# 4 Every week….a new city, state, or country for 1 year!!
How did I do that?!?….It is a thing called Up With People, an organization that EVERYBODY should know about!!!
Let me explain…..
You know the crazy thing I introduced in my last blog about traveling around the world for 1 year moving every week, living with host families, doing community service, and performing a professional Broadway style show?!?! That in a nut shell is Up with People (UWP for short)!! Crazy right?!?!
But that brief overview is only the exterior image….the program is SO MUCH MORE!!!!
Their message is: if 100 people from about 20 different countries can come together regardless of religious and political views, ethnicities, backgrounds, etc. can work together….then why can’t we all do that?!?!
HOW SIMPLE IS THAT?!?!?!?!
and why as a nation and world have we not figured that out yet?!?!?!
Now to my story!
I won’t go into all the amazing stories I have just yet….will do little spin offs for each country for those interested in hearing more, so stay tuned for those!! But I will explain what this program did for me, how it led me to my university that I just graduated from (The University of Denver), and some highlights of my year abroad 🙂
To say UWP changed my life…that is no lie. It is not some dramatic story that my life was completely flipped upside down, because it wasn’t. But, it did set me on the track I really needed to be on. One God knew I needed to be on, but I wasn’t aware yet.
So where do I begin?!!?
I guess I will start when I first arrived 🙂
I showed up in Denver and saw a big sign saying “Up with People” so I figured that had to be where I needed to go! (Mind you when I joined…..I didn’t know much about the program at all. I just knew and felt it was perfect for me based on the sound of it and the show I saw in Topeka Kansas, right before they went to Europe).
There was a fairly large group of people gathered together…non I knew of course, but that was everybody at the time. So I walked over, introduced myself and quickly felt part of the group. The first person I talked to, and who soon became one of my closest friends on tour was Geatan, from Belgium. He introduced himself by kissing my cheek, and I was like wow where am I?! 🙂 Coming from a small town in Michigan I wasn’t used to other greetings than a friendly hello or wave!
But that was soon to be the least of the new cultural things I learned! 🙂
When the rest of our group for that time slot arrived…we got on a bus that took us to Cleo Parker Robinson…our meet up spot where the rest of the cast was! It was a place full of people, confusion, excitement, and high energy. We were welcomed with an incredible performance by our staff members, and then followed the instructions in our new cast binder that gave us our “host family code”….aka a word or picture to find who in the crowd of families was going to be our host family for the month of staging in Denver.
Staging….1 month long where we learned an entire 2 hour performance of dancing and singing, and got the education and preparation needed to hit the road! And we did just that!!! It was learning full choreography in 1 day (something I loved!!!) and new songs…different languages, uwp culture, what culture shock is, how to act because our life was about to be a “fish bowl” where all eyes were on us 24/7 etc.
And then….we hit the road and moved every week!! From the U.S. (9 different states) to Mexico (1 month), and Europe going to the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, and Rome, Italy performing for Pope Francis.
So what is a week in UWP like???…..
Monday = travel day….average of 10 hrs in the U.S. and maybe 3 in Europe on a bus (normally) and sometimes a train or plane!
Tuesday – Thursday = 8:00 am meetup and set off on our community service day ranging from special needs kids, the homeless, refugees, doing workshops in schools for students, painting murals, old folks home, teaching cultural dance classes, helping after earthquakes/other natural disasters, and more! Sometimes a night show or a school show….or small group performances!
Pick up about 6:00pm and then went home to do whatever your host family wanted to do!
Friday and Saturday = 8:00 am meet up and start setting up our stage. When everything is set up, we’d have rehearsal, then have a short break for dinner and then showtime!!! (often i’d be learning new last minute parts during dinner before the show haha…)
So to break this down more…..
What is strike and setup you may be wondering?!?
WELL…….we have an Up with People semi truck that holds all our equipment for the stage, lighting, sound, costumes, band, etc. and it is JAMMED PACKED. So starting early Friday morning or sometimes Thursday….the cast rallies together and unloads the truck and sets up our entire stage and set up which takes approximately 5 to 6 hours. Then we rehearse everything for the show and have only about 30 minutes to an hour to get ready and eat food and then, STAGE TIME!!!!
To give you more of a headache….we don’t know what we will be performing for the show that night until maybe 30 minutes before show time!!! (terrifying right?! or exciting?!) That may mean a solo, dance lead, a new part you have to learn in 30 minutes (aka me being Madonna cause the girl who normally did it got sick) or all the above 🙂
So they way it works is not like a normal production where you are casted as a role and that role is yours for the entirety of the tour. NO haha UWP doesn’t work that way. Instead….you might change each show. So they post the show list about 30 minutes (often less) before lights on. So to say they keep you on your feet is no understatement!
Then at the end of the last show, we interact with the audience, sign autographs, take lots of pictures, meet sponsors…. until our “strike song” comes on….I can’t tell you what ours was….it is a secret! BUT….the cast changes into work clothes and strikes the stage and loads it all back into the truck by midnight or sometimes 2/3 a.m.
Sunday = host family day!!! which is not a rest day!! Instead it is a jam packed day fitting the entire city into just a couple hours (will describe more later, so keep reading).
*The only time you get to sleep is travel day, but then travel days are really the best time to get to know your cast….SO IF YOU’RE ME….you don’t sleep at all!! hehe
Now to MY story of UWP
To give a little excerpt to better understand….I was only signed up for one semester of the program and was planning to go to University after….but halfway through I knew I wasn’t done with this program yet and I had to do more. So I traveled as a student for a full year and then was on staff as the dance instructor for the next cast…..so what was supposed to be a 1 year gap year….turned into 2!!! Opps 🙂 and that was the BEST DECISION EVER!!!!!
IMPACT
Now….a break down of how UWP IMPACTED MY LIFE!!! UWP opened my eyes to not only the world around me and all the issues going on and the need to help, but really to the power of connection and positivity. Being able to connect with 100 different people from very different backgrounds in such a deep way really made me think that our world really can be SIMPLE yet we make things SO COMPLEX!!! If only our governmental figures could take a quick tour of Up with People….or even spend a day, I promise you things would be better.
While I know it isn’t that that SIMPLE….it is a lot simpler than the process we have.
As a cast, and with community members around the world we discussed some of the worlds toughest issues ranging from human rights, climate change, politics (as Trump was just elected when I traveled), education (man are we struggling in the US :/), women’s rights, mental health and more!!!! and wow was it FASCINATING!!! We did workshops where we challenged these issues, brainstormed ways to make them better, and truly tried to inspire and engage in open conversations with every person we’d interact with each day. We often were able to have this same impact and start initiating those conversations in schools which was not only incredibly eye opening to things kids are unfortunately experiencing in many parts of our country and world, but also so inspiring!!
LEARN FROM KIDS AROUND YOU! they often have it right and see things without the influence and judgements of the world yet!
NOW to out HOST FAMILIES
Getting to live life like ordinary people by staying with host families, was such a unique gift!! Host families were INCREDIBLE!! While I had a couple interesting, weird, odd/uncomfortable and now comical stories of some host families….as a whole it was the best experience. BECAUSE…..host families want to show you everything, and have you try every food (so naturally I gained weight in UWP BUT it was totally worth it! I even ate pigs feet and cow tongue in Mexico (check out the picture in my Mexico blog soon…it was actually quite tasty!) They also want to introduce you to all their friends, take you to the best parties (aka Belgium….after striking our set ended at 3 am….my host dad took me to a party!! haha i was EXHAUSTED but had a blast!!!), and in general want to show you everything they can in their city.
I still stay in touch with them to this day ❤
COMMUNITY SERVICE
Man I have some incredible stories….my favorite being our day with refugees in Germany. If you want to hear more….read my REFUGEE POEM in my poetry section of my website. It is a story that remains so true in my head, and touches and breaks my heart at the same time! It is something I will never forget, and will cherish for the rest of my life! ❤
I also had a cool experience using my Spanish skills in Switzerland at a special needs camp. I couldn’t speak German, French, or Swiss German and they didn’t speak much English…but Spanish was something we could do!!! HOW COOL IT WAS!!! We made art, painted together, laughed, hugged, and spoke one of my favorite languages.
THESE STORIES CAN GO ON AND ON!!!! 🙂 So stay tuned and check out separate blogs for more!!
PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS
Performing in Belgium for 3,000 people in a large concert hall!!!
Performing in Leiden, Netherlands for the Europe Alumni gathering
Performing in Rome Italy for Pope Francis in the Vatican and on the Spanish Steps for over 10,000 people, where I was chosen to be a main dancer!! 🙂
Dancing on live television for the largest show in Mexico
Learning our songs in the different languages (Spanish, Dutch, German, Italian)
and MORE!!!!
So all in all….I want to say THANK YOU to Up with People for all it gave me and continues to give to me today. I am still (6 years later) very involved with the organization as not only a select performer for travel shows, but as a youth leader and spokesperson for the organization.
SO STAY TUNED…..I will give you more info soon on not only my experiences but what UWP is truly all about and is trying to accomplish, and a little about my recent experiences with them at their big Reunions where over 600 alumni from around the world come together to celebrate their experiences and their cast for 4 days in Arizona.
Check back soon for more individual travel stories and also more new stories about life, travel, nature, roadtrips, interesting topics and MORE!!! 🙂