Since the last post was of our first show I feel that some explanation is necessary.
Up with People absorbs our time so much that we just have a few moments to ourselfs. We do have time off, but we´re only staying in host families for 1 week and you want to get as much out of it as possible. To not forget anything I do take notes for myself but in the meanwhile I forgot the notes for all of the other people wondering about my activities. And it was so fun to notice that a lot of people were actually asking about more updates, so that definitely stimulates me (the number of comments pushes me to write more and the emails that I got definitely help out too).
Since the last update so many things have happened but in general I´m now in the 3rd city of our tour, in chronological order Breckenridge, La Paz and now Los Cabos.
Breckenridge
This is a lovely mountain village at almost 2 miles above sea-level or around 2800 meters. A great second host family took care of Russ and me (everyone who hasn´t, look at his blog for a late-evening produced video of us on his blog). Our community projects were focused on the schools and that is were the proceeds of our show also went to, as an extra impulse for the Rocky Mountain University they are building. I was working a lot on promotions this week which wasn´t easy because a lot of tourist are just in Breckenridge for quiet peaceful restdays. But our show at the end of the week was awesome and 500 people really seemed to have enjoyed it.
La Paz
Unusally soon for an Up with People tour we were going to Mexico, which needs a lot of adaption on all fronts. We arrived in a much warmer climate at a coast city named La Paz. As always on a travel day in the evening our cast meets there host family, really exciting every time. Almost always it is with a certain game, find matching olympic city games, matching film posters, matching Spanish word-actual object, etc. My host family was probably the best pick, such a warm hospitable family and always ready to let me try new Mexican foods or see local spots in their city. During the week I was on "admissions" which means we visit schools to talk about Up with people as a possible opportunity for them. Projects our cast was working went from anti-grafitti, painting in an eldery home to helping Mobilize Mankind. This last organisation collects wheelchairs in the US to change them to the needs of the disabled in Mexico. If this organisation wouldn´t do this it could easily cost 10,000to 15,000 dollars to buy such a wheel chair (all show revenues went to this project).
In this week my parents visited me, which was an awesome opportunity for me to show them a small insight in the life of Up with People. It is so hard to describe everything we do, it would take days to really fully explain... And seeing it makes so much more sense. Because of a hurricane in the neighbooring city where there plane was supposed to be leaving they were obligated to stay a day longer. But my host famlily was so nice to share their home and give my family a bit of the host family experience.
Los Cabos
Now I´m in another coastal city, but more known to tourists: Los Cabos. Till known I´ve had really interesting insights. A visit to local slums showed the huge gap between rich and poor. It made me feel so uncomfortable that it just puches me to really do something about it. A woman even invited me into here few cubic metres house where she lived with 6 or 7 persons and told me that she was still lucky. It is always relative in comparison, but oh so confronting.
Today I particpated in an anti-grafitti painting session at the local baseball stadium, we worked along the side of some local youth. A nice project but with Mexican timing, the paint arrived 3 hours late. Time needed to be filled with games and cleaning garbage. But jeah, everything is realtive isn´t it?
Read more...
Up with People absorbs our time so much that we just have a few moments to ourselfs. We do have time off, but we´re only staying in host families for 1 week and you want to get as much out of it as possible. To not forget anything I do take notes for myself but in the meanwhile I forgot the notes for all of the other people wondering about my activities. And it was so fun to notice that a lot of people were actually asking about more updates, so that definitely stimulates me (the number of comments pushes me to write more and the emails that I got definitely help out too).
Since the last update so many things have happened but in general I´m now in the 3rd city of our tour, in chronological order Breckenridge, La Paz and now Los Cabos.
Breckenridge
This is a lovely mountain village at almost 2 miles above sea-level or around 2800 meters. A great second host family took care of Russ and me (everyone who hasn´t, look at his blog for a late-evening produced video of us on his blog). Our community projects were focused on the schools and that is were the proceeds of our show also went to, as an extra impulse for the Rocky Mountain University they are building. I was working a lot on promotions this week which wasn´t easy because a lot of tourist are just in Breckenridge for quiet peaceful restdays. But our show at the end of the week was awesome and 500 people really seemed to have enjoyed it.
La Paz
Unusally soon for an Up with People tour we were going to Mexico, which needs a lot of adaption on all fronts. We arrived in a much warmer climate at a coast city named La Paz. As always on a travel day in the evening our cast meets there host family, really exciting every time. Almost always it is with a certain game, find matching olympic city games, matching film posters, matching Spanish word-actual object, etc. My host family was probably the best pick, such a warm hospitable family and always ready to let me try new Mexican foods or see local spots in their city. During the week I was on "admissions" which means we visit schools to talk about Up with people as a possible opportunity for them. Projects our cast was working went from anti-grafitti, painting in an eldery home to helping Mobilize Mankind. This last organisation collects wheelchairs in the US to change them to the needs of the disabled in Mexico. If this organisation wouldn´t do this it could easily cost 10,000to 15,000 dollars to buy such a wheel chair (all show revenues went to this project).
In this week my parents visited me, which was an awesome opportunity for me to show them a small insight in the life of Up with People. It is so hard to describe everything we do, it would take days to really fully explain... And seeing it makes so much more sense. Because of a hurricane in the neighbooring city where there plane was supposed to be leaving they were obligated to stay a day longer. But my host famlily was so nice to share their home and give my family a bit of the host family experience.
Los Cabos
Now I´m in another coastal city, but more known to tourists: Los Cabos. Till known I´ve had really interesting insights. A visit to local slums showed the huge gap between rich and poor. It made me feel so uncomfortable that it just puches me to really do something about it. A woman even invited me into here few cubic metres house where she lived with 6 or 7 persons and told me that she was still lucky. It is always relative in comparison, but oh so confronting.
Today I particpated in an anti-grafitti painting session at the local baseball stadium, we worked along the side of some local youth. A nice project but with Mexican timing, the paint arrived 3 hours late. Time needed to be filled with games and cleaning garbage. But jeah, everything is realtive isn´t it?
Posts
