Up with People Cast A 2012 On Tour

Hygeia “Chickee” Chi, Philippines
Cast A 2012 – Marketing Coordinator

Chicken Adobo

Most Filipinos absorbed, copied and improved the cooking styles of their colonial masters. Thus, Filipino cuisine reflects its culture and history. As the local saying goes, Philippine food was prepared by Malay settlers, spiced by the Chinese, stewed by the Spanish and hamburgerized by the Americans. And one of these recipes is Filipino Adobo that is famous among Filipinos for being one of the staple food in the Philippines.

But the Filipinos’ Adobo is the most famous the world over. Filipinos selected their favorite condiments and spices — vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, bay leaves — used them to stew chicken and/or pork, and gave it a Spanish name.

This just goes to show that no matter how many cultures may add to the Filipinos’ range of food cuisine, you can’t keep their culinary identity down.

Ingredients:

1/2 kilo pork cut in cubes + 1/2 kilo chicken, cut into pieces or:
choice of either 1 kilo of pork or 1 kilo of chicken
1 head garlic, minced
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 cup vinegar
2 cups of water
1 teaspoon paprika
5 laurel leaves (bay leaves)
4 tablespoons of cooking oil or olive oil
2 tablespoons cornstarch
Salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons water

Preparation:
In a big sauce pan or wok, heat 2 tablespoons of oil then sauté the minced garlic and onions.
Add the pork and chicken to the pan. Add 2 cups of water, 1/4 cup of soy sauce, vinegar, paprika and the bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes or when meat is tender.
Remove the pork and chicken from the sauce pan and on another pan, heat cooking oil and brown the pork and chicken for a few minutes.
Mix the browned pork and chicken back to the sauce and add cornstarch dissolved in water to thicken.
Add salt and/or pepper if desired
Bring to a boil then simmer for an additional 5 minutes.
Serve hot with the adobo gravy and rice.

Adobo Cooking Tips:
You have the option to add crushed ginger to the onions and garlic when sauteing. Ginger adds a unique flavor to your pork/chicken adobo.

I cooked Chicken Adobo for my host family in Hasselt, Belgium

Name: Eli Gauden
Age: 20
Country: Norway

What were you doing before Up with People? In July 2011 I moved over to Massachusetts for a six-month stay. I lived with some relatives, helped them in the house, took dance-lessons, and made friends. As I got to know the American culture and language better, this was a great way to prepare for my travel with Up with People.

Favorite food in Up with People:Sweet potatoes!  I’ve never eaten sweet potato back home, but while I was in the US we had it a lot. I love it!

Best Host-family experience so far? In Fort Collins my host-parents had three young boys. We spent a lot of time together, and I got to be a child for a week. When I played my guitar for them they all got amazed and inspired. One of them even bought a guitar and has started taking lessons. It feels great to have influenced and inspired some young kids.

Career goal: If sitting on the top of a mountain playing music were a career, you would find me up there. For me music is a way to communicate and brings me joy. I write songs and play the guitar, and I’m dreaming about being able to do this as a career in some way.

Did you know: I like to tell people I have four toes. Two of my tows on each foot are stuck together. No, it does not make me a better swimmer…

Favorite Quote: “Rather make a fire than complain about the dark.”

Jimbo Lozano
Cast A 2012

If someone told me I could be sold as a product or marketed to someone as something that could be acquired, I would say they were ridiculous! If someone told me that I could be seen as a product and my value depends on my will to live, I would think they were just trying to mess with my mind. Truth is, this idea isn’t as farfetched as I thought. This idea that I could be sold, that I could be bought, traded, and marketed to another, is part of the sad reality of human trafficking.

When I sat down in a small conference room in the White Mountain Annex of Ruidoso, NM, I had no idea that a small, yet powerful Global Series presentation on Human Trafficking was going to open my eyes to a concept so real it could give me chills. For example, finding out in the first 5 minutes of the presentation that my state of California was among the top 4 states to be ranked as having all forms of human trafficking, I was in utter shock! My state? My home? Selling countless lives, enslaving people, abusing PEOPLE.

All I’m thinking in my mind is “This can’t be legal!” Well, its not. But the truth of the matter is that this issue is very real. Human trafficking is seen as a “business.” Countless people are using terms like “transaction” and “product” to describe people. PEOPLE! Several thoughts of bewilderment and inability to understand how people could fall victim to this really overtook me. What I began to understand was that this wasn’t a choice for many. For many individuals, this was something they were forced into. These people were being targeted and subjugated to harsh punishment if they refused. These people were being taken advantage of on purpose. That thought hit me as much internally as it did externally hearing about the types of physical and mental abuse that took place.

Then, to top it all off, the average age of all the victims, the affected, were 18-24 years of age…my age. These people being sold, being deprived of their human rights; their basic right to life and choice. It was unbelievable to hear about. The only sanity I had left as the presentation persisted came from a transition the presenters made so beautifully.

After the really disturbing and vivid shock and awe of the subject, they provided solutions; ways we could help battle this horrific problem in the world. From education and awareness to fighting for laws that would combat trafficking, its not over! We can do something! And that moment, for me, became the quintessential moment when everyone, including me, felt like we weren’t powerless. We could make a difference in this world and not let the harshest of social issues consume our perception of the horrors of the world. We could rise up. We could stand together and speak for the abused, the sold, the trafficked.

That mentality, this idea that we are never done fighting for the basic rights we take for granted every day, gives me strength and courage to speak out and share their story. This one isn’t for me, it’s for them. For all those who can’t speak. For all those who have been affected. The one thing that comes to my mind from all that I heard, all that was said, all that was shared is “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead

Tucson, Arizona
Cast A 2012

The Merchandise Team
Cast A 2012

The Up with People program offers a wide variety of internship and assistant-ship opportunities to participants each semester. These opportunities are a great way for students to develop skills in certain job areas and even learn the specific responsibilities of the UWP Road Staff Team. One of those less thought of assistant-ships is the “Merch” team. This group of people is responsible for all of the UWP merchandise sold during the tour.  Here is a little Q&A from their experience so far.

1. What made you apply for this internship/assistant-ship?
MT: We aspired to contribute to Up with People not only on stage, but also off stage. In assuming the responsibilities of the merchandize internship, we hoped to improve our skills in intercommunication, marketing and teamwork. In addition, we thought it would be interesting to interact with different visitors such as UWP alumni and host families.

2. What are some of your duties/responsibilities?
MT: In addition to setting up and dismantling the UWP merchandise booth, we are responsible for inventorying and vending the UWP products on show days (before and after the show as well as during the intermission).

3. What are some of the terms/words you need to know?
MT: We have become acquainted with all the shirt sizes, cash register, cash balance, and products such as the UWP stress ball. The phrases we use most frequently are “Thank you” and “Enjoy the show”.

4. What is an important number to the position and why?
2000: UWP Merchandise dollar sale for a single UWP show
5: five cities that we have been to so far.
2012: It is our semester of UWP, and we are very proud ourselves.

5. What is the biggest challenge of the experience?
MT: It is sometimes challenging to find sufficient space to accommodate the merchandise booth. On top of that, we have little time to rest before and after the show or during the intermission, because those are the times when we have the most customers. Furthermore, it is unfortunate that we often have to miss the “Green Room”- the invigorating pre-show gathering of the entire cast.

Once we realized what our responsibilities entail and how important they are for UWP, we tried to adapt ourselves and enjoy them as much as we can.

7. What is fun about the experience?
MT: It is always a great pleasure to receive compliments about our show and UWP in general. We feel extremely rewarded whenever people tell us how much they have enjoyed our show, ask us to sign the cast picture and make donations at the UWP merchandise booth. Of course, it is always delightful to hear stories about past Up with People shows and the adventures of our alumni.

8. What are the benefits of the internship/assistantship?
MT: The merchandise internship/assistantship has allowed us to contribute more to Up with People in a different way. We also get to learn a lot about our cast mates when working with them in a small group with clear purposes.

9. What lessons have you learned from this experience?
MT: Through this internship, we have acquired practical skills in many important aspects, such as retail, inventory and intercommunication. Moreover, we have learned to be patient, cooperative and supportive of our teammates.

10. How do you plan to use these skills in the future?
MT: This invaluable experience has left us with many important skills that we can use in the future. We will be more confident and adept at retailing and communicating with other people. It can also be utilized as a great asset in our resume.