4th of July YOA Party

Though I am still fighting the slow internet connection here in Mexico, I WILL at some point have a video online of the YOA brass musicians playing our national anthem in my hotel room as we celebrated the 4th. 

YOA Tours are all about learning about other people's cultures, sharing languages, and instilling a sense of pride for your country while appreciating the cultures of others.  So, for the 4th of July, we Americans threw a party in honor of our independence, and were joined by our friends from 20 other countries...

...in my hotel room.

It was a great time, and my room is by far bigger than everyone else's, so it seemed the appropriate time to throw a party.  We all pitched in to buy (extremely cheap) cervezas, plugged in someone's iPod with lots of salsa music to my TV, and posted a USA flag on my hotel room door.  Even though we were celebrating the 4th of July, we were all having a great time getting to know our friends from the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Colombia, Argentina, and all of the other countries of the orchestra. 

There were a lot of beer cans to pick up, and of course some spilled beer here and there... but I tidied up nicely before going to bed, and left a tip for the cleaning ladies in the morning.

One of the musicians (still don't know who!!!) left me a present...  When I was finished cleaning up and was getting into bed, I found about 5 copies of the sheet music for The Star Spangled Banner in my sheets, and under my pillow...  Thanks, guys.

All in all, it was a really fun party, and all of the musicians thanked me very nicely for hosting it in my room.  I really like the group of musicians this year.  They are very polite, extremely talented, and they are fun and interesting people to get to know.

It has only been about 2 weeks since I've been here in Mexico.  It has seemed like a lot longer.  Still, I am looking forward to the rest of the Tour because of the great people that I get to be around.

Also, it doesn't hurt that this year Patrick is getting to visit me halfway through the Tour!  Next Thursday Patrick will be arriving in Mexico City and will get to see two YOA concerts before heading back after four days.  This will certainly make life easier than last year's 7-week tour where I barely could even Skype...  Difficult.