South Africa Day 15 - 530 km to Pretoria

Almost on time at 8 o'clock we rolled out of the driveway of our hotel in Pietermaritzburg and set off for Pretoria. A 530 km journey lay ahead of us. The bus journey was mainly used for sleeping, but after the second break the bus was quickly transformed into a rehearsal room and we watched a few pieces together for the concert on Saturday evening. Between Johannesburg and Pretoria we were stuck in a long traffic jam, so we didn't reach the University of Pretoria until around 4:30 in the afternoon.

There we were welcomed with cheers and singing by the UP Youth Choir (UPYC). Some of us knew each other from last year, as UPYC had visited Heidenheim in April last year. We then loaded up our luggage and went to the UPYC rehearsal room on the campus of the University of Pretoria.

Under the guidance of the UPYC conductor, Lenthe, we then had a small workshop in which we rehearsed two pieces that were to be sung together at the end of the concert tomorrow, Saturday evening. First we sang the Earth Song by Michael Jackson, which we all knew well because we had also performed this song at the joint benefit concert in Heidenheim the year before. Afterwards the South Africans taught us a traditional blessing song, but of course not without varied choreography :) Once we had more or less mastered the text and movements, we were informed about the schedule for the next day and then found our host families. We then spent the evening with them individually and enjoyed the first impressions that Pretoria had to offer us.