My Journey With Up with People

Cast A Farewell Banquet

2013-11-23T00:14:00.001-08:00

I can't believe I never posted about Cast A's final banquet before we parted ways in Mexico. I guess I was waiting to get pictures from friends and then totally spaced on updating! Anyway, we had a banquet on our last night in Mexico (June 10th) before loading the buses (around 11:30pm) and driving through the night to get to the Mexico City airport. Phew, what a trip that was. Anyway, here are some pictures of Cast A looking all dapper for the occasion!

Amilee and I sang "At the Beginning" since we thought it summed up our UWP semester really well!

Study Abroad! Love this group of amazing people!

Me, Katy, and Clemence

Joshy!

Love my Frank!

Home Team #4!

With my travel buddies from the start!

Jolien, my first ever UWP roommate!

The original Colorado 4!

With my favorite mermaid!

Some of my absolute most favorite ladies: Sage, Amilee, Mallory, and Tara

Final Shows of the Semester

2013-06-19T19:06:00.001-07:00

{press play, then read}

Over the course of this semester, Cast A rehearsed for hundreds of hours and performed over 36 shows (and mini shows!). What's amazing is even though we did the same show over and over again, it never got boring. I LOVED doing the show, and even though there were definite moments of frustration (like being sick and not being able to sing, or not being a part of a particular part of the show as a dancer or soloist), I still always looked forward to performing for our audiences world wide.

On June 8th, Cast A arrived at Centro Cultural Universitario Bicentenario in San Luis Potosi for our last show day - which also happened to be a double show day! Phew! We had a ton of emotions built up, and I knew it was going to be an emotional day from start to finish. Let's just say I started crying during our WARM-UPS at 10am! haha. Oh well...sometimes it's a good thing to cry...it means the whole experience was worth it!

We had a fun warm-up with all the past round interns in both vocals and dance. Brekken, Molly, and Sage warmed us up vocally, and then Collin, Hector, and Sarah led us in a dance warm-up. Good times and lots of great memories! We sang lots of songs that our vocal instructor, John, has taught us over the semester including "In Your Arms a While" which means a lot to us all.

We headed into rehearsal, which was VERY brief and very fast. We got through what we needed to before breaking for a quick lunch, and when we returned for what we THOUGHT was more rehearsal, the band started playing all of our country songs from the International Medley. Let me explain...for nearly every country we visited {Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, and Mexico}, we had a song (or a few) from the country to show our thanks to that country. We had so much fun revisiting all of those songs since they brought back so many memories. Our cast stood on stage, held each other, and had a blast singing!

We took some time to appreciate and honor two of our Production staff members who are leaving UWP after this semester, John (vocals) and Wouter (band). Afterwards, our staff took time to get us pumped up and ready for our last show by telling us why and how they are proud of our cast. It was an emotional experience to see our entire cast wrapped up in arms and hugs around the stage listening to our staff. We were ready!

We got ready for our final Green Room, which we also knew would be emotional, and headed down to our meeting space. The staff ended it like they started it- with a big dance party to "Die Young" by Ke$sha, and then we had more "Right Now" moments where the staff walked by with ideas like "Right now your final audiences are waiting to see Voices," "Right now your real families are waiting for you to come home," "Right now all of your host families are missing you," "Right now, we are PROUD of you," etc. Made us cry, of course! Nicole finished reading us "Oh the Places You Will Go" by Dr. Seuss (which we started reading in Orlando, FL), and we had more time to just soak it all in. Then, it was show time!

Our first show was great, and our host family came that afternoon. It was great having everyone in the audience! We took some pictures after the show with our sweet little girls!

If our 1st show was great, our 2nd show was OUT OF THIS WORLD. Everyone was so passionate and so energized to just give it all to this audience one last time. No words can describe how alive our cast was - the energy was radiating off the stage. We gave it our all because we knew this was the last time Cast A 2013 would perform together on one stage. It was so incredible.

During our finale, the entire audience began waving white tissues that the staff had distributed without us knowing. The staff lined the aisles and nearly everyone on stage was crying. What a release. We ended SO strongly.

Mozart's Requiem from Austria - International Medley

Temba, Tumba, Timba from Cuba - International Medley

Backwards from USA - International Medley

Corre Boulevard from Mexico - International Medley

Shosholoza from South Africa - International Medley

Jai Ho from India - International Medley

End of the Mexican medley - International Medley

HOME

90s Medley pictures - the dance I got to dance!

Our Finale of Voices! AMAZING!

We had our finale strike song which was so much fun, and then we got to work doing our strike tasks. At the end of the night, we were shuffled outside (in the rain, mind you), and the staff showered us with champagne. Oh good grief. Going home wet, cold, and smelling like alcohol. We obviously made a good impression on our host mom! haha. We explained the smell. =P

I will NEVER forget our final show and what an amazing experience it was. It's a memory I will always cherish in my heart.

Last Week: San Luis Potosi

2013-06-19T11:04:00.000-07:00

It was hard to believe that we were pulling into our last city on the road when we arrived in San Luis Potosi. We loaded up the buses earlier that morning leaving Queretaro and had quite the amusing time when a good 20 suitcases just didn't fit on the bus. How that happened, we don't know. So we loaded up the bus itself with suitcases and we were smooshed in like sardines in a can! I had a repeat bus date with Andrew, since both of us were without, and we had a great time chatting more as we cruised down the highway.

We pulled into an Oxxo just outside of San Luis Potosi to have lunch and because we thought were were going to have to transfer luggage and walk into the city, but before we knew it, we were being told to get back on the bus and we drove into the city. We unloaded and walked to a huge welcoming event! We were announced one by one to everyone in the crowd and were handed a sparkly dove made by elementary-aged kiddos. It was SUPER hot, and we were on this crazy sloped platform that made it super hard to stand on! haha. At the end of the presentation, fireworks went off and we weren't warned about it. For a split second, I'm pretty sure we were all convinced someone was opening fire on us and we had a mild panic attack, but then we realized they were just celebratory!

We had Regional Learning with bus tours and free time in the city before our Allocation meeting. I found out I would be roomed with Brekken, Brenda, and Marion with a family of a mom (Alejandra), Yaya, Yayo (Grandma and Grandpa), and two little girls, Azul and Natalie. Did I mention there were also two Argentinian dudes couch surfing? Yup...we had a full house! We were in for a great week! We spent the first night doing some fun crafts with the girls before turning in!

On Tuesday, we had an internal day with the cast. We spent the morning doing workshops and team building activities, but then at lunch time, the girls put on a Casino guy’s appreciation lunch and had a great time. It was fun dressing up and serving the guys as they played Black Jack and Poker. We cleaned up and packed up and headed to a new location on buses to a workshop called "Gallery." None of us (besides 2nd semester students) knew what to expect.

During Gallery, we broke up into our home teams and had time to rotate through different stations. We had questions in a bag, a video from our Director of Cast Operations, Dave Penny, a challenge room where we picked an envelope and completed the task, a team meeting room, a sound bit room from the whole semester (which was awesome), letters from our staff members, and then a warm and fuzzy bomb room (where you write nice things to other people to make them feel "warm and fuzzy.")

Finally, we made our way downstairs to the Gallery which was FULL of memories from all semester. Pictures, quotes, etc. It turned into a completely emotional and cathartic experience. We sat and watched a video our cast mate Tori made about what we missed from home this semester by being here (things like losing pets, sibling graduations or pregnancies, family birthdays, etc.), but also what we’ll miss about UWP when we go home. Then we watched Brekken act out going home and going through her suitcase, reliving all the memories. We finished by picked up our last allocation card and schedule- which was our own family, address, and all that information. The fake schedule was hilarious. We had more hugs, more tears, and then went into wrap-up and clean-up.

Lugging those 50lb. suitcases around is EXHAUSTING!

Wednesday and Thursday were both devoted to Study Abroad. Our professors Pete and Theresa were in town and we had fun working on things, talking through the semester, and generally, having a blast! On Thursday, our final activity was building an ice cream castle and devouring the entire thing. EPIC! We had an absolute blast that day, but really, the entire semester. What an amazing group the Study Abroad team turned out to be! Love you guys!

Trips to the Oxxo were quite frequent in Mexico. It's a "cultural experience!" haha

Thursday we also had our final Community Impact debrief workshop. The Education team gave us numbers from the semester about how much community service our cast did! As a cast, we performed over 17,200 hours of community service in 5 months! I personally completed 112 hours this semester, which I think is pretty darn cool!

Friday, I spent the day doing PRI training, which is a Promotions Representative Internship, for when I will help out in Denver. It was a good day, just full of a LOT of information. I'm excited to work with UWP more when I get back to Denver, though. That afternoon, we got together as a cast and had one final cast meeting. We recreated our first cast photo, and then had time to talk with our best friend of the cast about how we'd changed and grown throughout our semester. It was great getting to sit and talk with Sage for a good long while.

That night at home, we had an awesome girls night. We grilled hamburgers and made french fries. We sat around the kitchen table talking non-stop for quite a few hours. It was such a good way to unwind and end the day.

The next day was our final show day, which was an absolutely incredible experience worthy of its own post. Sunday was our host family day. We slept in, ate breakfast, packed, and then headed to San Luis Potosi's biggest park to have a picnic and enjoy the weather. We sat our and ate Barbacoa (which is a type of cooked lamb) sandwiches while talking about everything under the sun. We were especially reflective of our semester and what our thoughts were about going home. It was a really peaceful, relaxing day. We headed home and spent our evening baking brownies, talking, and writing notes to our cast mates for our final day the next day.


Little Azul passed out in the car

Our final day together is another day worthy of a post all its own. San Luis Potosi was an amazing way to end our tour. I am so thankful for an amazing host family, great roommates, and lots of time to reflect and appreciate all we did this semester.

Monday was our "travel day" and our last day together as a cast. That morning, we woke up, packed up, and took some last minute pictures. In our house that week, the easiest way to get from the top floor to the main level was by using a ladder outside, so of course we had to document our week by taking ladder pictures!

San Luis Potosi was an excellent end to our semester abroad. I am so thankful I had the incredible roommates and host family that I did!

Sponsor A Day: MOMMY!

2013-06-19T01:00:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOMMY! My travels wouldn’t be possible at all without the love, support, and help of my amazing mother, and today is her BIRTHDAY! =) It was so great getting to spend time with my mom and share this experience with her both in Atlanta, GA and in Switzerland when she and my dad came to visit! I’ll be reunited with my dear mamala in a couple of days, but I couldn’t let today go by without wishing her a fantastic birthday and thanking her for all she did to make my UWP dreams a reality! She was such a crucial part of my fundraising endeavors, and I literally would not have been able to do all I did without here. Thanks Mommy. Can’t wait to see you soon! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Roomie Blog: San Luis Potosi

2013-06-09T20:03:00.003-07:00

For our last week on tour, 4 of us had the privilege of staying together with a wonderful, fun family in San Luis Potosi! We had so much fun together and had SO many great conversations day in and day out. I absolutely loved my time with Brekken, Brenda, and Marion!

Brekken:
From: Sheridan, Wyoming
Age: 19
Favorite Color: Pink!
Speaks: English and some Spanish!
Brekken's favorite thing we did as roomates this week: Eating homemade hamburgers and fries and talking around the table all night!

Fun Facts about Brekken:
- She's SUPER sarcastic...like all the time!
- She's a phenomenal singer (and quite the poster child for UWP! =D)
- She'll be working as a staff member for UWP next year! Hooray!
- She's afraid of moths
- She HATES condiments
- She's obsessed with Nutella and Ferrero Rocher.

Brekken (WY), Brenda (Mexico), me, Marion (Belgium)

Brenda:
From: Aguascalientes, Mexico
Age: 24
Favorite Color: Blue and purple
Speaks: Spanish and English
Brenda's favorite thing we did as roomates this week: Late night conversations and being caught (and getting in trouble) eating late night snacks in the kitchen...oops! Sorry Yaya! haha

Fun Facts about Brenda:
- She's one of five girls
- She likes gymnastics and volleyball
- She's also a fantastic singer and can do a great impression of an 80s Mexican popstar!
- You'd never guess because she's quiet 99.9% of the time, but she loves to talk!
- She's being hosted by the coolest people ever when staging in Denver next semester (in case you didn't guess, that's ME and my family!)


With our Host Mom, Alejandra

Marion:
From: Brussels, Belgium
Age: 21
Favorite Color: Blue
Speaks: French, English, and Dutch
Marion's favorite thing we did as roomates this week: (She agreed with Brenda's answer) Late night conversations and being caught (and getting in trouble) eating late night snacks in the kitchen.

Fun Facts about Marion:
- We wanted to room together ALL semester, and FINALLY in our last city, our wish was granted! We did a happy dance! =)
- She loves all sports, but she's done flying trapeze for 5 years!
- She loves camping
- Before UWP, she had never been on stage, but now she loves it!
- Her nose always runs when she eats...now how's THAT for a fun fact?!?


Loved hanging out in the park with these ladies on our very last Host Family Day!

Thanks for an incredible week, girls. I wouldn't change it for the world!

Community Impact: El Salitre

2013-06-07T07:55:00.004-07:00

On Thursday in Queretaro, I was a part of the group who went to a place called El Salitre to work in an impoverished neighborhood to help clean up and beautify a park area. We had quite a long bus ride because we had to drop off other Community Impact groups, but we eventually pulled up to the community and unloaded. We started by painting over a wall covered in graffiti so that we would have a clean slate to start our project.

As we were working, we unearthed a TEENY TINY little bunny! So sweet!! He was so terrified, though, because of all the work going on around him!

We spent the morning painting a "Tree of Hope" on the wall in preparation for the little hands of kiddos in the community. Before we knew it, tons of community members were out and about helping with the project, and we had tons of little ones ready to have their hands painted! I had so much fun painting "manos" of all the kids and holding them up so they could add "leaves" to the tree! Everyone was SO eager to help out and contribute!

Community members helped out by painting, too, and they were INCREDIBLE artists! Just check out what they whipped up!

We added our Viva la Gente logo to the wall, in addition to various sponsor logos and "Haz un Cambia" which means "Make a Change" in Spanish.

We had some downtime, so some of us played games with the kids!

We waited around for the Governor's wife to join the site and help out a bit. We'd interacted with her a bit on Monday when we arrived in Queretaro, so it was nice to see her again. She helped plant a tree and placed her hand on our tree as a gesture towards the community.

It was an INCREDIBLE day and definitely my favorite CI of the entire semester. It was amazing to work with community members and really feel like we made an impact. Painting with the kiddos and playing games were definitely the highlight of my day!

Queretaro, Mexico...Oh Mexico!

2013-06-06T21:43:00.001-07:00

Our cast arrived in Queretaro, Mexico on May 27th after a bit of a mishap with our bus company! We were supposed to load the buses at 6am and leave by 6:30, but when we all showed up for drop off, only one of our three buses was present! Our Operations Manager tried calling the bus company and the bus drivers, but no one picked up. So, rolling with the punches as we do here in UWP, she quickly ordered 2 new buses from another bus company, and, better late than never, we were on the road to Queretaro by 7:30am. Not bad for a last minute fiasco! Oh Mexico!

I had a great bus date with Miss Conny from Germany. It was a short ride, but we had a nice conversation!

Upon arriving in Queretaro, we met with the Governor and his wife in a welcome ceremony, and then we took some pictures with him before heading out in groups on a walking tour!

We all got some pretty sweet "swag" from the Governor's office. Red backpacks, red baseball caps, and red thermal mugs. In addition, our other sponsor's requested we wear these BRIGHT yellow t-shirts, so we were QUITE the fashionable tourist group walking around town!

Unfortunately, IMMEDIATELY after this photo was taken, my camera was knocked to the ground and broke. So the rest of my pictures this tour will have to come from the cameras of others (namely Ambrea!)


Here's how my camera takes pictures now. Lovely, isn't it?!?

We had our allocation meeting and host pick-up. I learned I'd be rooming with sweet Myriam again (we were together previously in Orlando, FL). Our host mom and sister showed up mighty late, so we just snapped a quick picture before loading up the car and leaving. Oh Mexico!

Our host family this week was a family of Mom, Dad, and 4 kids (20, 18, 14, and 7). I'll be honest, between the occasional language barrier and the gaggle of people around the house, I never did learn everyone's names. Allana was our 18 year old host sister who was an amazing translator. We had a great week with her, and Myriam and I definitely tried to exercise our Spanish as much as possible with our host mom and other siblings.

Tuesday, the sweet men of the cast threw us a "Gentlemen's Breakfast" where they treated us ladies to a morning of fun and pampering! We were escorted in, served breakfast, given sweet appreciations written by the guys, were able to ask the guys any questions we wanted in a "group panel" setting, and even had our nails painted and backs massaged! Watching grown boys try and paint fingernails for the first time (while wearing suits, mind you) is a hilarious sight indeed!


Our "entertainment." Oshizu's sheet reads, "You're Welcome!" haha


They clean up so well! We LOVE our men in suits! =)


Sweet Hughy painted my nails. I was his first ever client and he did a damn good job! =)


Manicure stations! =)


Joshy gave me a wonderful backrub! Thanks!

The gentlemen really spoiled us. We couldn't stop smiling, and it was a wonderful way to start our day! Thanks boys!

That afternoon we got to have lunch outside and interact with all the students of the school. It was great meeting so many different kids of all different ages. We had a fun lunch period!

Wednesday we had Study Abroad time and we got a lot of work done (mainly because my blog site and Facebook weren't allowed on the network. Psh!) I took a nap in the afternoon once I got my work turned in! That afternoon we also did a reflective-type education workshop concerning our semester, and it was nice to reflect back a bit and remember some distant memories!


Did I mention we had to wear our yellow shirts EVERY. SINGLE. DAY? Oh Mexico!

Thursday and Friday we had fantastic Community Impact days. I'll write a separate post about my favorite one that took place on Thursday!

Saturday was Host Family Day. We'd talked the night before that our family would get up EARLY (we're talking leaving the house at 7am) so that we could drive to San Miguel and spend the day at a thermal hotspring. Well, I woke up at 6:30 so I would be ready to go, but alas...we're in Mexico, and "Mexican Time" is not normal people time. Needless to say, our family didn't leave for the springs until 11:30. Oh Mexico! haha. The good news is, once we were there, we thoroughly enjoyed the warmth of the natural hot springs, the refreshing cool of the normal pool, and the relaxing rays of the sunshine!

Myriam and I relaxing and enjoying the sunshine!

Sunday we had our show day in a fantastically HUGE facility! We had a fun day jam packed of rehearsal, a mock rehearsal (where people got to try new, silly parts that they would NEVER do normally!), and then a staff appreciation presentation! We quickly got ready for our show and had a great performance. Unfortunately my host family wasn't able to come because of other commitments at church, but we still had a great crowd!

On Monday we packed up and headed to our last city on tour, San Lois Potosi. It's amazing how quickly time flies in this program!

Toluca: Show Days

2013-06-01T18:37:00.002-07:00

We've done a LOT of shows this semester, but none have quite compared to the two we performed in Toluca, Mexico. Let me explain why!

Thursday: Our first show in Toluca was in a wonderful, HUGE theater. We had a great set up and were ready to go. We'd had a succesful rehearsal and we started our show as usual. Then, towards the end of our 2nd song (which is a HUGE pump up dance number involving the whole cast), our sound system completely stopped...not a sound. Now, seeing as our band's sound is powered through the system as well, we were left with nothing. No mics, no band, no backup tracks, no nothing. Our cast didn't miss a BEAT! We didn't stop - we just kept going. And even better? We went from singing to REALLY SINGING in every attempt to help the audience hear us! It was an incredible moment. But it didn't stop there. Turns out, EVERYTHING electronic in our show (projectors, sound system, etc. etc.) was all being powered through one cord running back stage (yay Mexico!). Unfortunately, that power cord had to run across our main pathway between the stage and our dressing rooms, so with 120 of us, there was always traffic present. If anyone even tapped that cord, the power went out.

So, as we were finishing up a number called "You're My Son," I noticed out of the corner of my eye that the screen behind me was black, which is odd because it usually projects lyrics in the language of the country we're in. Normally in the show, there is a video sequence that comes immediately after that song, so without the projector, it's pointless to show the audience "Viral Hype." It was great that our staff was able to communicate to the band to tell them we'd be continuing on immediately to the next song. Our Emcee went out and made up and impromptu intro to the 80s medley, and away we went!

The first act ended just fine, and then we started into our second half after intermission. Well, about halfway through our International Medley, the sound system tanked AGAIN! Our cast amped it up once more and finished "Soran Bushi" with no trouble what-so-ever (it was actually THE perfect song for the sound to go out on). Our band kept playing, so when the sound did come back, we were in perfect time! Unfortunately after that number, our staff member Tonio came out on stage to announce we were having technical difficulties and that we'd be back as soon as possible. We left the stage (which we've never done before), and our production team figured out the problem with the power cord. Our fearless Cast Manager, Leslie, stood guard the rest of the show to make sure it wasn't touched, tapped, or tripped over. We picked up no problem and finished the show strong. It was a fantastic show that really proved what our cast was made of. We felt very proud of everyone that night, and it demonstrated just how fantastic our production team is!

All photo credit goes to Miss Ambrea!

Saturday: We had an even COOLER venue - OUTSIDE in the square just a bit away from the Teatro Morelos (where our Thursday show was). Who gets to say they performed in an outdoor, open-air concert? We do! It was such a fun show, even with fighting back the rain and chilly weather at times. Our cast came together and delivered another stellar performance for the big crowd gathered!


This was our "backstage." Rough, I know.


Our view Stage Left


Our great set up crew scaling the stage!


Rehearsal! (Party 'Round the World)


Part of the crowd gathered


At intermission, our cast stopped for a moment to enjoy Wish Lanterns floating up in the night sky. A wedding party was releasing them nearby, and we had the pleasure of watching them float up, up, and away! It was a great memory.

Toluca definitely proved to have two of my most favorite shows of the semester! =)

Dining Etiquette Questionaire

2013-06-01T06:45:00.004-07:00

For my Intercultural Communications class, I'm writing my final paper on dining etiquette from around the world and how customs and dining habits vary from culture to culture worldwide. If you have a few minutes to spare, please take my 10 question survey to help my research! Thank you!

Click here to take survey

Toluca, Mexico

2013-05-30T20:45:00.001-07:00

What a FANTASTIC week! Oh my word. After we toured the pyramids, we piled back on the buses and headed back towards Toluca. I had a lovely bus date with our cast manager, Miss Leslie. We had some bus difficulties along the way, which involved the smell of burning rubber and a misaligned bus (maybe?), but we eventually made it. We had an allocation meeting and then had a big fiesta with all of the host families! There was more food than I knew what to do with, and it was fun to mingle and enjoy live mariachi music. We also did a bit of dancing! =)


The whole cast with the Mariachi band...kind of hard to see where the Mariachi players are in a whole group of Uppies!

Then we headed outside to meet our host families. My host code was Mimo (mime). My host mom and host sister were doing the cutest little miming routine...I LOVED it!

Me, Silvia, Jenny, and Eduardo. Rodrigo was at track practice.

My host family was so sweet this week. Silvia used to be a teacher, but loves to cook and now works for the family catering/party planning company that Eduardo helps manage. Eduardo is also a graphic designer. Rodrigo (18) and Jenny (15) were always so sweet and welcoming - we really did feel like sibilings!

Tuesday I worked in my host sister's high school facilitating classroom workshops. It was a good day, but really tiring! As a cast, we did a workshop called "Stages of Loss" where we started talking about the end of the semester and the various stages one can go through when dealing with a loss: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance. It was amazing to understand all the crazy emotions we are going through and will continue to go through as our semester comes to an end. At home that evening, we played the boardgame Sequence - it was really fun, but my body decided I was ready for bed just after 9pm! haha. UWP redefines your sleep schedule in a whole new way!

Wednesday was study abroad day. We got a lot of work done, enjoyed some sunshine, Skyped with our professors, and then got to see the Backing Track Show (BTS) that some of our castmates performed at the Elementary School we were hosted at. A BTS is essentially a mini show or a trailer (of sorts) for our actual show. It highlights some great numbers in our show and condenses our message into a 20-30 minute preview!

After the BTS, we gathered for a cast meeting. We started it like any other normal meeting of 120 people...with a MEGA Musical Chairs game, of course! It got pretty darn intense and super competitive. People were cheating like crazy and really going for it when the music stopped. Oh well, it made for a super entertaining afternoon!

Silvia, Jenny, and I tried going to a movie that night and failed every attempt we made! I hadn't eaten and was going to eat at the theater (families here in Mexico usually eat their big meal at 3pm, so I'm the only one who has to eat at night when I'm picked up), but nothing good was playing and/or the times of the shows didn't work out. We tried two theaters, and I STILL hadn't eaten! Finally, at 9:30pm we gave up on the movie idea and went to Applebee's so I could order my favorite salad to go home and enjoy. It didn't really make it home. Driving home at 10pm I scarfed it down in the backseat! lol

Thursday and Saturday were show days this week, but they were such epic/unique shows that I'll write a blog solely about our Toluca shows!

Friday was another Community Impact day that was a little difficult to wrap my head around. We were super confused the entire time we were at our location and had no idea what we were supposed to be doing. Still not really sure, but oh well. I hope we made SOME kind of impact on the people we interacted with! =P

Sunday brought a wonderful Host Family day! We ate a delicious breakfast of sweet tamales and other treats, and then we loaded up the car to go to Valle de Bravo for a day by the water! My host dad Eduardo took it upon himself to be my personal paparazzi for the day...hence so many pictures!


Checking out Mexican sweets and getting the low down from Silvia!


Try my first Obleas!


Perhaps one of the most refreshing thing I've ever tasted: Raspberry (zarzamora) ice - basically Raspberry sorbet and it was heavenly!

We went for a little sea adventure on a big yacht! I even got to "steer" the boat...aka the Captain still held on while I pretended! =P

We had dinner after the cruise and then went to the local market to check out the artisan handcrafts!

That evening, we took a fun family photo with the dogs included!


Jenny, Amy, Rodrigo, Silvia, Eduardo, Lis, and Maya!

I wouldn't have traded this week with this amazing family for anything! We had such a connection and I truly felt a part of their familia!

Sponsor A Day: The Rodens

2013-05-30T01:00:00.000-07:00

Today’s travel day is sponsored by a wonderful couple celebrating their anniversary! Thanks to Deb and Pete Roden for their generosity and support of my UWP endeavors! It’s such a blessing having an amazingly supportive church family, and I love getting to chat with you both at various church events! I hope you have a wonderful anniversary enjoying one another’s company! Thank you for your support! =)

Regional Learning: Teotihuacan Pyramids

2013-05-23T05:30:00.001-07:00

What an INCREDIBLE regional learning day! On our travel day from Naucalpan to Toluca, Mexico, Cast A was privileged to spend the day at the Teotihuacan pyramids. Just wow. I had seen pictures before, but it is an entirely different experience seeing them firsthand and climbing them! We walked as a cast along "Death Avenue" to the largest of the pyramids, the Sun Pyramid. After taking a moment to take a cast photo, we were given free time for two hours to go explore. What did we do? Head for the top, of course! Tara and I decided to document our experience for everyone to see!

We had an incredible time at the top of the pyramid taking picture after picture. It was so funny to see what groups yelled for each other to snap quick group photos: "Study Abroads!" "Dade City Crew!" "Coloradans!" "Belgians!" "Band!" "Staff!" "JUMPING PICTURE!!!" Everyone was so excited to feel on top of the world!


Same hometown and high school, baby!

After climbing, many of us did some great souvenir shopping from the local vendors, then we walked to a restaurant to enjoy lunch. It was hot, but we still enjoyed our food!

Host Family Day: Mexico City

2013-05-22T22:53:00.000-07:00

For host family day, we had a leisurely morning with eggs and beans for breakfast, then loaded up and drove to a shopping mall to buy Tour Bus tickets to tour Mexico City. We waited around for QUITE a bit expecting a bus to show up, but it wasn't for another 45 min. or so before a bus finally arrived. Then the top level of the double-decker bus was full on that bus, so we opted to ride for a bit down below. I'm happy we did because many people were coming down burning hot and bright red from the sun! We got off a couple of stops into our tour to eat lunch at a very cute restaurant that had an outdoor (shaded) terrace. I ordered a yummy salad and a meat empanada, then we treated ourselves to some yummy desserts. I have lemon cake with a crazy glaze on it. Yum!

After lunch we were able to catch another bus that had room up top. We saw many different buildings and monuments, many of which I (ashamedly) cannot remember the names of, but I do have pictures to show!


The performing arts building for ballet, etc.


Mariana and me


Silvia and Paulina

Once we got home, we had a small dinner of hotdogs...yup! Felt like good ol' America! Then I barricaded myself in my room to make sure I got packing and homework assignments done!

Naucalpan, Mexico!

2013-05-22T22:34:00.000-07:00

What a great first week in MEXICO!!! We arrived supremely late on Monday evening after traveling for more than 24 hours, and we met our host families. I stayed with a great mom, Silvia, and her two daughters, Paulina and Mariana. On our first night, I'll admit I was a poor house guest and requested to go to sleep IMMEDIATELY upon arriving home. I was simply too exhausted from traveling for such a long time!


Host code was Ceviche. I had to laugh at the irony...I HATE seafood! Bleh!

Our first day in Naucalpan, half the cast hosted a Culture Fair for elementary-aged students while the other half of us stayed at Academia Maddox to do school projects with classes grades K-12. I worked with Beyah, Sage, and Alicia in a 3rd grade, 6th grade, middle school, and high school classroom that day. We also got our first taste of 'Viva la Gente' stardom. All of the littler kids followed us around asking for autographs and photos! It was crazy! Brian was one of my favorite examples. The kids were rushing him, so he took a minute and told them to please organize themselves in a civilized line...haha


Photo credit: Misa


Photo credit: Misa

I loved how welcoming the students were- it was truly amazing (and laughable, at times! Why did they think WE were so famous? haha)

That night, Paulina and Silvia picked me up and we went to the mall so Paulina could by Mariana a present for her birthday on Friday. While at the mall, we ate Tacos al Pastor which everyone has been raving about! I think I'll need to try them again - they were good, but nothing to write home about. Maybe another sampling will change my mind! =) I also tried frijoles charros and Agua de Jamaica (hibiscus water). I liked both of those a lot! =) Note to my fellow spice-avoidant eaters - Pico de Gallo in Mexico is NOT the same as the U.S. Normally the U.S. pico is mild and not hot. Here? They put raw jalapenos in there - my mouth and throat were on FIRE!

The next day the study abroad students traveled by taxi to our study location. We were spoiled with a great facility and lots of snacks from our sponsor!

That afternoon, our cast engaged in a really amazing education workshop about world hunger. To read my blog about our Hunger Banquet, CLICK HERE

The next day was a day out of the ordinary for our usual UWP schedule. Typically we only rehearse the show on show days, but due to our crazy schedule this week, we rehearsed a day before our show...and a good thing we did (you'll find out why later!). We did some crazy workouts and practicing in the courtyard outside in the morning before moving our rehearsal inside to the stage in the afternoon. Needless to say, we had quite the audience of little ones staring at us the whole morning!


If you look closely, you can see some of the kids staring at us from the windows. They were only a small percentage of the audience we had all morning! Photo credit: Ambrea


Photo credit: Ambrea

I went to see Star Trek later that night and enjoyed popcorn for dinner (OH how I've missed popcorn!). I might have nodded off a little, but it had nothing to do with the movie and everything to do with my exhaustion level! =P

Show day was on Friday, and what a show day it was! Our tech team discovered our dimmer (which controls all the lights) wasn't working and that most all of our lighting wires were fuzed on Thursday, so they spent all day and all night attempting to fix the problem, but to no avail. When it came time for our first show of the day, our lighting technician and tech manager both worked some incredible magic to cover the fact that our normal lighting wasn't working! I honestly didn't notice that much of a difference from our regular lighting design...they did a fabulous job! We were performing for a huge audience of children and my favorite moment of the show was at the end when we sang "De Que Color es la Piel de Dios?" (What Color is God's Skin?) and they ALL SANG ALONG! I was crying on stage I was so happy! (Yes, I'm a nerdy music teacher who can get emotional over kiddos singing, get over it!)


Signing more autographs!

We had our second show later that night and it was another great success. Paulina and Silvia came that night, and so did every boy-obsessed middle school girl, for that matter! haha. Those girls LOVED to talk to, get autographs from, and take pictures with the boys of our cast! =)

Saturday was our host family day - which I'll write another post about - and then Sunday we did yet ANOTHER double show day. One of my best friends, Brian, announced to the cast that he was going to be leaving to go home the next day and I was in shock and completely saddened. I set out to enjoy my last day with him! We warmed up and got right to work to do the quickest rehearsal of our lives before our first show at noon. Unfortunately, many cast members were getting overheated, tired, and sick backstage, so we lost quite a few folks before and during our first show. It made for quite the adventure, but we pulled together and supported one another in every way we could to still produce a great show! Mariana, Pepe (her boyfriend), Paulina, and Silvia all came to see the show!

We went to the Police Station to have lunch that day, and then before we knew it, it was time to head back to the show facility to get ready for our second show. I've never been so hot in my life during the shows here, and I've heard it'll only get worse...yeesh! Our second show that day was a private show for one of our sponsor's, but not many folks showed up. That's ok - we still perform our hearts out for the audience, regardless of the small group! =)

Oh, that night I ate a cricket! That was fun! Yay Mexico!

That night I came home, ate some quesadillas, and packed before going to bed! Paulina and Silvia dropped me off the next morning to head to Teotihuacan to see the pyramids before traveling to Toluca, Mexico!

Hunger Banquet: Raising Awareness of World Hunger

2013-05-19T22:58:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, Cast A had an emotionally charging education workshop concerning world hunger. Instead of being fed lunch, we entered a room and were handed an identity card stating who we were, where we lived, a bit about our lives, and our income status (high, middle, or low). We passed haunting statistics and photos on the wall as we made our way to our "class section." I took on the identity of Deng, a poor farmer from Vietnam. Due to my low-income status, I joined the majority of the cast on the floor, in a section covered in trash. The middle-income people had a circle of chairs, and the high-income group had a full table with chairs and decorations. The high-class was served by the staff. They were able to pick their beverage and were soon brought salads with vegetables and dressing. Later they received chicken and pasta, and finally fresh fruit. In the meantime, the middle-class group was given a big pot of seasoned rice and a pot of beans, Horchata (a cinnamon rice/milk type Mexican drink), and serving utensils and cups for everyone. Finally, the low-class was given a big vat of half-cooked rice cooked that was sitting in way too much water. It was a combination of mush and crunchy uncooked rice - there’s no good way to describe it. We were also given murky water in a jug, 8 plastic cups and a used metal serving pan (it still had some salad in it from the high-class meal). There were about 40 of us in the low-income group, so we had to figure out how to serve ourselves and make it work without having proper serving utensils or plates/silverware. I took a piece of paper that I had and folded it up to make a makeshift plate/utensil, but it wasn’t easy. A lot of people were eating with their hands or sharing cups, or even using the trash off the floor.

Eventually, the staff came in and took all of the food away – and there was still a LOT. Then, they brought in a trashcan and made a public display of throwing all the remaining food away as we had to sit and watch. At one point, one cast member from the low-income group ran up and grabbed a bowl of fruit out of the hands of a staff member before she could throw it away. It made me realize why thievery can be so present in such low-income areas. You fight to survive and do whatever it takes to do so.

The whole group in our Hunger Banquet room. Far left: High-income, Middle: Middle-income, Far right: low-income. Photo credit: Ambrea Peterson

The middle-income group serves up rice and beans. Photo credit: Ambrea Peterson

The middle-income meal: Rice, beans, Horchata, and serving utensils. Photo credit: Ambrea Peterson

The entire experience really impacted me because the statistics hit me hard. I always knew there was a bad imbalance of income level and food distribution, but I didn't know the hard facts. Perhaps you don’t, either, so I'd like to share them with you:

In a world-context, low-income includes anyone who earns less than $911 (USD) a year. Middle-class is considered anyone earning $912-$9075 a year. High-income is everyone else who's income is more than $9075 a year. Even though individual counties might have different ideas of what low, middle, and high classes are, it's eye-opening to see the worldwide statistics.

When it comes to the distribution of world income, the imbalance in numbers is numbing. The poorest 20% of the population have only 1.4% of the world income. The fourth 20% hold 1.9%, the third 20% have 2.3%. The second 20% hold 11.7%, and the richest 20% own a staggering 82.7% of the world's income.

1.7 billion people worldwide lack access to clean water

Every 3.6 seconds, 1 person dies of starvation...usually a child under 5.

7 countries are home to 2/3rds of those who suffer from chronic hunger. Those countries are: Bangladesh, China, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Indonesia, and Pakistan.

As a cast, we also discussed solutions and steps we can personally take to help the cause. Of course, there are the small steps such as not wasting food and making sure to buy fair trade items so that all workers involved in the production of a good receive fair and equal pay. But if you are interested in learning more and taking further action, please look up the following organizations and become involved as you see fit:

1. Stop the Hunger - www.stopthehunger.com

2. End Poverty International - http://www.endpovertyinternational.org

3. Mercy Corps - http://www.mercycorps.org

4. Feeding America - http://feedingamerica.org

5. UNICEF - http://www.unicef.org/

You can also take some time to play Free Rice on www.freerice.com. For every correct word association you guess correctly (or any subject question, for that matter! You can change what the questions are about!), the World Food Programme donates 10 grains of rice to impoverished communities worldwide. It’s a free game that helps feed the world, all while improving your vocabulary and other knowledge.

The Hunger Banquet was an amazing opportunity that really got our cast thinking. It propelled us to take action, and we hope that these statistics will prompt you to do the same. Curing world hunger can not and will not be cured overnight, but with little efforts from many, overtime, we can improve the quality of life for millions worldwide.

From Belgium to Mexico!

2013-05-18T19:00:00.000-07:00

Our cast ended our European tour in Tielt, Belgium and geared up for our country transition into Mexico!!! Because of the way our travel day was going to pan out, we gathered on Sunday night (our host family day) for a cast sleepover in our performance venue. We arrived at 9 and then had some internal time to make sure we were ready for our flight and to make sure we were prepared for our first day in Mexico when half the cast would host a culture fair and the other half would do school workshops with classes K-12.

Once the business side of things was done, we took some time as a cast to say goodbye to two of our castmates who would be leaving the tour upon arrival in Mexico - Diana and Caroline. We had a night full of laughter, tears, shared memories, and lots and lots of hugs.

Being sung to...one of Diana's favorite songs from 'Pitch Perfect.' Photo credit: Ambrea

Photo credit: Ambrea

I recruited Hayley to give me a quick hair trim that night, which was quite humorous as we hunkered down in the bathroom - Hayley sitting on the toilet, me on the ground, and she trimmed my hair into the garage bag! Yay for hair care on the road!

Photo credit: Ambrea

It was optional to sleep, no staff member could force the cast to lay down and sleep like they try to do in Kindergarten. Many did, many did not, but I chose to join one of the 3 rooms FILLED with mattresses to get a few hours rest in before our long day of travel.

3:30am rolled around and the staff was waking us up. We got ready, loaded the buses, and were on our way to Frankfurt, Germany to catch our direct flight to Mexico! Beyah was my bus date for the 6 hour bus ride. We slept the entire time! haha

We got to Frankfurt, checked in, and waited for our flight. I grabbed some lunch at McDonald's with some of the others, and then before we knew it, we were boarding!

Photo credit: Ambrea


I'm not actually in this photo, but Ambrea was able to snap a picture of quite a bit of our cast


Photo credit: Ambrea

Ironically, because our last names are next to each other in the cast, Beyah and I were also plane dates. Hooray for 17 continuous hours sitting next to each other! Good thing I really like the guy and can have great conversations with him! During the first part of the flight, I watched the new movie, "Oz, the Great and Powerful" and HATED it. I had to turn it off halfway through because I was so disappointed and bored. I eventually finished it, but it was a struggle, let me tell you! We had some lunch, lots of water and juice, etc., and I took another 1 hour nap. I attempted to watch "Les Miserable" since I knew I loved it, but I got about 45 min. in and couldn't focus anymore. Since the flight was 11 continuous hours, we took quite a few stretching breaks. I walked a bit and stood around talking to others before returning to my seat. Beyah and I had some great conversation for the last 3-4 hours on the plane, and then...FINALLY...we were landing!

Photo credit: Ambrea


Our welcome with our new name: Viva la Gente! Photo credit: Ambrea

Many of our Mexican student's families showed up at the airport to say hello and welcome us! Barby's parents even brought the family puppy! I was in love!

Then it came time to load the buses to drive to Naucalpan for host family pick-up. The only problem? Diana and Caroline weren't coming with us! We had to say goodbye which I absolutely hated. Luckily for me, I'm going to stay with Diana in San Diego after tour for a week, and Caroline lives 20 min. away from me in CO, so it wasn't goodbye for either girl, it was simply "see you later." I love and miss both of those girls!


With one of my favorite ladies- Miss Di!

No doubt that much travel was EXHAUSTING, but luckily, the transition into Mexico has been an easy one. Yes, the cast is experiencing jet-lag, but we all feel it the same way. We have enough energy during the day, and we sleep through the night just fine, but we get SUPER tired early on, like around 8 or 9pm. I can't complain, though. This transition has been a million times easier than the transition over to Europe! Here's to an exciting, lively, amazing last 4 weeks of tour in MEXICO!!!

Roomie Blog: Bettina

2013-05-15T11:32:00.003-07:00

My wonderful roomie this week in Tielt was the gorgeous Bettina from Norway! Fun fact - Bettina was one of the FIRST people of my cast I ever met! I bought my Voices CD from her at the merch table in Denver when I went to see the show last August! I asked if she was going to be a second semester and she said yes, so I told her to remember me because we'd be cast mates the following semester!

We had a great time together this week and got to share bunkbeds! =) So, without further ado, Miss Bettina:

From: Oslo, Norway
Age: 19
Favorite Color: Blue (you'd never guess looking at all of her belongings...note the sarcasm)
Bettina's Favorite thing we did together as roomies: The night we enjoyed ice cream from the ice cream truck with An and Robrecht!

Fun Facts about Bettina:
- She loves fishing and running- this girl runs like a machine!
- She thought she was a boy when she was younger! haha. I suppose that'll happen when you grow up with 3 brothers and are the only girl!
- She talks in her sleep - I witnessed this!


hahaha- we took this picture back in Ft. Myers- our first city on the road!

Host Family Day: Tielt

2013-05-15T11:23:00.004-07:00

We didn't really have a plan going into our host family day on Sunday. We knew 2 things: 1) we were going to sleep in and be lazy and 2) we would have to pack and be back at the Europahal by 9pm that night for our cast sleepover! But, the rest remained a mystery!

We stuck to having a lazy morning. I slept in, worked out, uploaded pictures, and showered before having a yummy breakfast with freshly baked Sunday pastries. Fun fact: Sundays in Europe are a BIG deal for bakeries. No other place is open, but you wake up super early and go get all the fresh treats at the bakery before they close. Apparently showing up at 9am is considered "late," according to An. Such a different culture than America!

Then Bettina and I spent time cleaning, organizing, and packing. We had to have our suitcases International travel ready and at the correct weight, so we were very meticulous in our packing! It was a very successful morning and Bettina and I did a fantastic job making everything work! Hooray!

We kept trying to get a hold of An's boyfriend, Robrecht, so he could join us for the day's activities, but he wouldn't pick up his phone! We took off for an adventure to the highest point in Tielt...aka this tiny little hill - I burst out laughing when we saw it! So diminutive in comparison to the mountains in Denver! We ran into Maddie and her family and we enjoyed a nice time in the old Catholic schoolhouse turned into a restaurant. I ordered the best hot chocolate ever and had my last Belgian waffle!

Robrecht showed up eventually and brought handpicked flowers from his garden for An to celebrate Mother's Day - sweet!

After we finished eating, we went out to explore the fields, the sights, and the windmill!

Aren't they cute?

Climbing up the steep stairs to see the inside of the windmill

We met a doggie on the road!


And a cow

Then we played in a park!

Later, we went out to La Vita e Bella for some yummy Italian food! We had some SLOW service and some interesting (rude) reactions from our server, but we still enjoyed our night out for one last supper together! That was always something I really loved about staying at An's house - we had fantastic meal conversations that kept us at the table for quite some time! =)

After dinner, we went home, said goodbye to An because she was headed to Antwerp to spend time with her son and his family, and then finished packing up our things and headed to the Europahal with Robrecht to be dropped off for our 1st cast sleepover!!!

Tielt, Belgium

2013-05-15T10:20:00.001-07:00

What a great last week in Europe. I had such a wonderful time in Tielt - it was one of my favorite cities. We arrived Monday after our free time in Bruges and had our host pick up. I was going to have a roommate, but she was currently with the rest of the second semester students on their mini-trip to the south of Belgium, so I had host pick up alone! We had all sorts of crazy Flemmish words as our host codes, and I had no idea what my code meant until a Belgian Alumni told me it meant Wheelbarrow! I waited and waited and never saw a wheelbarrow, but then a woman came up to me and said she was my host mom! She didn't have her wheelbarrow because she brought it to the wrong location and then biked over to the Europahal. Whoops! An was very sweet and very nice. One problem - she only had her bike and I had a TON of luggage to lug back (since I had Bettina's luggage, too!) She left me to go get her car, and then we were off!

An is ALSO a music teacher - in fact, she teaches teachers how to be healthy with their voices. Perfect for me? I think so! It was so great staying with her because she always had music playing and she understood my passion for teaching! She was such a sweet lady! We had a fantastic week, and An's house was in the perfect location! We were able to walk to everything - in fact, it wasn't until Sunday on Host Family day that I got in a car again! I absolutely loved walking through town every day and REALLY getting to know the city.


My amazing backyard for the week. It was unreal!

I had a great CI on Tuesday at the Sint Andreis Hospital working with some nursing home residents. We went for a stroll around Tielt so the residents could have a morning out in the wonderful weather! In the morning, I got to push Christiana around and I learned so much about her life! She was wonderful and reminded me a lot of my Grandma Stewart, so that made my heart happy! She was born and raised in Tielt, and we got to see the Catholic church that she was baptized and married in, as well as the cemetery that many family members are buried in.

That evening, Kevin (who lived close by, yet again! haha) and I went for a lovely walk around town. I had a little fun on the train tracks...

We also discovered that An had a HUGE world map in her garage with pinpoints of all the places she and/or her ex-husband traveled to. It just confirmed I want one of my own someday!

We had a good study abroad day on Wednesday and welcomed the 2nd semester students back.

The morning after Bettina showed up!

On Thursday we had a cool opportunity to go to Gent to see the Belgian National Special Olympics! Our sole purpose of the visit? To cheer on the athletes! We had a great day enjoying the sunshine, each others' company, and supporting the great athletes.


photo credit: Ambrea Peterson

That night, we had a wonderful dinner with An, Robrecht, An's daughter Analies, and her fiance (I forget his name...oops). After dinner AND dessert, An heard the ice cream truck drive by. She dropped everything, shouted, "WHO WANTS AN ICE CREAM?" and went running out the door saying, "YOOOHOOOO!" to flag down the ice cream man. Even though we were stuffed, we enjoyed our 2nd desserts of the night and had a lot of laughs over how cute An was! I hadn't had ice cream truck ice cream since I was little living in Naperville, IL! Yikes! =)

We had our shows on Friday and Saturday and a lot of us went out after our show on Friday night to a bar in town called La Terraza. It was fun spending a night out in town with our Uppies! =)


Me, Simone, Amilee, Dylan, and Kevin


They had a cool section in the back that was all a lounge area. They were like big beds!


We celebrated Tori's 19th birthday out!

We had a great host family day! I'll do a separate post for host family day because it was quite the adventurous day! We had to prepare to depart Europe and leave for Mexico.

Regional Learning: Bruges, Belgium

2013-05-14T20:18:00.000-07:00

So much to update! Sometimes I look at my life in UWP and think "HOLY COW! How is this possible?!?" Last week I was going from Sint-Pieters-Leeuw to explore the historic town of Bruges, and now, one week later, I've lived in Tielt and drove to Frankfurt to fly to Mexico! ALL IN ONE WEEK! Time in UWP feels so funny because things fly by, but at the same time, we pack so much into one week that it feels like so much longer!

Let me try and recap all that's happened in the last week! On our travel day from Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, Belgium to Tielt, Belgium, we took some time to sightsee! Our cast's 2nd semester students took off for their mini-retreat-type trip to the south of Belgium, and the rest of us were able to spend the gorgeous, sunshiney day in Bruges, Belgium - a super historic old town built on canals.

Things we did:

Shop for souvenirs
Sample chocolate
Watch lollipops being made
Ate fries (with curry ketchup - strange)
Explored
Ventured on a canal tour with 25ish of our closest friends (note the sarcasm...they were complete strangers)
Eat waffles and ice cream
Enjoy the gorgeous weather, architecture, and flowers!


Front: Brian, Diana, Amy, Linnea \| Back: Sage, Tara

Happy Mother's Day

2013-05-12T00:19:00.001-07:00

Here in Up with People, I learned that the world celebrates Mothers on different days of the year, but that didn't stop our International Cast from taking some time to send our moms some love! With the help of my friend Mallory, I made this Mother's Day video for our moms worldwide to let them know just how much we love and miss them!

To my mommy - I can't wait to see you! You've given me so much and I simply wouldn't be the woman I am today without your love and support. I am so thankful you are my mom! I love you!

What It's All About...

2013-05-10T02:11:00.002-07:00

Friends posted this video on Facebook, and I clicked out of curiosity. Little did I know this was EXACTLY what I wanted to see. This sums up what we challenge ourselves with in UWP every. single. day!

Roomie Blog: Lis (Cooooooba!)

2013-05-05T13:45:00.003-07:00

My roommate in Sint-Pieters-Leeuw this week was Lis from Cuba....or Coooooooba as she always says during Country Introductions in our show! She's so cute and energetic. It's great that Up with People was able to select Cuban students to travel for the first time, and we love having Lis around! Unfortunately because I was so sick this week, because she came home with a bad headache one day (so she slept all night), and because she visited other friends on host family day, we didn't spend much time together as roommates, but we still had a great week.

About Lis:
From: Havana, Cuba
Age: 24 (almost 25)
Favorite Color: Purple
Lis' favorite thing we did together as roommates: dinner together when we ate fries and had our host family's friends over.

Fun facts about Lis:
- She teaches children ages 6-12 salsa dancing at home. She's SO good at it!
- She has a 2-year-old son named Diego whom she misses dearly!
- Her best friend of 10 years, Pedro, is also traveling with us!
- Her favorite things to say in English are "AWESOME!" and "OhmyGod!" (all slurred together!)

Regional Learning: Sint-Pieters-Leeuw

2013-05-05T12:49:00.002-07:00

If you ask me to describe a perfect day from here on out in my life, it might just have to be this day on repeat. Seriously, I couldn't have asked for a better regional learning experience in Sint-Pieters-Leeuw.

After morning meeting and all that jazz, we loaded up a bus and other shuttles to take us to the Kasteel van Gaasbeek for free time before getting a tour of the local Lindemans Brewery. Gorgeous weather and sunshine, castles, nature, great company. Need I say more? Of course not. I'll just post pictures! =)


Inside the walls of the Kasteel van Gaasbeek


They have peacocks! I stole this photo from my castmate Nirite

Then we walked along the countryside behind farms and ended up at the Lindeman's brewery where they produce all the Lambic beer around the world. We got a tour and got to sample so many great beers - this coming from a girl who doesn't like beer! I tried Fore beer (it's extra sweet), Kriek (cherry), Apple, Raspberry, Blueberry, and Peach beers! SO YUMMY!

We headed back to our facility and had home team olympics. So. much. fun. But so gosh darn competitive! My home team didn't win, but boy did we put our best foot foward. We looked good doing it, too!


Home Team 4: First and Fourmost


Hometeams 1-7 compete in a human wheelbarrow relay race. WE WON!

I went home so supremely happy that day. Thanks, Cast A, for a fantastic regional learning! I wouldn't have changed a thing! =)

Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, Belgium

2013-05-05T11:59:00.002-07:00

When I asked my first roommate, Jolien, where she was from, she answered, "Sint-Pieteres-Leeuw" (Saint Peter's Lay-oo) and I said, "WHAT?!? Can you spell that, please?" Little did I know our future European tour would change and we would end up as a cast in Jolien's home town! I'm so glad we did, because it's very fun to see just where she's from!

We had a very short trip from Mol/Oud-Turnhout to Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, but in that short trip, I had a great bus date with our lighting technician, Andrew. He's a Wyoming boy through and through! =P

We arrived in Sint-Pieters-Leeuw and had a lot of time for internal work - so we had home team time, lunch, and then an education workshop presented by our education interns, Hunter and Sofia. We had time to appreciate how others in our cast have shaped who we are now, and it was great to get to share our appreciations with others and hear what others had to say about us! Before we knew it, it was time for our host family pick-up. I knew two things: 1) I'd be rooming with our Cuban student, Lis and 2) Our host code was De Smurfen (aka...the Smurfs). What I didn't know was just how darn cute my host family would be upon pick-up!!!


Daan had his outfit, blue face, and even strawberries (they were DELICIOUS!)

We enjoyed drinks in the cafe attached to our host pick up location, and I tried my first Belgian beer...a fruit beer called Kriek (it's cherry). I don't like beer, but this one was tasty!

My hosts for the week were the Keymolen family: Bart, Goedele, Daan (6) and Wannes (2). I learned that Bart is EXTREMELY busy as he is a potato farmer (and he has cows), AND he started a 6-year term serving on the City Council just this past January. We pretty much never saw him except for sporadic meals here and there. If he wasn't at a meeting, he was out in the fields working, or vice-versa. Goedele is my sweet, sweet host mom who works for agricultural distribution and has her hands full with two very active boys! Daan was so much fun to be with this week! He's full of energy and LOVES to be with me. He asked me the first night I was here to sing a song to him (LOVE!). From then on, he's followed me everywhere, has been my little helper, and loves to play games with me! Little brother Wannes wasn't so sure, I don't think. He never really warmed up to the idea of having us around. Oh well, I hope we didn't terrorize him too much with our stay! =P


He would always ask to see my computer because he LOVES the orange silicone cover I have over the keyboard

Tuesday we had study abroad day and got a lot of work done, including watching Little Miss Sunshine as part of our Interpersonal Communication class. Truth: there's a ton of great character development and interaction in that movie.

Wednesday, my castmate and fellow Coloradan, Mallory, and I had time off in the morning to go to Brussels with our mutual host-sister Clara from Cast A 2012. I hosted Clara during staging in Denver, and Mallory hosted her when the cast hit the road and toured up in the Fort Collins area. We were thrilled to see her again and see HER city! Only problem was...I was SUPER sick and I didn't know it yet! I didn't truly enjoy the morning because I was too worried about not getting sick in the middle of Brussels.


Colorado sandwich! Mallory (CO), Clara (Belgium), Amy (CO)

The city was gorgeous, the weather was perfect, but my body decided to hate me. Once we got back to our show facility to meet up with the cast, I said goodbye to Clara and hello to my host mom. I didn't want to miss the show, but there was NO way I was well enough to stick around and perform. I came home and slept as best as I could. I stayed home sick the next day, too, which I HATED because I missed the community impact I was most looking forward to: going to an international school and teaching songs. Turns out they didn't actually do songs, but they still got to work with elementary school kids and play! =(

I was all sorts of better by Friday, which was our cast regional learning. That day was the epitome of perfect, so it deserves a post all its own!

We had a great show on Saturday, and I enjoyed a very relaxing host family day in our village. We enjoyed a BBQ fundraiser put on by the local scouts (if you didn't know, scouting is HUGE here in Belgium. Everyone does scouts - it's a cool thing to do!) and we took in the sunshine! I said hello to the family cows, took a nap, enjoyed some peace and quiet, and packed.

Fun Fact: the calf standing up is named Uppie because our promotion representative Jolien, Isabel, and Linnea were at my host house making UWP posters a few weeks ago when he was born, so they named him!

Now we're off to Tielt and to explore Bruges, and before we know it, we'll be off to Mexico for the last leg of our tour! My how time flies!