Don't worry, I'm still here!

This is what the practice cabin area looks like. Just thought you might want to know what I mean when I say I have cabin fever. See the last post if you are totally lost.

AHHHHHHHHHHHH! I can't believe I have LESS THAN A WEEK left here at Chautauqua! It is definitely impossible for me to communicate how excited I am to be going home. This excitement is stifled a bit by the fact that I am giving a recital 4 days after I get home and am SO not ready. SO not. It's really stressing me out. My face is breaking out because of the stress. Seriously, why do I have to be such a freak?! Anyway, then after I go home I am moving to BOSTON! Crazy. I am starting school in 3 weeks! 3 weeks from today actually!

So let me just recap what I have been doing for the last however many weeks it's been since I last posted. I have been practicing, practicing, practicing, practicing, eating, working out, eating, sleeping, working out, watching 24 occasionally, going to the beach every once in a while, talking on the phone, performing, rehearsing, rehearsing, rehearsing, playing NERTS, listening to music, doing laundry, and practicing so much my body reached an all-time-high-soreness-level. That made no sense. Whatever. So that's what I've been doing. Today was the last chamber recital, which was fantastic. Here are some pictures.

I have worked with this quintet for the past 6 weeks and we've had a "nice" time together. We played the Ligeti Quintet on our first recital and the Hindemith KleineKammermusik on our second. LtoR Rachel (Cincinnati), JJ (Indiana), Nora (Eastman), Kirsten (Michigan), and some crazyface. We pulled the Hindemith off with a week and half's notice, so I'm feelin pretty good about that. All that being said, I really DON'T enjoy woodwind quintet. Bleh. And here is a precious picture of the three flute players after the concert today. It's actually a pretty crummy picture. Oh well!

Um have I said how much I love playing with these two? Just checking. They are stars. Last week I was busy working on a piece for a solo recital I was required to play on. I played the Griffes Poem and it went quite well. Here is a picture of me and Judy (my connection lady) after the recital in front of the Jewish Center where I performed. I had to play on the recital because one of my scholarships was the Hebrew Congregation Scholarship (go figure). And no, I'm not special because I got a scholarship-- everyone has scholarships. Chautauqua is just awesome that way. Anyway, doesn't Judy just look like someone you would want to love?! She is great. I went over to her house the other afternoon and sat on the front porch swing and she had lemonade for me and we just talked for an hour. She's like my 4th grandma! Hahaha... But really, she was fantastic for coming to hear me play. And she is taking us out for burgers and milkshakes on Friday night! Yay for Judy!

I have a funny story from that recital, though. It was really crowded (because I'm so popular, attractive, all around awesome, what else....?) because the place I was playing was basically a living room, and there was no staging area or anything, so the other soloists and I waited in the front entry way area when we went on and off. So anyway, after I played I squeezed my way into this little entry way and started to put my flute away and this old man taps me on the shoulder and he's like, "Are you going to play again?" And I was like, "Oh no, that's all from me!" and then he said, in reference to the bassoonist playing at the time, "Well is that your boyfriend out there now?" And I said, "Oh no, that's not my boyfriend!" to which he replied, "Well I'll be your boyfriend! You'd have to ask my wife here first of course!" And he did that creepy old man wink thing. I just kind of laughed and acted like an idiot. Then he asked me if I would teach him flute lessons and I was like, "Ohhhh I..... uhhh.... have you ever played before?" It was really awkward. Then when he was going to leave he patted my arm and was like, "You are a beautiful girl, keep playing that flute!" It was so creepy. Gotta love old men.

Also, I forgot to tell the story about the bug going down my shirt in the middle of a concert. So we play in this outdoor Amphitheater for all of our concerts, right? Right. The week this happened we were collaborating with the vocal program and doing a Ravel opera. This is important because it means that the lights were off and we had stand lights, although we were still on stage. Anyway, long story short, I had about 3 pages of music left and something started "itching" down my shirt. I thought maybe a strand of hair had fallen down my shirt-- happens all the time-- so I just let it go. It kept bothering me, so I look down and there is a black bug crawling around down there. I FLIPPED out. And, hello, I wasn't going to let the bug just enjoy itself down my shirt for the rest of the concert. So what did I do? Reached down there, and while attempting to pull out the bug I smashed it all over my shirt. Really sick. The oboist sitting next to me died laughing. I looked ridiculous with my hand down my shirt trying to find the bug, I'm sure. It was a special experience.

And one more lovely story I need to document happened a few weeks ago at church. There is this guy who works in the theatre department here at Chautauqua who is LDS and he also happens to have a car and is kind enough to give us a ride to church every week. Anyways, so a few weeks ago we're sitting in sacrament meeting and I lean forward and put my elbows on my knees because I think I'm going to fall asleep. Not too long after leaning forward I feel a hand on my back. Don't worry, this guy decided he would take the opportunity to give me a full on back scratch in the middle of sacrament. Also keep in mind that I hardly know this guy and that I'm not reallllly a touchy person. I definitely was no longer in danger of falling asleep. I sat there for 5 minutes while this guy is just goin to town (touching my hair even.... so creepy!!!), not really sure how to get out the awkward situation (I should've grabbed his arm and said, "I think this is yours...")! Finally, my lovely roommate Carrie, who I heard muffle a laugh a few minutes before, turned to me and said, "Annie, I think I'm going to be sick, can you come with me to the bathroom?" She bolted out of the chapel and I followed suit. While I was trying to catch up to her in the hallway I asked her if she was really feeling sick and she was like, "No!!" She was saving me. Anyway, so I know lovingly refer to this guy as backscratcher. He really is nice, but that was just strange. The next week he picked us up for church and had his girlfriend of a few days with him. It was tender.

Okay I have to go to bed! There is so much more to say but I have a lot to do in these last few days! We are working on the Bartok Concerto for Orchestra, Mendelssohn Midsummer Night's Dream, and a Verdi overture right now in orchestra. We played the Mendelssohn for the first time today and it was so cooooool! Our last concert is going to be awesome. I'm just saying. I'll post again before I leave. Peace out y'all.

One more thing. Did you know foreign people (at least the ones I've seen here) don't wash their hands after they use the facilities. It's kind of gross. Yeah.