Coffee, frogs, love, and Eiololo Fatsa!

 We were having practice in the basement that Thursday because there was something going on upstairs. We sang a song about coffee.
C-O-F-F-E-E coffee is not for me!
Not for children is this awful brew! Makes them nervous and ill-tempered too!
If you should drink one cup, you won't give coffee up!

Pretty cool! It's a fun song! Later, Carl Villa's father came and sang a song about a little frog called 'Coqui'.

This is what a Coqui looks like. When they croak, It actually sounds like they're saying 'Coqui!'


He sang and played the guitar, tapping the sides of it so that it sounded like a drum. Mr. Wallenberg made him sing it a second time and he added a quick 'Coqui!' here and there to make it seem as thought the little frog was singing along. After he left, we sang 'Seasons Of Love'. Then Allegro had to leave and we labeled the notes from a song called 'Wolcum Yole!'- ALSO Benjamin Britain-in solfege. We practiced 'Wolcum Yole!' for quite a while. Halfway through, the Hernandez sisters had to leave. I didn't know why.  "Does she have to go with you?" he asked, pointing to me. They shook their heads and I was relieved. I really didn't want to leave.

Suddenly, Mr. Wallenberg said " Put away your books! It's time for Eiololo Fatsa!" The senior Vivaces cheered but I had no idea what was going on. Later, I found out it was an African song, accompanied by a dance.

EIO, EIO, EIO! Eiololo Fatsa! (x3)

EIO! Kalibitso Nantate! 

I don't know what the words mean, but it's a great song! Too bad it's so short.....

While we were doing that, I realized I've made alot of friends in the choir. Sheila, Kate, Mandy, and Mimi. 

They're really nice girls and I hope that one day, we will be good friends. I shall post more later!

Hallelujah!

 We were late that Tuesday. The four of us just walked in and we found everybody sitting down, listening to Mr. Wallenberg explain something. I-being short- was put in the front and Janet, Karen, and Veronica are taller than me, so they were put in the back. I was seated between two Allegros and Mr. Wallenberg said they'd help me. They did nothing whatsoever, but I didn't mind. We sang the CCC 'theme song'-at least that's what Mr. Wallenberg called it- and all I know is that it ended with 'Hallelujah!' I haven't the slightest idea what the other words were or meant. (They were in a foreign language.) After that, we sang ANOTHER foreign language song and wrote the notes in solfege. Then, we spent our last few minutes with Allegro singing a song about a race horse who was taken to work at a farm because he was too old to race anymore.
Look at me!
Can you believe that once upon a time I was so sleek! So fast! A real superstar!
But now I'm old and gray and hitched up to a broken wagon,
relegated to hauling hay!
All the day!
That's as far as we got, unfortunately. When we finished, Allegro left and Vivace practiced singing the rest of 'This Little Babe.' We were split into groups: Alto, First Soprano, and Second Soprano. I am a second soprano and so is Janet. Karen and Veronica are first soprano, so they were in a different group. We sang the song in a round after listening to the original version. Thank goodness we didn't sing as fast as they did! After we finished that, the senior Vivaces tried to show us a song from last year, but apparently they failed miserably because Mr. Wallenberg started laughing at them. Too bad... It seemed like a fun song......
I'll post more soon!

Yonder come day!... And Benjamin Britain with Bonnie and a magic beach ball.

 So here's the 411 on things. I have friends. Their names are Karen Hernandez and Veronica Hernandez. They're twins and they are my age. They also have two older sisters named Janet and Sarah. Sarah is too old to join the choir, but Janet can. They're good singers. 
THEY'RE IN THE CHOIR WITH ME.
When we walked in, Ms. Cole said,"Oh, hi again Viper!" and Mr. Wallenberg was impressed. "Wow! You deliver! I ask you to bring one person and you bring me three!" He did the tests and made all four of us sing a round to see if we could focus on our part while other people were singing. We could! They made it in! Mr. Wallenberg said they were to be in Vivace and he started this HUGE SPEECH. It was about how even though we were in Allegro level, he put us in Vivace because he felt that we would "Grow and bloom" in Vivace. He said he felt we were all hard workers and we could take the challenge. That was on Tuesday. I looked forward to our first project on Thursday with an "I'm going to vomit from the excitement!!" feeling. 


Practices are Tuesdays and Thursdays at Casa Central from 4:15 to 6. Since that Thursday was the first practice, there was going to be an open house type of thing that lasted until 6:30. We had a church activity that day, so we couldn't stay for the open house. I walked in to see everyone marching in a circle and singing. I made myself a name tag and jumped in. This is how the song goes:


Yonder come day! Day is a-breaking!
Yonder come day! Oh, my soul!
Yonder come day! Day is a-breaking!
Sun is a-rising in my soul!
Sun rise! Sun rising down yonder! Sun rise! Sun is arising in my soul!
Yonder!(x6) Sun is arising in my soul!
We sang in three parts. High, low, and very low. (I'll call them pitch parts) and we also sang in a round. By the way, it sounded awesome!! Then, we played with Ms.Fowler's magic beach ball-which cost eighty-eight cents at Party City... she told us for some strange reason-and we had to count how many times we could stop it from hitting the floor. Our group got 27 and Mr. Wallenberg's group got 20. We won. While we played, I made friends with a senior Vivace named Sheila. We joked about how our group was going to get past four.
Mr. Wallenberg told us the choir rules. 
!) No making fun of anyone.
2) Don' waste time
3) Go to the bathroom before choir
I think they're fair rules! After that, we sang 'My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean' and did pitch parts again. Not surprisingly, we sang it in a round afterward. It sounded great! I made another friend while we sang that song: Kate. She was really nice. Then, Vivace and Allegro sang 'Seasons Of Love' together and after we did that, we split up. Vivace had to go to a VERY,VERY small, cramped room. I felt very bad for Karen. She has Claustrophobia. The whole time, she just stared at the words in her carol book that she held with her shaking hands and didn't say a word. Poor Karen! We sang 'This Little Babe' by Benjamin Britain. I was very brief, but it was lots of fun! After that, came the end of choir practice and open house. We told Mr. Wallenberg we couldn't stay. "Oh... alright then! Take your snack and go!" I thought he would be mad, but he wasn't, thank goodness. And that was our first practice. 
I enjoy choir very much. We get to work as a team and do what we love.In choir, there is no 'shy' because it's impossible to be shy when you are having fun and surrounded by friends. I LOVE IT! Fill you in on more later.

THE APPALLING AUDITION

  I was auditioning for the Chicago Children's Choir at Casa Central in Humboldt Park. That Thursday was one of the most thrilling Thursdays in my life. I didn't have any time to change my clothes. My audition was at four thirty and my mother picked me up from school at about three fifty. I gulped down a cough drop on the way, thinking it would help, but it obviously didn't since I almost choked on it. On the outside, I was a pale, unmoving statue. On the inside, I was running around in circles screaming " OH MY GOSH! I'M GONNA DIE!" at the top of my lungs. Not a very pretty picture. I gave myself a mental pep talk as I walked up to Casa Central, but the sight blew it to smithereens. Now, I am going to tell you the truth. I am pretty short. ( I don't mind. I actually LIKE being short. SO THERE! :D ) I'm four foot six and I have to look up at things all the time. When I looked up at Casa Central. I couldn't decide whether it was one of those scenes where a person looks at a heavenly palace and hears a chorus of angels singing, or where a poor soul is being dragged to a dark, looming castle with thunder and lightning in the background. As I climbed to the third floor with my mother, Cecilia Obras, I remembered all of the things my friends and teacher told me when I sang ' What A Wonderful World' a capella in front of the school. I know it sounds EXTREMELY conceited, but it made me feel better. I opened the door and walked in. A lady with light brown hair tied back in a ponytail and blue eyes smiled back at me. "Are you here to audition?" she asked. I said yes and then she asked me my name. "Viper." I said quietly. To hide her expression, she ducked her head as she read the list of names. Viper.... Yes! Here you are!" We shook hands and she told me her name was Ms. Cole and she was one of the teachers. I also met Ms.Fowler, another teacher with short blonde hair and brown streaks. I became comfortable while taking to them and relaxed. While my mother filled out some papers, I paced back and forth, waiting for my turn. BAD IDEA. It only made me nervous. Anxious. Terrified. Any title for " I fell like I am about to have a heart attack, scream, and jump out the window." My mother tried to comfort me by saying I would do fine and I was great and BLAH BLAH BLAH. It didn't really help. 
   Suddenly, I heard a loud, cheerful voice saying " And the next one up is... Viper!" We both walked toward each other. The voice belonged to a man with gray hair and large, expressive brown eyes framed by thin wire glasses. " Hello, Viper! My name is Mr. Wallenberg! Shall we begin?" 
I wondered what he saw when he looked at me. A short girl with shortish brown hair and brown eyes wearing a Navy polo shirt and khakis? Or did he see something else? I'm still wondering...
Mr. Wallenberg did some tests. He played notes on the piano and asked if I could echo them back, determined the range of my voice, and we sang 'Twinkle,Twinkle, Little Star' together. Then he sat down and smiled. " Are you going to sing for me, Viper?" he asked. I nodded. "Yes." He leaned forward excitedly. "What are you going to sing for me?" ONE THOUGHT RAN THROUGH MY HEAD FOR THOSE THREE SECONDS: GOODNESS GRACIOUS ALIVE!! WHAT ON EARTH AM I GOING TO SING?!
"Ummm. I'm going to sing 'What A Wonderful World'". I had no other choice. It was the only song I knew by heart. (No offense, Louis Armstrong, but after singing it SIX TIMES it gets  bit old.) He nodded, still smiling, and I took three steps back. " So...yeah." WHY DID I SAY THAT?! SOOO STUPID! (IF YOU AGREE WITH ME, I DO NOT BLAME YOU.)
I sang.
PICTURE IF YOU WILL: You are singing in a dead silent room with a bunch of strangers and they are all staring at you. You want this more than anything and the idea of messing up could make you go into cardiac arrest. The sixth stranger's eyes are very wide and he is staring at you with a blank look on his face the whole time you're singing with a blank look on his face as he leans back and covers his mouth.
I finished singing and laughed nervously as I felt myself turn red.  "Uhh... I finished." Mr. Wallenberg, the blank look still on his face, clapped three times and stared at me. "That... was beautiful!" I thanked him and we did some more tests-higher up on the ladder of difficulty. He told me to call my mother. "LOOK!" he exclaimed. He played three notes and I echoed them back. He looked at my mom and his eyes said " ISN'T THAT AMAZING?" my mom's eyes said "So?" 
" That was a very difficult test." he stated. "She has a good ear." The he started talking a thousand miles per hour about Allegro*-the beginner level- and Vivace*-the advanced level. 
'Wait." I stopped him. " Am I in?!" My level of stupidity seemed to be at an all time high/ "YES! YOU'RE IN!" I immediately burst into tears. "Thank you so much!" I sobbed. " You don't know what this means to me." 
"Aw! You're the first one to... aw! So cute! Come here!" He gave me  hug and I cried even more.




The dust has settled. I am in Vivace. (VEE-VAH-CHEY) I will have to learn to read music on the way, so I will have to work very hard.  "Are you up to the challenge?" he asked. I nodded and almost jumped as I clenched my fists and shouted "YES!" He told me I looked like a hard worker-I AM-and that I had lots of spunk-I DO. " I like people like you!" He said. WHAT THE HECK IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN? To this day, I haven't the slightest idea what he meant. Leave comments. Help me decipher the message! :)
When it was all over, I ran down all three flights of stairs- almost tripping down the way- jumped out the door and shouted "I DID IT!!!! I'M IN!!!" I got a lot of weird looks.... haha!
I didn't tell any of my friends until the very next day. (I like to leave people hanging, remember?) My teacher congratulated me. And announced it to the class. And made i tone of the announcements on Friday assembly. So now the whole school know I'm in the choir. That's.... great?! (I don't want to sound conceited again.)
Mr. Wallenberg left me with a mission:BRING PEOPLE. So can you guess what I did? Stay tuned!!!

Hi!

   To all of the people who are reading this: Hi!
I know that's two "Hi!"s in a row now. You can't blame me for trying to be friendly, can you? Anyway, my name is Viper Cecilia Obras. I am thirteen years old and I am in eight grade. It's my duty to inform you that this blog will be about my life in the Chicago Children's Choir. If you don't like fun, music, singing, personal opinions, and witty remarks, don't read this.
 There are a few things you should know about me. (After all, it would be strange if you were reading about a stranger you know nothing about, right?) Let's start with the basics. MANY people have asked "Your name is VIPER?! REALLY?!" with a shocked look of disbelief on their faces. YES. My name is Viper and, honestly, I actually LIKE being named after a poisonous snake. Another thing I like about my name is that IT'S AN ANAGRAM IN DISGUISE!!!! 
  Viper C.Obras. ISN'T THAT NEAT?! Who else has a name like that? (It's a rhetorical question. Don't burst my bubble by answering.) I love my name very much and I wouldn't change it for anything in the whole world!
MORE RANDOM FACTS ABOUT ME. I like to read, write, draw, listen to the radio 24/7, and sing. You will learn more about me as you read my blog. I'm the type of person who likes cliffhangers. I like to 'leave people hanging' as you can see. THE ONLY WAY TO FIND OUT MORE IS.... TO READ MORE. Leave me questions, comments, opinions, and insults at your leisure. It's a free country. :)