Belgium and the end of my tour

This is the last entry in this blog. It shouldn't be, but it is. After The Netherlands, we travelled to Belgium. It was a whirlwind of a week, full of many VIPs and an interesting community service project. Many alumni were in Belgium since the European Headquarters is here in Brussels, Belgium. We got to meet many of them and it was fun to see all the different cast years represented. We had to look our very best most of the week because of all the VIPs. AS far as community service goes it was the most unique project I've ever done. We built a cosmogollum for children in Chile to give their hopes and dreams to. It s 4meters high and looks like a giant wooden robot. In the front there is a door leading to a hollow area over the location of the gollums heart. Here is where the children put there hopes and dreams for the gollum to protect. After the unveiling in the city of Leuven, it is to be sent to Chile. It was a unique expereince for many of us. Now onto the show...or at least the first 20min of it. Here in Leuven we had our largest audience yet with close to 3000 people in attendence. We had a guest performer, Sandrine, who was spectacular, and it was shaping up to be an awesome show. The lights go up, the music starts and we burst in to view with as much energy as we've ever had. the cast gathers for the country introductions and the audience goes wild. The lights go out and I walk off stage like I always do...except this time instead of walking down the stairs, I missed the stairs because I couldn't see them, and fell off the stage and landed sideways on my ankle. I'm taken the emergency room and x-rays are taken. The nurse comes in and calmly tells me I have broken my ankle in two places and require surgery. So after many tears and a phonecall home it was decided that I must go home to have the surgery - and with this news my tour ended just as quickly as it started. The cast continued on to the Philippines yesterday where they will spend the next four weeks. I miss them and cant wait until our reunion. I will never forget the people of Cast B 2007. Nor will I forget all the incredible experiences this tour has allowed me. I am so grateful to have been given this chance of a lifetime, and I know the lessons I learned will stick with me forever.

GERMANY (revised)

I must first apologize for the long delay in writing. Internet has been scarce as well as time. This blog is going to be long - you are hereby warned! BUT keep reading anyway!!! Germany (and Europe in general) has been a very new experience for me. Here a just a few things that are different; EVERYONE smokes - and there are few if any laws against it. You have to pay to use the restrooms in a lot of places. The bread and cheese is much better in my oppinion, but they eat fries with mayonaise?!?! Europe is also a land full of beautiful architecture, ankle twisting stairs and languages that all sound greek to me. Germany is no exception. Most of Germany is very hilly and pretty, with tiny villages on the hillsides. I loved my host families and impressed them with my German (hehe).
During our week in Zell, Germany we had a Hunger Banquet. We began the day by climbing a mountain to a castle (not a bad start right?). Then after some picture taking and enjoying the view we gathered around to begin. Euro pennies were thrown in the middle of the circle after some of the cast had been blindfolded to represent disabilities. They said go and we made a mad dash to collect as many pennies as we possibly could. Some got five, others one, and some got none. Some of the people that had many gave to those who had none. After that we were divided up according to our status and given a piece of paper representing a real person from whatever status we were (first class, middle, or low). Later after a discussion with a monk we were lead in to the room where we were to have the banquet. We sat according to our status; first class at a beautiful table, middle class on chairs and low class on the floor. I was low class. Then Jarrod (a staff member) gave a wonderful presentation on poverty and hunger in the world. It was enlightening and inspiring and deeply thought provoking. Two thirds of the way through staff began to serve the first clas citizens a wonderful meal of meat, potatoes, etc. It was hard to focus as we were all hungry and only they got food at that point. After the presentation the middle class citizens got a meal of meat and rice on plates with utensils. Those of us in the lower class got only rice and salt water on paper plates and cups but no utensils. It was eye-opening and made me feel blessed for everything I do have.
During our stay in Prenzlau we tok a day trip to Berlin. It was quite a sight to see the remains of the Berlin wall that fell 17 years ago. It was also interesting to hear the perspective of each of the host families about the wall coming down, sicnce we were both on the East and the West side of Germany. Some of the group went to the Hollocaust Memorial and were deeply moved by the solomn rememberance. It was a day to just enjoy the city, and enjoy it I did. In Prenzlau we had Cast Appreciation Day. On show day we arrived at the facility prepared to go to work as normal (show days are long and hard). WRONG!! The stage was set up and beautifully decorated and with stars with each of our names on them, we were fed unlimited ice cream and served by our staff at lunch. They also performed a show for us to show there appreciation. Then instead of setting up and doing workshops, we watched ''Old School." All in all it was a wonderful Day.
Now I must tell you that I am officially gone from Germany and off to the Netherlands and its Imigration Week. YAY! Full of Education Workshops and fun. This week we played the Up With People Land game. Since it was immigration week our Education team devised a game to help us really put immigration into perspective. So we were given a status; citizen, migrant worker, legal alien, illegal immigrant, etc. We had makeshift passports that said our status, our job, our housing etc. The goal was to get a job and a place to live by the end of the week. the rest was up to us. We had a border patrol, a mayor, justices of the peace, etc. It was a lot of fun and really a great learning experience. If you lost your passport then you were demoted to illegal immigrant no matter what status you currrently were. you could change your status, you could get married, and the border patrol was very strict. Also during the week we partnered with local high school students to come up with our own immigration policy. It was hard, but cool to do. It was really cool to have the input of the local students, some of whom were imigrants themselves. It really gave us a feel for what its like to have to write policies. There are so many levels and details. We presented our policies to a panel of judges and they voted which one was most realistic. Yesterday we went to Amsterdam. What an interesting city. The architecture was beautiful and the people very friendly. I got to go to the Ann Frank House and see where she and the seven others realy hide. It was very fascinating. I read the book as a middle schooler and am now re-reading it. Well tomorrow we are of to Leuven, Belgium.. It is our last European city and that means that we have only 5 weeks left in the tour. What a ride this has been!

These are a few of my favorite things

So. To continue with the Sound of Music theme I thought I would share with those reading this blog that I had Schnitzel tday for lunch here in Germany. To Americans it resembles something like a breaded and fried porkchop. It was quite scrumptious. It came with friend potatoes and a salad. Today was our CI day here in Zell, Germany and what a fun day it was. I was part of a group of five people that went to an Elderly Home and visited with the residents. We took some of them to a wonderful Puppet Museum that was hidden in the woods and then we went to lunch at the restaurant were I ate Schnitzel. It was fun to try and understand the German and for them to understand my english. Communication was difficult but amusing. Hands were flung in every which way and I realized for the first time what a language barrier really is. Tomorrow is show day - YAY! It is supposed to be sold out so we will see!!! Until next time...aufweidersehen!

PS: the pictures of the puppets are coming. they wouldn't load to the blog properly. I will have them up soon

The Hills are alive with the sound of...Up With People???

Welcome to what is quite possibly THE most beautiful place on earth...SWITZERLAND!!!! What a perfectly charming little country. Charming is really the best way to Describe the beauty of Switzerland. It is peacful but active and rustic with a modern vibe. The people are amazing, the food is incredible, and I got to play "mountain women" for two days up in the Swiss Alps. It was an amazing oppurtunity, but I have never been so dirty. For two days we worked on a farm helping a family with building a trench for water and cutting down small shrubs in the way of the cows. We had to take a cable car to get up to the house, then had to hike another 40minutes up to the work site. On the hike we passed a beautiful waterfall and had some absolutely glorious views. It was spectacular. On Monday we had a regional learning day and went up Mount Pilatus on the highest cogwheel train in the world! It was SOO cool! At the top it was foggy but still incredible. It was like being on top of the world. We had an educational workshop about Teamwork today (thursday) that really helped refocus the cast and re-evaluate were we are at as a cast. We played some team building games and had an egg-drop contest (my team's design won of course ;) ) It was fun and a great learning experience. Tomorrow is the show, Sunday is a free day and Monday we leave for Germany! So until now Aufwiedersehen darlings (just thought I'd through in a Sound of Music qoute for all you fans!!!)

Milan continued

Well Milan was an incredible city. All the sights, the sounds, the smells...it's unlike anything else. It was a great growing period for me and I had to adjust to new ways of communication, new public transportation and new culture differences. The food was just ridiculously good and I ate more bread and cheese then I knew possible. I have a new and deep love for Italian Gelato as well. We had a very bsy week with CI projects and two shows. For CI we thought we'd be building a Catwalk but instead we helped prepare for an exhibition of artwork that was being held as a fundraiser for the Amici de Bambini foundation. The shows went well and I got to sing my first (and hopefully not last ; ) ) solo in Up With People...in Italian. Vanessa and I sang Di Che Colore together and it was a big hit with the audience. After the show I got may hugs and kisses which was very uplifting. I was soo nervous to perform an Italian song, but the fact that it wasn't perfect seemed to make it that much more endearing to the audience.. The first night I was struck by the song we sing called One to One. I have always conected to this song, but for some reason I began to think of Melanie and how much this song applied to her life. Her life was singing and the chourus in the song goes "We'll be there. We'll be singing one more song. We'll be there, even though the road is long. When tomorrow comes together we'll be there." It was a very powerful moment for me and I am glad to know that I can always remember Melanie through this song. My host family took us around Milan on our free day and we got to ride to the top of the Duomo (a very large famous church in Milan) and walk around the roof of the Duomo. The only negative thing about Milan is that my body finally gave in after 60 hours of traveling and I got sick. But that didn't ruin my time in a Milan one bit - I loved walking around the city and enjoying the culture. We went to the Castello (castle) and played in the fountain, which was very silly but fun. I can not wat to go back to Italy and see more of it - Venice, Rome, Florence, etc. Now its off to Switzerland!!! The land of chocolate. YUM!

Milano is Milan

CHAO!!! Milan is sooo beautiful (pictures to come!!!) I have just travelled 60 hours gotton 10-12 hours of sleep and haven't showered since saturday morning...itwas Tuesday when we landed for those who care to calculate the grossness factor. However, its totally worth it as I am now surrounded by pasta, cute boys, the best coffee I have ever had, boys, beatiful Italian Villas, and oh yea...did I mention boys??? haha. We started CI today (Wednesday) and its a pretty cool CI. We are working with an organization called Amichi di Bambini; they find families for abandoned kids. We are building a catwalk for a fashion show that they are hosting as a fundraiser! Its cool. Tomorrow we continue working and hopefully we'll get to see a little bit of Milan!! Arividerchi!!!

Viva Las Vegas

I write this in memory of a dear friend who is no longer here. Melanie Goodwin, age 19, died tragically on Tuesday morning. A student at the University of North Texas, she will be missed. She will always be remembered for her kind heart and beautiful smile and amazing voice. The world has lost an angel in human form.




Las Vegas was a fun city. My host mom took us out to the strip and we went to M&M world and to the Rainforest Cafe. We had a great final U.S. show. The energy was awesome for such a small audience, and the faclity was beautiful. During the week we got to work with some awesome community organizations such as the Candlelighters Organization. The Candlelighters is a childhood cancer foundation that supports children with various cancers and their families. It was amazing to see the survivors and inspiring to see the fighters. I can not imagine the strength that it takes to battle such a monster. My mom and brother came to Las Vegas to say hi and to see the show (with me in it this time) and we went to the Hoover Dam on our free day. It was guite a sight. I would recomend it to anyone traveling through Nevada.


Now its off to Europe. First stop?? MILAN, ITALY!! Land of pasta, boys, and expresso. The one downfall??? it is going to take us 60hours to get there...yup. from Las Vegas to Seattle is a thirty hour bus ride, then Seattle to Milan is another 30ish hours with layovers etc. So as the Italians say...CHAO!!