Viva Mexico! Guaymas, Mexico

I just wanted to start by saying a huge thank you again to everyone who has supported me along the way!! It's now the half way point of my second semester and every moment has meant so much and a lot of it is because of all of you!

First week in Mexico! Travel day way crazy.  We left our show facility Sunday night straight to the airport where we slept/hung out on the floor from 12-3.  Michael and I watched more Game of Thrones instead of sleeping like everyone else.  Then it was time to start checking in.  Checking in half of the cast was such a hassle and took an unusually long amount of time.  The first plane ride most of us knocked out before we even left the ground at 5:15am.  We laid over in Phoenix for an hour or so where the temperature was already drastically different.  My flight buddies for the first were Miles and Cammie, both from CO and then for the second flight we sat on a super tiny plane where we filled up the whole plane, plus one random guy.  When we stepped off the plane in Mexico, it was obvious that we were no longer in Washington! It was about 95 degrees out and sunny.  We arrived to our location and were immediately taken to a new one where there was a beautiful Viva la Gente float that was meant for us for a parade we would be a part of.  So many of us hit our walls smack in the face that walking in a parade did not sound appealing, but once we saw our little guests that were kids dressed in international costumes from around the world we already began to perk up.  Half of us were on the float with the kids and the others were walking ahead waving flags.  I was in the walking group which turned out to be a ton of fun and my cheeks hurt from smiling so big! We ended on a pier where the mayor of the town and his wife had each of us introduce ourselves in Spanish and then gave each of us a white balloon (that I took and handled quite well!) and handed over a real dove to Kanami (Japan) as a symbol of something and we all released our (biodegradable) balloons.  Then we met our host families.  I am living with Veronika from Sweden who is our Business Manager.  Our host mom speaks zero to little English, but Veronika speaks Spanish fluently and I speak a little so that’s all we spoke for the week.  We went home to a giant house that could over look the sea.  Yes, we get to see the ocean! I am so excited about that!  I get the feeling that this is going to be a great first week.

hangin out in the airport

Our itty bitty last plane! 

Our amazing float for the parade! 

Just a few of the adorable kids! (guess where this is from)

Traditional dance costume of a tribe here in Northern Mexico

Tuesday was a fantastic day that didn’t even feel like a “work” day! The morning we got dropped off at cute kids park but it was more than a park.  We luckily had the day in an AC room where we rehearsed for the BTS tomorrow and then after we went to the beach! Well first for lunch we went to the local Rotary Club house where the Rotarians made us lunch and let us use their pool.  So many of them were American and when we would ask them why they chose to come down here, all they said was to look around and they were right.  The area we were in was breathtaking.  Then after a great lunch, we departed to the beach! It was overwhelming and beautiful and everyone was in such a relaxed happy state of mind that it made it even better.  I spent most of my time in the water because it was warm like a shower, but there was also a staff v. student volleyball game going on.  That evening our host mom Pati made a fantastic meal, but it was very light which was nice.  That was one big thing I remembered I didn’t like in Mexico was how rich the foods could be.

We had so much fun! 

The whole half of the cast! 

Just taking some more fun photos :) 

My awesome "Mushu" Josiah (OH) 

We were pretty sure we discovered paradise.  Only people on the beach :) 

 
Wednesday was a not so easy day.  The BTS was crazy because we didn’t get to practice on the stage and literally got there already dressed, preset our costumes and hopped on stage.  There were probably three or four hundred kids there and their screams were crazy.  I could see right away that the first semesters were taken aback by it but it was so fun to see them soaking it all up at the same time.  After we signed autographs and took many photos for probably 30 minutes.  It will probably never cease to amaze me that people want my autograph, but I can now understand that we might be the most culture or most famous people these kids ever meet.  After we changed into working clothes and went to a rehab center for drug abuse.    It was a serious eye opener and pretty shocking.  The grounds were in the middle of nowhere in the desert and the facilities were sad and very run down but it had such a great reason for being there.  There had been some students there all day interacting and those of us who came later got the great job of digging a 10 foot hole for their new septic tank.  We were surrounded by run off sewage and garbage and dogs.  The girls of our group had to transfer, I kid you not, millions of small seashells to the whole.  They apparently clean the waste that’s dumped onto them in the whole so that by the time it reaches the ocean it’s clean.  It was the hardest work I’ve ever done in UWP.  There were some girls who had volunteered their time to work with us and I spent a significant time with both of them working alongside with them.  Catch was they didn’t speak English so I was stretching my Spanish skills to a far as I could.  The second half of the cast got here today which was exciting and it felt good to be whole again.  That night I definitely went to bed exhausted! 

Friday we had a BTS in a town a little ways away that was very poor and full of indignious people.  All of them were so great as an audience and we found out that the event we were performing at was for people to get free check ups and some food and clothes.  In the afternoon we got to have a really fun home team meeting where we learned how to do water spit takes, did trust falls and attacked some other home teams and created a water fight.  Then we got to staff round tables! I was super happy about that because it gives us a chance to talk to the staff about anything.  At the end of the evening we got a super cool presentation of some traditional dances! 

Saturday was interesting.  As our first Mexican show, we added a new medley as well as emcee and the theme song Up with People became Viva la Gente for the next 6 weeks.  It was also my first full show day as an intern so me and Emelie (Swed) the vocal intern and Erin S the dance intern got to learn how show days work which are crazy! But a good crazy.  We even sold out our first Mexican show which was awesome! 

Sunday we went to our beach house with our Pati, our host dad Eduardo and sister Pati.  We spent pretty much the whole day just relaxing on the beach with another family that was hosting Paul (SD) and Thomas(Netherlands).  Then we all went out to dinner.  Luckily the 2 boys spoke Spanish! I’m excited to see what the rest of the Mexican tour brings, along with my internship that is quickly picking up speed!

Paul, host sister Pati, Veronika and Thomas

Host family

Host family at a lookout point

Seattle, Washington

For our second week in Washington we didn't really change environments and for Marie and I, we didn't even change host families! We are now actually based in Seattle for the week which was super cool because it means an extra week in such an awesome area.  On Monday since we really didn't have to travel anywhere we got to explore downtown Seattle in typical Seattle weather.  Packed in our big scarves and boots we armed ourselves for an adventure at Pikes Place Market.  I spent my afternoon with Jimi (MT) and Luis (Mex) wandering the 4 floors of crafts, clothes, food, flowers, antiques and so much more.  It is also where the famous throwing fish act is and that was fun to see as well.  There is also the 2nd largest gum wall in the world which was disgustingly impressive.
Tuesday we had a BTS for a school and in the evening Gwen, Marie and I went out to dinner with her daughter and great-grandson.  Her daughter is just like her and it was so much fun to get to know her as well.  Marie and I also had our own little adventure finding a Target to do some last-minute in state shopping.  Something I've learned on the road is how hard it is to get around without a car or google at our fingertips constantly.  

Yeah, that's all gum!

Wednesday was our last class presentation for the anti-bullying workshop.  I was with Bert (belg) and Leslie (AZ) and we had a great interactive class.  Then in the afternoon we had a BTS for all the kids in the middle school.   That afternoon for internal time we had a business workshop on how to handle presenting UWP.  I’ve found that after 6 months I’ve really refined my technique on presenting the program and really redeemed myself from last semester’s mock TV interview and got great feedback on that.  At dinner I ate with Miguel and this is the first time we’ve been able to really talk since I got my internship.  I got to ask him a bunch of questions and he asked me some as well.  I’m super excited to start that, in case I haven’t mentioned that enough yet!

Thursday was SA and in the evening we had a CI with host families and alumni and sponsors which was really great except that the site that I was at must have forgotten because there was no one there when we got there.  Luckily we were a very small group with only 2 host families, but it was still odd.  I got to finally meet the alumna Holly who I would live with for the weekend while my uncle Grant and aunt Gretchen come to visit. She was nice enough to drive us home when our site ended up not working out because Gwen was volunteering at a local youth group.  Did I not say how active this lady is?

Friday was a full internal day.  We did a great cast meeting about getting to know each other on a deeper level.  We had to wear blind folds and just sit in small groups and talk about deeper questions like what’s something you are really proud of or something you hide from people.  For lunch we had a potluck with some 50 guests that were either host families, alumni or sponsors.  After lunch we had a huge wrap up of our last 11 weeks here in the US by sharing stories.  I still don’t think people quite know what to expect when it comes to Mexico and you can tell that many people are nervous about it. That night I switched families to go to the alumna’s house, Holly.  She is crazy but I automatically felt like I’ve known her for a long time.  That night my Aunt and Uncle flew in so they came over to talk as well as another one of their cast mates, Jeff,  and his partner Kevin we spent probably 4 hours just talking by the fire about all their UWP adventures as well as mine and how it's changed and how it is still the same.  

Saturday was host family day.  We started off by me going to Zumba with my aunt and Jeff and Kevin.  It was weird because it was like hip hop zumba.  Then we went out to brunch where there was much more UWP talk.   Then we went back to Jeff and Kevin’s house where we just relaxed.   In the evening we went out to dinner where we met up with my cousins as well which I was super excited about! We have always been super close and I don't get to see them often because of the distance. The restaurant looked over the port and the huge Ferris wheel and had great seafood.  

Cousins! Jeanna, Janelle, Elise

The whole family (UWP and real)

Sunday was one of best shows in by far the most beautiful stage we've performed on.  But it was 3 floors of utter confusion and stairs so we all got a great work out.  It was my first real show as an intern and it was full! In the afternoon, my cousins came to rehearsal and the oldest one even interviewed! I was super excited about that because she was the one who we thought wouldn't want to do it.  The show was awesome, and I'm sure all the different alumni and family members in the audience really helped.  Michael J's (WI) mom traveled with Grant and Gretchen so they were all very excited to meet him as well.  That was something him and I have slowly bonded over (that and our Game of Thrones marathon on the bus ride over) 

87A with Michael and I

Holly! 

 Then we went straight from the facility to the airport to leave for Mexico! We slept on the airport floor until we were able to check in.  Off we go to Mexico!