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!!