Tigers, Tiaras, and Terfel! Oh my!

Wow. What an incredible first day. We've already learned so much about New York and it's only our first day! We navigated the bus and subway system to get from the airport to the hotel. In our free time today, several of us went exploring throughout the city. These two experiences made us realize that we have to work on our sense of direction.

 Specifically, we (Abby and Jordyn) had an AMAZING day! In our exploration of the city, we found this fun store called Pink. Abby found a tiara and Jordyn found a tiger ring.  It was so much fun to be able to explore, learn more about the city, and have a little bit of fun shopping!

 This evening, we all really enjoyed our group dinner at Bella Napoli. It was so nice to be able to reflect on our day and make it official that we are indeed in New York.

Backstage!  The audience is
behind the shiny curtain
on the left! WOW!!!

 We (as in Abby and Jordyn) went to the Metropolitan Opera tonight with Mitra and Mr. P. We saw Don Giovanni, that featured opera superstar Bryn Terfel. We were lucky enough to meet Bryn Terfel through a friend of Mr. P's, Adam Diegel. (Thank you!!!) When we say we got to meet him, we don't mean at the stage door after the performance. We went to his dressing room and talked to him before the performance. We also got a backstage tour of the Met (green room, dressing rooms, everything) and even stood onstage!!!
It was my first trip to the Met, and I don't think it could have been any better.  The most intriguing thing to me was the combination of the glamour of everything the public sees and simplicity and almost grunginess of the backstage area for the performers.  They are two entirely separate worlds, and as singers, we are fortunate enough to be able to inhabit both.

 We're so excited to continue our trip because of all the exciting things we're going to learn!

Jordyn