If you still read this (or check in from time-to-time) you'll notice I have not updated in a looonnngg time. I apologize for this. I've actually moved to a new blog as I start off on a new journey. Feel free to follow me there. I promise there will be more activity there - primarily because there are more people reading :-)
http://mollyskye.wordpress.com/ Check it out! I'm headed to Africa next.
See ya there!
~Molly
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Slice of Life
I wrote this while at a cafe this afternoon. I've left the pauses where I apparently felt they went at the time. This is a glimpse into my mind. There are no incredible revelations or life-changing pieces of advice. Just simple observation.
The air is crisp. The trees show their true colors, which are reflected in the still waters of the canal. In the canals I can also see the blue of the sky with wisps of cloud strewn about. I feel the stones under my feet and the slight drip of my nose lets me know that it is fall.
My thoughts are so loud I fear those around me can hear them. Perhaps their minds are feeding into them. As I sit, my gaze is fixed and I am entranced. Occasionally the clink of a glass or an unexpected laugh brings me back to the table. I watch the curly redhead across the street as she gets her hair cut. The stylist twists the locks as she prepares to cut. I am reminded of my poor posture when my back begins to ache from my current position. My eyes are drawn to the cafe decor. Black and white striped walls are interrupted by large, colorful paintings from a local artist. I wonder if they will ever sell. I take a sip of the tea the shop owner helped me pick out and smell the berries as its warmth reaches my tongue. It is followed by a bite of cannebullar - the best I've tried in the city so far. The dough is a bit crispy on the outside, but moist. The cinnamon flavor is fresh and the pearl sugar atop melts in your mouth.
The two girls who were sitting in the Victorian velvet brocade chairs put on their coats and both look at me again, trying to be discreet. My toes feel the burst of cold wind as they walk through the door and they take one more look in my direction before strolling off laughing. Only my imagination will know what is so amusing about my appearance. A young couple walks by - each of their two children carrying a mylar balloon with unnamed cartoon characters.
Another bite of canelbullar. The redhead reads a magazine and the stylist takes a bite of a chocolate bar while the hair is drying. I admire the construction of the cafe's stools- designed for comfort. My mind wanders to all the dogs I passed in the morning's Oktobermarket. Each had such a distinct look and personality that barking was almost unnecessary, because you could already tell what they were thinking.
A woman walks in whose green brocade jacket exactly matches the pattern of the chairs. I wonder if she ever noticed. The scent of the next table's cheese dip wafts over with the shutting of the door. Looking out the window, I catch in the reflection of the blue van parked outside a little girl rolling about on the sidewalk laughing. She rolls far enough that I can see her plainly and she continues to laugh as her blonde braids peek out from beneath her knit grey cap. Mom helps her up as she walks by and the family continues on their Saturday walk.
A girl walks by with a mylar pony balloon attached to a small suitcase. She looks back in admiration and concentration so as not to lose control of the suitcase. Mom smiles and leads on. She reminds me of myself as I rolled my large suitcase through these same streets just two days ago. There was no balloon, but perhaps there should have been.
I stir my tea and the sugar from the bottom swirls around with the remaining tea leaves and I take a sip of the tea which is now slightly cold and slightly too sweet. I think of the coffee I was invited to share with a bible study group this morning when I showed up unannounced at a local church. I tried to mask the flavor with cream and sugar, but was unsuccessful in my attempt. I still do not care for the taste of coffee. It was the first time in this country that tea was not also offered. The tea light on my table is no longer flickering in its black glass cup.
I notice the black wall behind me is covered with two huge canvases. One is the Mona Lisa. The other is a picture of cows. The blonde couple on the couch embraces and the young man gently kisses his girlfriend's forehead. The server arrives with their food and she yawns unceremoniously.
A family walks in and eyes my table upon realizing they are left with only high tables at which they can sit. The clouds shift deepening the contrast between light and shadow. I guess the time is 3:00, but a look at my phone shows me I am ahead half an hour. The mother of the family asks something in Swedish and I am forced to reveal I am a foreigner here. She asks again if she may use one of the chairs at my table to store her things. I nod emphatically. I sip the last of my tea and take the final bite of canelbullar, making sure to get every last bit of pearl sugar. I use my finger to pick up the remaining three pearls. As if on cue, my phone rings. My face flushes wondering how long the call will take and whether I should take it outside for not. I try to answer as inconspicuously as possible and am relieved to hang up a few minutes later. Work.
I let the last few drops of tea run into my mouth and use my finger to remove a rogue tea leaf from my front teeth. With that, there is no further excuse to stay. The cafe is becoming more crowded as people come in for a fika. I leave my seat and bundle up before walking out into the brisk air again.
Greetings from Sweden,
~Molly
The air is crisp. The trees show their true colors, which are reflected in the still waters of the canal. In the canals I can also see the blue of the sky with wisps of cloud strewn about. I feel the stones under my feet and the slight drip of my nose lets me know that it is fall.
My thoughts are so loud I fear those around me can hear them. Perhaps their minds are feeding into them. As I sit, my gaze is fixed and I am entranced. Occasionally the clink of a glass or an unexpected laugh brings me back to the table. I watch the curly redhead across the street as she gets her hair cut. The stylist twists the locks as she prepares to cut. I am reminded of my poor posture when my back begins to ache from my current position. My eyes are drawn to the cafe decor. Black and white striped walls are interrupted by large, colorful paintings from a local artist. I wonder if they will ever sell. I take a sip of the tea the shop owner helped me pick out and smell the berries as its warmth reaches my tongue. It is followed by a bite of cannebullar - the best I've tried in the city so far. The dough is a bit crispy on the outside, but moist. The cinnamon flavor is fresh and the pearl sugar atop melts in your mouth.
The two girls who were sitting in the Victorian velvet brocade chairs put on their coats and both look at me again, trying to be discreet. My toes feel the burst of cold wind as they walk through the door and they take one more look in my direction before strolling off laughing. Only my imagination will know what is so amusing about my appearance. A young couple walks by - each of their two children carrying a mylar balloon with unnamed cartoon characters.
Another bite of canelbullar. The redhead reads a magazine and the stylist takes a bite of a chocolate bar while the hair is drying. I admire the construction of the cafe's stools- designed for comfort. My mind wanders to all the dogs I passed in the morning's Oktobermarket. Each had such a distinct look and personality that barking was almost unnecessary, because you could already tell what they were thinking.
A woman walks in whose green brocade jacket exactly matches the pattern of the chairs. I wonder if she ever noticed. The scent of the next table's cheese dip wafts over with the shutting of the door. Looking out the window, I catch in the reflection of the blue van parked outside a little girl rolling about on the sidewalk laughing. She rolls far enough that I can see her plainly and she continues to laugh as her blonde braids peek out from beneath her knit grey cap. Mom helps her up as she walks by and the family continues on their Saturday walk.
A girl walks by with a mylar pony balloon attached to a small suitcase. She looks back in admiration and concentration so as not to lose control of the suitcase. Mom smiles and leads on. She reminds me of myself as I rolled my large suitcase through these same streets just two days ago. There was no balloon, but perhaps there should have been.
I stir my tea and the sugar from the bottom swirls around with the remaining tea leaves and I take a sip of the tea which is now slightly cold and slightly too sweet. I think of the coffee I was invited to share with a bible study group this morning when I showed up unannounced at a local church. I tried to mask the flavor with cream and sugar, but was unsuccessful in my attempt. I still do not care for the taste of coffee. It was the first time in this country that tea was not also offered. The tea light on my table is no longer flickering in its black glass cup.
I notice the black wall behind me is covered with two huge canvases. One is the Mona Lisa. The other is a picture of cows. The blonde couple on the couch embraces and the young man gently kisses his girlfriend's forehead. The server arrives with their food and she yawns unceremoniously.
A family walks in and eyes my table upon realizing they are left with only high tables at which they can sit. The clouds shift deepening the contrast between light and shadow. I guess the time is 3:00, but a look at my phone shows me I am ahead half an hour. The mother of the family asks something in Swedish and I am forced to reveal I am a foreigner here. She asks again if she may use one of the chairs at my table to store her things. I nod emphatically. I sip the last of my tea and take the final bite of canelbullar, making sure to get every last bit of pearl sugar. I use my finger to pick up the remaining three pearls. As if on cue, my phone rings. My face flushes wondering how long the call will take and whether I should take it outside for not. I try to answer as inconspicuously as possible and am relieved to hang up a few minutes later. Work.
I let the last few drops of tea run into my mouth and use my finger to remove a rogue tea leaf from my front teeth. With that, there is no further excuse to stay. The cafe is becoming more crowded as people come in for a fika. I leave my seat and bundle up before walking out into the brisk air again.
Greetings from Sweden,
~Molly
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Buenas noches
Today was one of those days that makes everything worthwhile - and then some. After dropping Celi off at the airport I met my host family for lunch at my host abuela's house. We talked a bit and then went to the church to pass out information about being a host family for any people interested. I have to say that having light hair has its advantages here... after about 10 minutes everyone on the block had seen me and smiled at me as I passed by. Another advantage is that they are a little taken aback when I start speaking Spanish. I have yet to encounter a person for the first time who hasn't commented on my Spanish - and it almost always follows "where are you from?"
After handing out fliers I headed home for some quality internet time. I listened to some music and sang a bit working on a project that, if it comes to fruition, I will share. I decided to go explore and try to find a good place to eat for dinner, so I headed off to the Centro Historico. Centro Historico never ceases to amaze me. Every time I visit my brain goes into camera mode to take mental pictures of everything I pass.
This evening was even more spectacular. There is a special exhibition of frogs going on right now where different artists have made artistic interpretations of frogs. It was an unexpected sight... I knew they were in town but did not realize they were out in the public squares. After walking about a bit I settled into a cozy creperie. There was a table right by the entrance facing out to the square with just one seat facing the outdoors. It had my name written on it. I went in and ordered a panini and a chai tea frappe. The panini was good, but the frappe was delicious. I sat and took in the happenings of the square as I let my mind drift off. (Don't worry, I will get a crepe the next time I go, but this time there just wasn't enough room - as I only finished half of my panini). I took the other half of my panini and headed back to the car.
This was my first time driving into the Centro, so I decided to stick with the more familiar roads until I knew where I was exactly. I stuck to the small stone roads and was noticing the traffic moving very slowly. The radio was playing and I decided it was time to mute it and open the windows to take in the bustle of Sunday night in the town squares. I looked to my left and there was a beautiful cathedral. To my right, there was a large fountain and families spread throughout the square enjoying the beautiful evening air. As if on cue, mariachi music came over the square. All of a sudden, the fountain changed. It was synchronized to the music! Different fountains shot into the air in time with the music. Luckily, the stoplight was generous and gave me a few minutes to watch in awe. It reminded me of that perfect night in Rome.
I took a guess as to which way to go once I got out to the big roads and found myself right where I wanted to be. As the car pulled into the development I followed the loop around to our house making sure to stop where we can see the whole city. Celi and I call it the "Victory lap." After a day of hard work, we come home and we can either take the short loop or the Victory lap. We usually choose the Victory lap because it's the perfect end to a bad day as well as a great day. The sun had set, but the sky was still filled with color. The mountains were silhouettes against the pink sky which faded to a blue grey around the edges of the city. The city lights twinkled magnificently as I rounded the corner to my host family's house.
With that, I leave you. Until next time,
~Molly
After handing out fliers I headed home for some quality internet time. I listened to some music and sang a bit working on a project that, if it comes to fruition, I will share. I decided to go explore and try to find a good place to eat for dinner, so I headed off to the Centro Historico. Centro Historico never ceases to amaze me. Every time I visit my brain goes into camera mode to take mental pictures of everything I pass.
This evening was even more spectacular. There is a special exhibition of frogs going on right now where different artists have made artistic interpretations of frogs. It was an unexpected sight... I knew they were in town but did not realize they were out in the public squares. After walking about a bit I settled into a cozy creperie. There was a table right by the entrance facing out to the square with just one seat facing the outdoors. It had my name written on it. I went in and ordered a panini and a chai tea frappe. The panini was good, but the frappe was delicious. I sat and took in the happenings of the square as I let my mind drift off. (Don't worry, I will get a crepe the next time I go, but this time there just wasn't enough room - as I only finished half of my panini). I took the other half of my panini and headed back to the car.
This was my first time driving into the Centro, so I decided to stick with the more familiar roads until I knew where I was exactly. I stuck to the small stone roads and was noticing the traffic moving very slowly. The radio was playing and I decided it was time to mute it and open the windows to take in the bustle of Sunday night in the town squares. I looked to my left and there was a beautiful cathedral. To my right, there was a large fountain and families spread throughout the square enjoying the beautiful evening air. As if on cue, mariachi music came over the square. All of a sudden, the fountain changed. It was synchronized to the music! Different fountains shot into the air in time with the music. Luckily, the stoplight was generous and gave me a few minutes to watch in awe. It reminded me of that perfect night in Rome.
I took a guess as to which way to go once I got out to the big roads and found myself right where I wanted to be. As the car pulled into the development I followed the loop around to our house making sure to stop where we can see the whole city. Celi and I call it the "Victory lap." After a day of hard work, we come home and we can either take the short loop or the Victory lap. We usually choose the Victory lap because it's the perfect end to a bad day as well as a great day. The sun had set, but the sky was still filled with color. The mountains were silhouettes against the pink sky which faded to a blue grey around the edges of the city. The city lights twinkled magnificently as I rounded the corner to my host family's house.
With that, I leave you. Until next time,
~Molly
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Te quiero Querétaro
Querétaro, Querétaro – the capital of the state. The middle of México, the middle of summer; without a beach nearby it would be easy to think I was going to die of heat exhaustion. Luckily, that is not the case! The weather here in Querétaro has been absolutely beautiful. In the mornings, the chill is enough to cause one to layer. In the afternoon the sun gets bright, but what is summer without some warmth? By the time the sun sets over the mountains, however, the cool breeze blows in again.
I’ve been here now for one week and so far I love this city. The historic downtown is straight out of a photographer’s dream and it makes me wish my own camera was better at capturing the city’s magic. Everything downtown is within walking distance. There is a mix of traditional food vendors and historical churches alongside modern cafés and clothing shops. Best of all, in all the public squares they have free wireless internet! It’s as if someone stole my dreams and made them into a city.
Our host family lives on a hill in the south of the city. From here we can see the entire city. It was not until this morning, however that we discovered there is a pyramid in the city. How we managed to miss it, I am not sure, but now that we know it’s there we’ll make sure to explore. We’re living in a family with five kids. Our host dad is Mexican and our host mom Hungarian. The kids range in age from two months to eleven years. They all speak Spanish and Hungarian and those over eight years also speak English. It’s quite impressive to see them switch languages based on who they are talking to. English is their weakest language, so host dad asks me to speak only English to them. I’m working on that, as sometimes it’s hard when you speak the language they prefer as well.
Tomorrow I’ll be returning to San Luis Potosí . This will be my second time there in just over a week. I will once again get to visit my delightful host family there. When I arrived last week – the first time in over a year – I was greeted with handmade signs welcoming me home and saying how much they missed me. It was really sweet.
I guess that’s all for now.
Loving Querétaro,
~Molly
I’ve been here now for one week and so far I love this city. The historic downtown is straight out of a photographer’s dream and it makes me wish my own camera was better at capturing the city’s magic. Everything downtown is within walking distance. There is a mix of traditional food vendors and historical churches alongside modern cafés and clothing shops. Best of all, in all the public squares they have free wireless internet! It’s as if someone stole my dreams and made them into a city.
Our host family lives on a hill in the south of the city. From here we can see the entire city. It was not until this morning, however that we discovered there is a pyramid in the city. How we managed to miss it, I am not sure, but now that we know it’s there we’ll make sure to explore. We’re living in a family with five kids. Our host dad is Mexican and our host mom Hungarian. The kids range in age from two months to eleven years. They all speak Spanish and Hungarian and those over eight years also speak English. It’s quite impressive to see them switch languages based on who they are talking to. English is their weakest language, so host dad asks me to speak only English to them. I’m working on that, as sometimes it’s hard when you speak the language they prefer as well.
Tomorrow I’ll be returning to San Luis Potosí . This will be my second time there in just over a week. I will once again get to visit my delightful host family there. When I arrived last week – the first time in over a year – I was greeted with handmade signs welcoming me home and saying how much they missed me. It was really sweet.
I guess that’s all for now.
Loving Querétaro,
~Molly
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Mastercard?
Well, I suppose it's time to write again. Let's start off with the good news (at least for me). In the last three months, we have managed to successfully obtain 23 visas! I say we because it takes more than just one person. I did much of the research and leg work, but it couldn't have been done without a whole group of people. If you've ever tried to obtain a visa, then you may understand what an undertaking this is. For those who haven't, here's a little insight.
Lesson #1- Communication - Depending on how nice you are to the individuals in the consulate, your communication with them may be great. Communication between embassies, however, is non-existent.
Example: The Taiwanese embassy in Miami says non-US Citizens must apply for Taiwanese visas at the consulate nearest their home (Nepal must apply in India, Venezuela must apply in Venezuela) and that Chinese students are unable to travel to Taiwan as tourists. They need a green card to enter the country. The Taiwanese embassy in Chicago says that everyone can apply in the US, but the process for the Chinese students will take longer, however, they cannot apply in the Chicago office due to the fact that we were at the time traveling in Colorado. That leads us to Kansas City - the embassy for the Colorado area. We were able to work out a system to get all of the visa information necessary there and obtain many of the visas.
Lesson #2 - Destination - The answer of one embassy may not be what you want, and therefore it is necessary to not take the word of the first embassy as a final answer. Much like buying a new car, it is important to shop around first.
Example: The Mexican consulate in Denver said it would need to have all of the visa applications approved through the Mexico City office, a process which could take up to a month. The Mexican consulate in Miami took our applications and the visas were obtained the next day except for one who needed to be cleared through Mexico City due to a name issue.
Lesson #3 - Preparation - There is nothing that can help you more than having all the necessary paperwork filled out and ready to go. Calling ahead is a great way to ensure all necessary documents have been prepared.
Example: When going to the consulate where they have told you that as long as you have the applications, the passports, and one other authenticated document your visas will be no problem- don't let said documents fall out of your bag in the van. If you choose to do so, be prepared with the number of people who can bring documents to you.
Lesson #4 - Determination - When the consulate who you have sent all the information to informs you that you will need to go through a separate avenue to obtain a visa for a certain country, it is important to follow through.
Example: When the Taiwanese consulate in Kansas City tells you that the Chinese students need to fill out additional paperwork, you do it. When they tell you they need to talk to your sponsors in Taiwan, you give them the number. When they tell you to fill out another set of papers, you do it. When they tell you that the applications need to be handled in Taiwan, not the United States, you contact your team in Taiwan who sends you forms to fill out. You do it. The sponsor submits information and you are given a new set of forms to fill out. You do it. The Chinese students may have to fill out 4-5 sets of forms before they are given the right ones. When the embassy tells you they are not sure of the process for certain nationalities - ask them to be more specific, as they are the authorities on the subject.
The process is long. The process is hard. The process is time-consuming. Then you get hugs from the students as you hand back their passports with newly-obtained visas and you see the smile on the face of the Chinese student who is so excited to be the first person she knows to be able to visit Taiwan... and it's all worth it.
~Molly
Lesson #1- Communication - Depending on how nice you are to the individuals in the consulate, your communication with them may be great. Communication between embassies, however, is non-existent.
Example: The Taiwanese embassy in Miami says non-US Citizens must apply for Taiwanese visas at the consulate nearest their home (Nepal must apply in India, Venezuela must apply in Venezuela) and that Chinese students are unable to travel to Taiwan as tourists. They need a green card to enter the country. The Taiwanese embassy in Chicago says that everyone can apply in the US, but the process for the Chinese students will take longer, however, they cannot apply in the Chicago office due to the fact that we were at the time traveling in Colorado. That leads us to Kansas City - the embassy for the Colorado area. We were able to work out a system to get all of the visa information necessary there and obtain many of the visas.
Lesson #2 - Destination - The answer of one embassy may not be what you want, and therefore it is necessary to not take the word of the first embassy as a final answer. Much like buying a new car, it is important to shop around first.
Example: The Mexican consulate in Denver said it would need to have all of the visa applications approved through the Mexico City office, a process which could take up to a month. The Mexican consulate in Miami took our applications and the visas were obtained the next day except for one who needed to be cleared through Mexico City due to a name issue.
Lesson #3 - Preparation - There is nothing that can help you more than having all the necessary paperwork filled out and ready to go. Calling ahead is a great way to ensure all necessary documents have been prepared.
Example: When going to the consulate where they have told you that as long as you have the applications, the passports, and one other authenticated document your visas will be no problem- don't let said documents fall out of your bag in the van. If you choose to do so, be prepared with the number of people who can bring documents to you.
Lesson #4 - Determination - When the consulate who you have sent all the information to informs you that you will need to go through a separate avenue to obtain a visa for a certain country, it is important to follow through.
Example: When the Taiwanese consulate in Kansas City tells you that the Chinese students need to fill out additional paperwork, you do it. When they tell you they need to talk to your sponsors in Taiwan, you give them the number. When they tell you to fill out another set of papers, you do it. When they tell you that the applications need to be handled in Taiwan, not the United States, you contact your team in Taiwan who sends you forms to fill out. You do it. The sponsor submits information and you are given a new set of forms to fill out. You do it. The Chinese students may have to fill out 4-5 sets of forms before they are given the right ones. When the embassy tells you they are not sure of the process for certain nationalities - ask them to be more specific, as they are the authorities on the subject.
The process is long. The process is hard. The process is time-consuming. Then you get hugs from the students as you hand back their passports with newly-obtained visas and you see the smile on the face of the Chinese student who is so excited to be the first person she knows to be able to visit Taiwan... and it's all worth it.
~Molly
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
The Bucket List item I never added
Well I suppose the first new post of the new year (as the last post was technically written before the year's end) should be memorable. It should be suspenseful. It should be filled with interesting information. It should have a real message.
Today's story is about the effects of peer pressure. The topic of a certain activity came up early in the week and was bandied about a bit. It was something that had been mentioned at the beginning of the semester in jest; a full-staff activity in which half the staff would never agree to participate. I laughed it off as they began rallying the troops. Some were excited, some nervous, and some just plain not interested. As the week went on, the group grew larger. It began to get so big that I thought about it myself. If everyone else did this and I did not, would I regret it? Looking back on my life, I realized that the things I have regretted have never been the things that I have done. They've always been the things I was too scared to do. With that in mind, I told those coordinating that if they got the WHOLE staff to agree to go, then I would go as well. By Saturday, they had rallied 14 of the 16 staff members. The 15th person was on the fence... she was going to go, but not sure if she would participate. With that level of commitment, I agreed to go.
On a crisp, yet warm Sunday morning, the bus pulled into the monastery where the staff was staying to pick our group up. We had grown from the 16 staff members with the addition of a field manager and 5 students. At 22 strong, we made our way from Dade City to Orlando and by mid-morning had arrived at our destination. After signing our lives away, we began to go. Each group had about five of us mixed in with a contingency of instructors and other people. By the time my shift was to go, there were only three of us from Up with People left. We got dressed appropriately and met our instructors. I use the term instructor loosely, as there was not much instruction at all.
When the vehicle arrived, we all got in and buckled up. I was a bit nervous at the very beginning as we began to move and I realized the back hatch was still partially open. I got less nervous the further we got from our starting point. I looked out the window to enjoy the scenery and made conversation with the man sitting in front of me. After about 20 minutes, we'd reached our destination and my instructor (Ray) told me it was time to get out. We'd practiced our exit a bit on the ride over, so I felt pretty confident. He said, "Now take one last deep breath," and I did. There was no time to think, for as soon as I finished that last breath we went. As I tumbled out of the plane, there was a fraction of a second where my mind screamed, "WHAT DID YOU JUST DO?!" but that quickly subsided as we finished flipping and began our descent. I was not scared at all after that. My ears hurt as the wind went rushing by at 120 miles per hour, but I did not feel scared. The ground seemed so far away that it was as if I was swimming on the air rather than falling. We did some turning and after 60 seconds of free falling, Ray deployed our parachute.
All of a sudden, everything stopped. The rushing air ceased and everything was quiet and still. Ray and I talked a bit as the parachute made a few turns. I looked out over the land and could see for miles. It made me think of the paragliders in our back yard. I had always been too afraid to go, but now I was seeing that the paragliding was tame in comparison to free falling. We neared the ground and I prepared to land. Even after I landed I felt like I was floating still. I walked toward my colleagues as one of the last to jump out of the plane, but still feeling the same sense of accomplishment.
If I had not gone would I have regretted that decision? Absolutely. Let this be a lesson to us all: If everyone else is going to do it, you might as well check it out too... No wait, that's not it. Oh, right. If it seems dangerous, research until you realize that it's actually pretty safe.
The facts: The incidence of death in skydiving is 1 in 100,000. This may seem like a lot, however the majority of those deaths are caused by a maneuver known as swooping, where an individual will approach the ground at high speeds and level out just above ground level as if running on air. This was DEFINITELY not a maneuver we were going to be doing. We all jumped tandem, which took the control out of our hands and into the hands of a professional. Most people's biggest fear in skydiving is the fear that their parachute will not open. Modern day skydiving equipment has built in altimeters which automatically deploy your chute at a certain altitude in case you or the person with you is unable to do so. If the first chute fails to open, there is a second parachute that is actually SAFER than the original parachute.
So with facts in hand, I felt comfortable in my decision. Aside from the moment the plane took off and the moment I left the plane, I was not scared at all. I'm actually more scared now looking back and seeing the pictures. I notice that there's NOTHING between me and the ground except for 13,000 feet of air. That's when I can't believe that I did it. What was I thinking?!
Well, I suppose that's it for this one.
~Molly
Today's story is about the effects of peer pressure. The topic of a certain activity came up early in the week and was bandied about a bit. It was something that had been mentioned at the beginning of the semester in jest; a full-staff activity in which half the staff would never agree to participate. I laughed it off as they began rallying the troops. Some were excited, some nervous, and some just plain not interested. As the week went on, the group grew larger. It began to get so big that I thought about it myself. If everyone else did this and I did not, would I regret it? Looking back on my life, I realized that the things I have regretted have never been the things that I have done. They've always been the things I was too scared to do. With that in mind, I told those coordinating that if they got the WHOLE staff to agree to go, then I would go as well. By Saturday, they had rallied 14 of the 16 staff members. The 15th person was on the fence... she was going to go, but not sure if she would participate. With that level of commitment, I agreed to go.
On a crisp, yet warm Sunday morning, the bus pulled into the monastery where the staff was staying to pick our group up. We had grown from the 16 staff members with the addition of a field manager and 5 students. At 22 strong, we made our way from Dade City to Orlando and by mid-morning had arrived at our destination. After signing our lives away, we began to go. Each group had about five of us mixed in with a contingency of instructors and other people. By the time my shift was to go, there were only three of us from Up with People left. We got dressed appropriately and met our instructors. I use the term instructor loosely, as there was not much instruction at all.
When the vehicle arrived, we all got in and buckled up. I was a bit nervous at the very beginning as we began to move and I realized the back hatch was still partially open. I got less nervous the further we got from our starting point. I looked out the window to enjoy the scenery and made conversation with the man sitting in front of me. After about 20 minutes, we'd reached our destination and my instructor (Ray) told me it was time to get out. We'd practiced our exit a bit on the ride over, so I felt pretty confident. He said, "Now take one last deep breath," and I did. There was no time to think, for as soon as I finished that last breath we went. As I tumbled out of the plane, there was a fraction of a second where my mind screamed, "WHAT DID YOU JUST DO?!" but that quickly subsided as we finished flipping and began our descent. I was not scared at all after that. My ears hurt as the wind went rushing by at 120 miles per hour, but I did not feel scared. The ground seemed so far away that it was as if I was swimming on the air rather than falling. We did some turning and after 60 seconds of free falling, Ray deployed our parachute.
All of a sudden, everything stopped. The rushing air ceased and everything was quiet and still. Ray and I talked a bit as the parachute made a few turns. I looked out over the land and could see for miles. It made me think of the paragliders in our back yard. I had always been too afraid to go, but now I was seeing that the paragliding was tame in comparison to free falling. We neared the ground and I prepared to land. Even after I landed I felt like I was floating still. I walked toward my colleagues as one of the last to jump out of the plane, but still feeling the same sense of accomplishment.
If I had not gone would I have regretted that decision? Absolutely. Let this be a lesson to us all: If everyone else is going to do it, you might as well check it out too... No wait, that's not it. Oh, right. If it seems dangerous, research until you realize that it's actually pretty safe.
The facts: The incidence of death in skydiving is 1 in 100,000. This may seem like a lot, however the majority of those deaths are caused by a maneuver known as swooping, where an individual will approach the ground at high speeds and level out just above ground level as if running on air. This was DEFINITELY not a maneuver we were going to be doing. We all jumped tandem, which took the control out of our hands and into the hands of a professional. Most people's biggest fear in skydiving is the fear that their parachute will not open. Modern day skydiving equipment has built in altimeters which automatically deploy your chute at a certain altitude in case you or the person with you is unable to do so. If the first chute fails to open, there is a second parachute that is actually SAFER than the original parachute.
So with facts in hand, I felt comfortable in my decision. Aside from the moment the plane took off and the moment I left the plane, I was not scared at all. I'm actually more scared now looking back and seeing the pictures. I notice that there's NOTHING between me and the ground except for 13,000 feet of air. That's when I can't believe that I did it. What was I thinking?!
Well, I suppose that's it for this one.
~Molly
Sunday, January 18, 2009
A late seasonal greeting.
The following is my holiday letter, but it really expresses my thoughts over the past month or two.
While in the Philippines I witnessed many things, but the most beautiful was the power of hope. So often people are consumed by the news spread across the media about the problems of the world today. Violence, drugs, war, teen pregnancy, childhood obesity... This generation is slated to be the first in recorded history to have a shorter lifespan and be less successful than the generation before. That's a harsh start to a long life. We look for answers in medicine and technology, which is where we start to miss things. Is it easier to cure someone or to prevent them from becoming ill? The answer seems apparent to those of us who know the power of prevention. However, once a person is ill what keeps them holding on is a little thing called hope. We hope for a cure, for a miracle, for one more day, for something to live for, but we still hope. Well it's time our world had a little more hope.
I've seen first-hand the dramatic impact hope can have. In the Philippines I worked in two different impoverished areas. On the outside, the two areas looked about the same. The needs were the same and the people, at face value were also the same. After wondering what was missing in the second community, I realized it was hope. Following is the story of that first community.
While in Manila I was working with an organization called Gawad Kalinga. The organization has a goal to create a squatter-free Philippines. Their basic model is to tear down the slums and in their place build safe, adequate housing. Working with the beneficiaries, who are required to put in a certain amount of "sweat equity," and volunteers, they construct the housing. They are working to gain land rights in areas where people are living illegally. The basic ideal is to restore dignity to the Filipinos and eventually help to eradicate poverty throughout the world. GK works to build more than houses. They build communities. They teach livelihood skills and work with the beneficiaries to create business models to ensure their future success. In our particular project, the city was working with GK and had given them land rights so they were able to build without tearing down the peoples' houses.
I hardly know where to begin in recounting my experience. I was with a group of 12 people from 7 countries - Bangladesh, Switzerland, Sweden, Netherlands, United States, Mexico, and Germany. On our first day, we were given a tour of the slum that we were building housing for. The neighborhood was within an area they called the "Values Section" with street names like Friendship and Charity. This community lived at the end of Prosperity St. We made our way through a maze of narrow pathways between cardboard enclosures topped with corrugated metal. The pathways were covered with wrappers and trash as well as puddles of water which were likely disease-ridden. In some cases the metal on top was not sufficient, so shirts or tires were thrown on top to help keep out the elements. There was no electricity. The children were walking around barefoot and, in some cases, naked. The mothers were working on recycling or other livelihood projects in which GK had trained them. The heat was unbearable for us, yet it seemed to not affect them. The biggest thing we noticed in every person we passed was their smile. They were all smiling. They knew that we were there to help build their future homes and were filled with the promise that they would soon be able to move out of this slum - which was actually a park until it filled with squatters - and into real houses.
When we returned to the site where we were building, we all had a new appreciation for the people there. These people working side-by-side with us were helping to build their community, their future, and a future for the children. Did I not mention the children? There were hundreds of children. On our first day, we were joined by a dozen or so children with whom we played after finishing our lunches. We taught them games and songs and had some of those who spoke English help to translate. They called us "Barbies" and would feel our skin commenting on how beautiful it was and how beautiful we were. It was almost as if they were checking to see if we were real. As we returned a second and third day they began to look forward to our arrival. We would see them playing games with each other that we had taught them and we rarely would go 15 minutes without hearing a part of one of the songs we'd taught. Each day was filled with excitement at the prospect of going to this amazing place and not only helping to build houses (I did a lot of plastering) but having fun with the kids. There was a buzz around, a jolt of energy to the place that had once been so unfamiliar. We were able to work there for 8 days. At the beginning people would avert their eyes as we walked through the village that was on the way to our site or would occasionally venture to look at us. By the end of the week we were greeted every day with choruses of "hello" and "Goodbye! See you tomorrow!" by adults and children alike. It was easy to see that these people all had hope. They had something to look forward to and knew the lives of their children were going to be improved dramatically due to the efforts of GK.
On our final day, we had a day of just playing and celebrating. We played with the kids to start off the day and later they performed for us. The kids from the neighboring school did little dances and songs for us. Some of the beneficiaries did a Filipino folk dance. Then the beneficiary kids came up to perform. These were "our" kids - the ones we saw every day and had come to love. They got up and performed... one of the songs we'd taught them! When they finished one of their mothers explained "this was the first thing you taught our children and they wanted to let you know that they'll never forget you." Some of the mothers came up to us to tell us how much they'd miss us and that they'd never forget us, that we'd made such an impact on their children in just the short time we were there. They explained that they have hope that with other people like us in the world that we can make it a better place.
When we left there were lots of tears. There were tears of joy for the work that had been done and tears of sadness for the friends we won't see for a long time. They may not forget us, but we will never forget them. Whenever I think of the Philippines, I'll see the faces of Louie and Len Len and Winsy and Camille. I'll know what poverty looks like, yet how hope can shape the lives of those in poverty.
~Molly
If you're interested in Gawad Kalinga, you can find out more at gawadkalinga.org So far their model has been successfully replicated in parts of India and Africa in an effort to eradicate poverty and homelessness.
While in the Philippines I witnessed many things, but the most beautiful was the power of hope. So often people are consumed by the news spread across the media about the problems of the world today. Violence, drugs, war, teen pregnancy, childhood obesity... This generation is slated to be the first in recorded history to have a shorter lifespan and be less successful than the generation before. That's a harsh start to a long life. We look for answers in medicine and technology, which is where we start to miss things. Is it easier to cure someone or to prevent them from becoming ill? The answer seems apparent to those of us who know the power of prevention. However, once a person is ill what keeps them holding on is a little thing called hope. We hope for a cure, for a miracle, for one more day, for something to live for, but we still hope. Well it's time our world had a little more hope.
I've seen first-hand the dramatic impact hope can have. In the Philippines I worked in two different impoverished areas. On the outside, the two areas looked about the same. The needs were the same and the people, at face value were also the same. After wondering what was missing in the second community, I realized it was hope. Following is the story of that first community.
While in Manila I was working with an organization called Gawad Kalinga. The organization has a goal to create a squatter-free Philippines. Their basic model is to tear down the slums and in their place build safe, adequate housing. Working with the beneficiaries, who are required to put in a certain amount of "sweat equity," and volunteers, they construct the housing. They are working to gain land rights in areas where people are living illegally. The basic ideal is to restore dignity to the Filipinos and eventually help to eradicate poverty throughout the world. GK works to build more than houses. They build communities. They teach livelihood skills and work with the beneficiaries to create business models to ensure their future success. In our particular project, the city was working with GK and had given them land rights so they were able to build without tearing down the peoples' houses.
I hardly know where to begin in recounting my experience. I was with a group of 12 people from 7 countries - Bangladesh, Switzerland, Sweden, Netherlands, United States, Mexico, and Germany. On our first day, we were given a tour of the slum that we were building housing for. The neighborhood was within an area they called the "Values Section" with street names like Friendship and Charity. This community lived at the end of Prosperity St. We made our way through a maze of narrow pathways between cardboard enclosures topped with corrugated metal. The pathways were covered with wrappers and trash as well as puddles of water which were likely disease-ridden. In some cases the metal on top was not sufficient, so shirts or tires were thrown on top to help keep out the elements. There was no electricity. The children were walking around barefoot and, in some cases, naked. The mothers were working on recycling or other livelihood projects in which GK had trained them. The heat was unbearable for us, yet it seemed to not affect them. The biggest thing we noticed in every person we passed was their smile. They were all smiling. They knew that we were there to help build their future homes and were filled with the promise that they would soon be able to move out of this slum - which was actually a park until it filled with squatters - and into real houses.
When we returned to the site where we were building, we all had a new appreciation for the people there. These people working side-by-side with us were helping to build their community, their future, and a future for the children. Did I not mention the children? There were hundreds of children. On our first day, we were joined by a dozen or so children with whom we played after finishing our lunches. We taught them games and songs and had some of those who spoke English help to translate. They called us "Barbies" and would feel our skin commenting on how beautiful it was and how beautiful we were. It was almost as if they were checking to see if we were real. As we returned a second and third day they began to look forward to our arrival. We would see them playing games with each other that we had taught them and we rarely would go 15 minutes without hearing a part of one of the songs we'd taught. Each day was filled with excitement at the prospect of going to this amazing place and not only helping to build houses (I did a lot of plastering) but having fun with the kids. There was a buzz around, a jolt of energy to the place that had once been so unfamiliar. We were able to work there for 8 days. At the beginning people would avert their eyes as we walked through the village that was on the way to our site or would occasionally venture to look at us. By the end of the week we were greeted every day with choruses of "hello" and "Goodbye! See you tomorrow!" by adults and children alike. It was easy to see that these people all had hope. They had something to look forward to and knew the lives of their children were going to be improved dramatically due to the efforts of GK.
On our final day, we had a day of just playing and celebrating. We played with the kids to start off the day and later they performed for us. The kids from the neighboring school did little dances and songs for us. Some of the beneficiaries did a Filipino folk dance. Then the beneficiary kids came up to perform. These were "our" kids - the ones we saw every day and had come to love. They got up and performed... one of the songs we'd taught them! When they finished one of their mothers explained "this was the first thing you taught our children and they wanted to let you know that they'll never forget you." Some of the mothers came up to us to tell us how much they'd miss us and that they'd never forget us, that we'd made such an impact on their children in just the short time we were there. They explained that they have hope that with other people like us in the world that we can make it a better place.
When we left there were lots of tears. There were tears of joy for the work that had been done and tears of sadness for the friends we won't see for a long time. They may not forget us, but we will never forget them. Whenever I think of the Philippines, I'll see the faces of Louie and Len Len and Winsy and Camille. I'll know what poverty looks like, yet how hope can shape the lives of those in poverty.
~Molly
If you're interested in Gawad Kalinga, you can find out more at gawadkalinga.org So far their model has been successfully replicated in parts of India and Africa in an effort to eradicate poverty and homelessness.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Su Fu and So Forth...
Right now we are in Sioux Falls, SD. Our lovely fall weather has passed and we have officially hit winter. Today started off at 45 degrees and by the end had fallen to 23 degrees. Needless to say, I'm glad I had my mom bring my winter coat when she came.
Tonight I went with my host mom and roommate (Nathalie from Sweden) to the Ahn Trio concert. The Ahn Trio consists of three sisters - one cellist, one pianist, and one violinist. All are Juilliard trained and they play chamber music by contemporary composers. That was probably the most interesting part, the fact that the oldest composer represented by their pieces was Richard Rogers. Their performance was dynamic and passionate and they were all very talented. The theatre we were in, the Washington Pavilion, had some of the most amazing acoustics I've ever heard. Every pluck of the strings could be heard from the top of the balcony (or so I assume... We were in the 8th row Orchestra). Each note resonated and you could feel it in your chest. It was almost like the music became the air and you were just breathing in the harmonies. I enjoyed it immensely.
One of the basic concepts of improv theatre is pattern recognition. What is funny in a scene is when a specific action or theme returns and is played out in a parallel fashion. This is a skill improvisors must work to develop with the understanding that the more they are able to perceive what is unusual or funny about a scene, the better they are able to portray it to the audience. Those improvisors who are seen has being very perceptive, sharp, and funny are the ones who see the patterns easily and are able to play them. Why, you may ask, do I bring this up? I was thinking about it this evening when I got to the concert. This is my second tour with UWP. In my first tour, I only went to one concert... The 5 Browns. Five brothers and sisters, all Juilliard trained, who traveled together and performed. I'm just wondering what the third beat of this pattern is going to be, because I'm sure we're all aware of the comic rule of three.
We have our show in Sioux Falls tomorrow afternoon. We've already sold out the floor (2,000 seats) so it will be a nice big audience. We leave Monday for North Platte, NE and then the following Monday head to the Philippines. It's a wild ride and I'm hanging on tight.
~Molly
Tonight I went with my host mom and roommate (Nathalie from Sweden) to the Ahn Trio concert. The Ahn Trio consists of three sisters - one cellist, one pianist, and one violinist. All are Juilliard trained and they play chamber music by contemporary composers. That was probably the most interesting part, the fact that the oldest composer represented by their pieces was Richard Rogers. Their performance was dynamic and passionate and they were all very talented. The theatre we were in, the Washington Pavilion, had some of the most amazing acoustics I've ever heard. Every pluck of the strings could be heard from the top of the balcony (or so I assume... We were in the 8th row Orchestra). Each note resonated and you could feel it in your chest. It was almost like the music became the air and you were just breathing in the harmonies. I enjoyed it immensely.
One of the basic concepts of improv theatre is pattern recognition. What is funny in a scene is when a specific action or theme returns and is played out in a parallel fashion. This is a skill improvisors must work to develop with the understanding that the more they are able to perceive what is unusual or funny about a scene, the better they are able to portray it to the audience. Those improvisors who are seen has being very perceptive, sharp, and funny are the ones who see the patterns easily and are able to play them. Why, you may ask, do I bring this up? I was thinking about it this evening when I got to the concert. This is my second tour with UWP. In my first tour, I only went to one concert... The 5 Browns. Five brothers and sisters, all Juilliard trained, who traveled together and performed. I'm just wondering what the third beat of this pattern is going to be, because I'm sure we're all aware of the comic rule of three.
We have our show in Sioux Falls tomorrow afternoon. We've already sold out the floor (2,000 seats) so it will be a nice big audience. We leave Monday for North Platte, NE and then the following Monday head to the Philippines. It's a wild ride and I'm hanging on tight.
~Molly
Friday, October 3, 2008
Fiesta
Retelling our Mexican Independence Day experience reminded me of my 4th of July this year. For the first six weeks of this semester I lived with a delightful Uppie family north of Denver. My host dad works for the company and my host mom had worked for them for many years. They have two of the most picture-perfect kids as well.
For the 4th of July, we went to a party (yes, full of Uppie alums) at a house that backed up to a park with a lake. The fireworks were to be shot off over the lake. We couldn't have had better seats. The food was incredible with my favorite dessert being the homemade s'mores. That's right, homemade marshmallows, homemade graham crackers, and Nutella. Yum.
The fireworks display began with parachuters jumping from planes with fireworks attached to their feet. From there, things got beautiful. The fireworks were so close you could feel the pounding in your chest as they exploded. We had to look up because they were erupting right over our heads. The ashes fell on our blankets and the rooftops of the neighborhood, but we were entranced by the glittering sky. There was no way we could have been closer unless we'd been those parachuters. It was beautiful.
Well, we're back in the U.S. after five weeks in Mexico. This brings with it new challenges as well as new advantages to my job. I was able to have dinner with some of my family last week, which was delightful, but a bit surreal. I'm very used to having my life sectioned off. My New York friends all live in New York and are either school or improv friends. My San Francisco improv friends are separate from my San Francisco school friends, who are separate from my Bay Area Challenge Day friends. My Ohio family, California family, and Arizona family come together occasionally, but are pretty separated from my friends. Work has never really connected with any of the groups, so when two of my worlds collide it blows my mind a little.
There's a different feeling when I'm at work versus when I'm with my family. When you live in your work and are constantly surrounded by it, it's easy to fall into being always "on." Needless to say, driving out of one group and into another throws you for a loop. I realized I've never been to Arizona in the fall. I'm not sure if it was that or the fact that I was seeing it from a different point-of-view that made it seem like a whole new place. All the familiar landmarks came into view but were somehow different... or maybe it was me who was different.
We're in Albuquerque now. The cast is preparing for a show at the zoo where the stage is a hippo mouth. Just this morning we surprised the cast by announcing that we're going to the Balloon Fiesta tomorrow. Over 1000 hot air balloons are registered to take off tomorrow morning. All week we've told them we were doing a community service project at a landfill for which we need to leave at 3:30 in the morning because it's far away. In reality, we're leaving at 3:30 because 2/3 of the cast are going to be on launch crews for the balloons. This morning there were already dozens of balloons in the sky on our drive in. I can't wait for tomorrow.
Every time I see a hot air balloon I'm always reminded of this picture: http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2923914240061776909ERyqyX?vhost=good-times I don't even know if we're going to see hot air balloons or if it's just my memory making up another story, but in my mind whenever I see a hot air balloon I see my dad in his furry hat with me strapped to his back. It should be a really exciting event.
Until we meet again,
~Molly
Saturday, September 20, 2008
How am I?
People often ask me how my job is. Truth be told, it goes up and down. Up With People is an emotional roller coaster to begin with, having the natural ups and downs of life magnified by being on the road away from any constants except for the 100 people you see all day 6 days a week. There are moments that are frustrating and disappointing, moments when you're so tired you can barely function or too busy to even eat. Then there are the moments that make it all worth it. There are families who touch your heart, who will never forget you and who have kids who ask where you are for months following your departure. There are places you visit that are breathtakingly beautiful and experiences you wouldn't be able to have in another context. There are little things that show up along the road to remind you why you're here.
Then there are the people. When asked if I'm homesick, the answer is always "no." That's not due to a lack of love for home, but due to the fact that the only times I've ever really been homesick are when I'm not happy where I am. I've always been confident in the relationship I have with my family. I don't need to see them or hear from them every day to know that they love me. I know that though they miss seeing me from time to time, they just want me to be happy. The people I'm surrounded by are all united by a common vision - to make the world a better place. Idealistic? Perhaps, but I'd rather live by my ideals than give up on the world we live in. We all know that it only takes one person to make a difference in another's life, and we sing it all the time, "One to one we change the world."
I've noticed that we always talk about changing others' lives, and the thing we don't often realize is how our own life changes in the process. So many of the students talk about how they don't feel like they're impacting others' lives, and then I see how theirs has been impacted. They don't see how helping a child with cancer to smile is making a difference, and then I see the look on their face and realize that they just want to be able to do more than that. They feel helpless sometimes. In the end, if the only thing that changes is ourselves then I think we've succeeded. The thing is, though, that I know how much of an impact we've made already.
Have I changed? Yes. I look at my life now and know there are things that are a part of me forever. After this experience, I won't be able to do "nothing" with my life. All those free days I used to have I realize were wasted opportunities. Opportunities to volunteer. Opportunities to explore the place I live. Opportunities to explore new places. Opportunities to bond with other people. These are all things I value but never realized all the opportunities I had. My days now are filled. From early morning to late evening I'm constantly active, sometimes at so frantic a pace I feel my body won't keep up. I won't keep the pace up forever, but I'll always have the knowledge that I can. There are so many hours in a day.
One thing that living on the road gives you is the knowledge of who takes the time to connect with you and who you take the time to connect with. Living in a place you have many acquaintances who you see a lot. Going away helps you to see those that really care for you and who think about you from time to time. It's also an opportunity for me to see who I miss and think about and to let them know.
What is it that I do? I am currently coordinating logistics for a 6-month international tour of 107 young adults from 21 countries, while doing community service, performing in a show, and living in host families in a different city each week.
So you ask once again, "How is my job?" It's crazy and fun and stressful and delightful and enlightening and strengthening and educational and exhausting and unique and important and hard and surprising and magical. That's how it is, and it's the perfect place for me to be at this point in my life.
~Molly
Then there are the people. When asked if I'm homesick, the answer is always "no." That's not due to a lack of love for home, but due to the fact that the only times I've ever really been homesick are when I'm not happy where I am. I've always been confident in the relationship I have with my family. I don't need to see them or hear from them every day to know that they love me. I know that though they miss seeing me from time to time, they just want me to be happy. The people I'm surrounded by are all united by a common vision - to make the world a better place. Idealistic? Perhaps, but I'd rather live by my ideals than give up on the world we live in. We all know that it only takes one person to make a difference in another's life, and we sing it all the time, "One to one we change the world."
I've noticed that we always talk about changing others' lives, and the thing we don't often realize is how our own life changes in the process. So many of the students talk about how they don't feel like they're impacting others' lives, and then I see how theirs has been impacted. They don't see how helping a child with cancer to smile is making a difference, and then I see the look on their face and realize that they just want to be able to do more than that. They feel helpless sometimes. In the end, if the only thing that changes is ourselves then I think we've succeeded. The thing is, though, that I know how much of an impact we've made already.
Have I changed? Yes. I look at my life now and know there are things that are a part of me forever. After this experience, I won't be able to do "nothing" with my life. All those free days I used to have I realize were wasted opportunities. Opportunities to volunteer. Opportunities to explore the place I live. Opportunities to explore new places. Opportunities to bond with other people. These are all things I value but never realized all the opportunities I had. My days now are filled. From early morning to late evening I'm constantly active, sometimes at so frantic a pace I feel my body won't keep up. I won't keep the pace up forever, but I'll always have the knowledge that I can. There are so many hours in a day.
One thing that living on the road gives you is the knowledge of who takes the time to connect with you and who you take the time to connect with. Living in a place you have many acquaintances who you see a lot. Going away helps you to see those that really care for you and who think about you from time to time. It's also an opportunity for me to see who I miss and think about and to let them know.
What is it that I do? I am currently coordinating logistics for a 6-month international tour of 107 young adults from 21 countries, while doing community service, performing in a show, and living in host families in a different city each week.
So you ask once again, "How is my job?" It's crazy and fun and stressful and delightful and enlightening and strengthening and educational and exhausting and unique and important and hard and surprising and magical. That's how it is, and it's the perfect place for me to be at this point in my life.
~Molly
Despues de cuatro y media semanas en Mexico, estamos casi terminado. El Lunes, regresamos a los Estados Unidos otra vez. Esta semana, estoy en Hermosillo en el estado de Sonora. Cuando llegue en Hermosillo fue el 15 de Septiembre - el Dia de Independencia. Fui a una recepcion del gobierno del estado en el Palacio Gobierno. Vimos el presidente del estado y despues fuimos afuera por los fuegos artificiales (fireworks!). Estuvimos directamente debajo de los fuegos artificiales y tambien el confetti. Fue muy bonita.
Ahora estoy mirando la television con mi hermano anfitriona que tiene tres anos. El es mi amigo nuevo. Cuando llegue a la casa la primera vez, fue muy timido, pero ahora anda sobre la casa buscando a mi. Es precioso. Tengo cuatro hermanos anfitrionas ahora, de 3 a 16 anos edad.
Luego...
This afternoon Carlos Alfonso (mi hermanito) started getting closer to me and will not leave my side. He ate dinner on my lap and while the girls were watching a movie he'd come in intermittently so that I knew he was there. At one point, he brought his sister's hair tie to me, because it had a rose on it. Later we played with his magnet house and then I asked if he wanted to read a book. He nodded and so we read Green Eggs & Ham again. I asked if he was ready to go to sleep and he nodded again, so I tucked him in and off to sleep he went. My host mom was quite surprised when she asked a few minutes later where he was and I said "in bed."
Tomorrow is our last show in Mexico, then we head back to the States for 8 weeks. I'm excited and nervous all at the same time. I'm really excited to see some people in Arizona that I haven't seen for a while. I'm also nervous about how operations change in the United States.
That's my Hermosillo update.
~Molly
Ahora estoy mirando la television con mi hermano anfitriona que tiene tres anos. El es mi amigo nuevo. Cuando llegue a la casa la primera vez, fue muy timido, pero ahora anda sobre la casa buscando a mi. Es precioso. Tengo cuatro hermanos anfitrionas ahora, de 3 a 16 anos edad.
Luego...
This afternoon Carlos Alfonso (mi hermanito) started getting closer to me and will not leave my side. He ate dinner on my lap and while the girls were watching a movie he'd come in intermittently so that I knew he was there. At one point, he brought his sister's hair tie to me, because it had a rose on it. Later we played with his magnet house and then I asked if he wanted to read a book. He nodded and so we read Green Eggs & Ham again. I asked if he was ready to go to sleep and he nodded again, so I tucked him in and off to sleep he went. My host mom was quite surprised when she asked a few minutes later where he was and I said "in bed."
Tomorrow is our last show in Mexico, then we head back to the States for 8 weeks. I'm excited and nervous all at the same time. I'm really excited to see some people in Arizona that I haven't seen for a while. I'm also nervous about how operations change in the United States.
That's my Hermosillo update.
~Molly
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Who are you, what are you doing, and where have you been?
I know, I know. What can I say? Life moves really quickly on the road and I don't always have enough time to even think about it, let alone write. When last we met I was in the midst of a month in Thailand. My student semester tour ended there with tearful goodbyes and lots of plans to visit foreign friends in the future. What happened beyond that? TONS! Here are some highlights.
Directly following Thailand, a group of us from the cast stayed in L.A. in what we termed "Cast L.A. 2008." It was a fantastic experience orchestrated by one of our castmates. It was almost a mini-version of our tour. We had host families and even had an allocation meeting. We got an RV donated for us to use which was really nice. We had mini morning meetings to discuss the day's logistics and re-live the past six months of our lives. It was a lot of fun.
From there I went directly to Hawaii, where another group of castmates was vacationing. I stayed with that group on Oahu for a few days before heading to the big island. I met my family on the big island and was there for a week for my brother's wedding. It was probably the most laid-back wedding that's ever occurred. We procured the use of a hole on the golf course the day before the ceremony was scheduled and had a beautiful sunset wedding overlooking the ocean. I even got to walk the bride down the aisle. It was great spending time with the family as well.
From there I flew back to San Francisco where I re-packed my bags, said hello to my dog, and slept for four hours before getting back on a plane to Denver. I was in Denver for 6 weeks, one week for a pre-staging private events show (in layman's terms that means I did about 30 hours of dancing in 3 days and then performed) and 5 for staging. That's when the loooonnnng days started. Coordinating logistics for an international tour of 107 people from 21 countries is a tall order. I'm still in my learning curve, but am getting more and more confident every day. It's lots of work but lots of fun.
While in Denver I was staying with the producer of the show and his wife, who was on UWP staff for many years. It was really relieving to have a family that understood what it was like to be doing what I am doing. When I got there, their younger son was just learning to walk. I was there for his first birthday (chocolate cake covered face and all) and by the end he was almost running. We went on a hike by a beautiful mountain lake, which was a first for both of the boys, to which the older son exclaimed, "I love hiking!" They were also there for me learning how to drive and getting my driver's license. Yes, it's true. Seven years after the rest of my peers I've finally experienced the rite of passage into mobility.
From Denver we hit the road and our first stop was Breckenridge. Breckenridge is beautiful. The mountains are unlike those in the places I've been and it's so beautiful in the summer it makes it easy to see why people flock to it in the winter. We managed to get condos donated so all the staff was able to stay together. It was great for bonding. We went out to eat, watched some olympics, and just shared some good stories as we prepared for the most challenging part of our journey thus far...
Mexico! That's right, our second week on the road took us into Mexico. Our first stop was La Paz, an ocean-side city with crystal clear waters and poor drainage systems. Upon our arrival in La Paz, we drove through the central part of town which was completely flooded. The water almost reached the bottom of our bus in parts, and we saw vehicles getting stuck in the streets. It wasn't even raining when we were there, but there was nowhere for the water to go so it just stayed there.
From there we hit Los Cabos, but that deserves it's own post. So that's it for now. There will be more to come... at some point. Tonight is our last night in Tepic and tomorrow we're off to Culiacan.
Hasta luego,
~Molly
Directly following Thailand, a group of us from the cast stayed in L.A. in what we termed "Cast L.A. 2008." It was a fantastic experience orchestrated by one of our castmates. It was almost a mini-version of our tour. We had host families and even had an allocation meeting. We got an RV donated for us to use which was really nice. We had mini morning meetings to discuss the day's logistics and re-live the past six months of our lives. It was a lot of fun.
From there I went directly to Hawaii, where another group of castmates was vacationing. I stayed with that group on Oahu for a few days before heading to the big island. I met my family on the big island and was there for a week for my brother's wedding. It was probably the most laid-back wedding that's ever occurred. We procured the use of a hole on the golf course the day before the ceremony was scheduled and had a beautiful sunset wedding overlooking the ocean. I even got to walk the bride down the aisle. It was great spending time with the family as well.
From there I flew back to San Francisco where I re-packed my bags, said hello to my dog, and slept for four hours before getting back on a plane to Denver. I was in Denver for 6 weeks, one week for a pre-staging private events show (in layman's terms that means I did about 30 hours of dancing in 3 days and then performed) and 5 for staging. That's when the loooonnnng days started. Coordinating logistics for an international tour of 107 people from 21 countries is a tall order. I'm still in my learning curve, but am getting more and more confident every day. It's lots of work but lots of fun.
While in Denver I was staying with the producer of the show and his wife, who was on UWP staff for many years. It was really relieving to have a family that understood what it was like to be doing what I am doing. When I got there, their younger son was just learning to walk. I was there for his first birthday (chocolate cake covered face and all) and by the end he was almost running. We went on a hike by a beautiful mountain lake, which was a first for both of the boys, to which the older son exclaimed, "I love hiking!" They were also there for me learning how to drive and getting my driver's license. Yes, it's true. Seven years after the rest of my peers I've finally experienced the rite of passage into mobility.
From Denver we hit the road and our first stop was Breckenridge. Breckenridge is beautiful. The mountains are unlike those in the places I've been and it's so beautiful in the summer it makes it easy to see why people flock to it in the winter. We managed to get condos donated so all the staff was able to stay together. It was great for bonding. We went out to eat, watched some olympics, and just shared some good stories as we prepared for the most challenging part of our journey thus far...
Mexico! That's right, our second week on the road took us into Mexico. Our first stop was La Paz, an ocean-side city with crystal clear waters and poor drainage systems. Upon our arrival in La Paz, we drove through the central part of town which was completely flooded. The water almost reached the bottom of our bus in parts, and we saw vehicles getting stuck in the streets. It wasn't even raining when we were there, but there was nowhere for the water to go so it just stayed there.
From there we hit Los Cabos, but that deserves it's own post. So that's it for now. There will be more to come... at some point. Tonight is our last night in Tepic and tomorrow we're off to Culiacan.
Hasta luego,
~Molly
Sunday, May 25, 2008
I've been pinched, but I'm still waiting to wake up.
Upon our arrival in Bangkok, we were greeted with flower bracelets by a volunteer who helped set up the Thailand portion of our tour. The flowers smelled lovely and made for an excellent make-shift crown. We grabbed our bags and got on the bus for a 15 hour bus ride. What better way to see the country than on a bus, right? We passed rice fields and temples and amazing cloudscapes before stopping for dinner.
Dinner was our first experience with Thai food. By that, I mean it was the first time someone mistook hot chili sauce for sweet and sour sauce. There were more than a few burned mouths. Mine took to it well, as I was pretty sure whatever sauce it was was going to end up hot, so I took only a small amount. After that it was back on the bus until 1:00 AM which is when we arrived to the temple. Did I just say temple? Oh right, a temple. We spent our first night in Thailand at a Buddhist temple. We woke up to the mind-numbingly loud chirp of the crickets and Erika and I went for a walk to check out the local area before breakfast. Breakfast began the chain of similarity when it comes to food. So far, 3/4 of the meals here consist of fried rice with egg, vegetables, and some kind of meat I don't eat (so I get it without). It's delicious, though monotonous.
Where was I? Right - the temple. We were greeted on our first real day in Thailand by the head of the monastery as well as some local radio personalities. Monks are very happy people. I want to take them home. The pictures don't do the temple (or the happy monks) justice, but suffice it to say the entire experience was beautiful. We also experienced luke-warm bucket showers and "squatty potties" at the temple. We were told to expect them in our host families, as well. I'm happy to say I lucked out on that front. My family lives in a nice house near the airport with a western toilet that flushes as well as a shower with warm water! They also speak English! These are all luxuries in the Up With People Thai tour. I'm living the big life.
Our first night, my 17 year-old host sister took me to a show. I had no idea what kind of show to expect, but it turned out to be a multicultural show put on by a local university. My host sister is friends with another family that's hosting, so Johan from the Netherlands was also with us. When Johan (as blonde-haired and blue-eyed as they come) and I walked in we were approached by the staff and told to "Wait here for VIP." We told them we weren't VIP and went to sit down with our host sisters. When we got to the row we were sitting in, another staff member came up and said "You can sit up front." It was then that we realized that we were the only non-Thai people in a crowd of about 1000. Needless to say, we stuck out. There were spotlights that would go around the whole room from time to time. Every time they came near Johan and me we were just waiting for them to stop and for everyone to look at us. Thankfully, that didn't happen until halfway through the show. We heard the emcees coming down the aisle saying "farang, farang," which I recalled from my Thai phrasebook to mean "foreigner." The spotlight came to a halt on our blonde heads in the sea of dark hair and we meekly waved to the crowd. I let Johan do the talking and just sat back and laughed. I'm finally exotic!
On Friday the group I'm with went to one of the local high schools to do some activities, teach some English, and perform a show for the students. It was well-received, though the students were very shy.
That brings us to Saturday. Saturday was our regional learning day. We started the day with an hour and a half boat ride down the river to our first site. One of the boats ahead of us hit a rock and got a hole in it, so we had to stop and wait for another boat to get there, as our boat had the only Thai/English speaker. As we neared our destination we saw them. They were big, gray, wrinkley, and beautiful. They were our rides. Each elephant had a seat on its back which held two people. We went on a tour of the area on our elephants (ours was a female who happened to be pregnant) which ended in the river to get back to the stand. My elephant date and I each got a chance to ride on the head of the elephant. It was quite bumpy, though the overall feeling was much like that of riding a pony. The elephant's skin felt really cool with all the bristly hairs on its head. Its ears kept wrapping around my legs like it was trying to protect them. It. Was. Awesome.
From there we got on another boat and headed to our next departure point. We were told to bring comfortable walking shoes, which usually means a fair amount of walking. We hadn't really anticipated what was about to come. After a grueling 45 minute hike in the 90+ degree weather we reached a hill tribe. "Great!" we all thought as we reached the village. Our guide then informed us that we were just stopping to let people catch up, that we still had another 45 minutes to the hill tribe that we were going to stop at for real.
We hiked another half hour and stopped again to wait for people to catch up. Two hours and buckets of sweat after we left our starting point, we arrived at one of the Akha tribe villages. We stopped to get drinks and then hiked the last ten minutes to our actual destination. We could hear the rushing water before we could see it, but as we climbed further and further in the jungle, we finally reached the WATERFALL! Hans, Mitch, and I were the first around the bend to behold the amazing sight. After some shouting and running about in feverish delight (90+ degrees, remember?) we hopped into the waterfall. It was glorious. I went to sit on the rocks right at the bottom of the waterfall and realized it created a natural massage. I stayed there while the others trickled in. It was very surreal, seeing my friends from all over the world climbing around on a Thai waterfall like water nymphs.
How do you follow that? With dinner, of course. We took the local trucks (pictures to come eventually) to an open air restaurant that was just for us. We had some time to relax and chat with each other as we heard the vocal stylings of a local artist. He sang everything from Aretha Franklin to Maroon 5 - all in English. There was even some John Denver thrown in. After that, we were treated to a local group of hill tribe performers. The group comes together as part of an effort for awareness and to keep tribal girls out of human trafficking. They were from a number of different hill tribes and each had their own ceremonial dress. Their songs and dances were very reminiscent of native American traditions, with a lot of natural influence.
I think I'll stop there for now. Happy reading.
~Molly
Dinner was our first experience with Thai food. By that, I mean it was the first time someone mistook hot chili sauce for sweet and sour sauce. There were more than a few burned mouths. Mine took to it well, as I was pretty sure whatever sauce it was was going to end up hot, so I took only a small amount. After that it was back on the bus until 1:00 AM which is when we arrived to the temple. Did I just say temple? Oh right, a temple. We spent our first night in Thailand at a Buddhist temple. We woke up to the mind-numbingly loud chirp of the crickets and Erika and I went for a walk to check out the local area before breakfast. Breakfast began the chain of similarity when it comes to food. So far, 3/4 of the meals here consist of fried rice with egg, vegetables, and some kind of meat I don't eat (so I get it without). It's delicious, though monotonous.
Where was I? Right - the temple. We were greeted on our first real day in Thailand by the head of the monastery as well as some local radio personalities. Monks are very happy people. I want to take them home. The pictures don't do the temple (or the happy monks) justice, but suffice it to say the entire experience was beautiful. We also experienced luke-warm bucket showers and "squatty potties" at the temple. We were told to expect them in our host families, as well. I'm happy to say I lucked out on that front. My family lives in a nice house near the airport with a western toilet that flushes as well as a shower with warm water! They also speak English! These are all luxuries in the Up With People Thai tour. I'm living the big life.
Our first night, my 17 year-old host sister took me to a show. I had no idea what kind of show to expect, but it turned out to be a multicultural show put on by a local university. My host sister is friends with another family that's hosting, so Johan from the Netherlands was also with us. When Johan (as blonde-haired and blue-eyed as they come) and I walked in we were approached by the staff and told to "Wait here for VIP." We told them we weren't VIP and went to sit down with our host sisters. When we got to the row we were sitting in, another staff member came up and said "You can sit up front." It was then that we realized that we were the only non-Thai people in a crowd of about 1000. Needless to say, we stuck out. There were spotlights that would go around the whole room from time to time. Every time they came near Johan and me we were just waiting for them to stop and for everyone to look at us. Thankfully, that didn't happen until halfway through the show. We heard the emcees coming down the aisle saying "farang, farang," which I recalled from my Thai phrasebook to mean "foreigner." The spotlight came to a halt on our blonde heads in the sea of dark hair and we meekly waved to the crowd. I let Johan do the talking and just sat back and laughed. I'm finally exotic!
On Friday the group I'm with went to one of the local high schools to do some activities, teach some English, and perform a show for the students. It was well-received, though the students were very shy.
That brings us to Saturday. Saturday was our regional learning day. We started the day with an hour and a half boat ride down the river to our first site. One of the boats ahead of us hit a rock and got a hole in it, so we had to stop and wait for another boat to get there, as our boat had the only Thai/English speaker. As we neared our destination we saw them. They were big, gray, wrinkley, and beautiful. They were our rides. Each elephant had a seat on its back which held two people. We went on a tour of the area on our elephants (ours was a female who happened to be pregnant) which ended in the river to get back to the stand. My elephant date and I each got a chance to ride on the head of the elephant. It was quite bumpy, though the overall feeling was much like that of riding a pony. The elephant's skin felt really cool with all the bristly hairs on its head. Its ears kept wrapping around my legs like it was trying to protect them. It. Was. Awesome.
From there we got on another boat and headed to our next departure point. We were told to bring comfortable walking shoes, which usually means a fair amount of walking. We hadn't really anticipated what was about to come. After a grueling 45 minute hike in the 90+ degree weather we reached a hill tribe. "Great!" we all thought as we reached the village. Our guide then informed us that we were just stopping to let people catch up, that we still had another 45 minutes to the hill tribe that we were going to stop at for real.
We hiked another half hour and stopped again to wait for people to catch up. Two hours and buckets of sweat after we left our starting point, we arrived at one of the Akha tribe villages. We stopped to get drinks and then hiked the last ten minutes to our actual destination. We could hear the rushing water before we could see it, but as we climbed further and further in the jungle, we finally reached the WATERFALL! Hans, Mitch, and I were the first around the bend to behold the amazing sight. After some shouting and running about in feverish delight (90+ degrees, remember?) we hopped into the waterfall. It was glorious. I went to sit on the rocks right at the bottom of the waterfall and realized it created a natural massage. I stayed there while the others trickled in. It was very surreal, seeing my friends from all over the world climbing around on a Thai waterfall like water nymphs.
How do you follow that? With dinner, of course. We took the local trucks (pictures to come eventually) to an open air restaurant that was just for us. We had some time to relax and chat with each other as we heard the vocal stylings of a local artist. He sang everything from Aretha Franklin to Maroon 5 - all in English. There was even some John Denver thrown in. After that, we were treated to a local group of hill tribe performers. The group comes together as part of an effort for awareness and to keep tribal girls out of human trafficking. They were from a number of different hill tribes and each had their own ceremonial dress. Their songs and dances were very reminiscent of native American traditions, with a lot of natural influence.
I think I'll stop there for now. Happy reading.
~Molly
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Champagne showers and goodbyes
I leave for Thailand tomorrow, and by tomorrow I mean 3 AM. Our travel "day" is currently estimated at 53 hours. We'll fly from Dallas to Denver, Denver to LA, LA to Hong Kong, Hong Kong to Bangkok, and then take a bus from Bangkok to Chiang Rai (which is essentially on the other side of the country). I'm not sure yet who my travel partner will be, but I better pick a good one.
I guess I'd better backtrack first. Last night was our last show in the United States. It went swimmingly. Unfortunately, it was our last show with our technical manager. She will not be joining us in Thailand, as she got a job working for Cirque du Soleil and has to leave on Monday. Also, in Thailand we won't have to set up or take down our set, so last night was our last night of striking the set. Upon finishing, we had a truck-closing ceremony as well as a goodbye to our tech manager. The tech crew climbed up on top of the truck, made speeches, and then sprayed us all with champagne. I must have been in the splash zone, because I got pretty wet. We will miss her, but are all really excited for her to be working with Cirque.
Tonight we'll be dropped off at our meeting point at 9 PM, where we'll have an education workshop then a party... until 3 in the morning. I know what you must be thinking. "But Molly, there's no sleep time in that schedule." Believe me, this small detail has not been overseen. We will have over two days to sleep intermittently, and I plan to take advantage of that. It is, however, quite exciting to have some party time with the cast. We're so often in work mode that we rarely get the chance to just hang out.
My host family in this city is amazing. Wendi is an alum from '92 and she along with her husband Derek are expecting their first child in early July. They're currently referring to it as "the mushroom" as they're waiting to see if it's a boy or a girl. Their other "child" is a husky named Nikita and he is one of the sweetest dogs.
Today my roommate Maiken and I went to a glass blowing studio owned by our host mom's parents. Her mom does fused or flat glass pieces while her stepdad does blown pieces. They have created pieces for corporations as well as individual patrons around the world. One of their more fun commissions was a series of glass cowboy hats for a man from Taiwan. They happened to have one left lying around the studio and, though stylish, it's not exactly practical for everyday wear.
Afterwards, we went to Snuffers for lunch. Snuffers was one of the originators of cheese fries. They're a Dallas staple for burgers and game day food. Once stuffed, we went to pick up some last minute items for Thailand... you know, a towel, bug spray, toilet paper. Oh, I didn't mention that they don't have toilet paper in the restrooms in Thailand? Well, they don't. We also stopped by Borders where Derek and I looked at inappropriate children's books. One gem was "The Mole Who Knew It Was None of Its Business". It's about a mole who, upon emerging from its hole, gets pooped on. It spends the rest of the book asking different animals about their poop until it realizes it was the dog. (Spoiler Alert!!) It decides then to poop on the dog's head, then promptly returns to its whole. Moral of the story...? It was lost on us as well.
Now I'm off to finish packing. Who knows when I'll have internet access again? I don't.
Happy trails!
~Molly
I guess I'd better backtrack first. Last night was our last show in the United States. It went swimmingly. Unfortunately, it was our last show with our technical manager. She will not be joining us in Thailand, as she got a job working for Cirque du Soleil and has to leave on Monday. Also, in Thailand we won't have to set up or take down our set, so last night was our last night of striking the set. Upon finishing, we had a truck-closing ceremony as well as a goodbye to our tech manager. The tech crew climbed up on top of the truck, made speeches, and then sprayed us all with champagne. I must have been in the splash zone, because I got pretty wet. We will miss her, but are all really excited for her to be working with Cirque.
Tonight we'll be dropped off at our meeting point at 9 PM, where we'll have an education workshop then a party... until 3 in the morning. I know what you must be thinking. "But Molly, there's no sleep time in that schedule." Believe me, this small detail has not been overseen. We will have over two days to sleep intermittently, and I plan to take advantage of that. It is, however, quite exciting to have some party time with the cast. We're so often in work mode that we rarely get the chance to just hang out.
My host family in this city is amazing. Wendi is an alum from '92 and she along with her husband Derek are expecting their first child in early July. They're currently referring to it as "the mushroom" as they're waiting to see if it's a boy or a girl. Their other "child" is a husky named Nikita and he is one of the sweetest dogs.
Today my roommate Maiken and I went to a glass blowing studio owned by our host mom's parents. Her mom does fused or flat glass pieces while her stepdad does blown pieces. They have created pieces for corporations as well as individual patrons around the world. One of their more fun commissions was a series of glass cowboy hats for a man from Taiwan. They happened to have one left lying around the studio and, though stylish, it's not exactly practical for everyday wear.
Afterwards, we went to Snuffers for lunch. Snuffers was one of the originators of cheese fries. They're a Dallas staple for burgers and game day food. Once stuffed, we went to pick up some last minute items for Thailand... you know, a towel, bug spray, toilet paper. Oh, I didn't mention that they don't have toilet paper in the restrooms in Thailand? Well, they don't. We also stopped by Borders where Derek and I looked at inappropriate children's books. One gem was "The Mole Who Knew It Was None of Its Business". It's about a mole who, upon emerging from its hole, gets pooped on. It spends the rest of the book asking different animals about their poop until it realizes it was the dog. (Spoiler Alert!!) It decides then to poop on the dog's head, then promptly returns to its whole. Moral of the story...? It was lost on us as well.
Now I'm off to finish packing. Who knows when I'll have internet access again? I don't.
Happy trails!
~Molly
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Mucho mas
So let's see... Again, I'm not here with too many real updates. I do, however, need to list things out again so as not to forget to write about them in the future.
San Luis Potosi
~La Familia - Lupita, MaPo, Princesa Jimonorosa, Hongito
~Cast Appreciation Day
~Travel back to Texas
~Police escorts
New Braunfels
~Arrival/swimming
~Abby
~Fiesta Texas
The Woodlands
~The Masterplan
~The ferret stole my toothbrush - Parts 1 and 2
~Momma
Plano
~Strangeheart
~Hunger Banquet
~Swedish culture presentation
Here we go, starting at the end again (well, with yesterday). We started the day with a walking tour of the Arts District in Dallas. There was nothing too note-worthy. We had some free time in which I walked around the Asian art museum. I loved the intricacies and delicacy of the art work. Other than that, the coolest part was the symphony hall. Unfortunately, we were only able to go into the lobby. It was gorgeous there, but I really wish we'd been able to go into the actual theatre.
Our focus for the day beyond that was poverty. When we returned there were some presentations from various nations describing what poverty looks like in their nation. We also got a look at the worldwide situation. That's where the demonstrations began. Our education team put together a Hunger Banquet, in which we were divided into three classes and given food according to our station. The poorest group (the bottom 50%) sat on cardboard boxes and had rice to eat and salt water to drink. The middle class group (the middle 35%) sat in chairs and had rice and beans as well as water to drink. The upper class group (the top 15%) sat at a well-decorated table where they were waited on by our road staff. They received a salad course, a pasta course, and dessert. That group, however, was not allowed to share with the others. Beyond that, any food that was left was tossed in a trash can in plain sight of all parties. Once the food started being thrown away, those at the upper class table rallied to eat as much as they possibly could. This resulted in many ice cream-filled stomachs as one of our staff members kept "accidentally" bringing out an extra cup of ice cream, just waiting to be able to throw it in the trash. After the sixth time this happened, the table gave up and sighed as the rest of the fixings were unceremoniously thrown away.
"How were we categorized?" you may ask. There was an activity earlier in the day in which hands full of pennies were tossed and the cast scrambled about trying to scavenge for as many as they could. On the first toss, I managed to grab three. On the second toss, I didn't grab any. In each of these rounds, we were told not to share any of our pennies. On the third toss, I happened to be standing near the front and by simply putting my hand up I managed to catch five, then I picked up one more for a total of six. The education team mentioned that you could share pennies this round if you so chose, however there was no one around me who was talking, so I just kept the ones I had. That, as you may have guessed, left me in the upper class.
To truly understand the reality of the situation, some context must be added. We were asked to wait outside until the food was ready. Upon returning to the room, it was clear what was about to happen. The lights were all dimmed and the walls were lined with pictures of poverty along with descriptions and quotes. There was a slide show portraying more images along with statistics. We were asked to keep silent as we listened to Imogen Heap's "Hide and Seek" and looked at photo after photo. We were then asked to take our seats. The silence continued for what seemed like hours, as we contemplated whether or not we could actually eat the food laid in front of us. Too many thoughts went through our minds as we realized there was no right way to handle the situation. The guilt set in long before those on the cardboard began to come as close as they were allowed and started singing "Sound of Peace." It was immediate. Welcome to the real world.
At what point does the situation lighten up? Well in the case of our demonstration, it was after we got in the car with our host family to go home. It was decided that a stop to Cold Stone was in the cards (please refer to aforementioned section on ice cream). Those who didn't have enough to eat during our hunger banquet were asked to go hungry for the night. As I was in the upper class, I figured it was my responsibility to take what was offered to me and pony up for some more ice cream. Mmmmm.
That's all for now. I'll try to get one or two more posts in before Thailand. Good night.
~Molly
San Luis Potosi
~La Familia - Lupita, MaPo, Princesa Jimonorosa, Hongito
~Cast Appreciation Day
~Travel back to Texas
~Police escorts
New Braunfels
~Arrival/swimming
~Abby
~Fiesta Texas
The Woodlands
~The Masterplan
~The ferret stole my toothbrush - Parts 1 and 2
~Momma
Plano
~Strangeheart
~Hunger Banquet
~Swedish culture presentation
Here we go, starting at the end again (well, with yesterday). We started the day with a walking tour of the Arts District in Dallas. There was nothing too note-worthy. We had some free time in which I walked around the Asian art museum. I loved the intricacies and delicacy of the art work. Other than that, the coolest part was the symphony hall. Unfortunately, we were only able to go into the lobby. It was gorgeous there, but I really wish we'd been able to go into the actual theatre.
Our focus for the day beyond that was poverty. When we returned there were some presentations from various nations describing what poverty looks like in their nation. We also got a look at the worldwide situation. That's where the demonstrations began. Our education team put together a Hunger Banquet, in which we were divided into three classes and given food according to our station. The poorest group (the bottom 50%) sat on cardboard boxes and had rice to eat and salt water to drink. The middle class group (the middle 35%) sat in chairs and had rice and beans as well as water to drink. The upper class group (the top 15%) sat at a well-decorated table where they were waited on by our road staff. They received a salad course, a pasta course, and dessert. That group, however, was not allowed to share with the others. Beyond that, any food that was left was tossed in a trash can in plain sight of all parties. Once the food started being thrown away, those at the upper class table rallied to eat as much as they possibly could. This resulted in many ice cream-filled stomachs as one of our staff members kept "accidentally" bringing out an extra cup of ice cream, just waiting to be able to throw it in the trash. After the sixth time this happened, the table gave up and sighed as the rest of the fixings were unceremoniously thrown away.
"How were we categorized?" you may ask. There was an activity earlier in the day in which hands full of pennies were tossed and the cast scrambled about trying to scavenge for as many as they could. On the first toss, I managed to grab three. On the second toss, I didn't grab any. In each of these rounds, we were told not to share any of our pennies. On the third toss, I happened to be standing near the front and by simply putting my hand up I managed to catch five, then I picked up one more for a total of six. The education team mentioned that you could share pennies this round if you so chose, however there was no one around me who was talking, so I just kept the ones I had. That, as you may have guessed, left me in the upper class.
To truly understand the reality of the situation, some context must be added. We were asked to wait outside until the food was ready. Upon returning to the room, it was clear what was about to happen. The lights were all dimmed and the walls were lined with pictures of poverty along with descriptions and quotes. There was a slide show portraying more images along with statistics. We were asked to keep silent as we listened to Imogen Heap's "Hide and Seek" and looked at photo after photo. We were then asked to take our seats. The silence continued for what seemed like hours, as we contemplated whether or not we could actually eat the food laid in front of us. Too many thoughts went through our minds as we realized there was no right way to handle the situation. The guilt set in long before those on the cardboard began to come as close as they were allowed and started singing "Sound of Peace." It was immediate. Welcome to the real world.
At what point does the situation lighten up? Well in the case of our demonstration, it was after we got in the car with our host family to go home. It was decided that a stop to Cold Stone was in the cards (please refer to aforementioned section on ice cream). Those who didn't have enough to eat during our hunger banquet were asked to go hungry for the night. As I was in the upper class, I figured it was my responsibility to take what was offered to me and pony up for some more ice cream. Mmmmm.
That's all for now. I'll try to get one or two more posts in before Thailand. Good night.
~Molly
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Highlights
So I don't have time to go into detail right now as a ton of stuff has happened recently, but I'm going to leave myself bullet point highlights so that I can return to things later and fill in the blanks. I am back online after having a full week without internet. Anyways, remind me to tell you (or if you're interested, ask me) about:
~Secretary of Foreign Affairs
~Night of the Churros
~All hands on deck load-in
~Puebla family
~Cholula
~Payasos
~San Luis Potosi reception
~Mariachi promo in the streets
~University "rally"
In true fashion, I'll start right at the end. Let's just start with the fact that tonight was absolutely amazing. I've recently started trying to take more chances and just go for things rather than justifying them away. Today was one of those days. Near the end of an already crazy day, one of the staff members mentioned that there was a rally at a University in town and they wanted some people to promote there. Being the marketing intern, it made sense that I would go help promote, so I volunteered. We were all in for a huge surprise. Now, as tends to happen in our Mexico cities, we didn't really have a clue what we were supposed to be doing. We just knew we had a place to meet some students and that we'd probably be done at a certain time. Well the "rally" turned out to be a scavenger hunt. There were eight teams (and eight of us) so we were divided with one Uppie in each scavenger group. Our only instructions were "Please speak only in English. They have to figure out how to work with you, but please speak in English." Well, that lasted about 10 minutes. The problem with a scavenger hunt and having a time limit is that you want to do things as quickly as possible and it makes it a lot easier when you don't have to feign ignorance, so I used a lot of Spanglish to try to at least mix the two.
Basically, each team had 4 different characters they had to find and each character had a task associated with them that needed to be completed. All the characters were from San Luis Potosi lore, so there was Juan de Jarro (I'm not sure what exactly he was - some sort of apothecary-looking person) who told us that one member of our team had to learn how to make a "trenza" and had to make one at least 3 cm long. Well a trenza turned out to be hair weaving, where you take thread and knot it around the hair. Our next task was to find envelopes with puzzle pieces in them and make a puzzle. Let's just say that my team's color was brown and trying to find 5 brown envelopes in a dark park with only the light of a cell phone was not the easiest task. After that, we found the clown. We had to make up one of our members as a clown and perform a "show" until people in the "audience" gave money for a total of 5 pesos. Our last activity was to create a cheer using 5 words that were given to us that included specific movements and a pyramid. It was a ton of fun. Our chant became "Amigos unidos, amigos unidos, todos juntos vamos a ganar." (Translated that means "Friends unite, friends unite, all together we're going to win.")
So yeah, sometimes when you take a risk you come out on top. This was definitely one of those times. There's nothing quite like running (as fast as possible, mind you) through the dark streets of an unfamiliar city with people you've never met who speak a language that you (more or less) don't. It was brilliant.
That's all for now,
~Molly
~Secretary of Foreign Affairs
~Night of the Churros
~All hands on deck load-in
~Puebla family
~Cholula
~Payasos
~San Luis Potosi reception
~Mariachi promo in the streets
~University "rally"
In true fashion, I'll start right at the end. Let's just start with the fact that tonight was absolutely amazing. I've recently started trying to take more chances and just go for things rather than justifying them away. Today was one of those days. Near the end of an already crazy day, one of the staff members mentioned that there was a rally at a University in town and they wanted some people to promote there. Being the marketing intern, it made sense that I would go help promote, so I volunteered. We were all in for a huge surprise. Now, as tends to happen in our Mexico cities, we didn't really have a clue what we were supposed to be doing. We just knew we had a place to meet some students and that we'd probably be done at a certain time. Well the "rally" turned out to be a scavenger hunt. There were eight teams (and eight of us) so we were divided with one Uppie in each scavenger group. Our only instructions were "Please speak only in English. They have to figure out how to work with you, but please speak in English." Well, that lasted about 10 minutes. The problem with a scavenger hunt and having a time limit is that you want to do things as quickly as possible and it makes it a lot easier when you don't have to feign ignorance, so I used a lot of Spanglish to try to at least mix the two.
Basically, each team had 4 different characters they had to find and each character had a task associated with them that needed to be completed. All the characters were from San Luis Potosi lore, so there was Juan de Jarro (I'm not sure what exactly he was - some sort of apothecary-looking person) who told us that one member of our team had to learn how to make a "trenza" and had to make one at least 3 cm long. Well a trenza turned out to be hair weaving, where you take thread and knot it around the hair. Our next task was to find envelopes with puzzle pieces in them and make a puzzle. Let's just say that my team's color was brown and trying to find 5 brown envelopes in a dark park with only the light of a cell phone was not the easiest task. After that, we found the clown. We had to make up one of our members as a clown and perform a "show" until people in the "audience" gave money for a total of 5 pesos. Our last activity was to create a cheer using 5 words that were given to us that included specific movements and a pyramid. It was a ton of fun. Our chant became "Amigos unidos, amigos unidos, todos juntos vamos a ganar." (Translated that means "Friends unite, friends unite, all together we're going to win.")
So yeah, sometimes when you take a risk you come out on top. This was definitely one of those times. There's nothing quite like running (as fast as possible, mind you) through the dark streets of an unfamiliar city with people you've never met who speak a language that you (more or less) don't. It was brilliant.
That's all for now,
~Molly
Saturday, April 5, 2008
La Cultura
Ahh yes, Thursday. Thursday we went to a college campus in the southern part of Mexico City (I'm hosted in the north). We had another mini-show there. Again, we used costumes. This time, rather than having to change on both sides of the stage, we had to change in the big truck we carry all our equipment in. That means we had to run all the way off stage and over to the side, climb up into the truck, change, jump down, then run to whichever side we entered from next. Did I mention this city is approximately 2 miles high? Needless to say, we were all out of breath pretty quickly. After our show was a reception with regional Mexican food. It was really good.
We were treated to a special performance of Romeo and Juliet by some of the college students. Our schedule said Romeo y Julieta, denoting Spanish. The poster on campus said Romeo et Juliette, denoting French. Let the confusion begin! When the announcer introduced the show he welcomed us all to the musical, Romeo y Julieta. Well the show began with a big song and dance number - in French. All right, we thought to ourselves, it's in French. The song ended and the next scene began... in Spanish. Wait, what? Oh right. The costumes were really cool, kind of a gothic style with the Montagues in black and the Capulets in red. The show was really good, but I can now say that I saw Romeo and Juliet in Spanish with French songs in Mexico. They had a really cool addition to the show which I guess would best be described as fate. There was a dancer all dressed in white who was shown directing all the moments where the plot turned - whether it was passing the knife used to stab someone or stealing a letter from the messenger. It was very effective, especially with the dark costumes the rest of the cast had.
At the end of the day, our host sister took us out for tacos, so we got home around 12:30. That made it quite difficult as the next day we had to leave the house before 6:00 a.m. Why? You might ask. There was a group of 15 of us who went to a television studio to perform for some show that I don't know the name of. After we finished there we walked to our meeting place where the rest of the cast was. We rehearsed some and then went to Los Pinos, a.k.a. Mexico's White House. We received a tour of the grounds and were officially received by the President's wife. We sang "Viva la Gente" for her and she sang right along with us mouthing every single word. It was neat to see all of us dressed up in our fancy attire as opposed to our day-to-day rehearsal clothes.
When we left Los Pinos we went back to our meeting place where we did another mini-show (yes, that makes 3 days in a row) for the press. Apparently we were on the 10:00 news here, but I didn't watch. I got interviewed for the first time in English. We had a little bit of time to hang out before our bus came, which was nice to have some down time. I sat next to Jared, one of my hometeam leaders, on the bus ride and we came to the realization that we are both equally nerdy. I never would have guessed.
I came home and took a quick nap before eating and heading out again. Our host sister took us to a salsa club where we danced all night. By all night, I mean that we got home around 4:00 this morning. I danced with 5 or 6 different people, which was cool to see the different styles with which people lead. Most were decent partners, but one was great. He led with confidence so you knew which way you were turning and how far and all those details that make a girl look good. I even got a few compliments on my salsa skills :-) Today is our free day, which means sleep! My roommate and I both slept really late and so far we've just lazed about. We're probably going to go into the city to hang out with some people and get coffee later. With that, I think I'm up to date! Huzzah! Now I just have a ton of pictures to upload. The connection is a bit slow so it takes a long time to upload. Be patient and there will be more up soon.
Adios,
~Molly
We were treated to a special performance of Romeo and Juliet by some of the college students. Our schedule said Romeo y Julieta, denoting Spanish. The poster on campus said Romeo et Juliette, denoting French. Let the confusion begin! When the announcer introduced the show he welcomed us all to the musical, Romeo y Julieta. Well the show began with a big song and dance number - in French. All right, we thought to ourselves, it's in French. The song ended and the next scene began... in Spanish. Wait, what? Oh right. The costumes were really cool, kind of a gothic style with the Montagues in black and the Capulets in red. The show was really good, but I can now say that I saw Romeo and Juliet in Spanish with French songs in Mexico. They had a really cool addition to the show which I guess would best be described as fate. There was a dancer all dressed in white who was shown directing all the moments where the plot turned - whether it was passing the knife used to stab someone or stealing a letter from the messenger. It was very effective, especially with the dark costumes the rest of the cast had.
At the end of the day, our host sister took us out for tacos, so we got home around 12:30. That made it quite difficult as the next day we had to leave the house before 6:00 a.m. Why? You might ask. There was a group of 15 of us who went to a television studio to perform for some show that I don't know the name of. After we finished there we walked to our meeting place where the rest of the cast was. We rehearsed some and then went to Los Pinos, a.k.a. Mexico's White House. We received a tour of the grounds and were officially received by the President's wife. We sang "Viva la Gente" for her and she sang right along with us mouthing every single word. It was neat to see all of us dressed up in our fancy attire as opposed to our day-to-day rehearsal clothes.
When we left Los Pinos we went back to our meeting place where we did another mini-show (yes, that makes 3 days in a row) for the press. Apparently we were on the 10:00 news here, but I didn't watch. I got interviewed for the first time in English. We had a little bit of time to hang out before our bus came, which was nice to have some down time. I sat next to Jared, one of my hometeam leaders, on the bus ride and we came to the realization that we are both equally nerdy. I never would have guessed.
I came home and took a quick nap before eating and heading out again. Our host sister took us to a salsa club where we danced all night. By all night, I mean that we got home around 4:00 this morning. I danced with 5 or 6 different people, which was cool to see the different styles with which people lead. Most were decent partners, but one was great. He led with confidence so you knew which way you were turning and how far and all those details that make a girl look good. I even got a few compliments on my salsa skills :-) Today is our free day, which means sleep! My roommate and I both slept really late and so far we've just lazed about. We're probably going to go into the city to hang out with some people and get coffee later. With that, I think I'm up to date! Huzzah! Now I just have a ton of pictures to upload. The connection is a bit slow so it takes a long time to upload. Be patient and there will be more up soon.
Adios,
~Molly
Monterrey? More like Monte-yay
Show day in Monterrey brought up a lot of new experiences - my first double show day, my first alumni reception, and my first on-camera interview in Spanish. Having two shows in one day is such a unique experience, because we're all so used to having our show and then going immediately into breaking down the set and interviewing prospective students. It was weird to stay in my show costume all day.
Our first show went pretty well. We were still trying to gain confidence as it was our first time performing our Mexican medley. The audience was much quieter than I imagined - they were very polite, but seemed to be enjoying it.
Our second show was awesome. The crowd was a bit bigger and a bit more raucous. During one of our songs ("I Can Believe") I looked out to see a few cell phones waving back and forth, lighter style. After a while a few more joined in, and then a few more. Eventually there were cell phones waving through 3/4 of the audience. In the dark they looked like stars twinkling in the distance. I first noticed when I looked over at the singer who had this smile of surprise on her face. I looked at the person sharing the microphone with me and we both got huge grins on our faces as we continued the song. It's amazing how something so small can make such a difference. I only wish more of the cast was on stage at that point so they didn't have to experience it second-hand.
Monday morning we left Monterrey and traveled to Mexico City, where I am currently. Mexico City is... HUGE. Our days are usually pretty long, but they're even longer when you add in Mexico City travel time and traffic. I spend between an hour and a half and 4 hours traveling each day, which makes our normal 10-12 hour days much longer. Needless to say, sleep is far from abundant. That being said, our days have been packed with activities.
Our first full day here we traveled to Teotihuacan, the ancient pyramids. The pictures really speak for themselves (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mollyskye218/sets/72157604366099067/). All I can say is that it was the perfect day to be there. When I reached the top of the Pyramid of the Sun, there was a yellow butterfly that just kept flying around like crazy. Eventually another joined it, but the original was up there the whole time I was. After Teotihuacan we visited MUNAL, one of the most famous art galleries in the city.
On Wednesday we worked in the classrooms of a school here. The school itself has the oddest architecture I've encountered. The classrooms all look like pods, with one stacked on top of the next. It's very futuristic. We worked with 3 classes and had a mini-show for all 1000+ students in the school. It was our first time using specialty dance costumes for a mini-show, which led to a few problems when I realized during our rehearsal that half my costumes were on one side and half on the other. Due to different entrances, my shoes ended up on one side when I had to change on the other. Fortunately, one of my castmates had an extra pair of shoes that I borrowed for half the show. It went over pretty well with all of us being asked for pictures and autographs afterward.
As for the classes themselves, there's an interesting contrast. The school we were at was a bilingual school, so the students are more or less familiar with English (the older they are, the more exposure they've had). The three of us who worked together began in a sixth grade class. They understood some of what we said, but I ended up translating a good portion of it into Spanish so we could make sure they got as much out of it as possible. They were a good class, very attentive, and very interested in what we were doing. They also had some great ideas about ways to make their community better.
Our second class was an 8th grade class and man were they difficult. They were so loud we couldn't hear ourselves, and it was quite frustrating to go an hour and a half without having a single moment of silence. We ended up getting through about half of what we had planned, but there's only so much you can do with an unwilling audience. Some of them were very receptive and we ended up taking the opportunity of them talking all the time to talk about respect. For the last 10 minutes, they suddenly got quiet - we're not sure why. We're just hoping that perhaps our lesson of respecting others when talking will translate into helping their regular teacher.
Our last class was... amazing. They had said that there was a portion of the student body that was different than the normal students. They were less privileged, but were given the opportunity to go to this private school at a very discounted rate as long as they maintained a certain grade point average. I knew that these would be good students, as they actually wanted to be at school rather than being forced to. I was right. Every one of them was engaged. Since many of them were indigenous people, many didn't have the opportunity to learn as much English as the other classes. Again, I translated most of what was said to make sure they understood the meaning. Our lesson plan got rearranged because some of the things we were talking about flowed right into another activity and the transitions were effortless. At the end, we taught them a few songs that we sing to get ourselves energized. They went crazy for them. One was in Spanish and one in English, and they were so enthusiastic - even the teacher got into it. After that they taught us two similar songs in Spanish. The kids who had all been reserved and shy were no longer. They were shouting and laughing and having a great time. As we left the classroom, we were accompanied by the singing and energy along with shouts of "Thank you!" and chants of "Viva la Gente!" It was the best class I've been in.
This is where I'll stop this one so that you can split your reading into two parts, because this is really long already.
~Molly
Our first show went pretty well. We were still trying to gain confidence as it was our first time performing our Mexican medley. The audience was much quieter than I imagined - they were very polite, but seemed to be enjoying it.
Our second show was awesome. The crowd was a bit bigger and a bit more raucous. During one of our songs ("I Can Believe") I looked out to see a few cell phones waving back and forth, lighter style. After a while a few more joined in, and then a few more. Eventually there were cell phones waving through 3/4 of the audience. In the dark they looked like stars twinkling in the distance. I first noticed when I looked over at the singer who had this smile of surprise on her face. I looked at the person sharing the microphone with me and we both got huge grins on our faces as we continued the song. It's amazing how something so small can make such a difference. I only wish more of the cast was on stage at that point so they didn't have to experience it second-hand.
Monday morning we left Monterrey and traveled to Mexico City, where I am currently. Mexico City is... HUGE. Our days are usually pretty long, but they're even longer when you add in Mexico City travel time and traffic. I spend between an hour and a half and 4 hours traveling each day, which makes our normal 10-12 hour days much longer. Needless to say, sleep is far from abundant. That being said, our days have been packed with activities.
Our first full day here we traveled to Teotihuacan, the ancient pyramids. The pictures really speak for themselves (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mollyskye218/sets/72157604366099067/). All I can say is that it was the perfect day to be there. When I reached the top of the Pyramid of the Sun, there was a yellow butterfly that just kept flying around like crazy. Eventually another joined it, but the original was up there the whole time I was. After Teotihuacan we visited MUNAL, one of the most famous art galleries in the city.
On Wednesday we worked in the classrooms of a school here. The school itself has the oddest architecture I've encountered. The classrooms all look like pods, with one stacked on top of the next. It's very futuristic. We worked with 3 classes and had a mini-show for all 1000+ students in the school. It was our first time using specialty dance costumes for a mini-show, which led to a few problems when I realized during our rehearsal that half my costumes were on one side and half on the other. Due to different entrances, my shoes ended up on one side when I had to change on the other. Fortunately, one of my castmates had an extra pair of shoes that I borrowed for half the show. It went over pretty well with all of us being asked for pictures and autographs afterward.
As for the classes themselves, there's an interesting contrast. The school we were at was a bilingual school, so the students are more or less familiar with English (the older they are, the more exposure they've had). The three of us who worked together began in a sixth grade class. They understood some of what we said, but I ended up translating a good portion of it into Spanish so we could make sure they got as much out of it as possible. They were a good class, very attentive, and very interested in what we were doing. They also had some great ideas about ways to make their community better.
Our second class was an 8th grade class and man were they difficult. They were so loud we couldn't hear ourselves, and it was quite frustrating to go an hour and a half without having a single moment of silence. We ended up getting through about half of what we had planned, but there's only so much you can do with an unwilling audience. Some of them were very receptive and we ended up taking the opportunity of them talking all the time to talk about respect. For the last 10 minutes, they suddenly got quiet - we're not sure why. We're just hoping that perhaps our lesson of respecting others when talking will translate into helping their regular teacher.
Our last class was... amazing. They had said that there was a portion of the student body that was different than the normal students. They were less privileged, but were given the opportunity to go to this private school at a very discounted rate as long as they maintained a certain grade point average. I knew that these would be good students, as they actually wanted to be at school rather than being forced to. I was right. Every one of them was engaged. Since many of them were indigenous people, many didn't have the opportunity to learn as much English as the other classes. Again, I translated most of what was said to make sure they understood the meaning. Our lesson plan got rearranged because some of the things we were talking about flowed right into another activity and the transitions were effortless. At the end, we taught them a few songs that we sing to get ourselves energized. They went crazy for them. One was in Spanish and one in English, and they were so enthusiastic - even the teacher got into it. After that they taught us two similar songs in Spanish. The kids who had all been reserved and shy were no longer. They were shouting and laughing and having a great time. As we left the classroom, we were accompanied by the singing and energy along with shouts of "Thank you!" and chants of "Viva la Gente!" It was the best class I've been in.
This is where I'll stop this one so that you can split your reading into two parts, because this is really long already.
~Molly
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Mas y mas
So I realized there were a few things I missed in my last entry. The first was our arrival in Monterrey. As we neared the city, the sun was setting. Through the haze, you could see the red of the sun as it set behind the mountains. Being a bus sleeper, I was sleeping and happened to wake up just as the sun hit the mountains. When we reached our final destination at Tec de Monterrey, we were greeted by lots of cameras as well as staff we haven't seen since Denver. We had a special surprise waiting for us, which turned out to be a traditional band with dancers. The dancers were great, with a style made up of lots of foot stomping and spinning.
The second thing I may have missed was the fact that every morning we get fresh juice here. The first day we had orange juice, which was awesome. The second day, our host mom made mandarin orange juice. I don't know what it feels like to get punched in the face, but if it feels really really good, then this juice was about the same. It had such an intense flavor and it was soooo good. This morning we had pineapple juice to go along with our breakfast, which was a ham and cheese tortilla.
This week I've been doing promotion around the campus of Tec de Monterrey, and I'm learning how to say all the things I need to say for promotional purposes in Spanish. I think, though, that my Spanish is getting worse. Perhaps it's a side effect of being very tired, but by the end of the day I don't understand anything my host family says in Spanish. They'll ask me what words mean and the synapses just aren't firing quickly enough for me to recollect the English words. Yeah, my understanding has been much worse than I would like. I knew coming in that I had a hard time understanding when people speak, and it's true. I ask for everyone to repeat things at least once, especially when they are asking a question. Hopefully I'll start picking more up soon.
On Thursday, we had a mini-show on campus. It was outside in the 90-some degree sunny weather. At least there was a breeze. The stage, however, did not get much breeze, which caused my knees to burn while doing a dance which required kneeling (though only for a brief period of time). After the mini-show, I got interviewed for Tec de Monterrey's newspaper. Then some of us laid about a bit in the shade, watching the deer, peacocks, birds, and squirrels on campus. It's a gorgeous campus.
Friday was our regional learning day, and man was it packed - 4 sites in one day. We split up into 4 groups and spent the day with our group. My group started off at Parque Fundidora, which used to be a steel mill, as steel used to be one of the biggest industries in Monterrey. The park had tons of great steel structures strewn about. We got to ride the rickety cage elevator up the side of what used to be a blast furnace and got to walk the catwalk. Needless to say, I stayed near the rails and the non-slotted walkways because it was a long way down.
Our second stop of the day was Dialago en la obscura (Dialogue in the dark). This was a museum that simulated what the world is like for a blind person. It's completely dark, and you go through a series of rooms (a grocery store, a neighborhood, a street, a beach...) and get to experience the world without the use of your eyes. It was really neat to hear the differences between people's experiences, even within our own group. Some people had a really hard time telling where things were or who was near them. I was able to get my bearings pretty quickly in each place and was very aware of who was in the room with me. At the end of the tour, we went to a snack bar where I got to make a transaction in the dark even. It was really cool.
After Dialogo we walked to Paseo Santa Lucia. We took a boat along a river through the park, which led us to... the Museum of Mexican history, our fourth stop. We only had a little bit of time to look through the museum, but it was cool to see all the artifacts we've seen in U.S. museums with a Mexican perspective. Didn't I tell you we fit a lot in for one day?
After our regional learning we went to DIF, an organization that works with children who've been abused or abandoned. We got to play with all the kids (ages 2-18) and we danced for each other. It took about 3 minutes before I had a little one on my lap to watch the dancing. We got to run around and just have fun for a bit, which was a great ending to our day.
Did I say ending? I didn't mean the real end. Our day ended in my first official fiesta. There are a bunch of us living together in a neighborhood, so we had a party with all 9 of us Uppies and our host families. There was talking, singing, dancing, and food. I danced until the cows came home, which was about 1:00 in the morning. It was such a great group, some of my favorite Uppies, and we just had a blast all night.
That leads us to today. This morning, a group of us (most of us from the party) went to the Tec for a salsa class. It was really fun. I danced with Paul (my original dance partner from the show) and we didn't do too poorly for a couple of gringos. At one point, the teacher even called us out to show the dance they were teaching us. They only did that at one other point while we were there. Dance truly is a universal language, because goodness knows I didn't understand 40% of what our instructor was saying and I was still able to pick it up. After salsa class I went to help set up the stage for our show tomorrow. Tomorrow brings with it a lot of firsts - our first show in Mexico, our first time doing the Mexican medley, our first time doing Up With People in Spanish in a show, and most importantly... our first double show day! It's also my first show as the marketing intern, which brings with it some responsibilities I've not yet had. We've got a lot of work to do in the morning before the show actually starts. Here's to hoping everything gets done.
Cheers,
~Molly
The second thing I may have missed was the fact that every morning we get fresh juice here. The first day we had orange juice, which was awesome. The second day, our host mom made mandarin orange juice. I don't know what it feels like to get punched in the face, but if it feels really really good, then this juice was about the same. It had such an intense flavor and it was soooo good. This morning we had pineapple juice to go along with our breakfast, which was a ham and cheese tortilla.
This week I've been doing promotion around the campus of Tec de Monterrey, and I'm learning how to say all the things I need to say for promotional purposes in Spanish. I think, though, that my Spanish is getting worse. Perhaps it's a side effect of being very tired, but by the end of the day I don't understand anything my host family says in Spanish. They'll ask me what words mean and the synapses just aren't firing quickly enough for me to recollect the English words. Yeah, my understanding has been much worse than I would like. I knew coming in that I had a hard time understanding when people speak, and it's true. I ask for everyone to repeat things at least once, especially when they are asking a question. Hopefully I'll start picking more up soon.
On Thursday, we had a mini-show on campus. It was outside in the 90-some degree sunny weather. At least there was a breeze. The stage, however, did not get much breeze, which caused my knees to burn while doing a dance which required kneeling (though only for a brief period of time). After the mini-show, I got interviewed for Tec de Monterrey's newspaper. Then some of us laid about a bit in the shade, watching the deer, peacocks, birds, and squirrels on campus. It's a gorgeous campus.
Friday was our regional learning day, and man was it packed - 4 sites in one day. We split up into 4 groups and spent the day with our group. My group started off at Parque Fundidora, which used to be a steel mill, as steel used to be one of the biggest industries in Monterrey. The park had tons of great steel structures strewn about. We got to ride the rickety cage elevator up the side of what used to be a blast furnace and got to walk the catwalk. Needless to say, I stayed near the rails and the non-slotted walkways because it was a long way down.
Our second stop of the day was Dialago en la obscura (Dialogue in the dark). This was a museum that simulated what the world is like for a blind person. It's completely dark, and you go through a series of rooms (a grocery store, a neighborhood, a street, a beach...) and get to experience the world without the use of your eyes. It was really neat to hear the differences between people's experiences, even within our own group. Some people had a really hard time telling where things were or who was near them. I was able to get my bearings pretty quickly in each place and was very aware of who was in the room with me. At the end of the tour, we went to a snack bar where I got to make a transaction in the dark even. It was really cool.
After Dialogo we walked to Paseo Santa Lucia. We took a boat along a river through the park, which led us to... the Museum of Mexican history, our fourth stop. We only had a little bit of time to look through the museum, but it was cool to see all the artifacts we've seen in U.S. museums with a Mexican perspective. Didn't I tell you we fit a lot in for one day?
After our regional learning we went to DIF, an organization that works with children who've been abused or abandoned. We got to play with all the kids (ages 2-18) and we danced for each other. It took about 3 minutes before I had a little one on my lap to watch the dancing. We got to run around and just have fun for a bit, which was a great ending to our day.
Did I say ending? I didn't mean the real end. Our day ended in my first official fiesta. There are a bunch of us living together in a neighborhood, so we had a party with all 9 of us Uppies and our host families. There was talking, singing, dancing, and food. I danced until the cows came home, which was about 1:00 in the morning. It was such a great group, some of my favorite Uppies, and we just had a blast all night.
That leads us to today. This morning, a group of us (most of us from the party) went to the Tec for a salsa class. It was really fun. I danced with Paul (my original dance partner from the show) and we didn't do too poorly for a couple of gringos. At one point, the teacher even called us out to show the dance they were teaching us. They only did that at one other point while we were there. Dance truly is a universal language, because goodness knows I didn't understand 40% of what our instructor was saying and I was still able to pick it up. After salsa class I went to help set up the stage for our show tomorrow. Tomorrow brings with it a lot of firsts - our first show in Mexico, our first time doing the Mexican medley, our first time doing Up With People in Spanish in a show, and most importantly... our first double show day! It's also my first show as the marketing intern, which brings with it some responsibilities I've not yet had. We've got a lot of work to do in the morning before the show actually starts. Here's to hoping everything gets done.
Cheers,
~Molly
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Up With People becomes Viva La Gente por Mexico
!Hola!
Estamos en Mexico ahora, en Monterrey. Soy con mi amiga Jen (de Canada) en una familia con dos hijas y los dos padres. Las hijas hablan ingles, y el padre se habla Spanglish, pero la madre no habla ingles. Vivimos en un barrio con 4 o 5 otra personas de Viva la Gente y esta muy divertido. Acoba de jugar futbol con dos personas de Viva la Gente, mi padre, las dos hijas, y otros vecinos en el parque. Fue magnifico, y el tiempo fue fantastico tambien con un poco de viento.
Hoy fue mi primera entrevista sobre Viva la Gente y... fue en espanol! Fue una sorpresa para mi. Soy el asistante nuevo de marcadeo por las 6 semanas proximas y de esos, 5 estan en Mexico. Es dificil, pero es posible. Necesito mejorar mis abilidades en espanol y esto es una oportunidad buena para mi.
La comida aqui esta bueno, tambien. Ayer despues de llegando, tuvimos jicama con limon y chile y entonces pastel de chocolate :-). Esta manana, tuvimos bananas, mangos, y pinas frescas porque son mis frutas favoritas. La madre le gusta cocinar y comemos pescado asado con arroz, champinones, y aguacates. !Que delicioso!
Manana, voy a bailar todo el dia porque tenemos bailes nuevos por nuestros canciones hispanicos. Me gusta el sol, las montanas, y la gente aqui en Mexico. Mas luego, pero ahora voy a dormir.
!Buenas noches!
~Molly
Otra cosa - lo siento, pero mi computadora no tiene las marcas de puntuacion o esta muy dificil y por eso no las tengo.
Estamos en Mexico ahora, en Monterrey. Soy con mi amiga Jen (de Canada) en una familia con dos hijas y los dos padres. Las hijas hablan ingles, y el padre se habla Spanglish, pero la madre no habla ingles. Vivimos en un barrio con 4 o 5 otra personas de Viva la Gente y esta muy divertido. Acoba de jugar futbol con dos personas de Viva la Gente, mi padre, las dos hijas, y otros vecinos en el parque. Fue magnifico, y el tiempo fue fantastico tambien con un poco de viento.
Hoy fue mi primera entrevista sobre Viva la Gente y... fue en espanol! Fue una sorpresa para mi. Soy el asistante nuevo de marcadeo por las 6 semanas proximas y de esos, 5 estan en Mexico. Es dificil, pero es posible. Necesito mejorar mis abilidades en espanol y esto es una oportunidad buena para mi.
La comida aqui esta bueno, tambien. Ayer despues de llegando, tuvimos jicama con limon y chile y entonces pastel de chocolate :-). Esta manana, tuvimos bananas, mangos, y pinas frescas porque son mis frutas favoritas. La madre le gusta cocinar y comemos pescado asado con arroz, champinones, y aguacates. !Que delicioso!
Manana, voy a bailar todo el dia porque tenemos bailes nuevos por nuestros canciones hispanicos. Me gusta el sol, las montanas, y la gente aqui en Mexico. Mas luego, pero ahora voy a dormir.
!Buenas noches!
~Molly
Otra cosa - lo siento, pero mi computadora no tiene las marcas de puntuacion o esta muy dificil y por eso no las tengo.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
