End of Week Two Already?!

I can't believe tomorrow is Friday. This past week flew by at lightning speed.

Today was a nice respite from the constant dancing, singing and intense cultural learning we've been doing. Some of us worked at a food bank, others helped an organization that helps refugees settle into America, and others still (including me) worked on houses for Habitat for Humanity. I hung dry wall for six hours and had a BLAST. It was really great to work in small groups, because I got to know some people I didn't know very well before. We helped the staff at Habitat meet their deadline for inspection on the dry wall tomorrow, which felt great. I love helping people, and I love doing it with a ton of other awesome people who love giving as well.

A bunch of us went out to dinner to the Cheesecake Factory tonight, which was scrumptious and far too filling. Once again, it was nice to hang out in a small group. I really feel like these people are becoming family, as corny as that sounds. I can totally see myself having total "real world" shock once I'm finished in Up with People.

We're starting rehearsals tomorrow for our show on February 9th--I'm so excited! I get to play guitar behind some spoken word and then sing at the end of the poem, which is so so cool. Everything here is so so cool, and I just don't have the words to describe the awesomeness.

I'm so glad I decided to do this program. I have already learned so much about the world and myself. I can't imagine how much more I will learn during the remainder of my time.

Peace out,
Marina

End of First Week

We split into small groups and went on a scavenger hunt in Denver the other day. We had to find information about the city and take pictures with various things, such as this bull. We sang Beatles songs the whole way, sweet!

Well, it hardly seems as though I've been gone for over a week now. I feel like I've been a part of my host family and the Up with People cast for at least a few months! Everyone here is amazing, I have friends from Sweden, Ireland, Ethiopia, Denmark, The Netherlands, Hawaii, Thailand, the list goes on and on.
I think I may be in the smaller group of dancers who do all the super cool dance moves at the front of the stage! Yesterday they posted a list of about twenty people who they wanted to do the dance workshop for the day. We spent four hours learning choreography! I've hardly danced in the past year and I have never danced for that long at such a high altitude, so my body kind of hates me now, but it was lots of fun. They post lists again on Monday, I hope I make it! I hope I get to be one of those dancers! I may also be singing and playing guitar for one song, that would be sweet.
We had a Culture Jam on Wednesday night, which was AWESOME. People did everything, from Mexican dance to Irish folklore. I performed a song called "Beautiful" (no, not the Christina Agulara one). For those who haven't heard it, I wrote it while I was in Guatemala and in total awe of the beautiful people and culture. The meaning easily transfered to talking about the amazing multitude of awesome people in my cast.
Thursday we did our first cast vocals, which went rather badly for me. I could get the harmonies while singing just with my own group of altos, but I was standing right next to the Sopranos and kept singing their parts when the whole group sang together. I guess because I've never sung in a choir, I'm not used to harmonizing with tons of people all at once. I'm glad I have something to work on and become skilled at.
We talked about Internships yesterday and I think I'm going to apply for a Technical one. Either lights, video or sound would be awesome! I really want to learn the nuts and bolts behind what makes a show come alive. The internships will last for six weeks each and by the end, we're supposed to be capable of replacing the staff completely.
Other exciting news... We may be on Oprah!!! Since we're going to Chicago, some of the staff are trying to get us on an Oprah show. HOW COOL WOULD THAT BE???
Let's see... other news... my host family is hosting a dinner tonight for a few of the host families they know. My roommate Miraf (I was spelling it incorrectly before) is making some Ethiopian food and I'm making lasagna, the Sicilian way :).

Love to all,
Marina

First REAL day

I am so beat! For some reason, my body refused to sleep properly last night and I only got about five hours of sleep after all the tossing, turning and waking up for water I did. I felt badly for my roommate, as we share a same bed, but she said she didn't notice my constant movement.
Despite only getting a few hours shut-eye, I was energized throughout our first REAL day in Up with People. The past two (Sunday and Saturday) we have had "off" and I have spent my time with my awesome host family. But today, Mirof (my Ethiopian roommate) and I woke at 6:30, grabbed some quick breakfast (and some sweet lattes that Matt, my host dad, made us) and caught the 7:27 bus to Denver. We arrived downtown thirty minutes later and in the space of that time I had made a new friend; Sarah from Sweeden. The three of us walked the seven or so blocks down the walking mall towards the Sherman building where we spent the rest of our day.
The Sherman building is a beautiful old temple, six stories high. We had activities on nearly all the floors today, so we got some great exercise tromping up and down the stairs. I'll have to take some pictures of the building to show you the grandeur...
We spent the morning playing "get to know you" games that were TONS of fun and really seemed to loosen everyone up. The games definitely helped as a memory aid for the ninty-seven names I have to learn. Now instead of only knowing three other student's names, I know sixteen. Yes, I counted.
After re-introducing myself multiple times to the same people and being totally embarrassed when I realized I was having REAL deja vu, we had about an hour of really boring intro stuff that seemed completely common sense to me like: "Talk to your host family," "make sure to ask before you use the host family's phone or computer," "smoke outside unless your host family says it's OK to smoke inside," etc. Then, lunch. Despite my host sisters telling me that the past students had said the food was awful in UP with People, I was quite impressed by the salad, vegetables, oranges and apples and pasta they provided. Not half bad...
The afternoon was filled with a briefing on culture and on American culture in particular. We split into groups of about nine each and came up with ways to demonstrate for our audience (the rest of the students) certain "American" customs. My group had "visitation." Basically we had to depict the polite and rude ways of visiting someone. We did a little skit that was quite fun. I wish I had some of the other student's skits on video, some were VERY entertaining.
The rest of the afternoon until 5:30 we talked about the coming days. Tomorrow, we start "modules" which are basically auditions. I guess they call them "modules" because it sounds less scary and competitive than "auditions." I'm just happy I get to dance tomorrow! I'm hoping I'll get to be one of the main dancers, that would be great.


Love to all,
Marina

The First Day

Well, here I am! Colorado is beautiful. When I flew in yesterday, it was gray and cloudy, but today the sky is clear blue and I can see the snow capped Rocky's in the distance
The first day was a bit difficult for me. I flew in to the Denver airport, which is beautiful, and was picked up by Up with People staff. We were taken to a REC center to spend the day getting to know each other. I arrived at the REC at 11:30ish and was there until 8 that night when my host family picked me up. I feel like I already went through all the emotions I would expect to experience on this six month trip. I felt homesick, overwhelmed, excited, happy, awed, and finally started to feel more comfortable with the idea of doing the program.
People arrived throughout the day from all over the world. We have people from 26 different countries! My room mate is from Ethiopia, which is pretty sweet. My host family is taking us on a hike very soon, so I have to go. I haven't figured out how to upload more than one picture at a time... I"ll work on that.

Ciao!

-Marina