Hello again, friends!
Long time no blog!
I finished the tour in Mexico with Cast B 2012, and had a wonderful break at home. I skied, played games by the fire, and enjoyed my own bed. It was a great feeling to be at home after being away for so long. I will always cherish my own bed, sleeping schedule, and roaming the refrigerator freely. Although I had a wonderful time with my family, I was anxious to meet the new cast, Cast A 2013.
When I left Durango, there was about 6" of snow on the runway, and it was 6:00am. I was doubting the take-off, but landed safely in Denver, on the way to Florida. At around 10:00pm, I met my Lakeland host family, and my new roommate (Giselle from Mexico) and I was welcomed into another home. Needless to say, I slept like a rock that night. The next day began the epic new adventure. My other roommate arrived, Celine from Belgium, and we went shopping to supply the house with food for three soon-to-be very busy girls. It was a relaxing day off, only to be led into an extremely busy staging schedule. Monday was the beginning of the strenuous days, learning names, learning songs, and wrapping my mind around what I was going to be doing, again, for another 6 wonderful months!
I could go on and on about the workshops we've had, but that would bore you. Instead, I'll tell you about our host family days. The first weekend, we went shopping in Tampa. You might be thinking, "why is that so cool?" Well, it's incredibly cool when two foreigners have never seen so many stores, and so many different things to sell. Of course there are shopping centers in Belgium and Mexico, but there aren't stores that sell just hats, or just phone cases. The amazement on their faces was... hilarious. "You have stores just for that?" "You actually have those? I thought those were just in the movies...!" It was so fun for me to watch them walk around the mall, curiously walking into random stores. Although that was a great weekend, this past weekend was by far the best. Our host-family treated us to a day at Universal Studios, where we wandered through Harry Potter World, Jurassic Park, and a few other themed areas. I have never laughed so hard on a roller coaster, especially when Celine saw the incline, and said, "oh no," and proceeded to scream! We got soaked on the Toon Lagoon ride (a children's ride) that we rode 3 times, and dried off in the warm Florida sun. We ate hamburgers in Jurassic Park, and drank Butterbeer from Harry Potter World. My roommates and I became so close, because there's nothing like holding hands and whirling around the Hulk roller coaster! It was definitely a day to remember!
And now, we just finished a Stone Crab dinner with shrimp, a true Florida dish. It was the best crab I've ever eaten (especially because we have so many crab in Colorado :)). I've enjoyed my time here in 80 degree weather, but I miss the snow terribly!
Love to you all,
Bonnie
