Sahuarita, Arizona (September 22-29)

After spending 5 weeks in Mexico, we headed back to the United States. Our first city back in the USA was Sahuarita, Arizona. My host family for this city actually was from Green Valley...which is only a short distance away from Sahuarita. My roommates were Joshua from Arizona and Clothilde from Belgium. Below is a picture of my family in Sahuarita.



For the next 6 weeks I am going to be a crew leader for our Community Impact Projects. My first project was CI at a local day car center. About 20 UWP students went to a day care center and split up into three teams. Group 1 painted ten bathrooms, Group 2 made and decorated bulletin boards and Group 3 organized storage closets. Everyone that participated in this CI had an amazing time..we even sang to the children before they took their naps! Below is a slideshow of pictures from the day!


I was also able to take part in the project called "Stand for Peace!" It's when we go into elementary and middle schools and do a lesson with the students promoting peace. I wasn't supposed to take part in this activity..I was signed out for dance workshops, but since so many people called in sick they asked me to fill in for someone. I was in a 6th grade classroom of all girls. Our lesson went pretty well and the students seemed to enjoy themselves. After lunch, the entire cast put on a mini show which at the schools we refer to as a "peace rally!" Below are pictures of signs that were hanging in the school!






After we were finished with the "peace rally" we were fortunate enough to meet the founder of Up With People Mr. Belk. He spoke to us for a little while and gave us some more background information on the organization. The pictures below are of him and his wife.



On regional learning day we went to a farm. We were able to go on a hay ride and through a maze. Some cast members even saw pumpkins for the first time!





Saturday was show day! This was not only our first show back in the United States, but a lot of important people were present at this show. Before every show we have something called "green room" where we all gather together play games, sing songs and get psyched for the show. Below there are a few pictures from "green room."




Me in my "Step into the World" specialty costume.


One of the other dancers from "Step into the World" and myself.



We also had the opportunity to go to an assisted living facility called La Posado and serve the residents dinner! The people sitting at my table were a joy and we had a great time.

Hermosillo, Mexico (September 15-22)

Our arrival day in Hermosillo was absolutely amazing. We arrived into town on the Mexican Independence Day and were invited to the governors reception. We were able to meet the governor, watch mexican dancers perform and see fireworks!





My host family code was Genio and they had a large posterboard with a Genie on it waiting for me!! After meeting my family, I found out that I had 3 host brothers and 1 sister. We had sooo much fun together...whether it was going to starbucks, bowling, out to dinner or just hanging out at home! Here are some pictures of me and my family in Hermosillo!!!










My host brother Hector and my host sister Ana spent an afternoon with the cast. They helped out us out with our CI project of fixing up a basketball court and were able to watch our BTS.






Since it's extremely hot in Hermosillo, we were told that we weren't allowed to set-up the equipment after 11am...so a group of us were on super set-up and went to set-up the stage at 5am. Below are some pictures from our bright and early morning setting up.




On regional learning day we went to a beach resort and met another governor from Mexico. We were also able to go on a tour of the town I was able to go on a kayak ride and spend some time in the pool...it was an absolutely gorgeous day! Below is a slideshow of pictures from the day!

Culiacan, Mexico (September 8-15)

The next stop on our tour was Culiacan, Mexico. When we arrived in the city, we were taken to a local high school that we were going to be using as our main location for the week. When we arrived at the school we were greeted by a large banner!




At the start of our allocation meeting I found out that my roommate was going to be Marion from Switzerland. Our host family code was Soldado. Below are some pictures from our first night in Culiacan, the beautiful sunset and going out for tacos with our family!




While in Culiacan we had 4 host sister and 1 host brother. Below is a slideshow of pictures from our time in Culiacan.


We also had the amazing opportunity of going on a zip line!!! We took the zip line across the river, went through a ropes cross and than came back across the river on the zip line. There are a few pictures below from our adventures.




It's not very often that we are able to watch parts of our own show...but during our rehearsal we were able to watch our cast members do the love medley. Below are a few pictures of the "love medley" portion of our show!

Tepic, Mexico (September 1-8)

The next stop on our tour was Tepic, Mexico...when I received my allocation form my first response was one of frustration because I found out that I was being hosted alone for the second week in a row! After meeting my family and only spending a couple of hours with them though...I knew that it was going to be an amazing week! My host mom Gabriella and my host dad Pablo are absolutely wonderful people! My first night in Tepic they brought me out to dinner to a cute restaurant and I had one of the best chicken sandwiches I have ever had. After going out to eat they brought me to their house where I had welcome balloons waiting for me in my room!!




One of my favorite parts of the week was the mini promotional show that we did at the Nissan Dealership. We were able to promote for the mini show as well as our main show my standing in the streets singing and handing out flyers to cars as they were driving by. We must have sung the song "Up With People" about 25 times but it was still a lot of fun!!! Below are some pictures from the day...






One of our CI (community impact) projects for the week was helping out baby sea turtles and their habitats. So we went to the beach and some members of the cast worked with the sea turtles while the rest cleaned up trash on the beach!! After we were finished with the sea turtles and picking up trash, we were joined by some local university students who had set up some games for us to play. One of the games was a three legged race. I teamed up with one of the students from the local University and little did I know, there were going to be some new rules. We were told that in order to win you had to be the first team to run to the other end of the area, up the stairs, back and jump into the pool. My teammate and I worked extremely well together and were the first ones to arrive at the pool..I didn't think that he was going to jump in we were both fully clothed. Well, he jumped in and I tried to keep myself out of the pool even though our legs were still attached, an UWP staff member came up behind me and pushed me in clothes and all. After all of the excitement we ended up winning the race!!





On our host family day in Tepic, we went to the beach. My host brother and I went on an ATV ride and I even had the opportunity to drive it!! Even though as some points during the day it was down pouring, it was still a lot of fun...and it doesn't matter if you get wet if you are already in the water!! There are a few pictures below from the adventure!!





One of the most amazing parts of the week was my "Mexican Experience!" My host brother Pablo and his friend, took Milou and I on our own "Mexican Experience!" We were able to hear a Mexican band play and dance in the street as well as go to an overlook looking over the entire city! The pictures below are from our "Mexican Experience!"

Cabo, Mexico (August 25-September 1)

Cabo was the first city of the tour that I was in a host family by myself. My host parents spoke absolutely no English at all and I speak barely any Spanish so it was definitely hard communicating with one another. The first night in Cabo they brought me to a restaurant and I had an amazing potato...



One of the places that we visited on our regional learning day was a ranch. We were able to take a walk to a beautiful waterfall as well as eat the most amazing mangos!!!!





We also had the opportunity to go on a dinner cruise. It was absolutely amazing. Below is a slideshow of pictures from the evening...


I happened to have my birthday while we were in Cabo and my family prepared a special meal. We ate tamalles, they sang to me Happy Birthday in English and Spanish and we ate chocolate cake (my favorite)!!!





In Cabo we also painted the baseball stadium that we performed at. We repainted the inside and outside green with the help of some teenagers from the community. We were also able to interact with them by playing some games.





On host family day we went to the beach. The waves were a lot of fun to play in and the scenery was absolutely gorgeous!

La Paz, Mexico (August 16 - 25)

After only being able to spend 4 days in Breckinridge, Colorado...we spent the night at a local resort and departed at 3:30 am for the Denver International Airport. From Denver we flew to Cabo, Mexico where we loaded onto 2 buses and drove to La Paz, Mexico. We were brought to an absolutely beautiful resort where we had our allocation meeting and were able to meet our new host families. My roommate was Anika from Germany and our host parents were Humberto and Tere and we had a host brother Julian. Our host dad Humberto spoke a small amount of English so we were able to get by.

The slide show below is pictures of us meeting our host families...

We were fortunate to have two host family days in La Paz, as well as a decent amount of time to spend with our families. The slide show below is all pictures of Anika and myself with our host family.


The CI (community impact) project that I was able to take part in while we were in La Paz, was painting the outside of the Baseball Stadium that we performed at. The entire outside of the stadium was covered in grafitti and we painted it white!




Anike and I prepared dinner for the family one night...she made pasta and I made cookies!!!






One of the Mini Shows (BTS) that we did in La Paz was on a stage right in front of the water....we were performing as the sun was setting, it was absolutely amazing! Below is a slideshow of pictures from the show!

1st week on the road....Breckinridge Colorado!! (August 11 - 15)

After spending four weeks in Denver, Colorado it was now time to say goodbye to our host families and officially start our tour. Bright and early Monday morning we left for Breckinridge, Colorado. On our way we were able to do some regional learning and stopped at a mine. Below is a slideshow of our travel day!



My host parents in Breckinridge were Ernie and Barbara and my roommate, Ilka from Germany. Below is a picture of my family in Breckinridge.



The CI (community impact) project that I was able to take part in was at the local high school. We were asked to repaint all of the green trim in the Cafeteria brown. The cafeteria went through a complete transformation in only 2 days.







I was also able to take part in a BTS(backing track show) which is a mini show that we put on in the community usually for promotion. We performed in the town square and the scenery was absolutely gorgeous. Here are a couple of pictures that were taken after the BTS.