Wednesday morning the students slept in and then went out in groups to the Tallinn old town to go shopping and sightseeing. We then got back on the bus and drove out to the Methodist Church of Tallin. We had lunch in the church cafeteria and then settled in for an afternoon of rehearsal. Wednesday's concert was much longer (two hours), and it included performances by Latin's band and chorus, and the choruses and musical ensembles from Viimsi school and Vanalinna Hariduskolleegium (say that three times fast!), our two host schools in Estonia. Click here to listen to some of the concert. The concert ended with Messrs Teolis and Lunsford exchanging gifts with their counterparts from those two schools, as well as Katrin Raie. Katrin was instrumental in getting Latin to come to Estonia. During her time as a Rotary scholar in Chicago, she was in school with our own Vice President for Finance and Operations, Lorraine Arvin. Katrin worked at Latin during the spring semester of 2005, assisting with the Middle School project. She was absolutely wonderful host to us here in Estonia! After the concert, we headed back to the hotel for a quick change of clothes, and then took the students to Vanalinna Hariduskolleegium, which is a grade 1-12 school in the old city of Tallin, for a pizza party with their Estonian counterparts. The kids had a great time with pick-up games of basketball, soccer, and cards. Then they watched a short film that some of the Vanalinna students made. The Vanalinna school is an absolutely amazing building. The lower-most foundations date from the 12th century, and they have recently undertaken a massive renovation of the site. There are very few schools in the world which can claim to hold classes or serve lunch in catacombs dating back to the middle ages! -- Mr. O'Toole |
