Muscatine Iowa and Burlington Wisconsin
Arriving in the town of Muscatine, I felt the anticipation creep in as I wait to meet my new host family. The host family experience is one of my favorite things with UWP. Like every city/town we arrive in, we have a code to associate the cast members to our host families. This time around the theme for our codes were famous African Americans and mine was the infamous Malcolm X. 6 30 came along and it was time for my roomates (Rachel and Molly) to find Malcolm X. Once we connected we went straight home were a nice home cooked meal awaited. While chit chatting at the dinner table, Rachel received a phone call concerning the passing of her grandfather. Tough times. She had to book a flight back home to New Mexico, and she left early the next morning.
The next day, eating cereal for breakfast (the food I eat almost every morning while on the road), getting ready for a long day of working in classrooms, I try to wake up. On this day I did Stand for Peace for grades 5 and 6. – Once Molly and I got picked up, we headed down to the Mississippi River. Although it was gloomy and wet outside, and our evening plans of walking along the riverside got canceled we saw the mississippi. This time, then and there, I remember oh so well. An image that’s engraved in my mind. It was such a cool sight, the bold and constant-flowing Mississippi and the surrounding landscape drew me in and captivated me. Swatches of countless blues and grays complimented one another to make this powerfully eerie and tranquil picture. An ominous mosaic. The overcast skies, the light fog in the backdrop and the river which flows ever so powerfully with great pride and wisdom.
The following day was our show day. As the sound intern, I help set up the sound and also assist in the fine tunnings of rehearsal. We had difficulty setting up but, whatelse is new? With my internship, I pick up a lot and learn many new techniques, details regarding the behind the scenes aspect of the show.
The show that night was SOLD OUT, the highschool auditorium was filled with a very responsive, energetic croud. Afterwards, we had to take down the stage, it was a long tiresome process especially with the cold cold Iowa winter climate.
I wake up exhausted, it’s now morning and Molly and I get dropped off for the next city, Burlington Wisconsin.
Before we hop on the bus, we had a few presentations. The one that struck me was Natalya’s culture presentation on her home country of Uzbekistan. A very interesting presentation in which I learnt a lot.
Arriving in Burlington Wisconsin, Chocolate Town. Let me tell ya, my will power regarding the giving up of chocolate got trampled by my visit in Burlington. Certain times of the day the whole town smelt like chocolate, a full flavoured scent , due to the Nestle factory in town. It was just too much! haha. Ultan (my roomate during Burlington) and I met our host family. They were very nice. Checking my email that night, to my surprise, I had gotten into University, I was ecstatic. And have met my host mother for no longer than an hour, she gave me a huge authentic hug. Then and there I new I was going to feel at home.
The next morning, after eating a bowl of cereal…..
The day ahead was a day dedicated to community involvement. We worked for a local organization called Love Inc. where they do so many great things for the community (I recommend you checking them out). I spent the day at a grocery store promoting customers to contribute to their food drive, to help support their food pantry for the unfortunate.
Leap year day, Feb 29th was our show day. Our host moms’ friend invited us to her restaurant downtow for a nice breakfast. A break from the cerial. Ultan and I and a few other cast members were there enjoying coffee and great food. Throughout the day we set up and put on the show at the Burlington Highschool. It was another SOLD OUT show. The cast preformed infront of 1200 people. Once strike was over, Ultan and I’s host brother and his friends took us out for dinner at a 24 hour restaurant for a midnight meal. I didn’t hit the hay ‘til 2 am. Waking up at ten to seven the next morning, I started to realize my teenage judgement wasn’t such a good one. We went to a dairy farm for regional learning. It was amuzing seeing the faces and reactions of my cast mates who have never been to a dairy farm before. Returning for lunch and having a full afternoon planned. I don’t really remember any of it, since I was half asleep. Everything past that was a haze. I bet you can guess what I did when I got back to my host family….. Sleep
Our last day in burlington was spent sleeping in, showering and going to Milwaukee. Ultan and I got a tour of Milwaukee and we went to the Miller Stadium. We had a quick bite to eat at the TGI Fridays. A couple little appitizers to fill the void before going out for dinner at a chic Italian restaurant back at Burlington. This local Italian restaurant was delicious! Some of the best food I’d had in weeks. Nothing went to waste. We had great conversations with my host parents, their sons and girlfriends who also joined us. It was a great way to spend our last day in this very neat city.
Des Moines, Iowa – our first city to spend an entire week in along the road. It’s hard to find a place to begin because of the huge amount of things we did! But I suppose the natural place to begin anything is just that – in the beginning! So that’s where I’ll start.
We began our trip to Des Moines by crossing the frozen tundra that is mid-winter Iowa. Being a farm boy from just outside Sioux City, Iowa, I was not too surprised by the sharp cold weather that has befriended us ever since we’ve arrived in the Midwest. Even though we were on the bus for most of the day (which was due to the heavy travel on Interstate 80), we still felt the cold air’s prickly bite at our only pit stop. I walked to a nearby gas station, which was only about three hundred feet from the bus, and I thought my face was going to snap off by the time I got there! Brrr! And, as fate would have it, the gas station was closed because of the winter storm the day before! Ahh! But, I was able to slip into an Arby’s next door, which saved my face from a certain doom of frostbite A bus ride that should have only taken a few hours turned into seven, and we were all thankful to arrive in Des Moines, Iowa. After our orientation meeting, we all split up to find our host families. I met mine after some tribulation, and myself and my roommate, Ultan Courtney from Ireland, found ourselves in the home of what could be described as a quaint, typical Iowan family. But let me tell you, were they EVER a blast!! It was my host dad Kevin with his wife Phoelisa, and their three children Shawn (9), Kyle (7), and Megan (2). All of their kids were some of the most well-behaved I’ve ever met, but we still had fun. The boys played Wii like they were pro’s, and Megan was just your typical 2 year-old – wide-eyed and happy about everything! Kevin and Phelisa were the easy-going type, great a conversation (which we took advantage of) and even better at hospitality. Ultan and I felt like one of the family.
Cast A spent all of Tuesday working with Kids Against Hunger, a non-profit organization that supplies food to impoverished nations in need. There were about 100 people there working on putting bags of food together – about 80 Up with People people, and 20 other volunteers from the Des Moines area. Our goal was to package 200,000 meals by the end of the day. We met and surpassed that goal – 251,600 meals! I can definitely tell you that the cast was excited and proud of the work we all had accomplished! I myself was right there with my cast in their feelings of elation, but I can tell you that my body was surely tired from it. Standing in one spot for most of the day, hunched over a bin of dried vegetables and vitamin tablets isn’t exactly comfortable. BUT, the end we reached was definitely worth it!
On Wednesday, Cast A took a tour of the Pioneer headquarters in Des Moines, listening to presentations about the international seed company and their role in reducing world hunger. We also got a tour of the laboratories, and got to talk to the scientists that work for the company. It was very interesting! After the tour, most of the cast went out on a cast outing to a roller rink, while the rest of the cast did a promo bit at a Des Moines mall. After all of this, we came back to our meeting place and had dinner, followed by a relaxing karaoke night – a chance to have unstructured socialization with each other. It was definitely welcome!
Thursday brought some Community Involvement for the cast. We conducted some “Stand for Peace” projects in local schools in Des Moines, as well as other work in local non-profits. For those who don’t know, “Stand for Peace” is a program that we do in schools for ages ranging from 8 years all the way to 18. Depending on the class’s age, we do different activities that encourage the students to think about ways they can help make the world a better, more peaceful place. Using an interactive approach, we use these activities to involve the students in the process – they begin to actively think about topics such as respect, power with versus power over, and pro-activity. It was a great experience for me, as it often is with community involvement. It is so rewarding to see a student process such an abstract concept as respect and correlate it was some so concrete as an experience in their life. You really see some of these students getting it – something that often happens at any age level. No matter how much I think I’m ready for anything, I’m always surprised by one student who has a sharp and thoughtful question/answer in a discussion. Sometimes when kids say the darndest things, it’s not funny. It’s insightful.
Friday brought our show day, which included the ever-fun set up process of the stage and rehearsal for the evening show. After all of that, we enjoyed a great performance for Des Moines, and we were able to donate all the proceeds from that show to Kids Against Hunger, which just adds to the great feeling you get from working with the organization earlier in the week. After the show, the cast did a great set strike along with a few interviews of potential students for Up with People. Saturday brought our free day/host family day which most of us used to tour around Des Moines and see some sights. I, personally, was able to check out a large mall and catch a couple movies with some other Up with People people, which definitely made for a relaxing day. Sunday brought heartfelt goodbyes and firm hugs from host families as we waved them away for the journey towards Muscatine, Iowa, the next stop on our tour. Des Moines, though a city constantly filled with busy activities, was nevertheless fun and exciting. And despite the cold weather, the cast has surely become impressed with the hospitality of Iowa – a place some of the international students would never have visited outside of the Up with People program.
We arrived in Maquoketa, got through allocation meeting, and there I was standing with my two ’sisters’ from the cast, and no mother. I approached our FM and asked what we should do, and he called our host mom. She was stuck in the driveway. Its cool, we hung around for a while and were given a ride ‘home’ by the town undertaker. We got to our house, Sofie from Sweden and Veronica from Norway, along with myself. Our host mom had mugs and coasters for us, for Valentines day. And, a car stuck in a snowbank. We sat to dinner and enjoyed some light fare of fruit and cream cheese and a taco salad type dip. So awesome, exactly what I needed after a long day on the bus. We enjoyed conversation, and though at times I was drifting in my thoughts I almost instantly became close with Sofie, and Veronica as well. Our host mom is a call center manager here in Maquoketa, and seems pretty cool so far.
It is Thursday night now, and we just had our first full day in Maquoketa. Our day consisted of community impact at the local historical center. We were there to help them move into a new facility, as they are growing their basic center into two, one focusing on the history of home and farm, and one focusing on the history of industry and manufacturing. Every moment of today was a blast, from diving head first over snowbanks and promising that “I’m good” to teaching what a white wash is. In the evening we went to the Decker House, here in town, and watched one of the other host families perform at a open mic. I even got up to join in for a couple songs with some friends, and managed to embarrass myself exponentially by agreeing to do sign language for a song that I haven’t heard in a few years. Prior to our night at the local bar, we went to dinner at pizza hut. Sofie and Veronica had stuffed crust pizza for the first time, and I was in heaven with my breadsticks. We had a really nice conversation with Deborah, and I literally felt the bond establish itself better. Honestly, at first I was a little nervous, but it is becoming so much easier as the time passes.
So, here I am in Maquoketa (love the word)… and I definitely feel that this city has been my favorite by far. The room mates I have, the happiness that has found itself back in my life. I loved Lincoln, but really missed out by not being myself, and having to take time to heal, deal and process everything from home. Regardless, I’m coming around and each and every moment is new, and exciting. I truly enjoy the moments and time that I spend with each of my cast mates.
Its getting late now and we don’t have internet here, but at the same time, I’ve grown to love the situation at hand. From Sofie falling off the bed while in a moose sleeping bag, to Veronica smiling when I tease her about missing the bus, to Deborah telling us little bits and pieces of her life. I look forward to tomorrow, when we will be meeting one of her daughters, her son in law, and her littlest grand children, Sophie and Abby. I’m looking forward to playing with the children, and having a relaxing day at home.
Its our host family day, and I’m not really sure what to think of everything at this moment. It was an incredibly peaceful and relaxing day, almost to a point of no return. I slept in late, woke up and was served some delicious breakfast by Deborah. We had some egg and cheese quiche, fresh raspberry muffins and fruit. With cappucinno, made by Deborah. Awesome. We talked about a lot of different things this morning, starting with the antique store that is here in Maquoketa, we had thought about visiting today, but time ran out and it was more important for us to bond and spend time as a larger family today. So, as we were talking about antiques, we began to talk about American history. And in talking about American history, we began to discuss some of the atrocities we have done to the people native to our country. Both Deborah and I have a pretty intense passion for history, and it was quite interesting for her and I to share our knowledge with Sofie and Veronica. Sofie talked about the native people of Scandinavia. I had never heard of them, and for the first time felt that I was lacking in education, and lacking in knowledge of the world around me. I am really enjoying myself in this time, and moment.
After breakfast we cleaned up. I did some dishes, and Sofie and Veronica started some laundry. We all gathered in the living room for some more time together, and soon Deborahs daughter Tammy, husband Brian, Abby and Baby Sophie arrived. Soon, I was holding Baby Sophie and not much later I was following Abby downstairs to get the bear “A”,our cast mascot, for her to play with. She came back upstairs and we played for a bit. Sofie and Veronica took turns holding the baby, and playing with Abby. We all had a really relaxed day. I taught Abby to use my digital camera, and she had a great time taking photos “from everyone” instead of “of everyone.”…
Its quite amazing that this host family has turned out to mean so much to me, not because of the children, or because of my room mates, but because of the atmosphere everything has created. There is such joy and laughter, and happiness in the presence of one another. At first my apprehension was intense; this is my first “real” hosting experience in a lot of ways. The first time I’m actually interacting at my highest capacity within the realms of my environment. Denver was complete comfort zone as I was staying with my friend Katie. In Lincoln, Nebraska, I was staying with an alum of Up with People, and dealing with a great level of absolute turmoil on the personal level. I wasn’t originally allocated to be staying there, but given the personal tragedy going on, it was an appropriate change and adjustment. But here, I’m finally living the experience that I’ve been waiting for.
And right now, that’s where I’m writing from. A moment of joy. The day was definitely enjoyable, though we didn’t travel out to do anything, we didn’t explore anywhere. We stayed home and experienced the concept of “family”. So, thank you Maquoketa. For giving me an absolutely incredible experience. I know that I will never forget the people I have met here, the things I have seen, and how every bit of it made me feel.
So its been about 3 weeks now, and our cast has done some pretty amazing things. Weather it was helping out at Food Bank of the Rockies, or Habitat for Humanity, or with many different homeless shelters we have done two amazing Community Service projects already. I guess i can only speak for the the Habitat house that many of Cast A helped out with. I know it was something that will stay with me forever.
It was a week ago, and it was a really, really early morning, or at least it just felt more early than most cause we were outside and it was cold. It was about 9 o’clock when we had finished our safety debriefing and we had finally began to work. By that point if you were working outside, you couldn’t feel your fingers or toes, but the cool thing that Habitat does is outside of each unit that they are building, they give a brief bio. of the family that is going to moving into the house. Beth Clay and i were taking our water break, and we both just started to read about one of the families. We had been complaining about it being cold and I know i had been thinking, “wow i really should have picked the inside job”, but after I read the bio of this family a new drive had been put inside me and I was warmer then I could think of.
Its the things like this that has made the staging experience the best. But we hit the road here soon and its going to be just as much fun!
A bus ride that should have only taken a few hours turned into seven, and we were all thankful to arrive in Des Moines, Iowa. After our orientation meeting, we all split up to find our host families. I met mine after some tribulation, and myself and my roommate, Ultan Courtney from Ireland, found ourselves in the home of what could be described as a quaint, typical Iowan family. But let me tell you, were they EVER a blast!! It was my host dad Kevin with his wife Phoelisa, and their three children Shawn (9), Kyle (7), and Megan (2). All of their kids were some of the most well-behaved I’ve ever met, but we still had fun. The boys played Wii like they were pro’s, and Megan was just your typical 2 year-old – wide-eyed and happy about everything! Kevin and Phelisa were the easy-going type, great a conversation (which we took advantage of) and even better at hospitality. Ultan and I felt like one of the family.