Week #20 - Toluca, Mexico

           This week has been so amazing! I have been so happy and it may be the first week that I went without an actual low point. I was working on enjoying every moment and for the most part it has made things just wonderful!

            We started the week with a super fun regional learning travel day, where we got to enjoy the Sun and Moon Pyramids or Teotihuacan. It was gorgeous and very relaxing.  I simply loved being able to enjoy the sunshine with good company. When we arrived in Toluca we had a potluck dinner with all the host families. The evening included a mariachi band so it was a classic Mexican party! I was placed with two of my closest friends, Alicia (Belgium) and Larissa (New Hampshire USA) this week so when we went with our host family to their beautiful house I knew things were going to be good. All three of us decided to share one room with a huge bed to snuggle in so it was a week full of girl talk and sharing clothes as well!

            Throughout the week we got to know the host family through their daughter translating (Larissa their daughter could speak English very well) or through my broken attempt at Spanish. I was able to show them pictures and explain myself for the most part. They are so sweet and give so much. We went out to dinner a few times and  on Tuesday and Sunday we had dinner with another host family just down the road. Both our host family and the other one live in a gated community and are pretty wealthy so let’s just say the dinner party was full out catered and came with the entertainment from a mariachi band. We were sure treated well this week. Also on Sunday we all went to the vacation home of the friending host family and holy catfish it was incredible! A beautiful view, a swimming pool, horseback riding, relaxing in the sun, good food and a whole lot of laughter! They day was so amazing. We all came home thoroughly exhausted and a little more than sun kissed. What a great host family day to kick off our half way point of the Mexican tour.

            In UWP this week we had a very busy week, but lets’ be real, that statement could be said for every week in UWP. Tuesday I did classroom presentations and we had a very emotional, tear-jerking workshop on the  “ Stages of Loss”. It made us realize the short time left and how much has passed between us.  It also helped us to understand what stage we each may be in when it comes to losing someone or something. On Wednesday I had study abroad and we also had a really fun and well needed cast meeting. We played musical chairs (it got super intense of course considering the passionate people we have in our cast). We were asked to talk with someone we didn’t know well and then we all met and shared what we needed to share so we can all become closer as a group. Thursday we had our first shows in downtown Toluca at a huge, beautiful venue. I had an absolutely fabulous and successful day because I was finally able to jump over my wall and sing the solo for Shosholooza (an African song in the show) and perform it on stage! John (vocal in instructor for UWP) never gave up on me even when I was giving up on myself. Because of his support and persistence I was able to reach one of my goals for the semester. The show was a little crazy with power outage etc., but Cast A, 2013 is extremely talented and we did what we needed to do – make it good without sound?! Yes, challenge accepted!

            Friday I was on Super Crew (an early set up group of people) and we spent the day OUTSIDE setting up the stage in the huge square where we would perform outdoors the following day, for the first time this semester! It was a lot of fun and good learning on the tech side of UWP. Friday night a lot of us got to go out dancing for a bit and in UWP dancing with your friends is always a blast! Then came Saturday and we got to work right away. We rehearsed until late afternoon and then it began to rain a bit, but lucky for us it stopped for the show so we were able to perform in the great outdoors for over a thousand people!

Overall the week was wonderful and I enjoyed every second so much I rarely stopped smiling.  My emotions are so spiked right now because one second I am excited to be home for a bit and then the next second I want to cry when I imagine 2 weeks from now when I am giving my FINAL hug to friends who I love dearly. But hey that’s UWP and that’s what we bargained for! So a HOORAH to the last two weeks! We better live like we are dying!

Pictures from Week #19 - Naucalpan, Mexico

In the Frankfurt, Germany Airport!

Viva La Gente headed to Mexico!

Yay Sunny, gorgeous Mexico!

School Projects with the children! This is the day signed over 100 autographs!

My host puppy Snowy! She actually had a different outfit on everyday! I swear to you!

My host family and host cousin (who was with us a lot!)

Eating classic Mexican Food!

Oh the wonderful foursome, by accident wore the same tshirts to match our appropriate partner!

Band Instructor and his Intern :)

Host Family Day downtown Mexico City learning about the Aztecs!

Oh just a normal day in the life of Misa...

Wait, what? A toilet with a glass window, 37 stories above Mexico city? What a view to have while your on the pot! 

Super Crew setting up the stage...you never know what you will find in a donated theatre...like a mask!

All of us had host sisters that were friends so we found ourselves at a young teenage birthday party!

Hmmm... lets make the best of it :)

Eating a cricket - yummy?!?! not so much for me anyways...

Week #19 - Naucalpan, Mexico

         Where do I begin to explain this crazy week? To start off, it has felt like a very long week, considering not even a week ago we were just getting on a plane to fly over the big pond. We were saying good-bye to Europe (where we had been for 2 months) and hello to Mexico. Two pretty contrasting cultures if you ask me, both climate and intercultural wise. Over the course of one week we did school presentations, a culture fair, community impact, very intense internal workshops and 4 shows in 2 different facilities. No wonder we were exhausted everyday, not to mention the jet lag, extreme altitude change and difference in the way people eat and act.

            Another thing to note is that here in Mexico we are “Viva La Gente” and no longer “Up With People.” Essentially it is the same thing, but that is how they know us and we are known. Let me tell you that we are famous movie stars here! I have signed hundreds of autographs in just one week and taken a ton of pictures. You are literally mobbed! This experience has been  super fun and very odd at the same time.

             We had a very long travel day on Monday after our cast sleepover. The door to door transit  time totaled over  24 hours. From bus to plane to bus it was quite the day. We enjoyed ourselves of course but were also extremely exhausted. Our host families were super excited to host us. We had over 90 host families so most of us were hosted alone, myself included. My host family is very sweet and pretty wealthy. I had the whole upstairs to myself and it was really nice to have some time to myself especially in such a tiring week. We went to the gym and took some great exercise classes on two of the nights. We went out to dinner and ate lots of delicious Mexican food. On host family day I learned a whole lot of crazy history about the Aztecs, Mexico City and how it is sinking every year. Mexico City was beautiful and dirty of course, but that is Mexico for you. They are very sweet people and we had some fun times together.

            Our sponsor this week was Maddox Academy, which meant all week our facility was at a school full of children very eager to meet international performing students. On Tuesday we did classroom presentations and I realized how we really do make an impact on young teens because they look up to us. Wednesday I had study abroad and then we had a very intense workshop called “the Hunger Banquet” which showed us how the world is fed and we literally were fed like the different classes that exist in our world today. It was very eye opening and the entire cast was full of crazy emotions and opinions. Thursday we had a very long day full of rehearsal and putting the Mexican medley and music together. It was tiring but we had a lot of time to laugh and just enjoy ourselves. Friday we had a double show day and strike so that was also extremely draining. We had a whole lot of technical issues and we pushed through and still put on two great shows. The shows were mainly for the kids from the school and so holy heck there was a lot of girly screams that pierced the auditorium and a whole lot of pictures and autographs! Saturday was host family day and then I was on Super Crew (which means a small group of people set up the stage) so that was fun. After that a few of us went with our host sisters to a birthday party. Although we were sort of the same age of the people at the party we felt extremely out of place and much older. I guess we have just been pushed to grow rapidly in UWP and thus the maturity level is so very different. Then on our final day here in Mexico City we had another double show day at a whole different facility. You got to love UWP and all its craziness!

            We are now down to only 3 weeks left and you can tell everyone is slowly starting to realize it’s coming to an end so very soon and so the feelings are flying and more and more memories continue to be created in each special moment. Tomorrow we head to the mountains and on the way we get to stop at the sun and moon pyramid! It’s going to be gorgeous especially with the sunny Mexican weather! Zippity do da, zippity yay! My oh my  what a wonderful day. Plenty of sunshine heading my way... wonderful feeling, wonderful day! 

Pictures from Week #18 - Tielt, Belgium

The Gorgeous city of Brugge, Belgium! Look at that European architecture! 

Perfect photo op over the river :)

I believe I can fly!

Same type of picture but different people!

Lounging in the park :)

Healthy snacks on the bus! 

Last host family in Europe! 

Teaching African Dance at a girls juvenile detention facility!  (I am the one who is very small in blue and purple).

Performing a song for my cast mates with Molly during Expression Session! 

Last shows in Europe! From now on it is Viva la Gente not Up with People! 

Out for drinks with the host family!

Love those moments when you go out to a bar in a town where there are only two bars and of course you run into about 30 UWP people! Makes for a fun night of surprises!

Here is part of the group...

Me trying not to have a double chin in the picture... of course it looks like I am making the choking symbol... John looks great behind me and he is in perfect position to give me the hiemlich! So all is good in the hood :)

And another part of the group :)

We match! 

I could not take my nose out of the lilacs... they reminded me of my yard at home!

Eating balls of flour and oil with chocolate on top! You got to love Europe!

My lovely roommate Simone from Denmark! 

Week #18 - Tielt, Belgium

        This week we experienced many “last times” so to speak. It was our last week in Belgium, last time we would perform in Europe, last time performing with 2 of our wonderful cast mates and best friends because they will not be coming to Mexico with us, last time we would sing the Up with People theme song as Cast A 2013 because it will be Viva la Gente from now on. Needless to say there were tears and emotions flying around and a whole lot of passion was put into it. The energy was very high and it was a memorable evening to say the least. All week I just did my best to enjoy myself and my last days in Europe, just soaking it all in and never just sitting around, but instead living every moment to it’s fullest!

            Monday we had a travel day, which was only about a 3-hour drive, but we made a really long pit stop in the gorgeous city of Brugge and had a day to explore, see the beautiful sights and take in the wonderful European architecture one last time. It was a bright sunny day and we enjoyed Brugge and indulged on Belgium fries and waffles J then we made it to Tielt and went with our host families. I was hosted with Simone from Denmark. We are very similar so we have been waiting to get hosted together and it finally happened so we knew the week would be good. Tielt is a very small town and  all week we traveled via bicycles and it was wonderful.  The town basically consisted of a cute little center square with a few pubs and a beautiful church. My host family was a very sweet  couple in their 40’s with two teenagers. They all spoke pretty good English so I was good to go.  We had a good week with lots of delicious meals for our last week in Europe. They took us out on Sunday to the North Sea and we walked on the board walk, tried some new foods and saw a crazy awesome kite festival J They are not wealthy enough to travel or fly out of their country so they were very grateful to bring the culture into their home so it was hard to say goodbye.

            Tuesday we had a CI day and I was sent to a juvenile detention center for girls.  I taught African dance in a World Dance class along with interacting with the girls. Over all I felt it was a pretty impactful day for me. Wednesday I had Study Abroad as usual and we had an education workshop where we talked about the price of peace in our world. Thursday I was on set up crew and I continued to learn a lot in my internship throughout the day. We also had a super fun thing called “Expression Session” where we all got to share things we loved to do like sing and perform etc. There were a lot of tears and laughter and we all left feeling very happy and joyful because we realized the amazing people we are surrounded by.

            Friday and Saturday we had two wonderful show days. Because they were our last shows in Europe,  they were full of great energy and many sentimental moments. Things are moving very fast and it is crazy to realize that we only have 4 weeks left and that will fly by so fast! This experience is so amazing and I just want to savor my time with the cast as much as possible. We all know you cannot stop time so the ending is coming soon and so we are making the best of every second we have together.

            Sunday we had a cast sleepover where we had a lot of fun and laughter.  We also had to say some goodbyes to two of our cast mates who will not be in Mexico with us so there were also tears. We have a huge travel day tomorrow driving to Frankfurt at wee hours of the morning and then a long flight to Mexico so we need to stay healthy and pace ourselves because next week is even crazier with a ton of school presentations and kids who want to learn all about Up with People. So off we go back over the big pond to Mexico! Here’s to us Cast A 2013!