Manila

I’m now in Manila in the Philippines, and it is really different here. I’m hosted with Ilka from Germany in a small three-room apartment that has no flushing toilet and a bucket to shower with. We (Ilka and I) sleep in a small room, on the floor, and we share the room with the live-in maid. My host family is Muslim, and we are not allowed to show our shoulders while our host dad is home. Our host mom wears a jilbab when she leaves the house; even in 90+ degree weather she is swathed head to toe in fabric. Our apartment is in viewing distance of the Mall of Asia, and hopefully we’ll get the chance to go there sometime in the two and a half weeks that we’re here. I am really excited to be here, but I have to admit that I’m experiencing culture shock on a really high level. The family that we’re staying with is actually fairly wealthy compared to the people that I’m working with on my CI. I’m working in the slums with an organization that is trying to raise the quality of life, especially for future generations. They are especially focused on getting the students into school, by giving them scholarships for supplies, and on teaching family planning so that the families can support themselves.

North Platte... and Philippines

After my week in Sioux falls, where we had a sold out show with over 2000 people at it, we traveled to North Platte NE, Where I was roomed with Riikka from Finland at the Mckinzie's house. I had an amazing week, from all thier animals(three dogs and a bird), to the "Show Me" on Saturday.
My host family were real pet lovers this past week, with two little miniature Daschaunds, and a yellow lab as well as a Cockatail. The Cockatail was a stray that they brought in a year and a half ago, and he was never fully adjusted to being around humans again, so most nights this week I took him out and worked with him, and by the end of the week I could hold him without wearing gloves and have him switch fingers without biting me. My host family was surprised, and are going to take him out more now, so he'll have a better life. Also this week I had a chance to volunteer at the local animal shelter, where I cleaned out the dog pins, then was able to play with the dogs. I especially loved one dog named Sam, and was overjoyed to find out that she had been accepted by a dog rescue organization and was in no danger of euthanization.
This week we had two sold out shows, and the morning of the second show day we had a "Show Me", a chance to perform whatever you've been practicing in the show in front of the cast and show team. I performed the Moraccan song, "Heya Gat Aleya" and did really well. I'm waiting to see if I'll get the part in the next show, but I'm hopeful that I will. I'm now in the Denver Airport, where my flight to LAX leaves at 11:00. After an eight hour layover in LAX we have a thirteen hour flight to the Philippines, where we are thirteen hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time. I'll update when I can find internet in the Philippines, and I cannot believe that in just four short weeks I'll be back at home.

Sioux Falls, SD

This week I am in Soiux Falls, being hosted with Maggie from Connecticut, and we're staying with Laura and Andrew Ellsworth, a young married couple that are really awesome. When we got to Sioux falls, we had Home Team Olympics. Our Home Teams are a smaller group that you are assigned to within the cast that meets every week or two weeks just to have a group to support you if you're having trouble with anything, but the home team olympics are a competition between all of the home teams to see who is the best. We had musical chairs, pictionary, an UWP trivia sheet and a few other events in the olympics, and even though my home team didn't win, it was a lot of fun, and we won some of the events.

Also this week was the Hunger and Poverty workshop, which really made me sad. There is so much hunger in the world, and in America we waste so much food, its just sickening. With the workshop we had a "Hunger Banquet", where the cast was split into the proportions of the world and fed what those people would eat. 14, who would all be American, were "High Class" got a three course meal.35 were in Middle class, and got rice and beans. 50 were in Poverty, which was where I was, and got a handful of rice and salty water. It was really an emotionally trying event, because we were on the floor, with almost nothing to eat, and right next to us was the high class, you could smell their food, and when they didn't eat all of a coarse, the leftover was thrown away right in front of us. Its a really harsh reality that I hadn't realized is such strong terms.

This week I worked with Meals on Wheels, and was really excited to get to work with that organization. I was kind of homesick though, because it made me think of Mama K and my ABBS group. Yesterday I got to work at Volunteers of America, and painted a mural that had a native American theme. I had a lot of fun and am glad I've been added to the list of artistic painters in the cast now. Today we're going to visit my host mom's family in Minnesota, so I have to go! Update soon...

Aberdeen, SD Immigration week

Aberdeen was "immigration week", so we played the Up With People Land immigration game. In this game all of the members of the cast were given a passport with a random assigned level of citizenship. There were citizens, legal aliens, migrant workers, refugees, asylum seekers, and illegal immigrants. There were also "special roles" such as border patrol, mayor, Justice of the peace, and others. I was part of the Border Patrol, and my job was to make sure that no one was in the wrong place. All week citizens got too eat first, get on the bus first, and even go to the bathroom first, the priority of rights was the same order that I listed the levels above. It was interesting all week to see how people were treated differently by what level they were, and for those in the lower tiers to experience what it was like for these people in real life. I feel bad now for people who have the job of enforcing the law, because nobody respects what they are trying to do.

Other than UWPL, I was again with nuns as my host family, and this time, I was actually in a convent. I was staying with the Presentation Sisters, who are over 40 strong in Aberdeen, I only got to know about five of them, but it was a really good experience.

Also this week was Halloween, so the cast had a Halloween party. There were six other girls staying in the convent, so we went as a group as the seven deadly sins. It was lots of fun and I'm glad that we had the chance to have the cast party. In this picture from left to write is Luara Lynn as Greed, me as Envy, Shawna as Lust, Cheryssa as Pride, Riikka as Wrath, Sarah as Gluttony, and down front is Milou as Sloth with our ribbon for winning the group costume contest.

Cheyenne, Wyoming

Cheyenne, Wyoming the smallest state populace of any other state. Known as the "Cowboy State" for the prevalence of rodeos here. When we got to Wyoming we had just driven through hours of farmland, and when I got my allocation sheet, I couldn't believe it. I was roomed with four other girls from the cast and our host moms were nuns. I'd never been around nuns before, and had no idea what to expect, so when Sister Ruth Ann showed up in her habit I thought of the Sound of Music. After going home, I found out that they almost never wear thier habits, and that she did so only to pick us up. The last picture here is a picture of me with Sisters Ruth Ann and Joan, of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth. The theme for the week was gender rights, so all week we had to carry around an egg as our "child" and not have it break. Mine was named Sirus, and lasted the whole week long.

The week we spent in Cheyenne I had CI at the Boys and Girls club of America. There we painted some murals on the walls to brighten the place up, I worked on a Western mural, and there was another group in the kitchen working on a map of the world with food in the different continents. Chihiro from Japan hand drew the map of the world, and I think that she is an amazing artist, in the picture she is in the center.

For Regional Learning day we went to a rodeo practice at the local college, I got to try goat tying, cow roping, and bull riding (on a fake practice bull of course, the roping was on a dummy too).

Also in Cheyenne we had a sold out show, and Kelly's family, from Winston Salem, came to see the show. Next we're off to South Dakota to Aberdeen. But on the way we stopped at Mount Rushmore, you can see a picture of me and it as my new profile picture.

Salt Lake City Show Day

So, show day in SLC was really interesting. Usually we go in, do a workshop, setup or exploration, and then have rehearsal. In SLC we got there, and Martin, our cast manager, seemed really upset over something, he told us that as soon as they opened the auditorium doors that we needed to go straight in and sit down with our bags asap. After standing there waiting anxiously for fifteen minutes, the doors opened and we all went in, really worried and scared about what they were going to tell us. There were hypothesis of death, accidents, and even possible cancelation of the rest of our tour, like happened in 2000.

However, when we got in there, expecting to see a blank stage and somber staff, the set was entirely up, lights focused, and decorations were all over the stage about how much Staff B '08 appreciated Cast B '08. As soon as we sat down they put on a show for us, singing and dancing some numbers that we do, twisting other numbers, and performing old UWP numbers. It was an amazing show, and at the end they passed the mic around and each said what they appreciated about Cast B '08.

This was our introduction to cast appreciation day. All morning we just chilled, there was a lounge that you could go to that had drinks, snacks, shoe shines and massages. You could also watch High School Musical in the Auditorium where it was filmed. During lunch the staff served us, and during rehearsal we got to make a "cast dance" as a warm-up and have a really relaxed practice.

That night the show went awesome, and we had our fastest strike (take down) time on our tour, finishing fifteen minutes ahead of schedule. This was also the night I got my absentee ballot, and could vote for the first time! I was really excited at the end of the night and felt really good about the day.

Colorado Springs and Salt Lake City

Wow I'm way behind, so I'll start with Co Springs...

We were on post, Fort Carson, an Army post. We were there supporting the army families, and the CI was all Stand for Peace in the schools on post. The show went really well, and on Sunday I got to go to the New Life Church, which has an awesome praise and worship service. If you're ever in Co Springs I definitely recommend going to check it out.

We went from CS to Salt Lake City, Utah. When we got here it was really cold, it had snowed the day before! but as the week progressed it has gotten warmer. We got to visit Temple Square (the headquarters of the Jesus Christ Church of Latter Day Saints or Mormons) on Tuesday. It was really interesting to learn more about their faith. On Wednesday I had school project, and did Stand for Peace in three classes in one day, which was really exhausting. Also Wednesday was the Religion workshop, which I helped lead, we focused on the similarities instead of the differences in religion, and brainstormed on how all religions could coexist. On Thursday I was on promotions, which isn't my favorite, but was ok. Thursday night I went to a "Unity Feast" with my host mom, who is Baha'i. Baha'i is a really new religion, only 150 years old and believes in the unity of all religions, its a really interesting religion, and if you don't know about it you should check it out, their beliefs are very unique. Today I was working at the YWCA, cleaning the walls of the apartments there and playing with the children of the women who were there to escape domestic violence. It was really fun and I'm extremely glad that we have programs like that, even as sad as it is that we need them. Tomorrow is show day, and we're performing at Murray HS, where HSM(High School Musical) was filmed and the school that David Archuleta(runner up American Idol) went to school. I'm loving the cold and can't wait to see what exciting things will happen next.

On a more somber note, two months from today I will be home and done with UWP. Can you believe that? I know I can't, only two more months left before I return to the real world(UWP doesn't exactly seem like the real world). So yeah, I'll update soon, and before we all know it I'll be home...