Metepec, Mexico
April 15th- April 22nd
Theme of the week: Hunger!
2 Full Shows
Alex, Maria, Diana, and Alex Orozco
Grace (Arizona)
April 15th- April 22nd
Theme of the week: Hunger!
2 Full Shows
Alex, Maria, Diana, and Alex Orozco
Grace (Arizona)
4-15-19 Monday
Travel Day!!!! I sat next to Melanie on the hour long bus ride. When we arrived in Metepec, we had some free time. I used the time to interview different cast members for my intern project. We had a guest speaker that talked about Mexican food. Then we had two hours of community discovery time. The cast split up into three groups and went on a walking tour around the city of Metpec. There were many beautiful shops and markets along the street. We also went into an art museum and got to look at authentic work from Mexican artist. I walked around with Sophie, Daniel, Katelyn, and Melanie. We stopped for ice cream and spent quality time together. When it was time for pick up, I found out that Diana was hosting me. She surprised me!! Diana was my camp counselor in Cast B17. I had no idea that she was even from this area. This is just proof that connections at camp will last a lifetime. Grace and Diana traveled together in B16 as well. There are so many connections and we just spent the night catching up and getting to know each other on a friend level. Her family took us out to dinner and it was a great night!
4-16-19 Tuesday
Show Day!!! In the morning, I was very productive. Grace and I finished our preparation for the rotation of Hunger Banquet. I finished my camp bio page, home team olympics, my intern project, and the yearlong retreat. Then we had a VERY long rehearsal because our stage is exceptionally small so we had to change the blocking. The show itself was very successful! Diana and her best friend came to the show. Then we went home, ate tacos al pastor, drank tequila, and talked till 2:00am. I am grateful that I am getting time with Diana because we will be working together for the entirely of the summer. I am finally getting to a point in the semester where I feel happy and excited for where I am now, and for the future. I feel like myself again.
4-21-19 Sunday
YEARLONG RETREAT!! After I woke up every hour to throw up, I finally felt a little better in the morning. My amazing roommates ordered me breakfast while I got a few more hours of sleep. Then the entire group went to the rooftop of the building to do some yoga and semester reflection time. A group of us went to a Catholic Mass for Easter and it was definitely a cultural experience. There was confetti and authentic joy in the celebration of the crucifixion. I had the deepest faith conversation I have ever had in my life with Liam and Katelyn after the service. When we came back they did a confession cross the line where people admit to things they did throughout the semester. It was a lot of fun. Then we had our yearlong banquet where we all dressed up, reflected on memories, encouraged the heart, thought about the future, appreciated each other, and read letters from staff members. Frank, Isaac, Sam, Andree, Melanie, Grace, Lydia, and I have become a little squad within our two hotel rooms. We were all sitting at the table crying and laughing together. Everybody was emotional about the fact that our year in UWP is almost over. I am beyond grateful to know this group of people. This retreat was an outlet that most of us needed at this point in the semester.
Show Day!!! In the morning, I was very productive. Grace and I finished our preparation for the rotation of Hunger Banquet. I finished my camp bio page, home team olympics, my intern project, and the yearlong retreat. Then we had a VERY long rehearsal because our stage is exceptionally small so we had to change the blocking. The show itself was very successful! Diana and her best friend came to the show. Then we went home, ate tacos al pastor, drank tequila, and talked till 2:00am. I am grateful that I am getting time with Diana because we will be working together for the entirely of the summer. I am finally getting to a point in the semester where I feel happy and excited for where I am now, and for the future. I feel like myself again.
4-17-19 Wednesday
Show Day!!! In the morning, the cast participated in culture jam. Jolene faced her biggest fear and sang a song from her Navajo Native American culture. There was singing and dancing from Japan, the West coast, and Belgium. Then we broke off into hometeam time and talked about Mexican culture shock. I helped Angelis with his audition video for his theater schools. This was the last show that the band would play together in Mexico. Next week, we have 4 BTS shows without the band. In circle before the show, Tono came and hyped us up! After the show, I worked on my intern project and hometeam olympics. Diana stayed for strike and her dad waited for us outside. Then we ate tacos al pastor and went to bed.
4-18-19 Thursday
Today Grace and I took a day off to spent time with Diana and her family. We got to sleep in, have a late breakfast, get ready slow with a cup of coffee, and just hang out. Then we drove to downtown Toluca to be typical tourists. The city center had beautiful sites with buildings of many colors. They bought us mini gorditas and little candies. We went into Cosmo Vitral. This was a garden that was surrounded by a story described in stain-glass windows. It was gorgeous!!!! Alex took us out for lunch at Casa Azul around 5:00pm cuz ya know... Mexican time. We ordered delicious cocktails and I had a fresh salad. It's been nice to eat some healthy food and walk around all day. Then Grace, Diana, and I went to get our nails done. When we got home we all realized that each of us coincidentally picked the color of our water bottles. We decided to work out and walk around the gates neighborhood while the sun was setting. Then we watched Greece at night.
4-19-19 Friday
Today, Diana dropped us off and we had to say goodbye to her because she was going to a family reunion for Easter. In the morning, we had cast university. Many people from the cast had mini workshops teaching about their passions. Jolene and Pheniox did a make up tutorial, Affe did body percussion, Brody did opera training, and many more. Then we had The Hunger Banquet workshop. I was on the education planning committee for this workshop, and we had been working for the past two weeks. It was a four hour workshop where we randomly split the cast into high, middle, and low classes for dinner. The high class got servers, food, desert, drinks, and extra privilege. The middle class got a plate with rice and beans, and the low class got rice with paper. I got to be a waitress/host in the activity and it was amazing to see how different people reacted to the workshop from the classes. Spencer was in high class, and he was absolutely furious. Kaitlin was choking up throughout the whole time. At the end of dinner, we threw away all the extra food in front of the cast to show the impact of food waste in just our cast. Then Grace and I led a rotation that talked about Global Nourishment and Food Waste. We had the cast look through the gallery again and reflect on the quote, pictures, and facts. All the insight from the cast was very interesting to hear. It was a very different experience to go through it as a participant rather than facilitating it. We had more time for debrief of the heavy workshop. Grace and I decided that we wouldn't eat anything the whole day to fully respect the simulation. Then Diana's brother picked us up and brought us home. He is a crazy driver. We fell asleep immediately from 7-8:30pm. Alex was having a part and he wanted us to join, so we did and then went to bed right after.
4-20-19 Saturday
YEARLONG RETREAT!!! All the second semesters met up at a hotel in the middle of downtown Metepec. We were all overly excited to just spend a weekend together and not have to represent UWP. I am in a room with Grace (Arizona), Melanie (Switzerland), Lydia (Finland). We decided to go to Toluca and visit Cosmo Vitral again. I finally bought my summer hat that I have been searching for!! The about half of the group went to go get tattoos, and the rest of us went out for lunch. This was the most that I have laughed since the beginning of the semester. It was really nice to sit back, relax, drink a margarita, and be with my closets friends. Throughout the semester, I have felt like I don't like this new cast. But, being with all my second semester friends, I realized how many amazing people I have around me. After some free time in our rooms, we went to dinner across the street. This place was bumpin with loud music, flashing lights, and tacos al pastor. When we got back to the hotel, we had a full group pull together. We did circle speed dating to check in with other second semesters. I'm finally starting to feel the end coming near and it makes me a little sad to think that these people won't be in my life everyday. Then the party started... We played Kings Cup and things got a little out of hand. I really enjoyed just spending fun quality time with people who I have lived with for the past 10 months. When I went to bed, I got really sick all night.
YEARLONG RETREAT!! After I woke up every hour to throw up, I finally felt a little better in the morning. My amazing roommates ordered me breakfast while I got a few more hours of sleep. Then the entire group went to the rooftop of the building to do some yoga and semester reflection time. A group of us went to a Catholic Mass for Easter and it was definitely a cultural experience. There was confetti and authentic joy in the celebration of the crucifixion. I had the deepest faith conversation I have ever had in my life with Liam and Katelyn after the service. When we came back they did a confession cross the line where people admit to things they did throughout the semester. It was a lot of fun. Then we had our yearlong banquet where we all dressed up, reflected on memories, encouraged the heart, thought about the future, appreciated each other, and read letters from staff members. Frank, Isaac, Sam, Andree, Melanie, Grace, Lydia, and I have become a little squad within our two hotel rooms. We were all sitting at the table crying and laughing together. Everybody was emotional about the fact that our year in UWP is almost over. I am beyond grateful to know this group of people. This retreat was an outlet that most of us needed at this point in the semester.
-----> Mexico City
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