This week was a
whirlwind of a country transition! The week started with a 5hr bus ride to
Germany to catch our flight to Mexico! Everything went off without a hitch, but
the flight was long! 12 hrs. We met our
host families at 10 30pm. Mine is a
family with 3 daughters (5, 11, 12) and their house is like a princess
home! The two older girls speak English pretty well too, so that makes interacting a bit easier. I am getting to practice some Spanish with the family too! Everything in expico is so different from Europe! The houses are all colorful and even the way they put out their garbage is different! And there are stray dogs everywhere, and the driving is rather..... well I feel like I belong in a Fast and Furious movie.
Tuesday we hit the
ground running. We did class projects at
the Catholic school that is our sponsor.
There were 45 UWP students doing those.
The classes I had were very receptive which made it great. We did things on diversity for the younger
ones, and one on bullying for the older girls.
The kids would swarm us every time we weren’t in a classroom for
autographs or photos. UWP, or Viva La
Gente, is famous here, which is a little hard to get used to. The guys have it worse though, because the
girls are crazy about them. We have one
boy who looks like he belongs in One Direction, and he gets swarmed. It was still such a fun day interacting with all the kids and sharing our message with such eager students.
Wednesday we had class
at our other sponsor’s office which was great! Her name is Lupita and she was
the first Mexican to travel in UWP. She
was so kind and kept checking on us and got us drinks and snacks and is just a
wonderful woman. I think she is the
first sponsor I have met. In the afternoon we had a great workshop that put hunger and conservation into perspective very well
Friday was a double show
day. We also had to come in early at 7
30 to do rehearsal for our first show as Viva La Gente. The first show
was for the school and it was a whole new type of audience. They were screaming all the time and got so
into the show and always taking pictures.
We got swarmed at intermission and after the show for pictures and
autographs, and even after we were changed and in the area to eat, they still
came to do that. Then that evening was a
show for the general public, and there was still the same atmosphere. I felt like I was at a Just Bieber concert or
something. By the end of the show, all
our heads were pounding and we just couldn’t wait to get home. But then we had strike, and the only way to
get everything out was by 2 flights of stairs because there were no lifts for
the heavy things. So the girls put on their big boy shoes and helped carry down a large portion of the equipment (myself included!) We finally got to
leave at 1am after an 18 hr day.
Saturday was
wonderful. I spent the night at another host family's house because my family was busy on Saturday. They were hosting Erin
from VA and in the morning we went
to the country club they belong to and had breakfast and then laid out by the
pool and swam a little bit. It was very
relaxing. I also got to practice my
Spanish because the youngest would try and talk to us, so I had to
translate. I discovered I know a lot
more than I thought. Then we went to the
movies. But it was a special VIP theater
with big reclining couches and servers with real food. We had crepes and sandwiches as well as a
popcorn. The movie was great too, Star
Trek 2 and all for less than what we would pay for a normal movie in the states! It felt like a real treat
My host sister Becky, Erin, their friend and Erin's HS Sara
Erin and I at the movies
Sunday was another double show day which was really hard on the cast. After the first show around 15 students went home sick. Did I mention that Mexico City is even higher in elevation than Denver, CO? But those of us still standing managed to pull through and put on some pretty good shows!
week 1 down and only 3 more to go!
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