...And away we go!

So here I am in Perigueux, a small town about 2 hours northeast of Bordeaux, in the Dordogne region. It's BEAUTIFUL here. Clear blue skies, sparse trees, clean buildings with ancient roofs....the area looks like Ellensburg in the sense that, if Ellensburg was over 2000 years old it would look like this.
The last few days have been pretty rough though. Getting here wasn't too bad on the plane, but trying to juggle 100lbs of luggage on a train is not exactly easy, and by the end of the train ride I was exhausted, sore and covered in sweat...mmm...my little apartment was definitely not what I expected either. Very little furniture, bed with a foam mattress (and not the good kind), bathroom with a faucet that sprays water at my chest every time I turn it on, kitchen with almost nothing...I knew we wouldn't be getting a gourmet chef's utensils, but I was looking forward to cooking more than soup and pasta, which is essentially all I'll be able to do. Of course, there is no air conditioning, and I had no expectation of that, but what DOES suck is the brand-new fan I bought stopped working at 11pm last night and will not work at full capacity, which is a SUPREME bummer because it is quite hot here and my windows face west. On the plus side though, I'm content to HAVE a room to stay in, as well as hot water, toilet, internet etc., and I do have a balcony which was quite pleasant last night and this morning when I woke up at 6am. Plus, sunshine without a tornado - take that, Ellensburg!
Orientation was today, as well as what was adequately explained to me as "death by aria". We were instructed to sing 2 minutes of an aria or art song, so that the professors could get a better grasp of how we sounded besides our mp3 audition. No cast ice-breakers, no going around the room playing games, just get up and sing! Boy was it intimidating. SOOOOOOO many talented people in one small room! I'm really excited to work with everyone, at least based on the caliber of their singing, and whatever else our production is going to sound awesome! We also took a tour around historic Perigueux, which reminded me quite a bit of Vieux Lille back when I was there. Cobblestone streets, squished-together buildings, it was really cute. There is also a GORGEOUS cathedral here, Cathedrale St.-Front (my default picture here is the outside lit up at night) which we wandered around in for a little bit. I love cathedrals, the architecture is always so overwhelmingly astounding that I can't help but stand and stare around me for a while, then try to explore every nook and cranny.

Tomorrow: rehearsals begin. Eight hours of rehearsals, to be exact. The downside of having a small role is I'm a chorus member for three other casts, which equates to the eight hours of rehearsal essentially. But the conservatory is so cute, it used to be a monastery for nuns and it shows. I forgot to take pictures of it but I will tomorrow. Hooray France!