Sunday, October 9, 2011

Contra dance and hiking

It's been a busy weekend. Yesterday didn't start very well. We had a session at the university in the morning but we missed the bus and got there 10 minutes late. The session was about using technology in international projects. Using Skype a teacher from Mexico told us about a project she was involved with. There were also some American teachers who introduced different programs and online environments they use in their everyday work.
We had lunch at a Thai restaurant and finished the session at 3.30 pm. Then we had a two-hour break and I managed to do something I should have done two weeks ago - I assessed some pieces of writing a group of 10th graders sent me.

At 5.30 Sarah picked us up and we went to Valle Crucis as there was a contra dance night in the Apple Barn. We didn't actually know what to expect but it was a great night and an amazing experience.

The place was full of great live music (violin, guitar, piano) and of people, some young some really old, swirling on the dance floor. There was a caller who introduced the moves and helped the dancers remember the steps and patterns. We danced like crazy there! It was really fun because I could dance with dozens of people. Another thing I liked about the dancing was the fact that you were supposed to look into your partner's eyes while swirling. I have realized here that in Estonia we don't really look into people's eyes while talking to each other :( 

It was really difficult to take a good photo there (I was also dancing most of the time). But this one probably shows all the energy, movement we saw and the sense of community we felt.

When we got back to the hotel at midnight we had another culture evening which was really fun. Today I got up at 10.50 am. It was nice to finally have some sleep. I talked to my family, parents and Ave on Skype for an hour or so. Then we went to Subway and had a sandwich for lunch. At 2 pm Sarah picked us up again and we went hiking.

We hiked for 3 hours and took the 5-mile trail. Right now all the trees are very colorful and people come to Boone to enjoy the fall foliage. I've even heard that these people are called leaf peepers :D So it can be said that we did some leaf peeping today.



 The trail was a bit difficult but we saw some amazing places there.

 Our brave group of hikers (Pablo was taking the photo, Margaret is gone missing somewhere).

After hiking we went to Golden Corral and had dinner there. Now we're sitting in the lobby with our computers. I'm doing the laundry again, Tea and Margaret are commenting on the photos they took today and Pablo is writing his blog.
Me and a huge car in front of the Golden Corral.

By the way, they believe here that if you catch a falling leaf, you can make a wish that will come true. So try to catch some leaves next week and start making wishes :)

2 comments:

  1. Muideks...selle silma vaatamise kohapealt on sul täitsa õigus. Kahjuks;(

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