Guatemala Day 20 - The Last Concert

After breakfast, everyone gathered in the lobby with their packed suitcases. As a farewell gift, the 'ambi' gave each of us a small bag with a bracelet and a pin.

We walked through the bumpy streets of Antigua to the street where the yellow school buses picked us up. We managed to load all our suitcases and squeeze into the narrow seats with difficulty. At 11: 15 am, we set off for Guatemala City.

Our destination was the 'Club Aleman'. When we arrived there about an hour and a half later, we were welcomed by heavy rain which turned the road into a lake in no time.

We were also greeted by the 'Rotharty Club Guatemala City', who had organized a lunch for us. After being warmly welcomed, the German national anthem was played and we sang along. A thanksgiving prayer was said afterwards.

Then, the president of the Rotharty Club, Mario Lopez, took the floor and welcomed us as well. He also explained a little about the work that the club does in Guatemala and the successes they have achieved. Due to recent events, we observed a minute of silence for the victims of the volcanic eruption.

Then the food was served and it tasted delicious. Before the meeting of the Rotharians ended, we went on stage to express our gratitude for the kindness and hospitality we had received, and sang 'Loreley', 'Candombe' from Argentina, and 'Viva la Vida'. Finally, Mr. Lopez presented us with the banner of the Rotharty Club.

Since the next appointment was already waiting, we could not stay for long and quickly went to the buses. We arrived at our hotel, 'Clariton Suites', at around 15: 15 pm and quickly settled into the triple rooms, as we had to continue our journey directly. Loaded with concert clothing and sheet music, we drove for half an hour until just before 4:30 pm, to the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala (UVG).

We entered a lecture hall and took our seats.
Isabell, a professor, welcomed us with the words, 'It is good that you are here in this difficult time, we appreciate it very much.'
This was followed by a presentation on Guatemalan music history. We were shown instruments and also examples of music that were used in the past. A group of students played two pieces for us on a so-called 'Marimba', a kind of giant xylophone.
After the presentation, a group of five students performed the song 'Royals' by Lorde, followed by a choir from the university singing 'Jar of Hearts' for us. Then we were all given a bracelet and then took to the stage ourselves to sing 'Say Something' by Pentatonix for the students.

Then the performance ended and we were all given a snack before we changed into concert attire and walked a few hundred meters to the university's auditorium.
Before the concert began at 7: 30 pm, a minute of silence was observed here as well.
Then we took the stage with the other four choirs and sang 'Va pensiero' together.
After that, each choir performed individually and sang three to four pieces. There was also a soloist. After about two hours, the concert ended and we made our way back to the hotel, where we arrived at around 10: 30 pm.

While some went straight to sleep, others went out to find food, as there would be no breakfast the next day due to the early departure, and the packed lunch had been a while ago.
In any case, we were glad to be in our large beds to get some sleep before the long journey back home.