Long Overdue...

Hi all..
I apologize to faithful readers... but these past few weeks have been insane. I'll try to backtrack a bit, and bring ya'll up to date ;-)

1st show:
Rough around the edges, but full of passion! Someone tripped a cord in our opening number, causing the music to cut out mid song... leaving the entire cast (and lead soloists) singing acapello as we frantically tried to regain our timing and choreography. Other songs weren't quite as disastrous, however, they weren't amazing... that's for sure. We were proud that we got through it, but it was no secret that there was a lot of work to be done.
We said goodbye to our host families in Denver the following Monday. They had enjoyed the show... and hopefully their time hosting us... It was hard to say bye to Barbara... 4 weeks is a long time, and Littleton had begun to feel like home. I looked forward to our dinner conversations, and Olympic TVOed gymnastics. Sunday night, I had the opportunity to go with my host mom's nephew INDOOR SKYDIVING. Yes, that's right... for anyone who knows me, I am terrified of heights. But I did it. Amazing. It was the most free feeling...to just fall into an open tube and feel the air lift you 30 feet into the open space.

On our way to Breckenridge we stopped in a small town called Idaho Springs, CO. It was so quaint... words just don't do it justice. We chatted briefly with locals in coffeeshops, while meandering around to see the historic sights of the place. After watching (in horror) as some of my fellow castmates purchased and proceded to eat RAW earthWORMS... it was time to go.
We moved on to a mining area... it was called Pheonix mine. Craziness... the guys there were wild westerners... who lived only by the law of the land. I kissed the lucky bucket.. and panned for gold... and then boarded the bus for Breckenridge.

In Breckenridge, our host codes were related to the Olympic games. I had to find the person holding the flag of the country which hosted the 1988 Winter games. It happened to be the Butler family... they would become my home for the next four days. What an amazing group of people they were. The children (aged 4 and 2) were absolutely adorable... and by far the politest children I've encountered. The parents were both patient, and so willing to open their homes to us. It truly was a life altering experience, even if the stay was a mere 4 days. I hope to keep in contact with the Butlers (and Barbara) as I continue on my journeys. The one boy, Frankie, brought Meron (Ethiopia) and I flowers after our show. A dozen roses each... because he said we deserved it. He looked for us (we were roommates) in EVERY dance, and even refused to watch people dance if they impeded upon his view of Meron and I. Too cute... it was a hard goodbye, and I remained choked up well into the afternoon...thinking of how fortunate I was to have gotten placed with such a neat family.
In Breckenridge, we performed our first REAL show. It was so much better than the last one had been. Plus, we had had a mini show during that week, to promote UWP within the community. So fun!... It was intense dancing there though. The air is so thin, you gasp and gasp and still can't breathe!!! Anyways, the night of the show, we had to strike the set.. host pickup, therefore, was not until 1am~! Until we got to bed, it was after two, and Meron and I woke early to do a load of wash and get showers before another long day. When we said goodbye, we had a matter of minutes before our sessions started... education, dance, culture... etc. At night, we had time to wind down - and a bunch of us set out on a quest to Downtown Breckenridge. It was an awesome little place - we grabbed dessert at Bubba Gumps, and headed back... ending up soaked due to the torrential downpour. Seriously, we looked like drowned rats, but it was well worth it! Its so nice sometimes to just have a group of people to escape with... and talk to.
Our flight to Mexico left early the next morning. We had to leave the hotel (where we had camped out and pulled an all-nighter on the ballroom floor) at 3:30 am. We hit snow on the pass on the way to the airport. What a contrast from the 90+ heat we would experience just hours later as we landed in Los Cabos.
When we arrived in Cabo, we took buses to La Paz. On the way, we stopped at a roadside burrito shack to get some food. I even ordered in Spanish!!! It was muy bueno... we met our host families shortly after arriving in La Paz. Mine is a couple who has two grown sons... My mom, is Malvina, and my dad is Alejandro. Both are the sweetest people you could ever know. They dote over the three of us (I live with Crystal from Wisconsin and Cathrine from Denmark) because we are their first ever host girls. Malvina especially, always says how special it is that she has daughters.
We eat well here. Malvina is an EXCELLENT cook. She prepares breakfast and dinner for us daily.. and gives us treats to hold us over during the day!... On Sunday, our parents took us to a private beach for a picinic dinner where we watched the sun set over the red rocks of La Paz. I also learned to water ski for the first time and found my new favorite food and drink. The food is a type of helado, or ice cream. It is helado con petales del rosa... or rose petal ice cream. As romantic and fragrant tasting as it smells. My favorite drink, is agua con jamaica... which is a type of tea made from the flowers of the jamaica plant. So yummy.. you all must try it!
Oh.. and the food here is nothing like at home. The Mexican food of the states does NOT resemble actual Mexican food... and the fruits of home, are insanely large in comparison to the ones here (which are much riper and fresh tasting). Mangos especially, are so different than what I am used to. But I love it. Esta muy bueno!!!
For our Community Impact work here in La Paz, we are working with Mobilize Mankind... it is a group which tries to integrate the handicapped into the folds of regular society.. and recycle and refurbish the unusable wheelchairs, prosthetic pieces, and other devices of the USA, to areas that need them most. Pretty cool. All profits from our show on Saturday will go towards this organization... and we are hoping to perform to a sell out crowd of about 5,000. Pray for that. This organization does so much good. Oh. And we repainted the entire stadium where we will perform. It is a baseball stadium that had been defaced by grafitti... and so we repainted it, to draw attention to our show, and help out the community. Again, muy bueno!
Something cool? We found a blue starfish today during our regional learning at the beach. Also, the other day (not cool, but interesting)... one of my castmates got stung by a sting ray. Here, they are called mantarayas - scary. They are poisonous. She is okay though... lucky for me, my mom watches for us at the beach and does the 'mantaraya shuffle' in an effort to scare them away.
Tomorrow I have a beach side BTS or back track show... which is basically a small version of our big program for promotional purposes. That's right... its beachside. Be jealous. The water is crystal clear, and the people are amazing. I wish you could be here to live this life. It is muy incredible...

Pictures coming soon...
Abrasos y besos de La Paz, Mexico
(hugs and kisses from La Paz, Mexico)