Hello friends!
It's been a great first couple of days on the road! The travel day to Lowell, Massachusetts was exciting and taxing. We woke up at 4am mountain time, and finally went to bed at 11ish eastern time. We met our host families upon arrival in Lowell, and they were welcoming and maybe more excited than we were! On Tuesday, we participated in the Merrimack Riverside Beautification Project. The Merrimack River runs through Lowell, and it's a large part of their history. It used to power the mills for the textile workers, and over the years, the banks have slowly gotten neglected. A group of about 50 of us cleared large logs, painted a mural, picked up trash, etc. The stamina of the group was extremely impressive. I was so proud of us!
Today, a group of students and I conquered the town to promote the show. We played a game called "Trade it Up" where we started with a quarter and traded it for something other people were willing to give us. We ended up with a demo phone from AT&T and $5 from a person planning on attending the show. The idea of the game was to tell people why we were trading, and tie Up with People into it. I had a blast meeting all kinds of people from all over the city.
Now, imagine the whole cast in a meeting, sitting in auditorium chairs, talking about the next day's activities. Then, we migrated to the stage to play a couple of team bonding games, and a suggestion was sardines. Now imagine 100 people running all over Lowell High School searching for one person. When we finally found him, we packed in like sardines, and laughed our heads off until the rest of the cast found us. It was a great way to end the long day.
I hope you are all doing well!
"Go confidently in the directions of your dreams."
Bonnie Waller, USA
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
MA, Here We Come!
Hello friends!
So sorry for the gap in between posts, I've been working hard rehearsing the show and trying to sleep when I get the opportunity.
These past few weeks have been the most hectic weeks of my life. From learning all the blocking of the show to getting ready to head out on the road, I've never been so tired! Lynn Morris, the director of Up with People, arrived two weeks ago, and it's been non-stop rehearsing since then! "Go here, move that mic, stand on this x!" It's what makes a fantastic show, though! The most beautiful part of the process is the diversity on stage. Students representing 19 different countries makes for an incredible cast! I'm very proud to call myself a part of Cast B 2012.
Along with rehearsing, we've been participating in multiple workshops. Today, we learned what being a global citizen really means. It is an acknowledgement of our responsibilities to each other and the earth. It is understanding the need to confront injustice and inequality and having the desire and ability to work actively to do so. It is respecting and valuing diversity. Up with People teaches us to be global citizens. We explore the world and learn about cultures we may not know, and we learn to love every culture and learn how to appreciate our own culture more than we have in the past. Like our songs say, "we party all around the world" and we "come together and rise up".
We will be performing the premier show of Voices on Friday night, where our host families, parents and friends will learn and hopefully we will inspire. It has been a long journey and I am sure the show will be incredible. For now though, I'm going over my mic moves and lyrics!
Talk to you all soon,
Bonnie Waller, USA
So sorry for the gap in between posts, I've been working hard rehearsing the show and trying to sleep when I get the opportunity.
These past few weeks have been the most hectic weeks of my life. From learning all the blocking of the show to getting ready to head out on the road, I've never been so tired! Lynn Morris, the director of Up with People, arrived two weeks ago, and it's been non-stop rehearsing since then! "Go here, move that mic, stand on this x!" It's what makes a fantastic show, though! The most beautiful part of the process is the diversity on stage. Students representing 19 different countries makes for an incredible cast! I'm very proud to call myself a part of Cast B 2012.
Along with rehearsing, we've been participating in multiple workshops. Today, we learned what being a global citizen really means. It is an acknowledgement of our responsibilities to each other and the earth. It is understanding the need to confront injustice and inequality and having the desire and ability to work actively to do so. It is respecting and valuing diversity. Up with People teaches us to be global citizens. We explore the world and learn about cultures we may not know, and we learn to love every culture and learn how to appreciate our own culture more than we have in the past. Like our songs say, "we party all around the world" and we "come together and rise up".
We will be performing the premier show of Voices on Friday night, where our host families, parents and friends will learn and hopefully we will inspire. It has been a long journey and I am sure the show will be incredible. For now though, I'm going over my mic moves and lyrics!
Talk to you all soon,
Bonnie Waller, USA
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