Saturday, June 28, 2014 was the Morgan State University Choir's last day
in Minsk, the capital city of the Republic of Belarus. The choir and I
thoroughly enjoyed this country and its people. They generally were
all very warm toward us. Occasionally we might get a Belarusian with
stoic face or grumpy disposition, but that was never taken personally
but considered their less than optimistic approach to life.
Today, our check-out at Hotel Minsk went quite smoothly. We will miss the
buffet breakfasts that we enjoyed, where dessert offerings were served
along with oatmeal. We will never forget the sausage, wrapped in bacon
that kept you full all day. During this morning's breakfast, a
journalist met us to connect and get more information about the choir.
Many were trying to get last minute souvenirs as this might be our last
opportunity. We had a two hour drive to Mogilev, the third largest city
in Belarus who happened to have city festival today celebrating the
anniversary of the founding of their city. To be honest, we were not
looking forward to the day. We had two outdoor concerts (most choirs
hate to sing outdoors) planned at 3PM and 9:30 PM. I was concerned that
the day would slowly drag on ending in a long drive back to Minsk to
arrive at the airport at 3AM for a 5AM flight to Montenegro. Well I
couldn't be more wrong!
The drive out of the
city was very comfortable. We had a large enough coach where everyone
could have their own seat if they chose. We stopped for a rest stop,
where we purchased a few snacks. I was told that one of typical meals
in Belarus was the potato pancake. This gas station had these pancakes,
which I tried which was very good. I am told that Belarus has the best
potatoes in all the world. The potatoes products that I have tasted in
Belarus have been very good. You may have noticed in this photos that
the colors of Belarus are red and green. The gas station whose color
was green happened to have the country's mascot in the front lawn, a
bison (bull)s.
An hour or so later we arrived
in Mogilev. Although we have never been to Mogilev before, there was an
excitement in the city that seemed unusual. The city was overrun with
people in the streets, all obviously present to celebrate the
anniversary festival of the city. We immediately went to the city
square stage and heard wonderful local and international music and
dance. See photos of local musicians. We performed our set in the
square to huge crowd in the square. After first presentation of the day
in Mogilev, we all walked through the center of the city to a
restaurant for our supper. Along the way it felt very much like our
Baltimore Afram festival with an European bend, but much bigger. Local
ethnic foods were displayed, arts and crafts sold, clowns in the crowds,
persons on stilts, orchestras playing on the side - I can't say that I
have seen a more festive community.
The meal
that we had at the Mogilev restaurant was very tasty, but all Belarusian
meals have been good. I asked to recommend another typical Belarusian
dish, so I ordered Borsch soup, which must have been made from beets,
but very good. We have noticed that although not near a sea port,
Belarus served some extremely tasty salmon, as we have had excellent
salmon at the hotel, and the Embassy. Many of us ordered more salmon,
not to be disappointed. Some ordered pizza, which was served like an
ice cream cone. For dessert several choir members ordered cheesecake
with ice cream on the side with chocolate sauce.
We
then went to the site of our second concert in Mogilev. A venue in
front of the city's World War II Memorial off the river that dissected
the city. Virtually every major city in Belarus has a WWII memorial as
almost half the population lost their lives in this horrific war. When
we arrived other musical acts were performing. We admired the beautiful
views of Belarus from the war memorial. I knew the sound would be good
as the speakers were held by cranes on both sides of the stage.
Professional lights and effects were part of the show.
Our
nine-thirty showtime quickly came and it was time for the choir to
present our show. There must have been as many as ten-thousand persons
in the relatively close space to hear all the musical acts. They were
also in place to see the fireworks show that concluded the festival
concert beyond the river. Although the choir sings many different types
of music, this was not a place to sing anything that was slow or serious
as the crowd just came to have a raucous good time. We chose music
that encouraged people to clap their hands and participate. The crowd
was thoroughly "into" our music despite the different language. To use
an earlier analogy, we felt again like what rock stars must feel lie on a
world tour! Afterwards many in attendance were clamoring to tell how
much they enjoyed our show!
If you can imagine,
Belarusians do not see very many African Americans. Perhaps in the big
cosmopolitan city of Minsk, they may see a "brother" or two, however,
in the smaller cities, this is a very rare occurrence. Throughout the
tour, we did notice that many were staring at us. We did not ever feel
threatened> We could tell that the stare was one of curiosity and
novelty. If felt like everyone wanted to take a photo with a Black
American. If I knew their Facebook names, I am sure that the Morgan
State University Choir photos were overrunning Facebook. My Morgan
State University Choir members were only too happy to oblige them with a
photo or two! This is really what international tours are about -
connecting with other cultures, and persons from other cultures, if for
only a moment.
The Fireworks show was
extraordinary! We enjoyed a spectacular ten minute fireworks display.
This city obviously planned this festival to the "T". After the
festival we quickly went to the bus for our drive back to the Minsk
airport. We stopped to several grocery stores to buy some food for the
ride back, but the stores were so full that we either could not get into
the store or upon entering could not walk around the store due to being
filled beyond capacity - a sight that I have never seen before.
We
are on our way back for our 5:00 a.m. flight and on to Montenegro! Is
is approximately 2:30. I originally didn't think that I would have
time or energy to write this report, but the day was so full on so many
levels that I felt compelled to finish the report.
Eric
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