If you do enough of these tours, you will find that you hear the word century a lot. Because the United States is relatively new as a country, we tend not to refer to things in centuries. Travel to Europe or other places and you will hear time expressed in hundreds and thousands of years when it comes to buildings or architecture or cultural memory. Our local tour guides in Spain will say the word century probably 20 or 30 times and it’s always very clearly pronounced as senchoori in a very charming Spanish accent. These local tours can sometimes be a little too long, and sometimes the guide may not be accustomed to working with teenagers. They are valuable not necessarily for the facts that are being told, but for the appreciation of time. Something that once was is no longer or something that still exists from thousands of years ago, provide so much beauty and offers a window into the past. Last night we had the opportunity to enjoy a flamenco performance that is both past and present, historical but very much still alive. It’s the best comparison to what we do as coral Singares something that acknowledges history, but lives in all of us.
Our time now has come to an end. There are so many thank yous and we are grateful to all of our students and families our chaperones our guides and we look forward to seeing you soon.