Singing Men of Texas
Spain Journal
Sunday the 25
NOTE: Due to problems beyond our control (mainly Satan's trying to keep us from communicating our prayer needs and reports), this report is late. Our second computer crashed yesterday. We are trying again!
This is a travel day. Our bags had to be out by 7 a.m., and we ate our cornflakes and loaded up to leave Montánchez at 8 a.m. On the drive to Sevilla, we had our Sunday worship services. On the red bus, Bill Gammill led the music and Dr. Russell Dilday spoke; on the yellow bus, Steve James and Dr. Bill Thornton did the same. We reflected again on last night's concert, which was sung underneath Roman statues of gods and goddesses, and just about a hundred yards from the arena where Christians had to choose between Caesar and Christ - a life and death decision. We thought about our commitment to Christ; it was a meaningful time for all of us.
We arrived at Seville at noon; we stayed at La Feria (the annual Fair) for 3 hours. Our men were all dressed in their Texas attire and attracted a lot of attention, to say the least. It was a fascinating experience! This is a very colorful event, with rides, souvenirs and literally hundreds of booths. Horse-drawn carriages were available for rides. The most fascinating aspect, however, was the Spanish attire. Many of the people were dressed in multi-colored Flamenco attire, even children in strollers. As best we could tell, the main object of the fair is "to see and be seen." Our diplomats were invited to the municipal pavilion to be entertained by the mayoress.
At 3 p.m., we left to drive south to Cádiz. Today we left the Extremadura region and entered Andalucía. Cádiz is on an isthmus and is only a few blocks wide, although the population is 180,000. Our beachside hotel is beautiful! Our luggage truck was supposed to have arrived several hours before we did; but as we pulled up to the hotel, we saw that our luggage was still being unloaded. We only had an hour to find our luggage, check in, go to our rooms to change, and get back on the buses.
We arrived at "The English Centre" at 6:15 p.m. to set up. This is a bi-lingual school of 750 students, which is actually in the town of El Puerto de Santa María. The town is named after the ship, Santa Maria, which was built here.
We had a delicious four-course meal. Then the concert began with performances by the school's students - singing, playing musical instruments and demonstrating Flamenco dancing. Then two excellent civic choirs sang for us. This was a wonderful multi-cultural experience. Our choir, orchestra, and handbells again did a great job. There were several standing ovations. At the end of the concert, presentations were made to the mayor, assistant mayor, dean of music, headmistress, and owner of the school. We praise God for the opportunities we had today.
Click on picture to see the large version.
Young girl celebrating La Feria in Sevilla
Faith, Joshua, Grace and Hope Borgan
Student flamenco dancers at the English Centre in El Puerto de Santa Maria
Singing Men at El Puerto de Santa Maria
Our ladies at El Puerto
Cliff Hackler enjoying a meal at El Puerto