Catching up already

Wednesday night we had a Culture Jam. Cast members were invited to share something from their culture, whether it be a poem, a dance, a song, or a story. The group from Sweden did a traditional Sankta Lucia procession. The Danes did an anniversary song. There was an amazing dance from Mexico, an incredible song from the Netherlands, and plenty of other unique displays of talent.

Thursday began vocals and cast movement - a.k.a. dance. Cast movement ended up being an hour of conditioning, including push-ups and sit-ups, followed by two hours of learning a fairly simple dance combination for one of the songs.

Friday we had a presentation on ways to document our semester, including journaling, photography, and video. We'll see how well I do in keeping up-to-date on things. I found my camera's USB cable, so new pictures are uploaded. After lunch, I was assigned to a dance workshop instead of joining vocals with everyone else. Cast movement was planned again for an hour and a half that afternoon, so I was anticipating a double dose of dance. Little did I know we would stay in our workshop room dancing continuously from 1:00 to 5:15. That is officially the longest I have danced without some sort of significant break. We had a few 2-5 minute water breaks, but that was it. About halfway through it was apparent that I was already sore (partially due to Thursday's conditioning and the rest due to the quick pace of Friday's dancing). By the time I got home, my face, wrists/hands, calves and ankles were the only parts of my body that weren't sore.

My host mom took Miwa and me to the mall to get dinner from the food court and we encountered some strange sights. We passed three different groups of people wearing crazy hats. Two people were wearing hats that looked like they had plush spikes coming out of them. A group of 6 younger girls had rainbow-striped "Cat in the hat" style hats. A couple of girls sitting at a table were wearing tiaras. We felt as though we'd missed the crazy hat day memo.

Saturday, my host mom and I got some lessons in Japanese and laughed harder than we had in a long time. We went to see 27 Dresses - a lot more dramatic than I expected - and then sang and danced in the car on the way home. Apparently, Dancing Queen is one of our host mom's favorite songs. We came home, played with the cat, and watched The Nanny Diaries on Pay Per View.

It's Sunday already, and my host mom is very ill. I'm hoping not to catch anything, as that would severely alter this week. I already go to bed exhausted at 10:00 every night, and being sick would make staying awake even that long harder. I volunteered myself to cook this week, as host mom will be out of town most of the week and I guess my roommate doesn't cook. Here's to hoping everything turns out all right.

Hope your week was well,
~Molly

Day 7: Denver daze

I have tons to say, but my roommate is sleeping now, so I don't want to type too much as she's a light sleeper. The past few days have been absolutely amazing! Wednesday we had a scavenger hunt around downtown Denver in single digit temperatures after touring the dome of the capitol building. When finished, most of us grabbed coffee from one of the 5 Starbucks within a mile of our meeting place. I opted for the local fare and stopped at Dazbog for tea. Then I headed back and a big group of us were sharing languages, so I learned a bit of French, Japanese, Swedish, and Amharic. It was one of those times that reminds me how unique this opportunity is and I've vowed to take advantage of it.

Remind me to talk about Culture Jam and modules tomorrow. Now I must sleep. I do have pictures, but I can't upload them right now because I think I left my USB cable at my other host mom's house. That will all get sussed out this weekend though, as we all (host mom included) might have a sleepover in Broomfield on Saturday. Sweet dreams! (Or have a great day if you're reading this and it's morning).
~Molly

Day 4: Introductions

Today was our first real day of activities and cast discussion. Needless to say, everyone is incredibly tired tonight - particularly those for whom English is not their first language. I've moved to my new host family, and it is QUITE a change from my first one. I'm sure it will all work out, but it was a bit of a shock when I realized the situation we were going to be put in. Tomorrow Miwa and I get to figure out the Denver light rail system. Hopefully all goes well and we make it to our meeting place early.

So far it seems Denverites do not eat real butter and they all have highly scented homes. Even the towels are scented. Lots of amusing things have slipped out of the mouths of host families as well as staff members - mostly phrases that can be interpreted in alternate ways. For example: "We'll shoot the cast on Saturday." "If you're in a relationship, you're back in your comfort zone and flowers will be popping everywhere."

Too tired to go on now, but if you have any questions, feel free to ask me.
~Molly

Day 2: Boulder

A brief explanation of my current living situation as a pretext to my day: My temporary host family (my roommate Miwa and I move to our "real" Denver host family tomorrow) is part of what I would term the Broomfield tri-fecta. Three families who live right next to each other are hosting students, so every night is a friendly gathering with us all. It's worked out wonderfully thus far, as it helps us get really comfortable with 6 castmates right away as opposed to brief meetings. I'm sad to be leaving this lovely little collective, but hopefully my "real" host family will be nice.

Today, after waking up at 8:00 a.m. WITHOUT an alarm clock, we went to Boulder. The "we" I'm referring to in this case consists of 5 Uppies and 2 host neighbors. After stopping at Paradise for lunch, we strolled down Pearl St. admiring the scenery while making stops in all the necessary shops: the occult shop, the vintage store, the kite store, and the candy store. There was a mystery book shop that I didn't make it to, but I was certainly intrigued. Boulder's located at the base of what they call the Flatiron mountains. Unfortunately the sun was too bright at that point to take good pictures, but they were beautiful.

Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mollyskye218/sets/72157603702733573/
~Molly

Day 1

Today I arrived in Denver for the official beginning of the semester. Okay, the "official" official beginning is actually Sunday, but today was the arrival day. After two amazing flights this morning, I made it to Denver a bit earlier than scheduled and had plenty of time to get to know a few people before even getting to our meeting spot for the day. I got to meet a ton of people, which is making me grateful that we all have name tags so it'll be easier to remember names.

We played some games - Mad Gab, Phase 10, Egyptian rat screw, and a Swiss card game called Pants Down. There are a lot of people who like to play games, which I'm sure will prove to be entertaining (and educational!) Apparently, in Switzerland the decks only have the numbers 6-10, Unter (Jack), Ober (Queen), Konig (King), and Ace. The suits in this particular deck were Roses, Bells, Shields, and Acorns.

Most of the day was spent introducing ourselves and eating food while comparing notes on cultural differences. Camilla (from Denmark) and I had a discussion about alcohol legislation in the U.S. vs. Denmark. Carolina (from Sweden/Chile), AJ (from Wisconsin) and I discussed global politics as well as the legislative system and voting regulations in our countries. I'm really looking forward to learning a lot about my fellow castmates and their home countries. There should be plenty to talk about since we have people from 26 countries in our cast.

On that note, I'm off to sleep.
~Molly

Success!

I've done it. Technically my suitcase weighs in at 45 lbs., but I figure it will be light enough once a host gift or two is given and a few weeks worth of shower products are used. I'm much more of a weakling than I remember being. I know plenty of my suitcases from treks back and forth to New York were well above 50 lbs. and I was able to trudge through the subway system with them. This bag seems unusually heavy, but I suppose the scale does not lie. Hopefully there's nothing too important missing. The next few days should be telling in that department. Oh well.

Now, I sleep. Sweet dreams to you!
~Molly

Packing

Today is packing day. I get to fit 6 months worth of stuff into a 44 lb. suitcase and a 19 lb. carry-on. Can I do it? I think so. At least I thought so until I realized that my suitcase alone is 10 lbs. Maybe I'll have to get creative. My flight leaves at 6:20 a.m. tomorrow, so I may end up pulling an all-nighter. Or not. We'll see.

Dance shoes! I have one high and one low so you can see the versatility.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mollyskye218/2184180608/

That's all for now.
~Molly

Self-indulgent, but true

Living in San Francisco for the past seven months has put me back into a bubble. Unfortunately, it's been a pretty exclusive San Francisco bubble. I realized just a few weeks ago that I have not been nearly as in touch with my New York Citizens as I've wanted to be. I miss them all terribly. Seeing the NYE UCB pictures made me SERIOUSLY homesick. As such, one of my resolutions this year is to keep in touch better. If you're feeling neglected, please please please drop me a line.

That being said, San Francisco definitely has its perks - great food, great friends, my family, and my dog... not to mention an incomparable view. Okay, end of rant.

On another note, I just got some awesome new dance shoes. Pictures are forthcoming.

Have a great weekend!
~Molly

The journey begins

The beginning of a new year seems a proper place for the start of many new things. There have been many requests for me to start a blog detailing my upcoming tour with Up With People as well as a few requests for me to just blog in general. I'm happy to oblige and will do my best to keep up-to-date (at least for a while). I'll be with Up With People until June, and possibly until December. I'm still trying to decide that along with many other details of my life. Beyond that I have absolutely no idea where I'll be or what I'll be doing. If you happen to have leads on jobs in good cities (US or international are acceptable) please let me know.

That's all for now. Here's to a prosperous, healthy, and pleasant new year!
~Molly

P.S.- For those of you who are still wondering, "What exactly is it that you're doing again?" feel free to check the UWP website (http://www.upwithpeople.org/index.php?id=32). I've also received a lot of questions, so I'll keep some of the most frequent ones here for referral.

Q: When do you leave again?
A: January 11th, 2008

Q: Where are you going?
A: I'll be in Denver for a month for staging, etc. and then my tour covers the midwest and southern United States, Mexico, and Thailand. Sorry, but no New York, Ohio, Minnesota, or Arizona on this tour.

Q: Is this some sort of religious cult?
A: No. We're just a bunch of people promoting peace and cultural awareness. There are no blood oaths or sacrifices... that I know of.

Q: Up With People - are they still around?! The Up, Up With People people?
A: Yes and yes. It's the same group my mom and aunt traveled with in the BC (before children) era. They went away for a short while in the 90's, but the organization is back in full force.

Q: When are you coming to New York?
A: I have no plans currently, but if someone wants to buy me a plane ticket I'd gladly come visit... I'll be available for New Year's Eve next year.