Trip 2 - Bien Bailar

I found the Internet again.....funny how we take so much for granted. I won't post how I got it working - you can ask me at the airport.

Anyway, we had our first show last night in a town called Calamonte. It was about a half hour from Badajoz. The town had a great square with a few cafes, a bell tower and a stage built just for the festival. After a sound check and blocking, we ate dinner at a local restaurant. It was a great meal (not that the cafeteria food at the university is bad, but I have never seen so many ways to eat tuna - we get tuna at breakfast, lunch and dinner).

The girls danced two sets in between dancers from the village (complete with castinets) and Slovakia. They did great - you all would be so proud of them. There is not a lot of English spoken in the smaller towns, but I do know that Bien Bailar means great dancing....that is what the woman next to me said after they did Chicas with Sticks. The band was great as well. You can tell that they have fun wherever they go.

I will say that the Festival has us working hard for our keep. We got home around 2 am after the show (the show started at 10 pm and it was still light out). After breakfast today they had us go to a square in town and do a few numbers as a teaser to get folks out to the festival. We danced with Romania for this show. The best part of this show (from my perspective) was when the girls showed the audience, including the Romanian dancers, how to do the jig. Just like a St Patty's day show....but better.

After the show they took us to a small cafe where we were served Spanish omlet and paella. Then we came back for lunch and some more practice. We have another show tonight in a town outside of Badajoz. Tomorrow is our day off, so we are planning some excursions that include opportunities to shop. All of these girlies are expert shoppers.

I will put some pictures in the next post. I still haven't figured out the linking of the gallery to the blog. I'll continue to post a few as long as the Internet magic continues and then everyone can look through pictures and get the stories behind them from your kids (or Facebook: ) ).