Long day of rehearsals...

Well I am still tired from yesterday. I got to bed really late and had to get up for a 1030 rehearsal today. This was tough rehearsal because it was in the middle of the day and the sun is really hot. This rehearsal we went over stuff we have learned before. This was good because I was able to pick up a lot more notes that I hadn’t had before. That went til about 130 in the afternoon. I hung around the panyard for a little while and then went to eat with Kirth, a man name “Saw” and a girl named Kristen. Saw is a man, somewhere in his 30s, who plays in the frontline and has been in the band for years. Kristen is a 3 cello player who is Seions, student and friend from Trinidad. She is one the players contracted to play with Seions bands. We took a short car ride to a Grill place. There I had some delicious grilled pork and fries. I come to find out that Kristen knows a lot of my NIU Trini friends so we talked about them and made small talk. We went to the store because Saw and Kirth were going to buy liquor for later. There Kristen explained a lot of the happenings of Carnival that I was unfamiliar with like what days things are, and other events. We then drop Kristen off and go back to Kirths. There the three of us just hang out, or what we call (yea I said we because Im one of them now) Liming. AKA - Chill, hang out, veg out, relax, put your feet up, take a load off, kick it with my homies etc. We were just talking about culture and our two different world. While listening to Beethoven? Yes. And of course there were a few drinks. Brandon and Maggie from the other day had stopped by just to say hey and of course they were quickly offered a drink. Then soon it was time first rehearsal at 7. If you are keeping track at home, we already rehearsed for 3 hours earlier.
At the 7 oclock rehearsal, we rehearsed old material for the first our and then at 8 Seion taught us more music. This time I was prepared I was really getting the hang of this rote learning thing and I actually could play the new passages very well compared to previous times. I also thing that todays music for my section was a bit easier because it was the jam. Anyways, I am really getting to know this pan very well and play very confidently. I still have some work to do but its definitely getting there. Oh and today I tried out my Liam Teague Cello sticks and a lot of people were impressed with them. I didn’t really like the for NIU pans but because they play the pans sooooo hard here they are great. So rehearsal finally ended a little after 1 (they 3 + 6 = 9 hours of rehearsal today) long day. The reason is because a lot of other bands have the arranger their all the time, Seion arranges for other bands so he can only come on the weekends.
After rehearsal we limed in the office with a bunch of people. There I tried some Ginger Wine for the first time and it was very tasty. I went down the street and got some friend chicken because I was starving. Then me and Kirth went back to his place. On the way back a small Asian boy flagged us down because his car battery died. It was him and two men and the little boy who had to be maybe 9 or 10 was the only one who could speak English. Either way, Kirth and I got out to jump the car. Because there was absolutely now power going through not even the horn or any lights. Then I put the jumper cable on his car snuggly and all the sudden the car horn beeps, and scares the HELL out of me because my head was under the hood. But we figured out that the battery connection was just loose and it started right up. We all went on our way and here I am. Blogging at 435 in the morning. Best get to bed. Luckily no early rehearsal tomorrow.

P.S. I am not proofreading nor have a I proofread anything thus far, It is late so don’t judge my misspelling, mistyping or bad grammar. But if you cant understand something I write please ask for clarification. Night