My first Jazz Camp

I got the idea of maybe doing a jazz camp in my hometown the summer I went to France for a jazz Festival.  I thought it will be a nice idea to bring this beautiful music back to my corner of the world. I had no idea of the logistics or how much work will it take to do this.  But arm with naivete I went and seek a place to do our first jazz camp in Cabo Rojo Puerto Rico.  I wrote a proposal to the mayor only to hear back from him to tell me he was not interested because he does not like jazz and he also believed the town wouldn't like it either.  I try to reason with him to no avail.  He did agree to give me a venue for the concert but nothing more.  The way a jazz camp works-at least this one- is  that a number of adult students sign in to take intensive instrument classes with professional masters of jazz.  After the week long curriculum the are ready to perform a free concert in a desirable venue.  The concert is free and the students pay for the classes so I just needed a classroom and a concert venue.  The mayor did gave me the venue but no classrooms.  In the middle of my back and forth trying to get the venue a club owner from Boqueron heard about the project and offer me his club as a venue.  I had my doubts but after seeing the place I was pleasantly surprised.
Next came the accommodations which since it was Spring break became hard to find.  But I managed to find a nice condo and a quaint home not side by side but close enough for the students.  After working in marketing-new to me-we managed to get 5 students plus their partners.  Not bad for the first time.   Usually when we go to France we have at least 10 but then again, France has a different allure.  
So there we were the students got there on Sunday the 30th of March, me and my Al got the friday before that to get the instruments make sure the accommodations where ready and take care of minor details.  It was a busy week, the students practice everyday for at least 8 hours with a break in between for brunch.  ( I made brunch everyday) Then after that we went to the beach, a different beach every day, after that was dinner in a restaurant.
One of the students, Betsy was going through a divorce and everything made her cry, she cried while singing, while doing vocal exercises, while eating, while on the beach, the poor thing was having a hard time, not with the experience but just going through a lot of pain.
We went to one particular beach, Playa Buye, and after taking a swim the students sat by the shore to see a spectacular sunset.  I mean they even applaud!  It was a beautiful experience.

Then Saturday came by and Betsy put on a beautiful flirty purple dress, change her hairstyle and turned a page!  She looked at least 10 years younger.  She was done and ready and it showed, I was so happy for her.
When the concert started we did not knew what to expect, but for our surprised the people came running to the spot.  I forgot to mention that during spring break Boqueron is full with people.  The students were playing latin jazz and the people just looooved it.  I mean they started dancing, applauding happily and having a great time.  The students felt like stars!  They sang Guantanamera, Usted Abuso, The shadow of your smile, My one and only love, among others songs, in front of a very appreciated crowd.
The students played guitar, drums, sax and they were also two singers.  It was a blast.
So I end up not using the venue the mayor gave me, but instead the one in Boqueron was much nicer and the people were down with Latin Jazz.  The students had the experience of their lives.  I have been so tired after all this...but now...am planning the next one