summer of music

last week, i went to the orchestra camp at the university of maryland, called SYMC. i have loyally attended the camp for five consecutive summers now!

this was the first year that ella could do the camp, and it was also my last year. so, sadly, this was our only chance to go together. we got to have orchestra rehearsals and world drumming class together! plus, ella got me to carry her cello around...

as always, they had spirit days every day of the week. i will never be able to top the crazy hair day from my third summer at SYMC! it attracted so much staring and pointing... i have a picture of it in this post! i was only 12 years old!

after the auditions on monday, i found out that i was the concertmaster! it was an amazing way to end my time at the camp. i was a little nervous for the concert, since i had a solo in one piece, but it went really well and i was relieved!

here are some pictures of me and ella at the concert.

and here is a recording of one of the songs we played, which has my solo. it is called celtic roots by soon hee newbold.

the flying squirrel

people often ask me what i'm going to do this summer. i usually start off by saying, "camps, camps, and... well, more camps." my 2010 summer break is like a patchwork of camps, and the best part is that i'm excited for each and every one! you can probably tell from all these exclamation points! anyway, i have decided that each friday, i will update you about my camp experiences!

and the first camp is... *drumroll*... earth treks rock climbing camp!

what? you didn't think i was the adventurous type?? well, i guess you were right. but i do love rock climbing.

monday
the first day of camp: time to learn! buckling up harnesses, tying knots, belaying, rappelling... all that good stuff. i actually had already learned this from calleva rock climbing camp last year, but my mind works in a pattern: learn, forget. learn again, hopefully remember! so the refresher was both needed and appreciated. :)

part of the gym (just for a visual idea)

pretty rad right? (by the way, i'm trying to expand the number of ways i say "cool")

tuesday
welcome to the real rocks! this was the first time ella climbed outside!

ella in the picnic area (before the hike to the rocks)... give her a rubber band, and she becomes quite dangerous

the first climbing site
everyone exhausted (after the hike)

beautiful view... way above the water!

the first climb
(difficulty: medium-hard)

climber (me!)

belayer (ella!)

the second climb
(difficulty: medium)

climber (me!)

belayer (ella!)

by the way, you should see this insane spider web that i found on the rocks!

the second climbing site

ahh, nice shade!


breezy, right next to the water...


the first climb
(difficulty: easy... except for one part)


"did you just take a picture of me? hmph... now there's evidence of me belaying while sitting down..." (haha)

wednesday
there was only one climbing site today, and it was awesome! challenging but so much fun.

the first climb
(difficulty: hard)

climber (me!)

the second climb
(difficulty: medium, except for tricky ledge)

climber (me!)

since we were at the great falls climbing site, we checked out the falls instead of climbing for longer. i had never seen it before, so it was neat to see. the water was surprisingly loud there...

thursday
i loved today's climbing site-- i had been there last year with calleva. the climbs were really challenging since there weren't many ledges. there were five climbs plus another one for rappelling, so there were rarely times that i wasn't climbing. ella and i always found ourselves climbing or belaying at the same time as each other, so we didn't get any climbing pictures today.

i will, however, be able to document the fact that this site was like a dust bowl (well, if you don't take into account that barely noticeable lake in the background).

by the end of the day, ella and i were caked in dust and in desperate need of thorough showers.

friday
olympic day: an exciting prospect for extremely competitive people, such as myself.

the first thing we did was a team building game which was, surprisingly, very fun. we had to work together to survive a treacherous journey through the gym without stepping into the shark-infested waters (a.k.a. the part of the floor not covered with mats). we had only the ropes hanging from the climbing walls, our harnesses, and our carabiners. the mats were about 10 feet apart-- yeah, it was a lot harder than it sounds. the campers who took the unfortunate fall into the water were saved but also became injured: someone became blind, another lost his arm, and one girl even became a mute. at one point, there was an open bottle of water (filled to rim) between two mats. we had to pick it up without spilling any water in order to survive. we put all of our lives into ella's hands, since she was the lightest camper. get this: we clipped the hanging rope to the back of her harness, suspending her body horizontally three feet above the ground, and pushed her across. it was amazing when our plan actually worked.

my team had three people, but the other three teams had four people. lucky me, the two boys on my team were really irritating. well, i shouldn't say that. with young boys, what can you expect? our team ended up being named "the yo mamas" against my will. you see, i was outnumbered. ella's team was called "the fire dragons," not that that's any better.

with our score sheets, we did various activities:

• a knot tying relay race: everyone did this together, and our team won!
• blind man: we climbed a simple wall while we had a handkerchief tied around our eyes
  
• frostbite: we climbed the same wall with handkerchiefs tying our thumbs to our hands... (pretty creative uses for handkerchiefs)
  
• hanging for life: we hung from a ledge for as long as possible (really hard!)
  
• bouldering: which is climbing across a wall without a harness on

while everyone rotated through activities, people took turns riding a ginormous "swing." the rope hanging from the ceiling was attached to your harness, and once they pulled you all the way to the ceiling... they let the rope go!! swinging so high in the air, across the whole gym, really got the adrenaline pumping...

the last thing we did was perform something for the other groups, which was worth the most points. my group refused to do something musical, so we ended up doing a skit, which i think was meant to be comical... another group sang a song with lyrics that they wrote, and even made a banner. with that, neither my team or ella's team won the olympics.

at the end of the day, we had a little award ceremony (plus, we got brownies)! first, i must tell you about how one boy that was on my team got the "confidence" award. haha :). ella won the "flying squirrel" award for her amazing stunt during our team-building game. i won the award for always being helpful and supportive.

this camp was so much fun, and especially because ella and i could belay each other (not only that... i also had the privilege of carrying shoes, helmets, harnesses, and lunches for two people)!

surfin california (vid)

this is a video of me surfing at surf camp in california with my awesome cousin allison! :) this was meant to be in my blog entry called, "surf and turf," but the video wasn't on the computer yet... so then i was going to put it in the blog called, "surfin usa (pix)," but the video still wasn't on the computer. so here it is! finally!





don't i just look so amazingly cool at the end? i know, i know.

beatriz atsavapranee

surfin usa (pix)

here are the pictures of me surfing that i promised in my last blog, "surf and turf." make sure to click on the pics to look at them close up. the faces i make in the last few are... well... you'll see. by the way, thanks uncle michael for taking these pictures!

 
steps to surfing:







1. be very concentrated as you get up onto the board















2. make a scared face as you attempt not to wipe out
















3. stand...














4. celebrate!










surfing bloopers:






1. bea falls on her butt
















2. bea is about to fall off the board (my face on this is golden...)








hope you like the pictures!

surf and turf

hey!

i am writing this exactly one week since my last blog! wow, i'm not blogging once a year anymore! *cheers in the background*!! summer's almost over *boos in the background*, but it has been an awesome summer! though there are still 2 and quarter more books that they are forcing me to read...

at the very beginning of the summer, i went on a road trip to ottawa, canada with my dance group! and, since i live in maryland, it took over 12 hours. now, whenever traveling takes less than 12 hours, it feels completely short to me. the hotel room had 2 queen beds and one pull out bed. sounds pretty spacey right? but no... we had to squish 7 people onto the beds. but on the plus side, we got a standing ovation at our performance! not bad, eh?

the first camp i went to was a gymnastics camp with my little sister, ella. we did some balancing poses for the parent show on the last day. ella was so good that they should’ve recruited her to a chinese acrobatic act! really should’ve.

the second camp was an outdoor rock climbing camp, on real mountains, which was awesome! it was an hour drive from my house, but there were buses that picked us up. so the whole time, we would sing bus songs! lalala! before the last day, we stayed over night to go camping... and i got over 10 spider bites. man, they take forever to go away.

then, i did an art camp with ella. we made so many things in one week. but, considering how much of a perfectionist i am... i'm surprised that i finished most of the projects! last year, when i went to the camp, i was still working on the first thing on the second to last day. things i made: color wheel (i had to draw long arcs by hand), paper mache penguin (a really fat penguin in the shape of a ball), fake fossils with leaf and shell imprints and a clay tile that i decorated to look like the beach... since it's summer!

i also did a music camp that i love. it was my 3rd year there. i was in the advanced orchestra, which was actually sort of sad because they sounded worse than the regular orchestra. a really cool part about the camp was the "spirit days." one day was crazy hair day, and so i decided to go full out. i bet you're wondering how i got my hair to be like that. i actually put a bottle in it. yes, it hurt... a lot. i came into orchestra rehearsal a few minutes late, walking behind everyone. right then, the conductor called my name for attendance. everyone turned around and were totally surprised (since mostly no one else did anything at all for spirit day. lame, i know). for lunch, we sit outside in front of a giant window where people walk by. and since the camp was at a music school, there were a bunch of tours. and every time the people would walk by, everyone would gawk at me and point.

i am part of the dance company culture shock dc... and the youth programs are mini shock (for ages 8-11) and future shock (for ages 12-17). for the auditions, they taught us a dance. the music was incredible... (by lloyd). and after we knew the dance, they would play the song over and over again until it was our turn to audition. and, i danced it full out every single time they played the music. i was sore. everywhere. but i made it in! :)

california:

we went to california to visit my uncle michael, aunt rosie, and cousins allie and adam. they live close to the beach, so we went to the beach a lot. it was surprising that one day, my dad actually agreed to let me and ella bury him in the sand. ella found out how hard it is to cover his feet with sand.

my cousin allie and i did a surf camp together in the mornings for one week. i thought i would be an epic fail, but i wasn’t that bad! from the parking lot, there was a super long hike to the beach where we were surfing (the word super is dedicated to uncle michael, allie, and adam). my scariest surfing near death experience: i let the surf board sit on the water, and when a wave came, the board shoots upward vertical to the water. i look up, and the spikes of the surfboard are coming straight at my face!! eeks!! luckily, i have super fast reflexes (not really) and shielded myself... safe!

we went to disneyland, where the churros are delicioso! we got there 15 minutes after opening a.k.a 8:15 am, and left after the fireworks at 9:30. wow, over 12 hours at the happiest place on earth! we went on a lot of rides. as you can see, to the right, we love the classic rides, like dumbo! my cousin allison and my sister ella are sitting in the front dumbo, and me and my cousin adam are sitting in the back dumbo. i also went on a bunch of new rides that i wasn't brave enough to go on before like: haunted mansion, indiana jones, and pirates of the caribbean. i ended up liking all of them! my aunt rosie is awesome to go on rides with, because she can tell you the scary parts before they happen!

i saw lots of family on my mom's mom and dad's side. got to meet, no, not elvis presley's daughter, but my 2 and a half year old second cousin! lisa marie! after i introduced the game of ring around the rosie to her... she was a bit obsessed. after every time we did it she would pop up from the ground and say "i want more!" and we had to do it again, and again, and again. and whenever we tried to play a different game, she would just hold our hands.

while my mom's side of the family was visiting my grandma's house in california, we all decided to take a walk to caltech which was very close. at first we were all walking together, but there were so many fountains... which my cousins, my sister and i liked walking and playing in. we got distracted, and eventually we didn't see them anymore. while we were walking, i saw a really ironic sign, and took a picture of it. "absoulutely NO STAPLES OR TAPE use push pins only." but they taped that sign on. i thought it was hilarious.

we went to the park, and there was this one thing that kept us amused for a long time. it's more fun than it seems! first, one pair would rock side to side, while the other would rock front and back. then we would switch. then we would rotate who got each seat. that was probably the thing we spent the most time on at the park. you should try it sometime.

we also went to adventure plex in california. they had an outdoor climbing wall. you could just climb up, or you could climb up on one color. each color was a different difficulty. and so i was doing fine (as you can see in the picture to the right) until the guy out there asked me to try the hardest trail. it was so hard, there was barely anything to hold on to! and the fact that i'm short doesn't help much either. i stood there just trying to get up just a little bit. there wasn't anyone belaying us, it was a thing that let you down every time that you let go. so i would go up a little bit, then fall. go up a little bit, then fall. over and over again. i kept trying, and he was so nice, he added handholds to make it easier. and eventually he belayed me so i wouldn't have to go down every single time. i made it!!!! (after an hour of trying, but lets not think about that part).

if you read my "curled by cousins" blog 2 years ago, you would know that my first cousin once removed, kevin, who's now in london, could curl ella when she weighed 35 pounds. now, she is 50 pounds and he can still curl her!

school starts in less than 2 weeks *tear*, need to finish the work they gave us... it's bad to be behind on homework before school even starts. i better get to it.

check back later, i'll try to add some pics of me surfing!

beatriz atsavapranee

pizzicato pain

hi everyone,

this summer i went to this really cool camp, summer youth music camp at the university of maryland. this camp is for 6th-9th graders. we would play music about two and half hours each day, which made me half asleep at the end of the day rehearsal. some of our instructors had PhDs in music and were university professors. they really focused on our technique which was intense. for that week, i thought that my stomach was full of rosin because i was breathing it in so much. everyone had 7 sessions a day, everyone had a rehearsal in the morning and afternoon. the orchestra rehearsed together, and the band rehearsed together. my second session was musical theater. we didn't read any music or set up a performance, it was mostly identifying musicals from the songs. my third session was technology, we used garage band (which are on macs) to create songs and then we burned them on to CDs. for fourth session we had lunch outside, on the grass hills, then we watched a concert. one day, almost recess came. they sang a song and let the audience pick a style for them to sing the same song in, which was awesome. there was actually someone who asked them to do heavy metal, they also did country, rap, jazz, etc. lol. we all had numbers on our name tags, according to our last names. the camp director would do a raffle for things everyday. fifth session for me, was sectionals which was where all the violins came together and practiced the violin part, in my case the 2nd violin part. for sixth session i had camp chorus, we learned 2 songs, neither of them english, but we did have music to read which was helpful, and we sang harmonies which was confusing at times. for the concert, we played 3 songs, which can be downloaded from the site below. we all had to wear tan pants, and a black camp t-shirt which was ginormous. they even wanted us to tuck it in! and since it was so long, it was really, REALLY bunchy. after the concert my mom, ella, and i went to cold stone creamery which was in college park, pretty close to the camp. i actually saw about 12 kids from my camp there, lol.

http://beatriz.skiing.googlepages.com/home

beatriz

many scrapes in a day

hi everyone,

today, we had to groom two horses. one was a pony that we were grooming for the mini campers (half day campers) and one was the one we were riding in the show. our mini camp pony was tica and our pony was annie. annie is actually a new pony at meadowbrook stables. during the show, it was basically like a regular lesson. i was thirsty... so i went to get a drink. suddenly, out of nowhere, annie starts trotting towards the other horses. i still had my water, so at that point all the cold water was pouring onto her neck. we were in the middle of a no stirrup exercise. annie starts galloping around and around! my water was still spilling! stephanie screams, "DROP THE WATER BOTTLE!!" so i did. the stirrups weren't on my feet so they were smacking her sides, which felt to her like i was kicking her! which basically means... go. she just got faster and faster. i kept screaming, "WHOA!!" really loud which apparently spooks them and makes them go faster. i fell off when she was galloping at full speed. i had so much sand and dirt in my mouth (which horses ride on. and do their "business" on.) when i was lying on the ground, the instructors were blocking me so that annie wouldn't gallop over me and leave hoofprints. my chin was bleeding, my elbow has a pretty bad scrape, and my chest has a lot of scrapes which aren't too bad. at first it felt like my lip was bleeding really badly but it turns out that my lip is just really puffy. my jaw is really sore. i probably hit my jaw right where the scrape is. it makes it hard for me to smile, chew, or move any of my face muscles. i got last place and i got to choose which horse i wanted to ride for an extra lesson. i chose annie because it wasn't her fault that i accidentally spilled water on her. everyone said that i was brave to choose annie after i fell and said that what i did was impressive. when i was in the office, they gave me a Bryers horse model as a "prize" for falling off. i realize i only like horse back riding for the riding part, not the grooming or the cleaning tack. but of course, the riding part can be really dangerous tho. so, i don't know.
after camp i came home and put peroxide on my cuts. and i packed for redondo beach, california. we are going tomorrow at 10:00 AM. so my next post will probably be from california.

beatriz atsavapranee

bareback games

hey everyone,

today at camp we wore shorts the whole time for bareback games. so, we didn't ride with a saddle, only a bridle. my partner for games was lauren today and we almost got never. never always tries to escape, he kicks other horses and bites. so, when we went into never's stall, he ran out fast out into the grass. people were chasing and running after him. but, then the instructors changed our horses. and we got annie. we groomed her and went out into the ring. we were there about 15 minutes before everyone else. we realized that we forgot to fly spray and put sun-screen on annie. so i had to run back and get it. then we realized that we forgot our helmets and water, when i went back stephanie was mad that we forgot them. we knew the first game was the candy contest because we saw candy in the ring when we were there early. so, we had a plan on how to get the candy well. there where only 3 groups (6 people) in our ring. we trotted around the ring bending down trying to get candy. annie was really helpful because she pointed out the candy to us. we won the candy competition with 122 candies. we also won the barrel competition (obstacle course). then we came in second for the command class game. that's where the coaches command something and we have to do it in 3 seconds and if we don't, our partner has to get on. then if our partner has to get off, then we are out. lauren went to graze and groom annie when i went to clean her bridle. i had to put water on it, oil, then soap.

beatriz atsavapranee

sore legs

hey everyone,

camp today was definitely better than yesterday. when we rode, we had to post and go into two-point, first with no stirrups, then with no reins. no stirrups was definitely harder than reins-- you have to squeeze with your legs and push yourself up for posting and two-pointing. my legs were burning! no reins was fun, and it actually made two-point much easier. i was glad we didn't ride bareback today.

i didn't have breakfast because we were in such a hurry. we had lunch at about 2:00 PM. the lack of food made me feel a bit dizzy which i think happens before you faint. at lunch, we saw a baby bird being eaten by smoky, the cat who is supposed to eat pests. sad and scary. :(

ella wanted to go to the pool again. because of my back, i just sat near the pool and listened to music... for three hours! i had a pretzel and i played a little ping pong.

beatriz atsavapranee

the flash bite

hi everyone,

today was my first day at meadowbrook horse-back riding camp!

first, there was a grooming contest. i got to groom louie, my favorite horse my partner, alexandra, got the pony, flash. flash just replaced buddy, who got sold. we barely spent any time grooming louie. since he is really tall, we couldn't reach the top of his back. but, we did what we could.

then, we moved on to flash, i was a little nervous because the instructors said that he might try to run away. my partner and i spent a long time trying to convince each other to go in first. we eventually brought him out on cross ties and started grooming, but he didn't seem to like me. in fact, he kept putting his ears back and trying to kick and bite me. when we ran out of time, we put him back into his stall and wished for the best.

we all went to lunch and our instructor, stephanie, told us how our horses/ponies were. she said that louie had to be done all over again, and i wasn't surprised. she said that flash was pretty good but that we had to pick his hoofs and brush his stomach. she said that she didn't judge the top.

we decided to finish flash first, since he is much shorter than louie. we groomed and groomed. hair and dust was flying everywhere. we put him back into his stall and went to start grooming louie. in just a few moments, someone came over and said, "did you touch flash?" stephanie told us that we had to hoof pick. so, alexandra did two hoofs and then it was my turn. i finally finished one, but it took a while because he kept dropping his leg and moving around. i picked up his other foot... and he turned around and bit me on the back! hard. it was bleeding, but the instructors just kept saying, "it's just a bruise." i was so embarrassed and they wanted me to walk around giving out sunscreen for everyone and their horses' noses.

then, it was time to ride the horses out in the ring. i was the first one in the ring. louie kept trying to eat the sand and the water in the water bucket. i knew he wasn't supposed to, so i pulled and pulled until other horses were walked in. we walked around the ring the whole time, and then trotted around one at a time so the instructors could separate us into groups. we had to groom our horses again, and then got popsicles!

when i got home i looked at my horse-back riding shoes. even though they were new and i wore them only once, i polish both my new and old boots.

my mom and ella wanted to go to the pool, but i decided against it because of my back.

beatriz atsavapranee

hey everyone,

today my mom, ella (my sister), and i went to the tack store for horse-back riding supplies. i got a pair of extra horse-back riding pants that are size 12! although size 10 was good, the sales woman said that they would shrink. i hope so because the size 12 were really long and loose around the waist! i also got new boots because my others can barely fit.

we went to the mall, and as always i walked right into abercrombie. i got a long gray shirt, a sweater and some baby blue capris (well, sweatpants that are capri length). my mom said that that was probably it for school shopping.

beatriz atsavapranee

hey everyone,

after this week, i have horse-back riding camp! horse-back riding camp is so much fun, but i hate it when the horses step on your toes. steel boots would definitely rock! when you take the horses out to eat, some just start rolling in the grass! i screamed when that first happened to me. then there are the horses that are just too impatient to wait for the designated time, so they eat grass with their bridal on and you have to clean it... :(

then after that week, my family and i are going to redondo beach, california to see relatives. my grandparents, cousins, aunt, and uncle are going to be there. we are going to go to the beach and disneyland. my sister ella is excited to go to the american girl doll store. she just started playing with them again, which means that i have to as well.

i am in the middle of the city of ember (i can't find the underline button so i am just going to make the book name bold) and i still have to finish my other book and write 2 essays, one for each book. hopefully i can force myself to be productive during the five hours on the plane.

beatriz