September 14-21
Veracruz is so wonderful and SO HUMID! Oh man, like you can’t breathe humid! But it has been a great week! So last Monday, the 14th, a group of 9 of us left the cast and took a bus to Mexico City to be on Televisa, a big Mexican TV station. We had no idea what we were getting into. We stayed at the place where we will have our show in Mexico City, and it’s sort of like an ecological resort of sorts. They do tours, they host families and groups, and have big gardens and greenhouses, and different ecological activities. Their purpose is to educate about the environment. So we stayed at their dormitories. We ate lunch there, then went to the TV station. We got to get our hair and make-up done! It was so fun. But, at the last minute they decided they just wanted Spanish songs for the show, so we didn’t end up doing the dance I was in. We sang 3 songs, and I came on for the last one, just kind of in the back. It was so fun! We got to watch a little of the show before us, and if anyone has seen any Mexican TV, you know how ridiculous it is! Stupid plots, bad jokes, guys in tight pants, and girls wearing barely anything. It was an adventure. We left the next day to take a flight back to Veracruz to meet up with the cast. It was fun just being with a small group for a little bit and having some time to relax.
I met my host family in Veracruz that night. My roommate was Aude from Quebec. I adore her! She is a really great dancer and we have a lot in common. She’s a pilates instructor Stevie! My host mom’s name was Annis and she was super sweet. Their house was very nice, and Aude and I shared a room. They have 3 kids, and 2 of them live in the house. That day was Mexican Independence Day, which is a HUGE deal. By the way if anyone thought Cinco de Mayo was Mexican Independence day, it is not. It was just the day the Mexicans beat the French in Puebla. Anyway, we went out with our host parents to a Rotary Club dinner. It was a nice catered dinner, with lots of tequila of course. Everyone gets really decked out in green, red, and white and crazy decorations. It was so fun and cool to be a part of their celebration. Then we went out to a club with some other UWP girls and their host sister. We danced all night!
The next day was a beach day! We went to a place called Coco Adventura, which was basically an adventure park on the beach. We played silly games on the grass in the morning, then we had the whole afternoon to beach it and swim in their pool. It was so fun! We finally had time to just chill, get a tan, and have fun with each other. It was great. The water was very warm and salty, and the sun was shining. At about 3 PM we left and went back into the city for a harbor cruise. Veracruz is a very old and colonial looking city, especially the downtown area, but the harbor…not so pretty. A lot of big ugly boats and machines and stuff. It was still a nice boat ride though! It was a great day.
Wednesday and Thursday were mostly rehearsing. We are starting to learn the dances and songs of the European medley. Our main choreographer, Ken, is with us for the next two weeks to teach us. By the way, it is my last week as a dance intern and I’m so sad! I have loved the experience. I know it sounds like I have been doing more dancing and playing than community service, and that is party true. Because I am in a lot of the dances, I have to rehearse on most week days. It is something I have been struggling with, because although I love to dance, I have not had that many community impact (CI) experiences. However, they try to remind us that the show itself is community service. So when we are rehearsing it is purposeful and meaningful. It is bringing a message to the community, and inspiring people of all ages. I do hope though that I will have more CI days soon! I want to get my hands dirty! Something I’ve also been disappointed with is the fact that we really aren’t seeing Mexico. We are living in the city, with middle to upper class families for the most part. We are taken care of. Even the community impact activities aren’t getting to the real problems in Mexico. Of course I believe all the service we do is meaningful, but maybe it is not what is most needed here in Mexico. My experience in Oaxaca really opened my eyes to how much poverty there is here. I know it’s partly a logisitics thing, and I wasn’t really expecting to be live and work in a poor poor area or anything with UWP. But, I guess I just know how much we could do and it’s frustrating how much there is to do!
Friday, the interns had a chance to do something fun with the cast by running our own workshop. We got a soul train line going, we played charades, and we did a nice relaxation activity. It was cool. We had a BTS that afternoon in downtown. I have literally never sweat so much in my life. Man was it humid and hot! I can seriously appreciate Tucson’s dry heat now! That night, our host brother, Don Pablo, who is 27 took Aude and I out. We went to an amazing Italian restaurant, where we enjoyed the view of the city from the top deck, had a bottle of wine, and ate delicious food. It was great company, and we had great conversation about how great it is to get to know people from other cultures. After dinner we went to a really authentic salsa club. Full live band, dos XX, and lots of ridiculously good salsa dancers. It was so fun! I am so motivated now to learn how to salsa!
Saturday we got up early and drove to Tajin which is a place with ancient ruins. If you ever saw my pictures from Monte Alban in Oaxaca, it was very similar. But this place was a lot bigger. They were magnificent pyramids constructed thousands of years ago by the indigenous people of Mexico. They had courts where they used to play a ball game in which the winner was beheaded as a sacrifice. Yes, the winner. It was viewed as honorable to give your life. Then they would spill the blood all over the rocks. Mmmmm….
Sunday was our show day and my last day as an intern! The dance, show, and music interns always get the opportunity to hold their own workshop at the end of their internship, so Pieter the music intern, Sarah the show manager intern, and I had been planning on putting on a little piece from the musical Chicago for the cast. We had been working on it for awhile, and we had the whole morning to work with a few people that we chose. We decided to do the song “Cell Block Tango”. We chose some girls for it that love to dance and move, but aren’t able to be in a lot of parts in the show. They were all really into it and it was so fun to be teaching! I was also watched by the show staff so I was a little nervous. The group will get to perform what we taught them in Puebla, the next city. We also introduced the new interns, which was exciting but like I said I am very sad to be done . The show went really well that night. It was at a big venue with almost 4,000 seats, but it wasn’t sold out. I still can’t get over how much the Mexican fans love us! They sing along to “Viva La Gente”, want our autographs and pictures, and some girls go CRAZY over some of the guys in our cast. It’s so funny. The next day, we left for Puebla!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
September 7-13-Queretaro
Queretaro!!! On Monday we left for Queretaro and got to stop in San Miguel. It is a BEAUTIFUL town (right Grammie and Karen?), and we were able to stop for 2 or 3 hours. It definitely wasn’t long enough because I didn’t even get to the downtown area that’s supposedly gorgeous. But it was so nice to have time to ourselves, and a group of us had a really nice lunch at a little café. We were all very happy not to have a schedule of things to do, even if it was just for that short amount of time. I’m used to it at this point, but we really don’t have any freedom!
We arrived in Queretaro that evening, and had an awesome welcoming by two guest artists. The first was a musical group that played ancient indigenous music. They used all different kinds of instruments like turtle shells and deer antlers. The next was an all blind choir. They blew us away with how amazing they were! They sang some songs in English such as “Stand By Me”, then they sang some Mexican songs. They ended with “Viva La Gente”, which is Up With People’s theme song but in Spanish. It’s so cool that everyone here knows it! We got picked up by our host families that night and went home with them. I am staying with the most generous and loving family!! My host mom is Raquel, and my host dad is Sergio, and they have 4 kids all teenagers. My host mom has like 6 sisters, and 2 of them are also hosting Up With People students and live very close, so that is fun. Their house is unbelievable! They are in the business of making rod iron things (like the stuff you like mom and dad!), so you guys would love their house! I’m trying to see if I can get something sent to you! I actually didn’t get to spend too much time with the family this week because all the kids have school, and Raquel had just had foot surgery, so wasn’t able to leave the house much. But I love them so much, and they keep saying “mi casa es su casa”.
On Tuesday I went in the morning to a place called Adulto Mayor, which is a center for senior citizens (you know how I love the old people). It was a really nice facility for them, and we just got to interact with them all day. Haruna and I got to participate in their cooking class. We made a type of vegetarian mole, which turned out too spicy for my taste, but we had so much fun. Later, we attended their theater class. It was so cute! They put on a little skit for us, and we got to dance a little with them too. It was very fun. I think I mentioned in previously, but each week each country gets to present on their culture. So this week was France. We learned some of their history, saw pictures, and sang some French songs. So far we have learned about the US, Mexico, China, and France. It’s really cool to learn more about each other’s cultures, especially because it is coming from someone from that country. That night, our schedule said we were going to the “theater”. Well, they surprised us with a private lucha libre show! If you don’t know what that is, it’s the pretend Mexican wrestling where they wear those crazy masks. It’s huge in Mexico. So we got a free, private show in a big arena, and we had a BLAST! Each round, two wrestlers fight, and the crowd gets to pick which wrestler to cheer for. We had so much fun yelling in Spanish things like “levantate” (get up!), and “mi abuelita es mas fuerte!” (my grandma is stronger!). Hehe. What a nice surprise.
On Wednesday a small group of us went to drug rehabilitation home called Hogares San Fransisco. This place houses anywhere for 20-100 men and women, for an 8 week rahab program. What is interesting about this place is that you have to check yourself in, meaning all the people there want to be there. We worked doing manual labor in their green house in the morning, then we got to participate in one of their support groups. It was really cool. And it was interesting to note that drug problems are everywhere, and to see the similarities in rehab programs from the ones I’ve seen in the states. That afternoon we did a education workshop called “hot topics”. Basically, we break up into small groups, and they give us a certain topic to discuss and questions to answer. That day, we talked about abortion. We discussed whether it should be controlled by the government, what the laws are in your country, etc. It was cool to see the similarities and differences in views between people from different cultures. After that (like I said, the days are jam packed!), we went to meet the municipal president of Queretaro. He said a nice little speech for us, we gave him a signed cast picture, and we sang a song for him. It was pretty cool. We felt special.
On Thursday, we had a meeting for all of the interns. Next week is my last week as the dance intern, and I’m really sad. It has been a great experience, and I don’t really want it to end yet . We had rehearsal later in the day, and it’s fun because I am starting to run the rehearsals a little bit more. I’ve learned so much, as far as how to look at the show critically, how the show works behind the scenes, and how to fix certain problems. Later that day we walked to a church called Iglesia Santa Rosa where we had a host family pot luck. It was so fun to get all the families together, and you know with Mexicans there was PLENTY of food! The church was cool because it had something called El Arbol de las Cruces. The legend says that a man stopped to rest at the place where the church is now, and put his things down and went to get some water (I’m kinda making the details up because I didn’t catch all of the Spanish). Basically though, when he came back, a tree had bloomed, and this tree has thorns that look like crosses. So he thought it was a sign, yadda, yadda, and they built a church. If you take a look at my pictures, the thorns really do look like crosses! It’s really cool.
The next day we had a BTS at a local school. I forget if I explained what a BTS was, but it stands for backing track show, and it is basically a mini promotional show that we do in communities to reach more people. Let me tell you, these little elementary and middle school kids were the best audience I’d ever seen!! They screamed so loud for us, and were So enthusiastic! It was great. Later that afternoon we had a scavenger hunt, but basically my group decided to just walk around the city and explore. We stopped for Mexican hot chocolate, browsed the tiendas, and took some funny pictures. That evening we walked around downtown Queretaro with my host mom’s sister, Ana. We ended up having a nice glass of wine on a rooftop which overlooked the beautiful city. I love Queretaro!
Saturday was our first double show day!! We had a matinee show at 3, and another at 8. The first show didn’t have too great of a turn out, but the second one was awesome! It was an exhausting day, but so worth it (as always).
Today I went for a nice run with Anna (Minnesota) at the park nearby, then our host families took us to a little town called Bernal. It’s an adorable little town, which houses one of 3 magnetic mountains in the world. I’m still trying to understand exactly what it was, as I’m clearly not fluent in Spanish, but from what I understand it is a large rock formation that has magnetic properties, and no one knows exactly how it got there. People say the magnetism brings good energy, so people flock there all year round. It was gorgeous! We took a walking tour, but it started to rain so we had to cut it short. We had gorditas for lunch, which are absolutely nothing like what they have a taco bell if anyone has had those. They were made with a black corn on a big flat grill, then stuffed with different ingredients like cheese and mushrooms or meat. Soooo yummy! It was a really great day, and I just love my host parents! They are so sweet. I will be sad to leave tomorrow!
Good news! Up With People got asked to be on TV tomorrow. They could only take a few people, and I was chosen! I’m so excited! So, I’ll let you know the details of when you might be able to see it as soon as I know! I have no idea when it will be on, but I think it will play in the US. I guess it will be on a show similar to NBCs Good Morning America or something like that. Wohoo! Anyway, I guess I need to get my beauty rest for tomorrow! Peace and love
We arrived in Queretaro that evening, and had an awesome welcoming by two guest artists. The first was a musical group that played ancient indigenous music. They used all different kinds of instruments like turtle shells and deer antlers. The next was an all blind choir. They blew us away with how amazing they were! They sang some songs in English such as “Stand By Me”, then they sang some Mexican songs. They ended with “Viva La Gente”, which is Up With People’s theme song but in Spanish. It’s so cool that everyone here knows it! We got picked up by our host families that night and went home with them. I am staying with the most generous and loving family!! My host mom is Raquel, and my host dad is Sergio, and they have 4 kids all teenagers. My host mom has like 6 sisters, and 2 of them are also hosting Up With People students and live very close, so that is fun. Their house is unbelievable! They are in the business of making rod iron things (like the stuff you like mom and dad!), so you guys would love their house! I’m trying to see if I can get something sent to you! I actually didn’t get to spend too much time with the family this week because all the kids have school, and Raquel had just had foot surgery, so wasn’t able to leave the house much. But I love them so much, and they keep saying “mi casa es su casa”.
On Tuesday I went in the morning to a place called Adulto Mayor, which is a center for senior citizens (you know how I love the old people). It was a really nice facility for them, and we just got to interact with them all day. Haruna and I got to participate in their cooking class. We made a type of vegetarian mole, which turned out too spicy for my taste, but we had so much fun. Later, we attended their theater class. It was so cute! They put on a little skit for us, and we got to dance a little with them too. It was very fun. I think I mentioned in previously, but each week each country gets to present on their culture. So this week was France. We learned some of their history, saw pictures, and sang some French songs. So far we have learned about the US, Mexico, China, and France. It’s really cool to learn more about each other’s cultures, especially because it is coming from someone from that country. That night, our schedule said we were going to the “theater”. Well, they surprised us with a private lucha libre show! If you don’t know what that is, it’s the pretend Mexican wrestling where they wear those crazy masks. It’s huge in Mexico. So we got a free, private show in a big arena, and we had a BLAST! Each round, two wrestlers fight, and the crowd gets to pick which wrestler to cheer for. We had so much fun yelling in Spanish things like “levantate” (get up!), and “mi abuelita es mas fuerte!” (my grandma is stronger!). Hehe. What a nice surprise.
On Wednesday a small group of us went to drug rehabilitation home called Hogares San Fransisco. This place houses anywhere for 20-100 men and women, for an 8 week rahab program. What is interesting about this place is that you have to check yourself in, meaning all the people there want to be there. We worked doing manual labor in their green house in the morning, then we got to participate in one of their support groups. It was really cool. And it was interesting to note that drug problems are everywhere, and to see the similarities in rehab programs from the ones I’ve seen in the states. That afternoon we did a education workshop called “hot topics”. Basically, we break up into small groups, and they give us a certain topic to discuss and questions to answer. That day, we talked about abortion. We discussed whether it should be controlled by the government, what the laws are in your country, etc. It was cool to see the similarities and differences in views between people from different cultures. After that (like I said, the days are jam packed!), we went to meet the municipal president of Queretaro. He said a nice little speech for us, we gave him a signed cast picture, and we sang a song for him. It was pretty cool. We felt special.
On Thursday, we had a meeting for all of the interns. Next week is my last week as the dance intern, and I’m really sad. It has been a great experience, and I don’t really want it to end yet . We had rehearsal later in the day, and it’s fun because I am starting to run the rehearsals a little bit more. I’ve learned so much, as far as how to look at the show critically, how the show works behind the scenes, and how to fix certain problems. Later that day we walked to a church called Iglesia Santa Rosa where we had a host family pot luck. It was so fun to get all the families together, and you know with Mexicans there was PLENTY of food! The church was cool because it had something called El Arbol de las Cruces. The legend says that a man stopped to rest at the place where the church is now, and put his things down and went to get some water (I’m kinda making the details up because I didn’t catch all of the Spanish). Basically though, when he came back, a tree had bloomed, and this tree has thorns that look like crosses. So he thought it was a sign, yadda, yadda, and they built a church. If you take a look at my pictures, the thorns really do look like crosses! It’s really cool.
The next day we had a BTS at a local school. I forget if I explained what a BTS was, but it stands for backing track show, and it is basically a mini promotional show that we do in communities to reach more people. Let me tell you, these little elementary and middle school kids were the best audience I’d ever seen!! They screamed so loud for us, and were So enthusiastic! It was great. Later that afternoon we had a scavenger hunt, but basically my group decided to just walk around the city and explore. We stopped for Mexican hot chocolate, browsed the tiendas, and took some funny pictures. That evening we walked around downtown Queretaro with my host mom’s sister, Ana. We ended up having a nice glass of wine on a rooftop which overlooked the beautiful city. I love Queretaro!
Saturday was our first double show day!! We had a matinee show at 3, and another at 8. The first show didn’t have too great of a turn out, but the second one was awesome! It was an exhausting day, but so worth it (as always).
Today I went for a nice run with Anna (Minnesota) at the park nearby, then our host families took us to a little town called Bernal. It’s an adorable little town, which houses one of 3 magnetic mountains in the world. I’m still trying to understand exactly what it was, as I’m clearly not fluent in Spanish, but from what I understand it is a large rock formation that has magnetic properties, and no one knows exactly how it got there. People say the magnetism brings good energy, so people flock there all year round. It was gorgeous! We took a walking tour, but it started to rain so we had to cut it short. We had gorditas for lunch, which are absolutely nothing like what they have a taco bell if anyone has had those. They were made with a black corn on a big flat grill, then stuffed with different ingredients like cheese and mushrooms or meat. Soooo yummy! It was a really great day, and I just love my host parents! They are so sweet. I will be sad to leave tomorrow!
Good news! Up With People got asked to be on TV tomorrow. They could only take a few people, and I was chosen! I’m so excited! So, I’ll let you know the details of when you might be able to see it as soon as I know! I have no idea when it will be on, but I think it will play in the US. I guess it will be on a show similar to NBCs Good Morning America or something like that. Wohoo! Anyway, I guess I need to get my beauty rest for tomorrow! Peace and love
Monday, September 7, 2009
August 31-September 6
Viva Mexico!!!! I am in Leon, Mexico right now and I am LOVING every minute! You know I wish I was Mexican . We had such a looooong travel day on August 31 getting here: 3 hour bus from Lake Havasu to Phoenix, 4 hour wait at airport, 1 hour to Hermosillo, Mexico, 1 hour layover to go through customs, 3 hours to Mexico City, 7 hour bus ride overnight to Leon. We arrived in Leon at 6 AM and slept on the floor in a big auditorium until 9:30. I have no idea how much sleep I got collectively but man was that crazy. Only in Up With People.
We had a great welcoming at the local college, with dancers, mariachis, paparazzi and everything. That night we got picked up by our host families. My roommate here is Nilo from Sweden, who was the advance team intern. That means she came here 2 weeks earlier than the cast to help the PR team set up the city. So, it was nice that she could show me around and everything. My host family was so wonderful and I felt so comfortable here. I stayed with Martha, Arturo, and their daughter Almendra. Almendra is 17 and is so fun! She wants to be in Up With People so bad next year. I hope she does. It has been so awesome practicing Spanish here. Although my grammar is terrible, I love being able to somewhat communicate and understand the language. Some people, like Almendra, speak English, but I tell them to speak in Spanish so I can practice.
The first full day we had here we took a bus tour of Leon. It is beautiful here, and it is very similar to Oaxaca. There is a wonderful zocalo in the center of town, pretty churches, and nice parks. I feel like it is a lot bigger though. The fun part of the tour was that there were people taking pictures everywhere we went. We have been in the newspapers almost every day! It’s so crazy! In Mexico, we are known as Viva La Gente instead of Up With People, and the Mexicans loooove Viva La Gente.
We had rehearsals the next day, but Thursday was SUCH a great day for me. For CI, I got to participate with Doctor Laugh, a volunteer group that goes around to hospitals and makes patients smile and laugh. Only a small group of us got to go, so I was SO glad I signed up right away. We were given funny lab coats, hats, and red noses, and went to a pediatric hospital for a few hours. Wow…its hard to express how amazing that experience was. First of all to just observe how a hospital works in a different country, but to hear the stories of these children and to make them smile was soo impacting. Most of the patients were there due to cancer. We went from room to room, making jokes, blowing bubbles, and giving the kids stuffed animals. I was really touched and started crying when the mom of an 8 year old boy was crying and telling me how she was hoping to get the US for better treatment for her son. I wanted to tell them to come with me and I would find them care in the US so bad. When I said bye to the little boy, he was resting and would not open my eyes, but he grabbed on tightly to my hand and would not let me go. I lost it. I also met a 12 year old boy with burns all over the right side of his body. He had gasoline poured on him and was set on fire by an older boy. I’m sorry to report all these awful things, but I just want to try to express what I experienced. These are the lyrics to our closing song: “wherever you may live, whoever you might be, what’s happening to you, is happening to me. How can I turn away, pretend that I don’t see, what’s happening to you, is happening to me.” Those lyrics are speaking so clearly to me. This is why I love Up With People so much. All I want to do is help! I talked with that boy and his mom for a little bit, and I hope in some way we brightened his day.
Anyway, Friday was a full day of rehearsal, and so was Saturday. We had an amazing venue, called Foro del Lago. The stage was in a park, literally in the middle of a lake. It was so cool! So because we had to rehearse outside on the stage, it was very exhausting! Lots of sunburns. But, our show on Saturday night was awesome!! Mexicans crowds have to be the best in the world. We added a Mexican Medley part to the show, and it seemed like everyone loved it. It includes several popular new and old Mexican songs. We also have an alumni, Jessica Rojas who is a phenomenal singer, travelling with us for the Mexican tour. She is blind, and has to have the most amazing voice I’ve ever heard. I almost started crying on stage during one of her songs it was so beautiful. And like I said, Mexican audiences are so awesome! They are so loud, and want lots of pictures and autographs. Yes, autographs. It’s so weird to think that someone would want our autograph or our picture.
Our last day here we had free, and our host family and some other families got together for a fiesta. Lots of food, music, a pool, and great weather! Oh, and tequila of course. I tried nopales for the first time, which is pretty much a prickly pear cactus that they grill and put lime on. It feels really slimy in your mouth, but I thought they were pretty tasty. The night ended with lots of dancing. I learned all the different kinds of Mexican dance (can’t remember all the names though). Mexicans know how to party, and I just love it. I’ve had such a great time here in Leon! Tomorrow we leave for Quereterro! Viva la Gente!
We had a great welcoming at the local college, with dancers, mariachis, paparazzi and everything. That night we got picked up by our host families. My roommate here is Nilo from Sweden, who was the advance team intern. That means she came here 2 weeks earlier than the cast to help the PR team set up the city. So, it was nice that she could show me around and everything. My host family was so wonderful and I felt so comfortable here. I stayed with Martha, Arturo, and their daughter Almendra. Almendra is 17 and is so fun! She wants to be in Up With People so bad next year. I hope she does. It has been so awesome practicing Spanish here. Although my grammar is terrible, I love being able to somewhat communicate and understand the language. Some people, like Almendra, speak English, but I tell them to speak in Spanish so I can practice.
The first full day we had here we took a bus tour of Leon. It is beautiful here, and it is very similar to Oaxaca. There is a wonderful zocalo in the center of town, pretty churches, and nice parks. I feel like it is a lot bigger though. The fun part of the tour was that there were people taking pictures everywhere we went. We have been in the newspapers almost every day! It’s so crazy! In Mexico, we are known as Viva La Gente instead of Up With People, and the Mexicans loooove Viva La Gente.
We had rehearsals the next day, but Thursday was SUCH a great day for me. For CI, I got to participate with Doctor Laugh, a volunteer group that goes around to hospitals and makes patients smile and laugh. Only a small group of us got to go, so I was SO glad I signed up right away. We were given funny lab coats, hats, and red noses, and went to a pediatric hospital for a few hours. Wow…its hard to express how amazing that experience was. First of all to just observe how a hospital works in a different country, but to hear the stories of these children and to make them smile was soo impacting. Most of the patients were there due to cancer. We went from room to room, making jokes, blowing bubbles, and giving the kids stuffed animals. I was really touched and started crying when the mom of an 8 year old boy was crying and telling me how she was hoping to get the US for better treatment for her son. I wanted to tell them to come with me and I would find them care in the US so bad. When I said bye to the little boy, he was resting and would not open my eyes, but he grabbed on tightly to my hand and would not let me go. I lost it. I also met a 12 year old boy with burns all over the right side of his body. He had gasoline poured on him and was set on fire by an older boy. I’m sorry to report all these awful things, but I just want to try to express what I experienced. These are the lyrics to our closing song: “wherever you may live, whoever you might be, what’s happening to you, is happening to me. How can I turn away, pretend that I don’t see, what’s happening to you, is happening to me.” Those lyrics are speaking so clearly to me. This is why I love Up With People so much. All I want to do is help! I talked with that boy and his mom for a little bit, and I hope in some way we brightened his day.
Anyway, Friday was a full day of rehearsal, and so was Saturday. We had an amazing venue, called Foro del Lago. The stage was in a park, literally in the middle of a lake. It was so cool! So because we had to rehearse outside on the stage, it was very exhausting! Lots of sunburns. But, our show on Saturday night was awesome!! Mexicans crowds have to be the best in the world. We added a Mexican Medley part to the show, and it seemed like everyone loved it. It includes several popular new and old Mexican songs. We also have an alumni, Jessica Rojas who is a phenomenal singer, travelling with us for the Mexican tour. She is blind, and has to have the most amazing voice I’ve ever heard. I almost started crying on stage during one of her songs it was so beautiful. And like I said, Mexican audiences are so awesome! They are so loud, and want lots of pictures and autographs. Yes, autographs. It’s so weird to think that someone would want our autograph or our picture.
Our last day here we had free, and our host family and some other families got together for a fiesta. Lots of food, music, a pool, and great weather! Oh, and tequila of course. I tried nopales for the first time, which is pretty much a prickly pear cactus that they grill and put lime on. It feels really slimy in your mouth, but I thought they were pretty tasty. The night ended with lots of dancing. I learned all the different kinds of Mexican dance (can’t remember all the names though). Mexicans know how to party, and I just love it. I’ve had such a great time here in Leon! Tomorrow we leave for Quereterro! Viva la Gente!
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