Reason for a Change-Mitch’s Blog

We are in the last days of rehearsal, and the show is going well, I am having a great time as I learning to sing with others, finding my place in the whole, and even some occasional reading of the notes on paper!
Here is a picture of the Breeden brothers singing in the beginning of the second act, and also a picture of my favorite cast members, babies Della and Lauralyn, who bring so much joy and family feeling to the show.

Here is the poster for the show I have been working on, this is last week of rehearsal, show is March 31 and April 1. This has been a great learning experience for me, I’ve been used to being a lead solo singer, and group work is different. The rehearsals have all been fun, in part due to the 3 generations of families in the show, yep the babies make some sounds, but they are learning the joys of family and singing and community, and this has made every night lively.

Emma called the other night, our first call from Africa. She is doing well and has been assigned to a region in ___________, working with a health clinic. which is a large extinct volcano, and is a tourist/hiking destination, the area is know for coffee and dairy products (and she thought she was getting away from latte culture!) She will be probably learning a Nilotic or Bantu language, I am not sure which.

I have to figure out how to get and use an African calling card, otherwise we may set up a special account with Cingular for 50 cents per hour.

Emma left last nite on a flight to Belgium, then on to Kenya and finally Entebbe airport in the pearl of Africa, Uganda. She will spend a nite in Kampala getting acclimated and meeting the in-country PC officials. Then the group moves on to the (undisclosed) training site in the heart of the countryside. I used Google Earth the look over the area, it seems the whole of the country is a drainage basin for the White Nile flowing out of Lake Victoria (~3700 ft. amsl) to Lake Kyogo and on to Lake Albert (2700 ft. amsl), then on to Chad and Egypt. So the country is a large plateau surrounded by mountains or lakes on all sides, with rivers running everywhere. Here is some info gleaned from the web:

Uganda’s weather conditions are ideal , ranging from the warmth of the lowland areas to the coolness of the highlands in the South West Kigezi.

For the most of the year, Uganda is sunny with temperatures rarely rising above 85 degrees.
The average temperature is about 79 degrees F, with a maximum of 65-88 degrees and minimum of 59-74 degrees depending on the part of the country.

The rainy season is March-May. There is a light rain season in November and December. Wet seasons are March-May & October-November; dry seasons are December to February & June to August. Rainfall ranges between 20″ to 99″ & the relative humidity is 70% -100%

The four seasons (2 wet, 2 dry) allows two planting and harvesting seasons a year in most parts of the country, without the use of irrigation. About 34% of the country is covered in wetlands with a dense network of rivers,lakes and swamps. Generally, the country is endowed with fertile soils. Uganda shares Lake Albert to the west and Lake Victoria to the south, which is the 2nd largest fresh water lake in the world and also the source of the Nile.

March 1, 2007
What a day! March came in like a lion, bringing swift and decisive changes.

1. It started with the Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard annual breakfast on a morning of rain and strong winds, a tornado watch was active all afternoon. It was a wonderful event, we raised more money than any previous year, plus we got a $10,000 matching gift! So many of our friends and aquaintances were there, it felt wonderful to be with my community of common interest. Sue, Sandi, Doc, and Bob came to represent the bagel buddies, and I had checks from those who could not make the breakfast. Eileen showed up to fill out our table and we had a good breakfast. Laura did a great job giving the keynote, it was her first time speaking after 9 years of Jessica handling the chores.

2. Michael McRobbie named president of IU, a big thing for techies like me.

3. Busy day at work, I teach Tom from IU Medicine how to create signature files. It was busy all the way.

4. (This is the big one!) Emma somehow packs her life into 2 big and 2 small bags, and gets on the airport shuttle to begin journey to her Peace Corps service in Uganda! Everything went well, we got to shuttle in plenty of time, said goodbye, and that was it. It seems our family thrives in high energy times, this is all happening around tomorrow nite’s full moon eclipes in Virgo. Emma’s strong Uranus is emphazed as well, this is a very energtic time for all of us, which I take as a good omen for her time in Africa.