Regional Learning Day: NASCAR!

Our schedule originally told us our Regional Learning day in Orlando would consist of going to an orange farm. I thought it sounded pretty cool, but then one day, our education team announced that instead, we would be headed to Daytona Beach to see a preliminary race for the Daytona 500. I will admit that my initial reaction was, "Oh...ok..." but then I stopped to think a moment and realized I was being offered an opportunity to see an event I'd never attend on my own, so why not be excited about it?

We piled into our buses the next day and took off for Daytona! We pulled up to a MASSIVE racetrack and filed into the seats. We were there early so we had plenty of time to explore. Sage, Tara, and I walked around by the food vendors and happened upon like 5-6 different Kettle Corn stands handing out samples. We pretended to be new to the experience every time and willingly accepted their handout! Then we managed to do the exact same thing on our walk back. Hooray for free kettle corn samples and lots of exercise! haha

Then the race began. It was interesting to see it in person, but honestly, watching cars go round and round isn't that exciting, unless something bad happens....which it did. About lap 45-50, one car got too close and clipped another car, causing a spin out. Luckily it was on the other side of the track, so it wasn't close, and most of the other cars managed to avoid the collision, but it still did some damage to the other cars. They resumed the race eventually, and then it was over!

It was neat getting to be in the same place as famous names like Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Danica Patrick, but other than that, it was a pretty low key [LOUD] day at the race track!

I slept the whole way home, and before we knew it, it was time for host family pick up! I giggled when so many of the non-US students were like, "Yeah...this is what I think of when I think American!" Oh my dear cast mates, PLEASE don't think the people who attend the Daytona 500 are an accurate representation of what an American is! haha

Chip, my bus date to and from Daytona!

With my girl Sage, ready to go in!

 

The Budweiser Clydesdale Horses

All the pit crews lined up for the National Anthem

Danica Patrick stops for a pit stop!

 

Part of the crash

Roomie Blog: Myriam

I was so excited to see that I'd have a roommate this week, AND to see that it would be Myriam! She's such a sweetheart and I've loved getting to know her more! We've had a blast getting closer this week and spending more time together!

From: Walhail, Belgium (the exact MIDDLE point of Belgium, she says!)

Age: 18

Favorite color: Dark Red

Her favorite activity we did as roomies: Ice cream out at Kilwins after our Friday night show. Myriam got Turtle Cheesecake flavor and I got Raspberry Sorbetto. Yum! =)

Some other fun facts about Myriam:
- She's an AWESOME dancer! I love watching the huge smile on this girl's face when she's rocking out in our show!
- Her English has improved SO much since she's been in UWP...she amazes me!
- She LOVES caramel...and Belgian chocolate, of course!
- She speaks French, English, and a little bit of Flemmish (she learned it for 12 years...but claims to not remember it! haha)
- She LOVES Oreos (she first learned about these in America)
- She has a hilarious laugh...it reminds me of a very cute Woody Woodpecker (but it's not annoying)

Orlando, Florida

We arrived in Orlando, FL on Monday, February 18th and immediately met with the Mayor of Orlando. We then had some free time around the city and then met for our allocation meeting...aka meeting our host families!

My roommate this week is Myriam from Belgium, and we walked around looking for our host code "Pinto Beans," but we couldn't find ANYONE holding pinto beans! Finally, a nice lady named Laura said that she knew our host mom and that she was running late! We finally met up with Lisa and her daughter Kellen and took a quick picture of our host code!

We enjoyed a nice dinner that night with the whole family. Lisa, Alan, and Kellen Flowers. Lisa is a music teacher (voice and substitutes for choir at the middle/high school levels). Alan works for The Children's Place as a manager of sorts. He's been busy this week with travel and lots of out-of-town work. Kellen is an AWESOME 17-year-old who reminds me a LOT of myself with the activities she participates in. She's very involved in choir and theatre and is amazingly talented! We've had a lot of fun this week, and it's been great getting to share UWP with her! She had never heard of the organization before we arrived, and now she's planning on traveling in a few years! SO EXCITED! She's perfect for the program...I knew it the second I met her! haha

My Community Impact this week consisted of going to Edgewater HS (the school we performed at) and did workshops with various classrooms. I worked with Brekken (WY) and Hector (Mexico) and we facilitated the "Take a Stand" activity where we pose thought-provoking questions and ask that the students "take a stand" as to which side they choose. An example question would be "I believe men and women are more alike than they are different." It's a fun activity with some surface level questions and some REALLY difficult questions. Overall the experience was really great, but there were definitely some moments of frustration. The students really impressed me, though, so it was fun getting to do a different type of CI in Orlando!

This week kept us super busy, as usual, with shows on both Friday and Saturday nights (in the HOTTEST auditorium EVER! Seriously, I don't think I've ever sweat this much! Ugh!). Kellen and Lisa were able to come on Friday night which was a lot of fun!

For host family day, Myriam and I slept in until 11am (which was MUCH needed). Then Myriam Skyped with her family while I started laundry and spent some time talking with Lisa. Then us girls headed out to Downtown Disney to do some shopping and have lunch. We ate at Sweet Tomatoes (one of my favorite restaurants) and then headed to the Disney store and meandered the many shops around. We eventually treated ourselves to dessert at the Ghirardelli Soda Fountain.

Here are some other fun pictures of our time in Downtown Disney

I knew I had long legs...but never THIS long! =P

If I could have one job at Disney (besides being Belle) I would want to be the candy apple decorator! How awesome are these?!?

After Downtown Disney, we headed over to Ambrea and Rachel's host family for a cookout and firepit. Clemence and Sarah were hosted right next door, and Ambrea's parents were in town, so it was a FUN get together! =) We ate hamburgers/hotdogs, played Corn Hole (?) - basically where you toss bean bags across the lawn, and made S'mores!

I'm so sad to leave these guys tomorrow! I've LOVED spending time with the Flowers family!

Edison Festival of Lights - Ft. Myers, FL

On Saturday, Feb. 16th, Cast A had the amazing fortune of marching in Fort Myer's Edison Festival of Lights. The town was Thomas Edison's winter home, so they like carrying on a tradition that utilizes his invention...the lightbulb! We met up in the afternoon, got ready, organized ourselves, and accessorized with glowsticks from head to toe! We had a blast jamming to our show music and telling the crowd about our upcoming shows!

Chip, Hunter, and I (hooray Coloradans!) all served as Emcee's for the parade and walked around with a microphone "interviewing" our castmates. We tried to get as many different nationalities as possible to speak, and it was so much fun getting to interact with the cast and the crowd, pumping up for our double show day the next day!

Our cast photo assistants captured some great shots of the group! 

After the show, Giselle and I realized we could fit two people in her one GIGANTIC show costume skirt! haha

It was an awesome night. Our cast had such a fun time in the parade!

Fort Myers, Florida

On Monday, February 11th, we arrived in Ft. Myers, FL after a teary goodbye leaving Lakeland. I had an awesome bus date with Thomas from Belgium for the 2ish hour bus ride south.

Excited to be each others' very first bus date! =)

We had some workshops to do once we arrived to Ft. Myers, but met our host families later that evening. I found out I'd be hosted alone and with a single gal, but her name seemed pretty youthful (primarily the spelling), so I thought I might be with a younger host. Turns out...I was! Younger than me, in fact!

I was hosted with Kaitlin Thompson and her boyfriend Tyler Tompkins. They are both 21 and very sweet. They have two pitbull dogs, Tank and Steel, and live in a great apartment in Cape Coral, FL (just outside of Ft. Myers). Our host code was "Flashlight," so I snapped a picture of Kaitlin with her prop!

Kaitlin with the host code "Flashlight"

TANK!

Baby Steel!

Right at 7pm the first night I was there, Tyler looked at me and asked, "Do you like to watch Wheel of Fortune, cuz we watch it every night!" I just laughed and explained that I was just on WoF as a contestant...so that was fun! We watched Jeopardy, too, so I knew we were a good match! =)

For CI that week, I helped out at a place called Beauty From Ashes, a non-profit that helps victims of human-trafficking escape that lifestyle and stand on their own. They offer meals, counseling, and all sorts of services to help victims rebuild their lives. It's an amazing organization. We helped them with gardening and planting around their facility with a garden that the Beauty from Ashes women will help maintain. It as a LOT of work for the 9 of us, but we worked all day and got a lot of good work done. I hope our efforts make a difference in the future!

Katy, Claudia, Katie, Anna, me, McKenzie, Kelli, Collin, and Sean

Our cast celebrated Valentine's Day in Fort Myers. We had a busy day full of internal work within the cast, but the day was certainly filled with hugs, candy, and lots of love!

This particular picture isn't from Valentine's Day, but it sums the day up pretty well! =)

Kaitlin, Tyler, and I hung low that week, which was good and what I needed. It was like being back in college and hanging out with friends at the end of every day. On Friday we went out to join some of Tyler's family for his cousin's birthday celebration, then went to the Bass Pro Shop (My first trip to one...I've never seen so much camo in one place before! haha), then out for Froyo. Then on Saturday we slept in, had breakfast, and did some errands before having to get me to the parade drop off later that evening.

Steel was quite relaxed while we enjoyed Froyo! =P

Speaking of parade...we were in the Edison Festival of Light parade. Ft. Myers, FL was the winter home for Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb, so the town throws a huge parade every year. I'll do a separate post just on the parade since there are so many great pictures that our photo assistants captured!

We had a double show day on Sunday, one at 2pm and one at 6pm. It was great performing for the Ft. Myers community, and my host parents from Lakeland came to both shows. (We'll be seeing more of them in the future!)

Edward and Jessica with all of their girls from our time in Lakeland. They brought us Valentines!

With Kaitlin and Tyler