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Learn Something New And Beat Cabin Fever: Explore Museums Or Take A Virtual Cooking Class

Courtesy of The Washington National Cathedral
Take a tour of the Washington National Cathedral.

Updated Tuesday, May 12, at 4:55 p.m. This post will be updated regularly. Share your ideas with us at letters@tpr.org.

Bored at home? Have you already checked our list of things you can do this week? No problem. We've got a few more ideas of things you can learn:

  • Folklórico for adults

Not sure what to do this week? Learn to dance! El Tallercito de Son SATX is hosting free zooming class for adults of all ages and dancing abilities. Beginner classes are Mondays 7–8 p.m., and intermediate classes are Thursdays from 7–8 p.m. Zoom link provided day of.

  • Virtual Museums

While you can't go right now to the British Museum in London or New York's Guggenheim, you can go there virtually with the help of the internet. Washington DC's National Gallery of Art, the Musée d’Orsay  in Paris,  Seoul's National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art can all be accessed through this snazzy little site.  Berlin's Pergamon Museum, LA's Getty, Sao Paolo's MASP, Amsterdam's Van Gogh and the Uffizi Gallery in Florence are all there for you to see. And you won't need to update your passport! 

Or if you want something more local, check out what the San Antonio Museum of Art has to offer virtually:

Stay tuned for an online tour with curators Suzanne Weaver and Lana Meador of the exhibition Texas Women. Explore their collection online. Follow them on InstagramTwitter and Facebook for chats with the curators, trivia, games and a behind-the-scenes peek at the (socially distanced) work that our registrars and exhibition teams are doing. Find downloadable educational art curriculum for teachers on our website.

  • How You Listen To Music

Youth Orchestras of San Antonio's Troy Peters produced this short video for his students, and anyone who is curious. It has to do with how we listen to music. We all get into our ruts for how we listen to music, and in this video he details three ways you can break out of your norm and hear music in new ways. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8_VC7f0FTM&feature=youtu.be

  • Open Culture

The title is a good description: 1150 movies, 265 documentaries, online courses, lectures from Joseph Campbell, Carl Sagan, Leonard Bernstein, Buckminster Fuller. This is a site you're going to wonder why you waited for Coronavirus to visit. 

  • Gourmet Cooking Classes

Looks like you might be spending more time at home 'til we make our way through this thing, so why not finally make some headway in the kitchen? Gucci Osteria's Massimo Bottura is offering free cooking classes on Instagram.  You could pay an arm and a leg for cooking classes from an acclaimed chef or get them for free in the comfort of your own kitchen... Hey, that works!  

  • TED Talks

If you're anything like me, you really like the idea of TED Talks, but you haven't taken the time to listen to very many. It could be that now you have that time, so why not dive in? If you go to the TED Talks website, they have a really handy and interactive way that they can establish what kind of talks you would like, bringing you directly to topics that interest you. People can be really amazing, and people who give TED Talks have the gift of conveying that amazement.  

  • Senior Planet

Senior Planet, an online social community for people 60 years or older, is now offering courses on Zoom. The sessions allow the social connections, great conversations and fun to keep happening, despite social isolation.

  • Fly Through The Washington National Cathedral

Only in the age of drones is this possible. The lovely stained glass, the amazing architecture, and the beauty are all a nice break from COVID-19.  Don't forget to have your speakers up because the organist for the Washington National Cathedral provides music from Edward Elgar.  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vw9OiEFKMRY&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR2gzHaLVDHx0CkFhLtU9jvp4INyoFg8_ws8j274NsRzT-KzILMmBd23Yco

  • Or, tour Texas

KERA in Dallas put together a long list of different sites you can virtually explore, from NASA to Big Bend!

Still haven't found what you're looking for? Check out our advice on what to watch, what to listen to and how to entertain your kids while you're stuck at home.

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