Up with People Cast B 2010 On Tour

This article was written by Alex Lippert from Cincinnati, Ohio. The article is a reflection on her six months in Cast A09. -Phil Woods, Blog Editor

I woke up this morning to the familiar sounds of my dad watching the news along with the scent of left over coffee my mom tends to leave behind as she rushes off to work. Was it just last week I was standing awestruck in front of the Grand Canyon, watching a purple sunset over the Arizona mountain tops, or perhaps it was just yesterday I was performing in Mexico for hundreds with screaming cheers for “Viva la Gente” in the crowd. Or perhaps, it was all a dream, because there is no way six months could fly by that fast.

Alex at the Grand Canyon

My eyes are still a bit swollen from crying yesterday as me and my brown beat-up leather book bag boarded the plane waving good bye to the ones I now call family. I will never forget these people, the trials we endured, and challenges we overcame together. Some of them I will see in a month, others that may be the last time our paths cross. But I am so thankful I met and got to know each and every one of those 90 students from all around the world. Without Josimar from the Caribbean I would not know how to salsa dance. Without Yui from Japan I would never have had the courage to get on stage and speak in front of thousands. Without Yan from China I would have never learned to speak a totally different language. And without all 90 I would not be the person I am today, a person I can be proud to be, with experiences I couldn’t trade for the world.

Although I now close the Up With People chapter in my life, the lessons I’ve learned will live on and echo through out everything I do from here on out. This program didn’t turn me into someone different, it just helped mold me into who I truly am and prepared me for all the amazing things I have left to do with my life.

-by Alex Lippert, USA

Viva la Gente Banner in Reynosa, Mexico

After all the sadness of not going to Mexico and the excitement about the tour we had instead, cast A 2009 finally got a taste of Mexico. Well, it was only one day, but to point this out: Better only one day than never!

So, on this sunny Sunday we crossed the border to see Reynosa, which is right next to the border. We were invited by the city to spend the whole day, and everything was perfectly organized. Our schedule that day was very tight because they wanted us to experience as much as possible of Mexico.

Cast A in Reynosa

The first stop was a baseball stadium where the commissioner of tourism of the city of Reynosa welcomed us. Before we left we made a group picture. After that, we spent the rest of the morning at a mexican rodeo, which most of us haven’t seen before (expect the Mexicans in our cast, I guess). It was interesting to see this kind of sport, though I felt sorry for the young bulls. But nevertheless it was an unique experience to see this.

At one o’clock we departed for a restaurant in the city. It was owned by the mayor of the city Reynosa, and we were very thankful for his donation of an original Mexican meal which was really good.

After lunch we had some free time to discover the city and also to promote our Mini Show at 6 o’clock at the city’s main plaza. We did our best to get as many people as possible to see our only (small) show in Mexico this semester. And we succeeded with it because we had a lot of people not only watching, but also enjoying our performance. Just to mention: It was a sunny day with a temperature of 104°F (about 40°C) that made it very important to drink a lot of water. It was quite tough to just stand on stage, but after dancing two dances my pulse was at a 180 – no kidding! But I can also tell you, that I enjoyed every single minute of our single show in Mexico. It was unique for all of us. And finally, we were able to get the “taste” of a Mexican audience – they were just really good and excited about our show.

Right after the show, we had to load the buses to go to our last stop. We had dinner at a great place out in the countryside. The Rio Grande River was right next to the (open) house we were at and we were very thankful for the great dinner we were provided with. Real Mexican tacos just taste the best in Mexico.

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