Dragon Boat Practice

After what was a far too long time of being awake (with flying halfway across the world) last night, we all got a good rest. Last night was our first dinner with all the other groups (buffet style in the hotel), we tried to be friendly and meet some new people, but nobody else was all too talkative.

A few of us wandered around last night. We are in a commercial/residential area so it was a lot of fun to see all the shops and stands and such. Some things are quite cheap including some amazing food. Donairs for 1 lira, pastries for 1 lira; if only they didn’t feed us so often, we might be able to try something.

This morning it was the same for breakfast in which we had great food but no company from other groups. The boys went on a long walk. We wandered through a street market as everything was getting set up for the day. There was all kinds of stands for fruit, spices, clothes, nuts, and everything looked interesting and tasty (except for the clothes).

We went back to the wedding place for lunch today with all the groups and afterwards, headed to the Lake for our Dragon Boat Race practice. We will be competing with the other countries on Sunday, and there are even big posters and banners advertizing this to the public.

 

After dinner we went to the stage at the Lake (where the Lake Festival performances take place) for our rehearsal and soundcheck. Rehearsal was Tyler walking around with a flag and us walking onto stage twice. The sound check was waiting through all the other groups’ bands to practice, so we could try 2 tracks on our CD. Not bad for 3.5 hours; ugh. Now it’s time for bed before our busy day of parades and opening ceremonies.