "You're so lucky! You always have packages here!" I just smiled. :)

I have to start a paper now...it's a critique of an article, so I have to find logical fallacies in it and analyze its argument and all that jazz. Hopefully I can get it done tonight before the Arianna concert, and then I won't have to worry about it all weekend! :)

Love always,

Maren