London bound

All right! I got my ticket to London! I got 12 days there in August, plus a little stopover in New York on the way. It's less time than I wanted there - I really wanted to spend the whole summer - but, damn, I also have to move to a new city, prep 3 major college classes I've never taught before & be ready to start on Aug. 27. I'm also still in a minor trauma about whether I can afford the time or money to go to samba camp this year. It ends ONE DAY before my teaching-of-3-new-college-classes starts, which is a potentially life-threatening nightmare that only another teacher can appreciate.

But anyway. I'll have almost 2 weeks in London. I'm so excited. I'm going to visit all the local samba groups that I can find, during their rehearsals that week. I'm bummed I can't stay for the Notting Hill Carnival - but I'll hit that next year!! And then, my 2nd weekend there, guess who's offering an all-day workshop on Saturday just outside of London? Monobloco! With their whole battery of teachers. So it's not just 1 guy doing a mixed-level workshop, like most workshops are: it's a whole fleet of workshops: advanced surdo (3 sessions in a row), advanced tamb (ditto), advanced caixa/rep (ditto), plus a full day of beginner workshops too. Covering a wide set of other rhythms besides samba - lots of the great MB arrangements. Then Sat night they'll play a full show, then Sunday all the students parade through the town and party all day and all night. This'll be perfect - I'm solid on MB's caixa repertoire but never got a solid fix on the rep and third-surdo parts, so I'll focus on those instead.

London here I come!!!

As for New York - I've got a nice little stopover planned there. I'd even been considering moving there for a while next year, but guess what, guess what ,guess what, I can't believe it: Claremont Riding Academy has just closed!!! The country's very oldest horse-rental stable, and the very best reason to visit New York City, closed!! Just two weeks ago!! (Sounds like the owner just got tired; it was still doing fine.)

I guess there are probably some other things to do in NYC, but I can't seem to think of any that will top galloping a huge rangy snorting Thoroughbred through Central Park. Ain't it a pity. I guess I'll find something to do....

I wonder if I can find a horse to rent in London??