First Week!

Hello! Welllll, I've made it to Denver; FINALLY! My Up With People adventure has begun!
I arrived in Denver Friday afternoon, after an ejoyable flight meeting 4 other Up With People cast members from Tucson. We were greeted at the airport by UWP staff members, waited for a few more people to arrive, then took a bus to a little ballroom type place. We arrived at about 3 PM, so from then until 8 we just met people as they arrived and got to know one another. My cheeks hurt from smiling so much!!! It seems like there are really wonderful people, and I can't wait to spend more time with everyone.
At 8:30 our host families came to get each of us. Each student was given the name of something to do with the circus, and each family dressed up in some way like the theme so that the student would know it was their family. My theme was Strong Man..hmmm. What ended up happening was that my host father got an emergency call for work, so it was my host mom, Diane, and their cute as a button old neighbor Lillian. He had been working on a strong man costume all day i guess, but since they had to come they were just holding up a sign that said "strong man". Haha. Also, my roommate from Japan had missed her connecting flight so we had to wait another hour after everyone had left for her to arrive. Meanwhile, it starts POURING. I mean, a huge storm. Everyone said it was kind of strange for Denver. Anyway, poor Haruna (my Japanese roommate) finally made it, and we went to their house. They live in such a cute little neighborhood, and their house has a lot of history and personality. They have travelled a lot, and there is interesting stuff from all over the world everywhere. They are bee keepers, which I'll admit scared me a little at first, but I'm learning so much! There are literally thousands of bees a few yards from my room. I tried their homemade honey and it was SOO delicious! I'll never have regular honey again. They are a darling couple, and they looove to talk and share stories. They are very giving and loving, and already call us their daughters. They like to expose us to as much as they can. On Sunday night, they took us line dancing which was a blast. Tonight, we went to a locally owned native american restaurant. And the other night, they made sushi for Haruna, and matzo ball soup for me! How sweet!
Each day we practice downtown from 8:30 to 5:30. Haruna and I take a 30 minute bus ride there and back. It's very easy to do. The days are jam packed, but I am loving it! Every one is so great! Well, I actually need to share the computer, but I have so much more to tell! I will write again shortly.
Please write comments or write me!!

Lots of love,
Les