Por Fin!!

So, it's been a while and so much has happened that I have NO clue where to start..
I'll sum up Christmas quickly: It was great to see all of my family and spend time with them, I miss them dearly!

*New addition*
Over the Christmas break we (Christophe and I) adopted my dad's dog Alli. She's the cutest Maltese that you've ever seen and she has added so much to our lives. We wouldn't trade her for anything (or give her back!!).
My Dad and Sarah have moved to Singapore and seem to be enjoying it pretty good! I seem to get random Skype calls at 3am or 4am, but hey.. they're new to all of this. I can't wait to take a trip out and visit!


*Orchestral Adventures*
Since coming back from Christmas break I've become friends with this amazing chick named Linnea. She plays cello and was pointed in my direction by a mutual friend of ours (another great musician Felicia). We met, we talked, and I think we've clicked pretty well.
She told me about a couple of orchestras here in Madrid that she'd heard about, so we decided to check one out. Well.. I must first state that we googled this orchestra and the videos that we watched were.. well... lets just say bad doesn't even come close. Putting our fears and possible revoking of our musician license aside, we went to our first rehearsal.

*First Rehearsal*
Ok, the Director (Conductor) said that we started at 9:30am on Sunday. We got there a little early so that we could talk with him and get settled in before everyone else got there. After sitting there for what seemed an eternity he along with the rest of the Orchestra finally showed their face somewhere around 10am. Linnea and I were rather shocked at the level of Un-professionalizm of the entire group. It looked as if a group of 14 year olds were getting together to play music and no one was in charge. It was very painful to watch/hear. I couldn't play the first rehearsal because I had just had my wisdom tooth pulled 2 days before. The director would raise his baton to start, and everyone would continue to talk.... zero respect..

*First Concert*
So after 2 rehearsals Linnea and I were thrown into a concert where the two of us were sight reading more than half of the concert. We invited NO ONE!.. To our surprise there were quite a few people there, all of which are friends and family of the people playing (except us). The concert went smoothly, as far as people playing the right music. As far as sound.. well.. I don't think I've played in a group this bad since 7th grade band. (no offense to my friends that were in band with me then)

*Sucking it up*
So, after the concert Linnea and I looked at each other and decided that we HAD to find another group to play with. After talking with one of the Bass players we discovered a group that we may be able to play with. After contacting them this was their response.
"Thank you very much for your interest. We already have three fagots but I can take your contact for any program that we might need you. In the other hand, it is easier with your friend. If she wants to play with us, she should make an audition."

Yes, you read that correctly. Three fagots... haha. That is what they call a Bassoon here in Spain "Fagot". After laughing at the email, I realized that Linnea would be leaving me for a much much MUCH better group, and she did :(. I have decided to suck it up and stay with the other group until I can find something better.. Hey.. at least I'm playing something, right?? right??...engh...

More to come soon.. we have a concert next week, I'm sure something will happen worth talking about.. but then again.. probably not.

*Thanks for reading*