Stillwater, Oklahoma

Stillwater, Oklahoma

September 24th- October 1st
Theme of the week: Hunger

Bill, Esther Clair ~ Maria (Grey Hound)

Jai Yu (China)

9-24-18 Monday

We drove three hours from Salina, Kansas to Stillwater, Oklahoma. It was a brief bus ride, and once we arrived in Oklahoma, we had a few hours for community discovery. I went to a thrift store, an art museum, and a coffee shop. Then Bill and Ester picked us up at our facility. They are an old couple in their 60's, and they don't have any kids. Their house is awesome, and our bedroom is luxurious. They are very kind, but a little quirky once again... It should be an interesting week.

9-25-18 Tuesday
Today I was the crew leader for a community action project with an organization called Our Daily Bread. This is a food bank that opened just a year ago, and the serve over 11,000 families in poverty every month. We stocked the shelves with food donations and made it look like a grocery store so that people shopping would have some dignity. They also get to choose what they want to grab in their carts to minimize food wastage. This community service day was my favorite so far because I could visibly see the impact that we were having on so many families. We set up all of the inventory for the week, and it was a lot of work. At the end of the day we got too see some of the people who came to get free food, and it was rewarding knowing that our hard work was helping so many people. This CA also ties into the theme of the week because it address the issue of hunger in society. The education team put together a simulation of high, middle, and low classes during dinner. The high class got a four course meal, chair, tables, servers, and special treatment. The middle class chairs, and some food. The low class had to watch everyone eat, and sit on the floor. They assigned what class everyone would be in, and I was placed in the lowest class. This simulation was very interesting because I have really never been the person with no privileges in my life, and being in that position opened my eyes to what other people face daily. On the way home, my host dad backed up into a car and dented it... then he just drove away and acted like nothing happened!!!!! OMG!!!! Hidde (From Netherlands), who is our PR apologized for putting me with my family. He knows the struggle of this week, and he truly feels bad, but they had a hard time finding host families.

9-26-18 Wednesday
Today I was a crew leader for an organization called WONDERtorium. It is a children's museum where kids can use there imagination and create. We volunteered by cleaning toys, sanitizing, vacuuming, and dusting fans. I got to work in the computer and transfer data from paper to an Excel spread sheet. Then we went out for lunch and got some Chinese food. At the end of the day, we learned the Mexican Medley, and prepared for our trip to Mexico in 2 weeks! Esther made a really great meal, and we had cookies with honey:) My eye has started to twitch again which means that I am very, very, very tired and dehydrated. It's just wonderful... also three people in our cast have lice, and it is spreading like wildfire because everyone is always so close to each other. Yay for life on the road.

9-27-18 Thursday
Today was my first time doing an acoustic promotion opportunity with Up with People. Ellen (From Belgium), Josh (From Philippines), Rodrigo (From Mexico), Angelis (From Bermuda), Leah (From Pennsylvania), Tyler (From Arizona), and I went to Oklahoma State University and performed an acoustic set from our show. Then I walked passed a dead squirrel, so Angelis and I decided to have a funeral for it. We sang church hymns, read verses, gave a eulogy, built a grave, and named him De Que. We had a private show later in the evening for students of the college. Unfortunately, it was not well attended, but we managed to have a good show anyways. Then we had to superstrike the stage. I was signed out for admissions and I got to interview some college kids. Then we went home pretty late and went straight to sleep.

9-28-18 Friday
I was a crew leader for a community service project called Karman's Korners. It is a resale store that sells donated clothes and items. All the proceeds go to cancer and hospice patients. I steamed donated clothes in the morning, and priced pillow cases after lunch. It was eye opening to see all the work that goes into processing donated items. I enjoyed volunteering there because all the staff members were very grateful for all the work we took off their hands. We got to walk around downtown and get some ice cream. We worked on the Mexican Medley when we got back to the church. After dinner, Jia Yu and I escaped our host family and went for a walk. On the way, we went to Lydia (From Finland), Isaac (From Colorado), and Andree (From Sweden) houses. Then we chatted with Esther a little when we got home.

9-29-18 Saturday
Two Shows Today!!! We had rehearsal all morning, and then a show at 2pm and at 7pm. Esther and Bill came to the show at two and afterwards asked me if I even sang in the show at all. OOOO I was so irritated. Then Walter came to see the shows and worked with me on some things. Two shows in one day makes you so exhausted that you feel sick. We had cast members dropping like flies... and each audience was so small. Corrine (From Switzerland) had a heat stroke and needed to sit out of the show. While strike was happening, I was signed out to watch a documentary about world hunger. I was so happy because I didn't have to exert more energy by taking the stage down, but I just got to rest. We got picked up at midnight, and Esther was complaining about how late it was and she rushed us out of the building. I finally went to bed around 1:30am.

9-30-18 Sunday
My host mom comes knocking on the door at 9:00am and rudely wakes Jia Yu and I up. She was all concerned about doing laundry, that it was urgent for us to wake up. We didn't have to leave for the day until 11:30!!!!! After two shows and going to bed at 1:30, I needed to sleep SOOOOO FREAKING BAD. She just comes in and starts hitting us to wake up, and she got ANGRY at us. I said we have all day long to do ONE load of laundry, but she insisted that we wake up just to do nothing. I have never encountered someone who was so inconsiderate like that. We went to lunch at Eskimo Joe's, and then we went to an Alpaca farm in Ripley Oklahoma. Jia Yu and I were invited to another host family's house for a party. We had many people from the cast there, and the party was in a barn! It was so much fun with great food too... But then, Esther comes to pick us up. When she saw all the people who were there, she didn't want to take us away from the fun. She made a huge scene in front of everyone in the barn that even the PR's were involved. It was such a bad situation, and we ended up leaving the party early. Thank God we are leaving for Texas tomorrow!