Do You Feel...

Even if it has not seemed that way in all my posts, these past two months have been an absolute roller-coaster for me. I've done more learning and growing than I could've imagined in such a short time. One of the most important things that've been reemphasized to me is how much I thrive off having a community.

When I first arrive in a city, I get an overwhelming sense of lostness because I am completely alone and expected to prepare a cast's stay in just a few weeks. This feeling of panic stays with me until I start to find a community. In Globe, AZ it was my host parents and their church. In Eureka, CA it was my host parents, two host sisters, host brother and all their family friends. Having those people while I was setting up was absolutely one of the keys to making the cities successful. Once the cast arrives, everything comes together when I see how they connect with the community I've made in the city. And then when it is time to leave, it is a little heart-wrenching because I have to leave this community I've discovered, and maybe forever. This past week, I also had to say good-bye to Cast B because I had to leave them to start working for Cast C now.


At home, having a community is so incredibly important to me. Nothing brings me more joy than to see people I love connecting with each. It makes me feel alive and I can't imagine life without those people that are willing to throw down all their pride because they aren't afraid to show that they need each other. In Eureka, once the cast arrived, we had Jeremiah from WI, Cassidy from CO, Jules from Uganda, Lucas from Belgium and Johan from Sweden be hosted with my and Whitney's host family. It made me so happy to see how well everyone got along. At home, it brings me huge joy to look around at a group of friends and see everyone enjoying a beer and laughing about something that happened that day.

Right now, I'm in the Baltimore/D.C. area and I have that initial feeling of lostness. The area is so big that I'm feeling I will never find that sense of community for my own personal well-being and for the cast to have a successful stay. Deep down, I know that this feeling will eventually change, but until then, it's kind of scary. It's times like this when I really long for someone to sit on the couch with and talk about the most important thing in their life or absolutely nothing at all, or even just a familiar face and hug from someone at home. It's very hard and I know I'm becoming "stronger" but man I can't wait until this part is over!

Eureka!

Two cities down. Wow. For the last two and a half weeks I've been setting up Cast B's stay in Eureka, CA from September 10-12. It was a very quick set-up and stay in the city. The show was at a beautiful facility called the Arkley Center. It was absolutely goregous and the show had a better turn out than I had thought (about 540 people) with the short amount of time we had to promote. The show was well-received by the audience and we made it on the front cover of the paper and on TV for a news story!
















The cast also split up and did their community service projects at 5 locations:
1) Highland Park, a local park that is used for baseball games. The cast painted the snack shack and the field dugouts.
























2) Redwood Fields, a community sports field complex, where they picked up trash and painted lines on the fields.















3) Timber Ridge Assisted Living: a senior citizen home where the cast played bingo, played games and sang for the residents.


















4) St. Josephs Hospital: cast interacted with rehab patients.

















5) And lastly, Glen Paul School, a school for mentally challenged students.




Overall, I feel good about how the city worked out. I didn't feel as connected to the whole community, simply because I had less time, but I think the cast still felt like they made a meaningful impact on the city, which makes me happy! It couldn't have happened without my wonderful intern, Whitney from Panama, Jen Moody from the office and our host family, the Strombecks. Our host mom is an alumni and she helped us get connected to the city so much. They made us feel like a part of the family and even took us out on their houseboat for Labor Day weekend! The whole family will really hold a special place in my heart and I know I have not seen the last of them!

After Eureka, I headed to Coos Bay, OR with them where Ryan, the CRC there had set up the city. Now we are in Portland, OR where they will be here for a week. I will be leaving in the next few days for the East Coast where I will be setting up cities for Cast C 2007. I am super sad to be leaving such a wonderful group of people who totally made me feel like a part of the cast when I was with them. Maybe some of our paths will cross again someday! I'll try to write a little bit more about them in the next blog.

Friends and Family: I MISS YOU! It is times when I am stuck trying to figure out how the cast will be fed, how to promote the show and how transportation will work for community service projects that I wish you were here to hold me! I love you all and truly can't wait to see all of you in December. Thank you for all of you that have thrown me emails, calls, facebook wall postings, etc. cause they really mean a lot. Keep them coming!

To end, here is the Question of the Blog: What is your favorite way(s) to show people that you care about them?