A Brother's Wedding

My youngest brother Nate got married yesterday. Kate, Mark & I took a few days off from Matiko to come home early and celebrate. An outdoor wedding at 100° F kept everyone in the shade, but the hour-long ceremony was over before I knew it. Matsiko arrived in town to perform at the reception, which brought tears to my eyes... after 4 days I missed my kids!!! Everyone was invited and I had many quick hellos with people I've known forever. It is good to be home, great to welcome Abbie to the Ritta clan, and amazing to see friends gather for a great occasion. Below are some pictures of the wedding week. Enjoy.

"The Cities", June 23-24

The choir has arrived in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area of Minnesota. We've had a great few days swimming, hula hooping, roasting S'mores, and performing. The choir performed the National Anthem at the Lynx WNBA game on Saturday. The league was celebrating the 40th anniversary of Title 9, the law Richard Nixon signed which guaranteed funding for girls sports in public schools. As a high school athlete, I realize the significance of this law (not everyone on the team did) and I appreciate it for what it provides for girls all over this country. Sometimes women's rights can be taken too far, but I believe in this case the Title 9 is right on the money (see Tshirt below for actual wording).

Eirin Asked for Pictures...

My good friend Eirin asked for pictures to go with my blog posts ... Here you go!! These are from our week in St Louis, everything from The Magic House, City Museum, the Art Museum, a Cardinals game... we did it all!!

The Math Tutor

I have become the main math tutor on this tour. The choir kids range in age from 8 to 16, and are in grades 1 to 11. With two different countries represented (Liberia & Peru) we also have two different languages (English & Spanish) and two different styles of learning. I've been brushing up on my math skills for some time now, covering everything from Base 4, to dividing "backwards", to adding sets of numbers (as seen below), often with limited assistance from the book. But at least I speak & read both languages! And I've got a brother who is studying to be an Architectural Engineer. Just text him a picture of an "unsolvable" problem, and voila! He (almost always) gets it right!!

Friday, June 22

The time with Matsiko has been flying. In three days Mark & I will head back to Nebraska to prepare for my brother's wedding which takes place a week from today. In one week my little brother Nate – the 4-year-old kid who used to crawl in bed with me back when I was in high school – will be a married man. I'm having a bit of trouble wrapping my mind around it, although with all things Matsiko I haven't really had to think about it much. If it doesn't sink in at the wedding, I'm sure it will once we get done with tour in September.

Late nights in Atlanta, Georgia

The deep south. This year Matsiko World Orphan Choir made their first trip to Atlanta, and I get to be a part of that. We have come face to face with the beauty, family values, and hospitality which make up my expectations of the Deep South. Atlanta is a beautiful city, situated amid hills, forests, and old plantations. Daily we drive past Peachtree Industrial Road. Every time I picture Scarlett O'Hara walking along Peachtree Lane (??) in <i>Gone With the Wind</i>. I've heard so much about the South in my lifetime, even attending college in NW Arkansas, but this is my first actual visit to the southern corner of the United States.

The Matsiko kids are loving our stay here. After 2 weeks sleeping all together on the floors of churches it is nice to take a break from each other and stay with host families once again. I love my team, but I greatly value my time "alone" when it's just me, my girls, and our host families. My girls and I have had a pool party, two evenings filled with movie-watching, and more food than we can handle, and we've loved every minute of it. And there are still 2 nights left!

Tomorrow morning we head out early for 2 performances at a summer camp & the Centennial Olympic Park. Lunch will follow at a delicious pizza place, and the afternoon should once again end early. And then on Wednesday, our last day in Atlanta, we will be having a "Lake Day" followed by dinner in downtown Atlanta with all of the host families. I've only heard murmurings, but it sounds like it's going to be spectactular.

Thursday morning we leave for Nashville, Tennessee, another place to which I have never been, and from there back to the midwest. I think we all have begun the countdown until the end. Not that any of us want to say goodbye to the kids, but 9 months on the road is a very. long. time. Please pray for wisdom and guidance as we slowly begin preparations for the end of the tour. Some people will be going back for a second tour, some will be going back to old jobs or finding new ones. We will eventually separate our paths, but until that day, pray also for safety and understanding on this long, long journey. I think all of us are ready for a week-long nap.