Gistel, Belgium
May 6th- May 13th
Theme of the Week: The environment
2 Full Shows, 1 Acoustic Promo
Anita and Lucie Willems
Jolene (Navajo Nation) Lindsey (Oregon)
5-6-19 Monday
Travel Day!!! We spent the day in the city of Brugge. This is one of my favorite cities in Europe that I have traveled to so far!! The cast had four hours to do whatever we wanted. I split off with Melanie, Grace, Andree, Daniel, and Cameron. We walked along the streets with unbelievable architecture, shopped, and ate classic Belgian Waffles. Then I found myself floating between different groups of people. After the crazy past two weeks, I am really looking forward to a host family that goes to bed before midnight. Jolene and Lindsey are my roommates, and I am really happy about that. I don't know either of them very well and I am excited to get this opportunity. Our host family seems really awesome, and I am just very content with life at the moment. It was rough to be in the most beautiful city in Belgium without a phone for pictures, but I am taking on a minimalist approach. My house this week is 5 minutes away from the facility. We got home, went to the grocery store, and ate some Belgian fries. Then I called home and tried to figure my life out with Concordia.
Today was the first time that I had been on a CA site since Naucalpan. We went to a school called De Bijenkorf. This was my favorite school that I had ever been to in Up with People. It was an elementary school where the curriculum was based on pupil interests. I was blown away by how the teachers ran the classroom. In a school of about 90 kids, each classroom had two full couches with pillows and blankets. Instead of traditional desks, they had dinner tables. The "classroom" literally felt like a host family house. The teachers make a safe environment for students to share their ideas and learn is a relaxed manor. We did personal flags and international trivia while other Uppies painted an impressive mural. When we first arrived at the school, every student was playing an instrument and stinging together. I teared up a little at the sweet innocence that music can bring out of kids. I want my career to feel like this, and I know that it will. I want to make the best environment for my future students. Then the band worked on expression session stuff when we got back and it is going to be bomb. We ate spaghetti with my host family for dinner and got to relax a bit at night.
Today we had a full internal day and my host sister, Lucie, spent the day with us. We did many workshops throughout the day. Then we had an acoustic performance at an old folks home that was a 10 minute walk away from our facility that we are in all week. One of my goals for when I go home is to create a singing group and go to an Old Folks Home twice a week. I know that I will have musical friends in college, and I want to organize that through a club or something next year. Then we had Cast University round two. Garrett did a workshop on sexuality/gender labels and all the christian white conservatives went to his class to at least learn more about the topic. It was quite amusing because we realized just how ignorant we are about everything in that community. Needless to say, I learned a lot. Then we had a cast meeting where we bonded as a cast and realized that we only have 28 days left of our tour. This is the first time all semester that I am actually get nostalgic about leaving. The cast really needed this connection... and then they introduced burn! Then Jolene, Lindsey, Lucie and I went to the shore of the North Sea on the coast of Belgium. It was freezing outside, but Jolene jumped into the water. We were all watching with winter jackets on. Then we sat on the beach with chairs and had a great time. I have been extremely lucky with host families this semester. Every single one has been great. Then we went over to a friends house with a lot of Uppies. We played Mafia and I introduced the Bang Bang Bang game. Many people got extremely frustrated because they couldn't figure it out. It was a blast.
Today was the best day that I have had on a CA site since Albergue Del Padre Manuelito in Torreon Mexico. Both of these unforgettable experiences have been working with elementary age students from foreign countries. I built a deep connection with the students through music and it affirmed my future career path. I got to teach the soprano part of shine the light, while Leah taught the alto part. We performed for their parents and stood in front of the kids like choir directors. It gave me so much energy and joy to see how hard the kids worked to learn the different parts of the song. I feel so prepared for Concordia and I want to create an environment like this in my future classroom. The 5th and 6th graders are performing with us at our show tomorrow, and I am so excited to see them all again. I am beyond inspired by these kids and the way that this school runs. Also, the piano player broke his arm so they asked me to jump in a play with their band. I could've never done what I did if it was the beginning of staging and it shows me how much I have grown in my musicianship. I am so grateful for that! After the day, many Uppies hung out at a pub and had deep conversations. On my way home, I fell getting off of my bike because the seat was up too high. I tipped over into the street right as a truck was driving by. It skimmed my back, leaving a scratch, but luckily I was safe. Between my phone being stolen in Brussels to almost getting killed by a car, I am wondering why all this keeps happening. Is there a lesson I am supposed to be learning? I am just very cautious about everything I am doing now. It really puts life into perspective.
Show Day!!!! Lucie hung out with us all day and applied to travel as well! In the morning, we set up the stage. I helped Michael with graphics, video, and the screen. It went a lot faster than last week. Then we had rehearsal and I finally got to practice the role of Hope. I was in the bathroom when the video ended so I ran around backstage grabbed my mic and ran on stage for the beginning. I was breathing heavy and it sounded like I was nervous... HAHA! That was a great start. Then as the rehearsal went on, I messed up the piano transitions and blocking. I was just really off. I sang well for Keep Hope Alive, but I really have lost my connection to that song. I used to have a feeling of intention every time that I sang it. But, this song has caused more hurt this semester than hope. I really didn't perform it well. For the show, I didn't get to sing Hope. It made sense to me why, but it made me never want to play that role ever again. The show was really good for the band though. We jammed in the back and had so much fun with each other. Lucie and Anita were watching in the third row. They were excited after the show, and Anita brought us to a pub and bought us a round of drinks. Every host family in Belgium really likes to drink, and I am feeling the affects of alcohol. I think I am done for a while.
5-11-19 Saturday
Second Show Day! We had expression session in the morning. Many people sang, Jolene danced in her Navajo tradition, there was a boy band, a stand up comedy, and a bomb performance by the one and only Divine Dingus! The band wrote a medley composed of Home, Take on Me, Fix You, and Hotel California! We were the last act of the show and we were all wearing our black shirts that I made in staging. Liam was on the saxophone and Affe and I sang! It was really nice to show the cast what we can do. Rehearsal today was the best one on tour so far. The energy of the cast was really great. This semester, the cast hasn't felt like tight family. There are a lot of cliques and separation between groups of people. This rehearsal changed that mindset. During Keep Hope Alive, Momo and Leah made the soloists look at the cast. Everyone was looking at each other and realizing that we only have 25 more days together, and 5 more shows left to share this message on stage. Everyone was crying, and so was I because this was the connection to the song that I had been lacking. We ran the song 3 times and the first time was stagnant. The last time we ran it blew the doors off the place. I felt like myself again. I could embody what it meant to play hope. Throughout the whole semester, we have been missing this feeling of unity on stage during our last song. I got to play hope in the show as well! It is so great to be back singing like I did last semester. All of the tears and struggles through staging has paid off. I have reached my almost impossible goal of playing the piano and singing the last song of the show. I realized how much support I have from the cast after the show. So many people came up to me and gave me encouragement that I really needed. I am forever grateful to Momo for how she has mentored me throughout this whole experience. On another note, I got my phone tonight from Virginie's parents!! YAY! I just have to figure out how to restore it, who knows if I ever will on tour. The important thing is that I have a camera and a way to call home. I am grateful.
5-12-19
Host Family Day!!
We slept in the morning and eat a late brunch. It felt so nice to catch up on sleep, pack, do laundry, blog, and drink a cup of coffee. Then Lucie and Anita took the three of us to Ostend. We took a boat across the North Sea. We walked along the shore and went shopping all afternoon. I bought my final banquet outfit and I got a new phone case. It was a very productive shopping endeavor because I got things that I desperately needed. We got coffee, ice cream, and waffles! I really enjoyed this city. When we got home, we went to another host families' house for a BBQ. There is a big allocation that is hosting 10 boys from the cast. They invited many people over and served typical Belgian food. We had fries, sausage, beer, and waffles. This semester I have gotten to just hang out and relax more with friends and I have loved every second of that. Also, Patrick reset my phone and got everything to restore. I am so grateful that I am surrounded by 100 smart people who can solve problems like this in two minutes. Today was a really good day, and I am going to be sad to leave this host family in the morning.
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