Tuesday, May 14, 2013

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!

No comments:

Post a Comment