The start of Cast B 09

Soooo I know I am a little late starting this blogging business and I apologize for that, but things have been so nuts and I am new to this so I will have to update the past few days in this post to catch up with myself!!!
Day 1 was amazing and a bit overwhelming...It all started with me and Quita (my cousin who is here with me) waking up and catching the bus to Sherman Center, we thought we were so cool because we were going to be arriving a little before noon and we would be right on time to see people. Well, little did we know that nobody was meeting at the Sherman center...They were all meeting at Montbello Center by the airport...haha So we walk into the Sherman Center and ask for Up with People and the guy at the front looks at us and says "uh they aren't here" So me and Quita are like Oh gosh we went to the wrong place. And luckily a guy named Matt walked out from the back wearing an Up with People name tag and told the guy in the front he would take care of us. So he ended up taking us to the Montbello center and it was like 20miles away from where we were at! So THANK GOD that he was there otherwise we would have been a mess!!! Once we got to the place we were supposed to be at me and Quita were both a lil nervous...and it was crazy. We met most of our cast and anytime a bus came from the airport with new Up with People students we would run out and make a bridge for them to run under as they got off the bus. We were jumping and yelling and screaming. It was Awesome! The first thing I thought was "Wow this bunch is Full of energy!!!!" we all got along amazing right away. People weren't shy and would walk up and introduce themselves. It was so cool to see all the countries represented. Also to hear the accents when they would introduce themselves and talk to you...I remember talking to a girl from Belgium and I couldn't understand her for the life of me and I felt sooo bad! But she laughed at me and said Oh never mind! =) It definitely was different and made me so excited for the semester learning and growing with all the new people I just met. We played games and laughed, laughed...and did I mention we Laughed? Well we DID! and when I say laugh, I'm talking about the laughing so hard that your eyes water and stomach aches so bad you have to clench it!!! I remember a girl asking me if I was from Mexico i said No and then she said well do you speak Spanish and I said No again and she told me I was a Fake Mexican!!! haha! oh what a good laugh! =) We then were picked up by our host families at 8:30pm...so we stayed in a room from like noon until 8:30. It was a bit much but we all had fun with musical chairs and the cup game....Our host families had code names so we could find them and my host families code was "monkey" so when we finally were able to see them I see MaryJo and Paul jumping up and down acting like they are scratching their arm pits and making a monkey sound... We laughed so hard at them and gave them huge hugs right away!!! MaryJo and Paul are my second cousins so it is nice to be able to be with family up here for my first month of UwP. And that's bout all for the first day in the Up with People adventure!!!
Day 2 was very relaxing, we were able to have a day off and I slept in till 10 and just hung out with Quita. We then went to Boulder and ate Sushi and saw some of her friends. MaryJo and Paul take dance classes so they taught us a new dance style called West Coast Swing and they took us to an actual class on Saturday night with some of their friends. It was soooo much fun! We had a blast and learned some cool moves!!! There is a competition in two weeks and they made us go to this class so that when they take us to the competition we can know a few of the basics just in case we get asked to dance! We mostly danced with old people but it was still such an experience. I love my host mom and dad!!! After the dancing they took us to a Mexican restaurant to have sopapillas covered in cinnamon sugar!! Mmm they were so good!
Day 3 was a half-off day so we just ran some errands for the first part of the day and relaxed, then at 4 we had to go to the Sherman Center to have an intro program provided by the staff. Our host families were supposed to go with us and we would have a reception and have time to mingle with everyone in the cast and they're families also. So MaryJo made AWESOME YUMMY cupcakes for us to take and oh man they were so good! I wanted to eat them ALL! Then when we got to the place we met the main people involved in Up with People and all the ones who make it happen! The staff performed for us and it made me so excited! They performed a couple new songs and it was so cool to watch the energy they had and to know that we all would be in that position in 4weeks!!! It definitely made me feel like this all was really happening!! After the show we ate dessert and talked to some people from the cast and some staff members, then everyone went home. It didn't last that long. When we got home Me Quita and MaryJo all watched So you Think You Can Dance, MaryJo loves it!! I ended up falling asleep because i was so exhausted and then i realized that I was going to be feeling exhausted for 6months!! haha!
Day 4 was the first official day of staging and this was where the fun really began, well actually Not yet...all we did on day 4 was listen to people talk about the rules and go over everything that was in our student handbook. Kind of like the first day of school where you have to go over every single thing you need to know even if it is common sense stuff! So it was very very tiring and i couldn't wait for it to be over! I get too restless when stuff like that goes on for too long. We had played games in the morning and they were so fun! I love how everyone is very outgoing and not shy about dancing or screaming...being goofy! it is so fun to play games and run around acting like dorks with everyone just laughing at you but also joining in!! The most fun i have ever had with people i have known for 4days!!! I cant imagine how close we all are going to be after 6months of this. The day ended with vocals so we all were able to sing together and learn a few parts of a couple songs! I was super stoked for this part because I couldn't wait to sing and hear everyone else as a group! and let me tell you...our group was BOMB!!!!! we sounded so good and i was so surprised how many international people that had never sang before. They all did amazing!!! Then after staging was over me and Quita rushed home because MaryJo wanted to take us to a buffet all you can eat Italian Restaurant. So i made SURE we weren't late! All you can eat!?? Rachel wouldn't miss that!!! =) Yummy Yummy! We had so much fun with her but we were so exhausted from the day that at one point i thought my head was going to fall in my plate and i was going to fall asleep right there on the table!! haha luckily i didn't because that would not have been a pretty sight...My face in some delicious lasagna!! =) I was so tired though that that honestly didn't sound too bad!!! I hit the bed hard when we got home and i was so happy to finally get some sleep!!!
Day5 which was today for me was absolutely Amazing!!! it was a laid back day but we had what is called Modules where we go through audition type things. We were split into 10different groups and my group number was 7 and there were 8 of us girls! So first we did Costume, and i took my show costume in to them to see if it would be good for the shows. And of coarse it was PERFECT! So i will be dressed in Hot Pink and Black for every single show! Good thing those are my favorite colors!!! Then we went to Tech, where the tech people show you the stage stuff and lights and backstage so we can get familiar with what it will be like when we are back there for a show. It was really interesting. A lot of cords! Seriously i respect Tech people so much now, you never know how much goes into a dance set until you go backstage and see EVERYTHING they have to have set up and plugged in for everything to run smoothly! Pretty impressive! After that we had a break and went to lunch. Then my next module was Speech and because there are speaking parts in the show we had to read off a paper in front of a couple staff members. I did good because I already feel comfortable with public speaking but when i heard the girls from other counties and when they read with the accent they had, it totally blew me away! I was in awe! They sounded soooooo unique and cool! I wish I had an accent! After that was Dance and it was a lil overwhelming because they went through things so incredibly fast but it was still fun. And my last module of the day was Singing. We all sang in a group and then individually! All our girls sounded so good!!! They had us sing individually so that we could be placed in parts! and of coarse i am a Soprano! Like always! ;) I'm soooo excited for tomorrow but extremely tired so i better get to sleep!!!!!