Day 6 in Spain,
As
it appears that we are seeing as much of Spain as one could possibly
see in nine days or so. We packed up our bags once again to tour yet
another Spanish city, Malaga, Spain, prior to concert in a neighboring
city, Coin, Spain.
On
the way to Malaga, we stopped at a Mediterranean resort community
called Torremolinos to see yet another face of Spain. After a two hour
drive to the town, we walked several blocks to the beach from the center
of town. Many of us commented that the place felt like our own Ocean
City, MD. However, I guess one beach community looks like another. We
were pleased that despite the fact that we were going more South in the
country, the temperatures were becoming more moderate and comfortable.
We
were walking ultimately for a group lunch at a restaurant on the beach.
Any meal on the beach, makes the food go down better! This restaurant
as you will see, had many new foods that we all tried and some even ate
and enjoyed! The typical Spanish meal began with a salad of which the
only choice for dressing was olive oil and vinegar which you poured on
your salad separately, rather then coming out of bottle premixed. Many
Americans eat sardines from a can, however, how many have never eaten
fresh sardines that are roasted over fire! We then had a plate of two
other types of fish, smelts and cod, lightly battered and fried. Most
were content for that to be the last course, however, the courses kept
on coming. The waiters then brought out another typical dish from the
Andalucian region, - paella with many different types of fish mixed in
the rice which was quite tasty. We finished the meal with ice cream.
Many Americans or persons who do not regularly travel are reluctant to
try new foods, however, I believe: what is the point of traveling if you
cannot taste the culture? Unfortunately, despite my encouragement to
the choir to try new foods, there was some trepidation regarding trying
new foods, especially in a foreign country. Unfortunately, I believe
there was much food wasted on the anxious American students, but in
Español “Así Es La Vida” - that’s life!
One
of the highlights for us was a sand sculpture showing the faces of
every person in the European Union - including our Great Britain and
United States in Donald J. Trump. The figures are incredibly lifelike.
Due to wind and rain the artist, must tidy up daily to remain in tact.
The artist stays in place to collect in donations from tourists. As
the chair of Fine Arts at Morgan, I appreciated the work as fine as any
piece of three dimentional sculpture I had every seen. The entire sand
display is a political statement on the disaffection with the ecomony in
Spain after the European Union institutated the Euro as the common
currency of Europe. After the Euro was in effect, the economies of the
southen European countries became much weaker. One will notice the face
of Angela Merkel in the center of the array of leaders whose face has
been altered via Photoshop to show the anger of the Spanish people.
We
then drove an additional thirty minutes to Malaga, the sixth largest
city in Spain, and the southernmost large city in all of Europe! Malaga
was founded in 1500 - 539 - BC making it one of the oldest cities in
Europe founded by the Phoenicians! The Phoenicians to Spain is similar
to Europe to the United States in culture that travelled from their own
country to explore new land, settle and conquer.
I
was very surprised to see the parent of one of the choir members from
the Prince Georges county meet us at the hotel in Malaga. She made a
vacation in Europe around our trip to Spain. In all of our years, we
have never had a parent go so far to hear their child sing a concert!
She was excited to meet up with the group and especially her daughter!
Malaga
has the distinction being the birthplace of the well know artist Pablo
Picasso and the current actor Antonio Banderas. After the Phoenicians,
the Romans occupied Malaga, and then the Muslims. Most of us think of
the Middle East when we think of Muslim territory, but we all were
intrigued that much of Spain was inhabited by Muslims for eight hundred
years! The Muslims hey-day in Southern Europe approximately mirrored
the Middle Ages in Europe, had a huge Empire in Southern Europe during
that time.
As
an aside, currently, Muslims are returning to Spain, making large
families at an alarming rate, possibly to regain majority rule in about a
hundred years or so! This concerns the Spanish people greatly, as
their families are much smaller. We only had a few moments to try to see
Malaga, but we appreciated the history as many very old structures,
from over two thousand years are still standing.
We
then traveled to Coin, Spain the site of our concert - the Parroquia
San Juan Bautista church. This church is the main church in the
community, with a very old building (as is everything practically in
Spain compared to America. The most difficult part of the trip to the
church was the very steep incline to get to the church, perhaps at a 45
degree angle, which challenged the best athlete in the group.
This
concert like the first concert where we shared the program with a local
choir - Coral Alminares de Nerja. This choir was larger that the
Madrid choir, numbering 45, at least twenty years older. Once again,
the format was for the local choir to open up, the Morgan choir then
sing the principal set, followed by a joint section. We first thought
that they might not be as strong as the first choir, but immediately
found our impression to be incorrect, as they sang quite well and
intentional.
Like
the first church concert, this was a free event. As mentioned earlier,
often concerts in smaller areas are much better attended because of the
limited cultural activities available. The concert in Coin, was the
best attended concert thus far with over five hundred in attendance.
There were so many in attendance, that at least an additional 75 chairs
had to be placed beside the pews in the church.
The
church priest was quite welcoming, and made everyone feel at home.
This particular large space, had a sound system superior to the first
which resulted in a much better presentation. Although the theatre
venue had a much more pristine and pure sound for the choir, the
audience was much more formal and staid in their reception of the choir,
although very much appreciated. This return to a church, was received
as well if not better than the first concert. We typically sell CDs and
DVDs at our concerts, and we ran out at this concert. Once again, this
concert was received much like we the first two, so enthusiastically,
that an outside might think our concert was pseudo cult-like!
See photos attached sharing the experience of the day!
EC
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