Sunday, September 22, 2013

Week #33 - Auburn, Washington


          This week we took a big leap across the states having two days of travel from Montana to Washington J It was quite the journey and we actually stayed overnight half way in a Salvation Army facility. We all had cots and a shower schedule and so on and so forth. It was fun being able to stay up as late as we wanted knowing we could sleep on the bus the next day. You really get to know everyone on a deeper level when you are forced to see each other with that morning hairdo or that lovely morning glow J It  was really enjoyable and the drive to Seattle was beautiful as we drove through the mountains etc. It is going to be a fabulous two weeks on the west coast before we had to Mexico where it will be hot as can be!

            I was hosted with Jordan, my really good friend from the cast at her house with her family. My good friend Emelie was my roommate as well so it was an incredibly fun week with friends. We enjoyed so much laughter all week long. We were only supposed to stay for one week, but then today right before we began to pack for departure Ellen and Jan (our host parents) asked if we would be ok staying another week and of course we were beyond excited. Our host sister had her 18th birthday this week so we took her out to her first club experience, which of course was a blast. During the week we had lovely family meals and talks around the table both early in the mornings and late in the evenings. We had a potluck dinner one night with a bunch of their family friends who live near by and who were also hosting UWP students. It was a lot of fun. I got to meet extended family of Jordan’s because they came to see our shows. Our host family loves seeing all 3 of their “daughters” be stars in UWP in the shows and I loved having them in the audience smiling away. On host family day we slept in and then had a girl’s day at the mall for Delaney’s (our host sisters) birthday! We were so excited because we did not have to pack due to the fact that we were staying for another week J

            In UWP this week we were so busy. It seemed as though the week flew by and we had no time to think. We had a ton of anti-bullying workshops in middle schools all over the Auburn/Seattle area and with those workshops came mini shows that we would do for each middle school, the focus being anti-bullying. I also worked in Admissions on Tuesday, which included giving Admissions presentations at a high school to get kids aware of the UWP program. On Thursday and Friday morning I had study abroad because our professors came for a few days to meet with us before we left the country. It was super nice to have them there in person and teaching us like that instead of just via Skype. Friday and Saturday we had shows and I got to meet Steve Colwell, who is one of the four people who started UWP. It was really cool getting to speak with him about the vision he had so long ago that has now become such a well-known and highly successful program. One other super exciting thing that happened for me this week is that I received  a Cast Manager Internship for the next 5 weeks. It is a very special internship that actually didn’t exist until I created it. I am so excited to take up the challenge of being such an intern in the coming weeks. I already have a whole 3 hours this week planned out for me to lead the cast in team building exercises in order to bring us all closer.

            So with all that said I am super excited for the next chunk of this tour, which includes our transition to Mexico, my internship etc. I also cannot believe it is already half way over and still moving so fast. I have decided to attend the special trip to Italy with UWP to perform  for the Pope at the Vatican etc. in December. I  think it is going to be a really cool experience. So all in all I have much to look forward to in the coming months and  the only thing I wish for is the ability to stop time. I love what I am doing and at the moment I never want UWP to end for me J

No comments:

Post a Comment