02/25/2019 - 03/04/2019
Week TWO on the road! Spent the week getting to know another little town in a state I absolutely adore.
monday
Our bus ride from Greeley wasn’t crazy long, so we arrived in Erie early afternoon, same as last week. My CA was at our facility, and I spent the day helping with a program called “Passing Hats.” The woman who founded Passing Hats sat with us and showed us how to easily weave/knit beautiful hats that she would later deliver to hospitals for cancer patients. This CA was such a beautiful experience, and learning to weave this way was so much fun. You can clearly see, I was very proud of my finished product (as was Nannie when I sent her this photo!!:)
That night, as we all rushed to get our allocation cards, I almost burst with joy because next to “roommate” on my card, I saw my best friend’s name. I was already way too excited for this week. The two of us grabbed our things and eagerly awaited our new host family. Finally, we were greeted by the most welcoming and warm mom and daughter. Lucia and Emi came to pick Sophie and I up from the facility. Emi had made us the most beautiful sign, and was literally so excited to see us. It was the most adorable and warm-hearted greeting ever - I was already so excited to spend the week getting to know these people. We got home late and met Marco, our host dad, and Mati, our little host brother :”) We learned that Lucia had also traveled in Up With People at 19, and having her understand the experience, share her own, and tell us stories of her year on the road was incredible. Again - another amazing start to my second week on the road.
I wrote in my journal this week: humanity in its rarest and most beautiful form.
It really was something so unique. I wrote little things like this all over the pages of my journal. It’s like I couldn’t form a full paragraph of my thoughts, but every now and then I knew exactly what I wanted to say. This week - this was it.
tuesday
Woke up on Tuesday and ate the best breakfast with Emi and Mati before they left for school. Marco dropped Soph and I off at the facility, and we started the day. Today my CA was promotion, representing Up With People around the community, handing out flyers, putting up posters to advertise our shows, and talking to people about Up With People - who we were, why we were in Erie and what we were doing throughout the community that week.
Who would’ve known promo could involve so much sweat? Myself and a small group of others spent the day at the Erie Community Center, participating in a cardio bootcamp class and talking to those in the class about UWP at the same time :) Talk about multitasking. We promoted the show at the end of the class, and then made our way to another in line dancing. Our small group of five represented four countries that day. It’s crazy thinking about it, because at the time, I didn’t. I had become accustomed to hearing three different languages around me simultaneously, and this just seemed to be my norm now. Every now and then it would hit me, just exactly where I was, what I was doing, and the amazing people I was lucky enough to be surrounded by.
After our workout classes and a small booth at the center to promote the show, we packed up and drove the van around the city, hanging up posters and putting flyers in local coffee shops around town. We stopped in Fredrick, a tiny little town a little ways out from Erie, for coffee. It was like a ghost town, lost and almost abandoned-looking. We sat there drinking coffee talking about how we felt like we were in a movie.
WEDNESDAY
Sitting here trying to understand what the heck I wrote in my journal - my handwriting at 12am clearly didn’t do me any favors. But Wednesday we had three shows - in one day. Wow. Our host mom Lucia came to the first school show (6am wake up came earlyyyyy that morning), with her kindergarten class. After that one we did it again. Ate Chick-fil-A for dinner (bless our Promotion Reps that week:), and then did it all over again.
Something I wrote in my journal after our three show day:
Performing for those kids today was a reminder of why I’m here. There’s no feeling like it. My heart is so full.
FRIDAY
Friday was a much-needed rest day for all one-hundred of us. We spent the day doing internal cast workshops on goal setting, self-reflection and wellness. One of our cast members from Canada led a little session on meditation and positive psychology. To have a full day of reflection and self-care was so beneficial and much-needed after four shows over the course of two days. That night, we ate out at the cutest restaurant in Longmont. All six of us talked, played games, and ate insanely good fries.
SATURDAY
Saturday was Gala day. The Up With People Gala happens every year around March. Our cast was performing a few numbers at Gala, as well as helping out with the auction, etc. The Gala took place at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Denver. It was the most beautiful venue, and ended up being an incredible night. It snowed like crazy that night, so bussing back was an interesting time, but entertaining nonetheless. We met Marco back at our normal facility in Greeley close to 3am. Bless this family for all of their late nights (or early mornings), picking us up, and driving us to and from everywhere, just out of the goodness of their hearts. This family was so special. Selfless, genuine, kindhearted, and so. much. fun. I wanted this week to last forever. I knew this goodbye would be hard, and I was just nowhere near ready.
SUNDAY
HOST FAMILY DAY. Slept in, and woke up to the best pancakes for breakfast. The weather was cold and snowy, so we spent the day bowling - all six of us, plus our neighbors who were also hosting two Uppies. Though I’m absolutely awful at bowling, the day was so relaxing, and a lot of fun. (Plus I think Emi was pretty happy about beating me:) After bowling, Marco drove all of us to Sweet Cow for ice cream - possibly the best ice cream I've had to date. We spent the night playing Twister, drawing pictures, watching movies, and beginning the long packing process to prepare for travel day the next morning.
Throughout the week, Lucia told us stories of her time in Up With People. All the heartwarming ones, the classic ones and of course the crazy ones. It was so cool hearing someone who had experienced it all, talk about it like it was yesterday. Every little detail, person mentioned, place visited - she remembered so well. Something Lucia told me that I’ll never forget (and that I’m feeling thankful I wrote down in my journal:) was “Enjoy your time as an Uppie. They say time flies and you won’t really listen now, but I promise you you’ll look back and wish that you did. Soak it all in while you can, and feel everything.” I carried this with me throughout my entire tour, and I thank my pretty awesome host mom for that.
A lesson I learned this week: There’s no such thing as strangers, only friends you haven’t met yet.
This incredible family hit this one home for me. I met these people on a Monday and was just learning their names, but by the following Sunday I had tears in my eyes as I hugged them all goodbye. Little did I know I would get to see all four of them four short months later!!
Next stop: Grand Junction, Colorado
xx, Anna