From Naucalpan, we went to visit the
pyramids in Teotihuacan. Although this was my third time seeing the
ancient ruins, I have never lost the thrill of climbing the third largest
pyramid in the world and looking out across the open fields imagining what life
was like during that point of history. It was so freeing to feel the wind
graze my face as I stood at the top of the pyramid. It was another memorable
experience in Teotihuacan.
This week was a very special week
because from Naucalpan, we headed back to Toluca, my favorite city in Mexico.
It is my favorite city because I met the kindest people in Toluca and
because I got to stay with my host mom again with whom I I have kept in very
close contact. Ever since I found out we would be visiting Toluca again, I have
been looking forward to this city the most. My host mom, Jahzeel, is a cousin
of one of my cast mates, Miguel, who is from Toluca.
When we arrived to Toluca, we were
greeted by a potluck party with our host families. I could barely
contain my excitement because I was so eager to see my mom again. I
walked, rather quickly, around the room trying to find her until she jumped out
from where she was hiding behind two people. It was so wonderful to hug
her once more. The last thing I said to her six months ago as we were
crying and hugging one final time was that I promised her I would come back to
see her again. I could not have been more blessed to see her so
soon.
That evening Jahzeel took me out for
dinner and then we headed back home. We sat at the table once we arrived
home and talked about our lives. It was like no
time had passed between two best friends.
Tuesday we had a culture fair at a
school that many cast mates host siblings attended. We spent the morning
teaching them about where we were from. In the afternoon we had our BTS,
which is a Backing Track Show. A BTS is a 20-minute mini show with some of the highlight songs and dances from around
the world. We rehearsed for an hour and then performed for the entire student body at the
elementary school.
That evening, I went home with Miguel's
family, with whom I am also very close. Miguel's mother, Martha, and his
aunt, Karla, are very special to me like Jahzeel. He was hosting 8 people
at his house and we all got together for a party. As we were enjoying
pizza and tequila, a private mariachi band surprised us and we continued the
night dancing and singing with the band. It was one of those nights I
never wanted to end because I was surrounded by so many people that I loved.
The next day I was signed out for set up
to help set up the stage for our show the next day. The theater was
gorgeous and very spacious. It was one of the biggest auditoriums in which we have performed. I have a great admiration for all
of the students who set up our stage because even after a year of being on
stage, I still do not know how to hook up the lights or which cable gets connected where.
Thursday we had our first show in Toluca
in the beautiful theater. We had a huge audience
and it was a phenomenal show. Everything that could have gone wrong did
go wrong, but we stuck together and put on a great show. At one point
during the second song, the sound went out, and without missing a beat, we all
continued to perform and sing twice as loud. We also had someone cut
their foot right before he had to sing, so we were all running around backstage
taking care of his foot, cleaning up the blood, and helping our vocal
instructor change in 30 seconds to go on and sing the song for him. It's
shows like this that are special to me because it reminds me that we work as a
family and perform as a team.
Friday was another BTS at a university
in a poorer community outside of Toluca. After a two hour bus ride, we
had very little time to rehearse and prepare, so we had to warm up in the bus.
Our dance intern led the warm up, which was hysterical. We
stretched our legs on the seats in front of us and stretched our back on
the seats behind us. There was not much else we could do to stretch on a
bus other than toe raises or eyebrow raises.
The BTS was great and the students
really loved the mini show. We took pictures with the students after the
show and I do not think my mouth has ever hurt so much from smiling before.
Once we arrived back to our facility we
had a cast meeting. We began our cast meeting by playing a giant game of
musical chairs, which was a blast. I should have guessed that playing
musical chairs with people my age who make the game way more intense, but it
was a blast. In our cast meeting we talked about the stages of loss.
As our semester comes to an end, there are a lot of emotions that are
felt and expressed. There are five stages-denial, depression, anger,
bargaining, and acceptance. Personally, I have been jumping between
acceptance and bargaining. I am so excited for the next chapter in my
life and moving on to something new, but I have been bargaining with that
excitement and not allowing myself to experience the pain of not seeing this
family every day or not being with the people I have traveled the world with
for the last year if my life.
Friday night my host mom took us out to
a club with Miguel and I and his roommates. We also saw many other
cast mates at the club. It was a fun night of being able to step away
from the UWP life and let loose.
Saturday was a special show in the public plaza in downtown
Toluca. It was an outdoor show, so our massive stage was constructed at
one end of the plaza with tents behind it for us to use. It started
raining as we were finishing rehearsals, but that did not stop us from putting
on an awesome show for 5000 people watching.
Sunday was host family day and Jahzeel took me to the town where
her parents live. They own a beautiful hotel in a very touristy area.
After spending some time with them, we went to Miguel's summer home which
is also in the same town. We spent the afternoon swimming in the pool,
eating and drinking, laughing, riding horses, getting massages, and just
enjoying such wonderful company. It was another one of those perfect days
that I will never forget. As we were getting ready to leave, we all
sat on the wall that overlooks the golf course, we sat next to one another with
our arms around each other. We could not believe how lucky we were to
share such a beautiful memory together.
It truly was a perfect week and I felt
like I had come back home because my Toluca family is so dear to my heart.
It was even harder to leave a second time, but I promised Jahzeel and
Miguel's family that it would not be long again before I would be back to see
them.
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