hearts and teddy bears

today was super productive. i spent the entire day in bed, and i'm not even exaggerationg by a second. it was an absolutely glorious day. i am finally all well rested and don't have bags under my eyes anymore. so refreshing. tonight was the "you have a friend in me" toy story themed welcoming party for all the new arrivals. these two hour parties really are quite interesting; you go in, get your free pizza and drinks, and then watch all the americans go crazy with the jumping up and down and fist pumping. and that was basically the extent of my night. some of my friends are going to the house of blues, which is a club in downtown disney. i was so set on going, because i figure i don't need to drink to have fun, right? then i get the huge let down that you have to be nineteen to go there. i was so, so, so close. what a disappointment eh? a lot of the people i know either pre-drink to coming to the parties hosted at the housing complexes, or go out to clubs afterwards. i fall into neither of those categories. which is okay, i am still making the best of the intoxicating music that encourages you to laugh at people who believe their dancing skills are beyond excellent (when really and truly, they so are not.) but i really don't mind, they provide a great source of entertainment.

today is the last day of january. can you believe how fast time is flying?! it's insane! it is two weeks til valentines day. for some people, it's the most romantic, sweet, amazing day. for others, depressing would be the correct adjective. the stores are filled with pink and red everything, decorated with hearts and teddy bears and picture-perfect images of love. i find it so disturbing. valentine's is not a holiday, why must there be constant reminders of it everywhere you look? i guess marketers just want to lure the hopeless romantics in to buy their products. anyways, getting off that topic, and back to how fast time is moving, i remember when christmas day came and everyone kept saying how they couldn't believe how christmas was here already. and now the first month of 2012 is over. i can't keep up with it!

anyways, a lack of events today results in a lack of information for my blog, so i bid you farewell at this point, and wish everyone a fantastic february! here's to completing the first month of adventures this year! xoxo

trilingual

tonight's blog isn't going to be very interesting, much like my day today. i slept in til around 10.30 and for some reason woke up on the wrong side of the bed. so obviously, that caused a chain reaction and the rest of my day kind of messed up a little bit. after procrastinating for a bit, we went to walmart to buy some groceries and laundry detergent (finally) and shampoo and conditioner (because believe it or not dad, i've run out already!) while on the bus heading to walmart, i realized i forgot my credit card. so we had to get out at the current stop to wait for another bus, because if not we would have had to do the entire route of the previous bus. so after getting home, getting my card and heading back to the bus stop, we literally made it JUST in time! so made it through walmart safe and sound, with no other unnecessary interruptions. on the way back home though, i was on my phone, and then the thing drops out of my hand, and bounces and rolls a little bit and stopped RIGHT before the door of the bus. i think my heart stopped for about 20 seconds. it obviously landed in pieces, but it's working as good as new now, priase god! this evening was much better. i did my laundry, in between watching a movie with a friend. so just chilling out got me in a better mood. i came home, and me and all the roommates were just liming together, listening to spanish music again. the new roommate (who's from japan by the way!) must think we're crazy with spanish music and chat flying all over the place. i sometimes can't understand everything that's going on, but i am getting better at spanish, and feeling quite proud of myself. my number one goal is to be fluent in spanish by the time i'm done. i have half a year to become bilingual (or trilingual if i EVER meet an italian!!) or maybe i'll just learn some japanese, but i figure that may be a tad difficult. oh well, the possibilities never end! tomorrow's another day off so i get another sleep in! you have no idea how much you must treasure those days when you're up here. early mornings and late nights are absolutely endless and insane. well, that's all i have for tonight. i just put on a sweater straight out of the dryer which feels amazing - so comfy! along with the new foam thing we put on our beds that we bought tonight. prior to that, our beds were like sleeping on the floor but it's so lovely now! hope all is well at home, as usual. much love to everyone!

earning my ears

today was absolutely freezing! i mean obviously not like snow and ponds freezing over, but compared to home, my body was in a state. i was shivering basically the whole day. my fingers were nearly frozen! the weather up here is so off and on.

today, work was a little bit different. the first half of the day was training again, and the second half was the first time i'd be assigned to go on stage by myself. training was good; it consisted of my favourite trainer filling in the gaps and reiterating a couple little things that i wasn't too sure about. one of the things was counting change the disney way. so what the trainer did, was she got a play register and play money and we practiced. it sounds silly, but it really works! i got accustomed to the very silly method quickly.

after lunch, we were on our own. i thought i would have been much more nervous than i really was; i actually felt quite confident. my first task was to greet guests in uptown jeweller's, which is the snazziest store on main street - it sells some of the most expensive things in magic kingdom. within fifteen minutes of me being on stage, one of my managers (out of plenty,) came up to me. i was so scared and thoughts of what i could have possibly done were spinning around my mind. however, she came to me and told me that a group of five guests came up to her and complimented my excellent customer care and service and that they were so impressed with me. i was so shocked - clearly in a good way! that kept me motivated to keep that smile on my face til the end of my shift, despite how exhausted i was.

i fell asleep on the bus on the way home - again. (this happens much more often than one would think.) when i got home, i got news that our new roommate has arrived, and that she's from japan. i haven't met her yet but i'm so excited to do so!

i am so excited to have the day off tomorrow. a day to sleep in a little bit is what i'm talking about! "have a magical night everybody!" lots and lots and lots and LOTS of love from the freezing (to me) disney!

stephie and hayley blog

today was another regular day of training. in fact, i lie. today was kind of cool. i met my trainer for the day, he was so cool; an absolutely hilarious guy. he danced randomly, and sang to songs playing in the tunnels. he made a joke about everything, and after everything he said, he was like "you get what i mean?" or "you know what i'm saying?"

the first thing i had to do was learn how to make cotton candy in the confectionery. it was a bit tricky at first, but i got the hang of it pretty quickly. the little area you make cotton candy in is made of glass, so kids were astonished by how cool it was. i got to give away a couple of samples, which put the biggest smiles on their faces. it was so rewarding.

after that, i got to go in the chapeau (the hat shop) and i got taught how to embroider peoples' names onto the mickey ear hats. it's really quite cool, and it's all computerized. at first i thought it was quite a complicated process but again, i got accustomed to doing it and even did a few by myself - i really was quite proud of myself. my trainer told me that i was a fast learner... something i have never heard before in my life!

i got home relatively late tonight, and came home to an apartment full of bajans with music blaring, patting and cranking and reminding me of home. after they all left, a couple friends came over and were just chilling and again they left. then i skyped stephie and hayley - lord how i miss them! they made me laugh (even though towards the end i was doing homework and wasn't saying much.) i was so upset when they both said they had to go, because i missed hearing their voices and their weird way of giving their opinions... and just hearing the gossip they talk. it's so funny. i miss my friends and family.

so people kept passing through tonight, and my bedroom is right by the front door, and there's a windo there too, so i kept getting freaked out, as usual! and now, all the roommates and i are just chatting, and enjoying each others company and laughing.

i don't exactly have a "fun fact" for today.. but there are some things about living up here that i love and some things that i hate. things i hate? automatic flushing toilets. it is so frustrating when you go in the bathroom, and then the toilet just flushes. it freaks me out! and on an early morning i hate the cold weather. i love it the rest of the time except when i'm still half asleep. something i love about up here? the cold weather. it really is quite refreshing. i love that there are so many different people up here and so many different nationalities. there is also everything you need up here - so many choices! it's great, but then sometimes it's too much. but the main thing i hate are those stupid automatic toilets. definitely not a favourite of mine.

but as usual, i'm loving up here and having a great time. so happy i'm here. and as usual, i'm missing all the people i love at home! keep safe! xoxo

bird attack

wow. what can i say about today now? it was beyond magical. me and four other friends went to magic kingdom in the afternoon and stayed til just after nine. it was so much fun; we all just went with the flow and did whatever we wanted. the first "ride" we did was the stitch ride, in tomorrowland. we thought it was going to be fun, but it was so silly. it was basically sitting down, strapped in, watching lasers fight stitch. afterwards, we went to monsters inc laughing floor. it was my second time going there but i find it so hilarous - exactly the type of jokes that hit my funnybone. after that, we had some lunch, and then went on space mountain. i must say, i'm becoming a pro at roller coasters. of course i screamed, but i was too busy cracking up at how my other friends were screaming to be scared. after that we went to the haunted mansion. it was my third time going in there, so i knew it wasn't going to be scary. (i know right, i don't think anyone could imagine me in a haunted mansion.) but, like i said in an earlier post, it's more whimsical than it is scary.

after that, we went and got our fast passes for splash mountain, and we had just over an hour to kill. the boys were hungry so we went to this burger place in frontier land. we decided to eat outside. we kind of had to keep our guard up because there were some birds eyeing everyones food. then, this huge, white bird, with the longest beak and neck i have ever seen flies to the roof which was right across from us. it kept staring at us as if we were prey. i quickly made mention of how birds always attack me. not short of thirty seconds after that it rushed its way over to about three feet from our table. of course me and the other girls screamed and got up to hide, in a sense. but the boys continued to eat their food - what machos, uh? but shortly after, i laughed more than i have ever laughed up here yet. the bird came and took my friend's burger straight out of his hands! it was SO FUNNY! i can't even describe how hilarious this was. it was clearly a moment that you had to be there to find funny, but i am still laughing thinking about it.

after everyone was done eating, us girls decided that we were going to go a totally opposite way from splash mountain, because it was cold and we really didn't feel like getting wet. so we diverted the boys to doing things that we didn't even know anything about. we passed a "shooting range" and let them play for a bit. then we saw an advertisment for a show, the country bear jamboree. so we went in. piece of advice? do not go see that show! it was funny, i guess, for little kids, but it had all of us feeling to sleep.

by the time that show was finished, it was time to go get ready for the three consecutive shows by the castle - they are the "dreams come true" show, the "magic, memories and you" (i think that's what it is) projection onto magic kingdom (i actually posted a video of it) and "wishes," the firework show (which i also posted a video of.) three things i learned tonight? 1) magic happens, 2) dreams come true and 3) every time you watch these shows, they get more magical and special. tonight i had a smile on my face the whole time i was watching the shows, it was such a perfect evening.

however, after that calm, peaceful show, the boys said we weren't getting away from going on splash mountain. so we go on splash mountain and it's like a calm little adventure. the ride seemed to take forever to happen, and the drop looks a lot bigger from the outside. it wasn't bad at all! i barely got wet! only on my face a little bit.

i was so tired - and still am - that i fell asleep on the bus coming home. we had planned to have a movie night after but everyone decided it was best to just go home and go to sleep. so with that said, it is way past time for me to get to bed. love to everyone! and remember, dreams come true!

adventure?

today was relaxing and exhilerating all at the same time. i woke up at a decent time, a couple hours after the sun rose, which feels like a miracle at this point! i got up just in time to get a call from nan from home. it was so nice to hear her voice and to get a few little updates from home and just to chat to her. i usually would go visit her and pa AT LEAST twice a week, so i miss doing that. (not as much as i miss messing up pa's hair!) afterwards, i took my time getting ready, and then a few of us girls went to animal kingdom around two. it was quite late so we didn't get to see any animals, but we took pictures with a few characters (including pooh again!!) and did two roller coasters. animal kingdom actually closes around five, so we left just then after eating a super late lunch at like four!

after we were going to go to walmart because we needed some groceries, and we were just sitting at the bus stop, patiently waiting, to then realize that it was thursday, and that specific bus stops running at five! so we walked over to walgreens to pick up the necesities. included in my shopping, was a case of water. i buy water up here because of two reasons, a) i don't like how water from the tap tastes, and b) it's so cheap to buy water up here! so why not, right? i also had to buy a couple other heavy things, like milk. walking back with all that stuff was a struggle. i finally get upstairs to my room, just as my shoulders are about to pop off, and i can't find my key. i knocked on the door; and i knocked and i knocked and i knocked... no one was home. so i had to go to my friend's apartment next door to use the phone and just to put the stuff down. so i go over there, and knock on his door. he comes to the door, but it turns out he was sleeping and i woke him up! i felt so bad. anyways, i get inside his apartment and go to use his phone to call home just in case someone was home and they didn't hear me knocking. no answer, again. so then i start digging through my bag, which has in a thousand things, because every day i just magically seem to find more stuff to shove in there. i pretty much empty my bag, and my key appeared! it just so happened that i didn't put the key in the regular pocket in my bag and i just threw it in, so obviously it went straight to the bottom beneath the endless amount of unnecessary things i have in there. it made me feel even worse that i found my key, because i woke my friend up for no reason! so i decide to go back to my room, and i'm walking over, struggling and turning red because this stuff is so heavy (and you know me and my unfortunate over-white and over-sensitive skin, i turn red so easily!) at that point another friend of mine saw me struggling and he offered to help me take the stuff inside. so we're just inside chatting and then niza comes out of our bedroom... she was inside fast asleep and i woke her up too! i woke up two people in under seven minutes. i felt terrible (even though i think it's kinda funny!)

after, a bunch of us decided to go in the pool (well the hot tub, because the pool is absolutely freezing!) i wasn't going to go in, so i didn't change into my swimsuit, and i was just sitting on the edge with my feet hanging in. after a while, everyone convinced me to come in, so i ended up going in in my clothes! now, how do i know that the pool was freezing? we went in. it was so cold, that it felt like needles pricking every last spot on your skin. so clearly we spent the majority of the time in the hot tub. then we decided to go back to walgreens to get some drinks (non-alcoholic of course, duh) so we all had to go back to our rooms to get our IDs and money and whatnot. i changed at home and went and put all my wet things in the dryer. (so responsible, i know.) now i just decided to take my bag with me, because i had quite a lot to carry, including a towel. so we go to walgreens, get what we need to get, and then the boys decided they were hungry so we went to wendys so they could get food. at wendys, i realized i left my towel at walgreens when i had to take my wallet out of my bag! i was 97% sure that i had put it in my bag before i left home. so we had to walk BACK to walgreens to get the towel.. the cashier didn't see it and told me to check the manager. so i went and asked the manager and he said he needed to deal with some prior customers before me first and then he would go look for it. i told him not to bother because it was probably at home. so we left, and went back in the hot tub. we spent over five hours in the hot tub, just chilling out and chatting. we even made a plan to go to magic kingdom tomorrow. i know i've been there already but i don't mind! no one else has and i'm in love with that place!

walking back home, i shivered the whole way - it was so cold! and i just got home, and it's nearly 2am. today was a good day. i kept busy and had a great time. still missing the loves of my life- the fam, all my friends, and of course, jen, fred & kit!

p.s. my towel was sitting on my bed, right where i left it.

toothpick holders

well everyone predicted that after the first week of excitement, there would be a little downhill spiral.. very minor. well everyone was right. i would like to say that this blog would be always positive, and cheery, but that wouldn't be the reality of this experience i guess. i'm starting to feel a little homesick. today was wonderful. i did some more training, and then had to take a test, whereby it gave me a series of questions relating ot everything i've learned the past couple of days. i only got one question wrong, which meant i ended up with a 98%. i was so relieved! i normally don't do well on tests and exams because i get so nervous but this whole disney thing has kept me on my toes and i've been so focused and absolutely enjoying everything - which is probably why i did well! seriously, if anyone ever gets the opportunity to do this, please, do it! it is so good! it is honestly a dream come true... and i haven't even officially started yet!

i also had a meeting with one of the leaders who basically went through policies, procedures, the point system (which is like penalties, and when you reach a certain amount of points you get a reprimand,) how the recognize cast members and all the regular "new to the job" type things. he was also really nice. ya know it's really nice because people walk by and almost everyone says hi, and when they notice the "earning my ears" flag on my nametag, they ask how i'm getting through, so i really feel comfortable there. i feel like i've been working there forever!

anyways, i came home this evening to an empty apartment. it's the first time i've truly been by myself since i've been up here. and i started to feel a little lonely. then i talked to two of my favourite people (brandon and scott) and they sent me a voicenote of them singing one of my favourite songs (your love- the outfield). it had me beaming from ear to ear, but then it made me really miss home. started to tear up a little bit (if i'm being honest, because everyone knows i hate when people lie. so honesty's the only policy!) i know i'm in the right place for me right now (so don't start feeling sad mum - i'm over-the-moon-happy 99.9% of the time!)

oh well - back to me now! i was so disappointed today when i passed cinderella in the utilidor (the tunnel.) remember how a couple lines up i said how almost everyone smiles at you when you walk past them? cinderella didn't! she basically even avoided eye contact! and she's always been my favourite princess. i'm going to have to very strategically think this over. belle was always number two, and three seconds after cinderella walked passed, belle came along, and she told me hi. so she may now be bumped up to number one. i felt like a princess myself! especially in my GORGEOUS long skirt! (i'm being sarcastic by the way.) (about the skirt, not feeling like a princess.)

right now, i'm about to start my first online course assignment. i've never done something this advanced (all those reading who are from barbados would understand.) i'm sure i'll get it though. it's a funny story actually, when i went to the monsters inc laugh floor show on saturday, they had ads all over, saying they wanted people to text in their jokes, and they gave instructions. at the end, they said "if you don't know how to text, just find the nearest teenager near you." most people over 40 were cracking up - i was cracking up too, as i usually do at corny jokes, but was trying to contain my laughter in public.

tomorrow i think i'm going to animal kingdom in the afternoon. i'm quite excited since i don't remember much of that either. i'm hoping to catch the lion king show, because i remember it being incredible, but i don't remember how it went!

i think this has been my shortest post! trying to keep them relatively short so i'm not overloading and boring everybody with an overdose of unnecessary information! missing everyone more than ever tonight! hope everybody's safe, happy and healthy!

oh! i'm going to try and continue this "fun fact for the day" thing i have going on. so today. as you may know, magic kingdom does not sell newspapers, alcohol, tobacco or gum. in the uptown jewellers store, they sell things like the (whatever metal thing it is) wine corks, with mickey ears on the top, obviously, and shot glasses. now these items are sold throughout the rest of walt disney world, as shot glasses and wine corks. however, in magic kingdom, they are sold as "bottle stoppers" and "toothpick holders." that's right, a shot glass is a toothpick holder in magic kingdom. i guess that's a way of trying to preserve the magic!

anyhow, good night everybody. lots and lots and lots of love to EVERYONE! xoxo

happy birthday eri

today was another wonderful day. i got to sleep in til about 9.30 which was amazing! i don't think i've woken up after the sun since i got here! i had an afternoon training session til late tonight; i actually only just got home. can you believe it? training was great today because it was just me and my trainer and she was so fascinated by my "delightful accent" which seems to stun so many people. it's funny how many people think i'm either british, irish or american. on the way home in the bus another guy was so surprised that was from barbados because i was white. he told me not to be offended because he's spanish but looks chinese so he has a way of confusing people too.

i really am not going to go into much detail about today because it's nearly midnight and i have to be up in a few hours for a morning shift of training. i'm going to be so tired tomorrow, but then i have two glorious days off.

a couple fun facts i learned today? one of the ladies that is plays the role of the fairy godmother, was in fact, disney world's first (and only for a period of time) snow white! and she apparently remembers almost everyone she meets! i think that's so nice. also, right in front of a restaurant in main street you may see a heart and arrow, with four paw prints in it. that's the place they made that lady and the tramp had their spaghetti and meatballs kiss. it was so cute. i never noticed it before, but definitely want to get a picture there now!

now today, i am not making it about me. today is about someone very special to me. if you know me, you know that birthdays are a HUGE deal to me - ESPECIALLY the 21st birthday milestone (mum and dad, prepare for the party planning for mine as soon as i get home!) but eri, i hope you know how much you mean to me. i meant to write you a card before i left so mum and dad could give it to you today, but it completely slipped my mind. you are one of my very best friends and i don't know how i'm surviving up here without you. i have always looked up to you so much and you will always be one of my heroes. we've gotten especially close the last few years and i've never been happier! you have taught me so much, from how to blow bubbles with bubble gum to how to convince certain people (you know who i'm talking about) to buy us shots in lights. you have taught me how to let the little things go, and how to stand up for myself and for my friends and family. i always come to you for advice, because i trust you with everything i have, and your words of wisdom are always helpful. you have shown me little, but important, things like dedication, motivation, strength, morals and everything else inbetween. you have made such an impact on my life and i want the whole world to see how special of a person you really are. you always stand for what you believe in and not many people can do that. you put smiles on so many peoples faces. everybody who knows you, loves you. you are such a special person in my life and i love you so much. you have no idea how much i miss you. i want you to continue to reach for your dreams because you can do anything you set your mind and heart to - anything. you bring friends and family together. i could go on and on about all the wonderful qualities you have, and it still would not be enough. i hope that some of your dreams came true, and i hoped you wished big on your candles. i hope that everyone gave you the amount of love and laughs you deserve and that everyone continues to treat you like the queen you are for the rest of your life. your caring and positive attitude reflects on everyone you meet. you are such a strong influence in my life and i'm so happy that i have the pleasure of being your friend and a member of your family. so happy, happy 21st eri. i love you and miss you times infinity. (plus one.)

great.. static.

ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls - today is a big day. why, you ask? i just completed my first set of laundry! all by myself! i was so worried.. mum even sent me "how to" videos. she so cute. but i go to the laundry room, which is downstairs of my building (every building in every complex has a laundry room on the ground floor,) and there are step-by-step instructional posters on the wall! how convenient! now these washing machines and dryers are not like the regular washing machines and dryers with all the knobs and buttons and confusing options. these washing machines and dryers are perfect. you put in your laundry card (which is like a debit card, and it costs $1 per use,) and you pick an option; either 'colours,' 'whites,' etc.. and then what cycle you want. it is so easy! now i was extremely proud of the first two loads. they came out perfect! the last load... well... not so good. (p.s. i'm only sharing this embarrassing story because today's blog isn't too interesting, so i figured a humiliating story would at least liven it up a little bit.) anyway, the last load was good from the washing machine. i just took it out of the dryer and realized i forgot something... i didn't put one of those dryer sheet things in! (which in one of the videos mum sent, they stressed so heavily "do NOT forget this because it will cause static!") when i took the clothes out to fold them, they were all sticking to each other. nevertheless, i got them apart (without any struggle) and folded them. now the problem is, is that this was my "colours" load, and needless to say most of the items in that load were items that i wear every single day (not going to straight-out mention what they were, but you can probably take a wild guess!) so i am VERY nervous now to wear anything because i'm afraid static will arise in all the wrong places!!

other than that very minor incident, my first day of laundry went superbly. i now have to go to the supermarket or walmart or somwhere that sells laundry detergent and whatnot. i know what you're thinking: "so if she had no laundry detergent, what did she wash her clothes with?" no i didn't use shampoo or something along those lines. the complex in fact has a vending machine filled with laundry detergent and the dryer sheets, and you pay $1 and buy a small pack that will work for exactly one load. so that was quite convenient for today.

i told this story a couple times already but it's so cute. this is why i love boys. i was talking to a friend of mine while i was waiting for my laundry to finish, and i told him that it was my first time doing laundry. now obviously, he was a bit taken back (because obviously girls should do the laundry, cooking and cleaning all the time, right al?) but he told me it was his first time doing laundry too, but he was so confused, because there were so many options on the washing machine, but he couldn't see any options for jeans! i thought that was hilarious!

anyways, i think that's enough about laundry for now. today was my "merchantainment class." it is pretty much what my role will be. a combination of merchandising and entertainment. in layman terms, we're not supposed to just stand behind a register and wait for guests to come to checkout, we have to interact with them, talk to them, be engaging while projecting a positive energy, especially with children. it took 8 hours to learn that. kind of pointless i thought, but i guess that is protocol. i learnt how to use the point of sale system and the register, which was kind of fun. i also learnt how to count money "the disney way." that was very unimpresive for me, because they have turned something that can be so simple into something so complex. it's a pain in the a-word. but i'm sure i'll get the hang of it. and when i do, i'll take my "earning my ears" tag off my disney nametage.

the "i'm earning my ears" tag is a red tag that we stick onto the nametag when we're in training. after training, we can take it off as soon as we feel comfortable. that way, it lets the guests know that we're still kind of new to the whole game and it makes them a little bit more forgiving if we make a little mistake here or there. i'm excited to be able to take mine off already and i'm still in training!

tomorrow is another day of in-costume training, and it will be on stage at all the stores i will be working at. this will be a little bit more fun and engaging so i'm looking forward to that. i also get a little sleep-in tomorrow because it doesn't start til the afternoon. that, i am happy about. what i'm not so happy about is coming home at all hours of the night. but that's all part of it!

anyway folks, i'm out for now. going to see what i can make for dinner! love to everyone!! :)

main street east

today, once again, was so enjoyable. the day started early with my first day of training. i first had to go to costuming to get my costumes. each park has its own costuming section. it's pretty much a huge warehouse filled with costumes galore! it is incredible! for every single costume (which you should know there are so many different ones - like hundres,) they have thousands of articles of clothing - pants, skirts, blouses, shirts, winter coats, ties, aprons, hats, belts, EVERYTHING, in every single size, length and all the works. it is so overwhelming. they have changing rooms, right next to the section where you buy shoes. now checking costumes out is so cool. it's self service, and you just scan your disney i.d. and then swipe the costume (all pieces of it) over a little scanner and it automatically picks up what you're getting and registers it. it's pretty awesome. it doesn't sound that interesting, but if you saw it happen in real life you'd think it was cool.

after costuming, we took the bus over to magic kingdom. went through the utilidor and got assigned lockers. it has a combination lock, and dad, stephie and andrew, you should know that i clearly had trouble with this. i had to yell out in the whole locker room to see if anyone was in there (because i couldn't see anyone because there are so many turns and corners and corridors) to get some help. luckily, someone was in there and came to the rescue.

my trainer, two other interns and myself then went to see all the stores on main street east, which is where i'll be working. apparently that's the "good side," so i'm thankful! before today, i thought that i was going to be working in a specific store, but turns out that out of the nine stores on main street east, i can work in any one in a given day - i can even work five in a given day. basically, when i clock in on a morning, the computer will tell me where to go. when someone comes to relieve me then i may go to another store. the only day that i will know for sure where i will be working is the confectionery. we had a lunch break and went to the mousketeria, and shortly afterwards went back to just getting to know the places and little tidbits of information. all of the cast members who saw we were in training had something positive and nice to say, and told us that anytime we needed anything not to hesitate to ask them for help. i am still so taken back by how helpful, positive and kind everyone here is.

to basically sum up today, we just went in every store about two or three times, learned some information and recapped information. but i don't remember half of it off the top of my head! i'm sure if i was asked something specific i would remember though.

i still felt like a little kid even backstage, eating lunch. it was so strange, snow white and belle casually eating lunch at the table next to mine with their princes. so we CLEARLY sat at the "cool kids" table! i felt like i was sitting next to a celebrity. i just wanted to go and ask for their autograph and for a picture but obviously that would make me the biggest freak, so i was trying to act all calm and collected. i was about to burst with excitement though!

tomorrow i have another day of training. but this time it's a class called 'merchantainment.' it's going to be at the university. i'm quite excited to hear what that's about. i'm going to get home relatively early, so i'm going to have to do my laundry. my own laundry. for the very first time. ever. in my whole entire life. i know, i'm eighteen years old and i really should know how to do it by now. other than the laundry i've been really good. i make up my bed as soon as i wake up on a morning, and wash all my dishes as soon as i have used them. but, for some reason, i keep thinking mayfield is going to magically appear and have my laundry cleaned. granted, she will put it in the wrong place, but that is so okay! mum and dad, send mayfield up here once a week for me nuh!! didn't think i would miss her as much as i do! but my friend is now talking to me, telling me it's easy. so if he can do it, i'm sure i could right? because apparently girls are better at that stuff than boys? but i did hear another guy say today that he went to do his laundry for the first time yesterday, and all his clothes shrunk. so i'm scared.

anyways, i put a link to see some photos from the photopass on my facebook, and am now in the process of uploading some more from my own camera. i took over two hundred pictures yesterday so i doubt i can put them all up! but i can't wait for you guys to see them! miss and love every single person reading this! <3

picture perfect

wow. wow. wow. wow. wow. wow. wow. today was incredible! i literally had a smile on my face from the second i woke up and i am still smiling. i finally got my chance to go to magic kingdom! i've been waiting forever to go... if you hadn't realized by me mentioning it in every single blog so far haha. although that is clearly an exaggeration a little bit since i've only been here for six days. i can't believe tomorrow is a week already. i say that, but it also feels as if i have been here for ages!

i'm going to try to keep this post short, because i am so tired. we spent ten/eleven hours in magic kingdom today. i am beyond exhausted and i want to have a lot of energy for day one of training tomorrow - training is ten hours tomorrow. crazy, i know.

so it was niza, maria jose, maria jose and myself who went to magic kingdom today. we took the bus to the ticket and transportation centre. from there, we took the ferry over to magic kingdom - completely away from reality. as soon as you set foot in magic kingdom, you are overcome by a sense of wonderment. it's as if you're in a storybook, and you can create your own stories. when you walk into main street, everything is simply perfect. just pituresque. it looks as if even all the clouds in the sky are put in the right place, and all the leaves on the floor were strategically placed, all the water drops on the railings and fences were the perfect distance apart from each other. the amount of people smiling, just because they were in magic kingdom was magic in itself. life is good there, and worries and fear are myths of the past. the sounds, smells and sights also added to the magic. it is just brilliant. after a second of being there, it instantly became my favourite place. and to think that i'll be working right on main street keeps a permanent smile on my face. i don't care that i'm probably going to have horrible hours - i just don't care. nobody cares about anything on main street. it is that fascinating.

we didn't spend the whole day on main street. we did, in fact, go to all the different lands in magic kingdom, such as fantasy land, tomorrow land, frontier land, adventureland and so on. we took pictures with various different characters, we went on some rides (no roller coasters today - splash mountain was down due to technical difficulties,) we visited different attractions, we browsed in the stores and i even got my portrait drawn in a cartoon manner. the artist was so good; people actually crowded around while he drew me, in awe at his work. i could lie and say that i felt uncomfortable, but as everyone knows, i do like a little bit of attention (even though they were admiring him, and not me!) niza and i also went on the only ride i fully remember from my trip when i was seven, which is the carousel ride. i had such a good time. i didn't mind that it was nearly only little children on it. a couple other rides we went on were the winnie the pooh ride, pirates of the caribbean and it's a small world. it's a small world kind of reminded me of being up here. there are thousands of different people from all over the world, it's unreal; but it's still magical because it shows that all people can work together and be happy. when you are on the bus going from one location to the next, even if you're just on for five minutes, you hear at least four different languages. and while it's loud and confusing, it's really quite amazing, if you look at it from a wider perspective. i really am so fortunate to be where i am right now.

we saw a few shows today, like a dreams come true show, a celebration parade and then two shows in the night, including a firework show. it was beautiful. unfortunately, my camera had died since then, but i thankfully remembered that i had my flip camera on me. i started to film the show that was immediately before the firwork show (which was on cinderella's castle - literally. they turned off the lights in main street, and had a projection onto the castle filled with pictures and lights and they even changed what the castle looked like; it was incredible.) but while i was filming, something happened and the camera stuck. i then had to take out the battery to get it back working. so i lost most of the beginning of that show, but i got a bit of the end. and i got on film the entire firework show. it was so great.

today was just such an amazing day, and i know i keep saying that but i can't stress it enough. it was beautiful. there was only one thing that could have made it better... which was being able to spend it with my friends, and especially my family. it's such a family oriented place and seeing all the happy families strolling around, taking pictures, and laughing made me miss mine. 

now, just to close off, i thought i'd end with some "fun facts" that you probably didn't know. this was something that i learned yesterday at my orientation day. when walt disney was looking to buy the land in orlando for walt disney world, it was only being sold at $84 per square foot. walt kept it a secret that he was buying it for a long time, but as soon as the cat got out the bag the price immediately sky rocketed and he ended up paying hundreds of millions of dollars for it. also, the amount of land that disney world takes up is only one third of the amount of land he actually bought! one third of the land is being left untouched for preservation purposes, but disney still has one third of the amount of land left to play with - so imagine the possibilities! and one more fact, this is something spanish i learned today. spanish people don't call piglet piglet, they call him 'porquito!' i thought that was kinda cute! anyways, i'm so tired from taking pictures with princeses, and all the characters and riding rides and walking all day.

life's good. i'm so happy - so mum, you can stop worrying now! you're probably going crazy! p.s. i took a picture with winnie the pooh today- thought i was going to cry, i love him so much! i'll try and put up pictures tomorrow! buenas noches! xoxo

taquito caliente

just had to do a little update tonight. after i came back home from walmart, i was just chilling out, and niza came home. and i found out that she has the day off tomorrow too, so i asked her if she wanted to go to magic kingdom tomorrow. she told me if i came with her to walmart tonight. so back to walmart we went. piece of advice for any prospect program peeps? don't EVER go to walmart via the buses that are provided to cast members. the bus was jam packed to and from walmart. people were coming in the bus with suitcases and huge laundry baskets and people were buying cases of beer and coke and it was insane! anyways, we got what we needed and waited amongst others for the bus to come back.

when we got home, we walked into spain/mexico/peru/whatever spanish country you envision it to be. the two maria joses were just chilling with spanish music blaring. then niza decided she was going to make home-made taquitos! she even made the taco shell (soft)... and it didn't come out of a box! they were so good. but she quarrelled with me and said next time i had to eat the chilli peppers - i was nervous to risk it haha.

it's nice that i am able to experience a totally different culture. not only am i hearing them speed talk spanish all the time, but i am now listening to their music and tasting their food (original food, not box stuff.) it's so great.

the four of us roomies are going to magic kingdom tomorrow and i'm so excited. i'm not going to be able to understand half of what they are saying, but i love it.

anyways, that was just a little update. i was supposed to go to sleep early, but something always comes up! waking up bright and early to go play in the happiest place on earth!!!! wooooohoooo!

to infinity... and beyond!

this morning i woke up before the sun once again so i could catch the earliest bus possible to get me to disney university. when i got outside the apartment i was in absolute shock - it was so freezing. i could even see my breath! (now, when i came up here when i was 6 or 7, i was so fascinated by this... that hasn't changed one bit! i still found/find it so cool - pun intended.) when we got to the university, we had to wait a little bit in the lobby. even though it was before 7 in the morning, it was quite a nice place to just sit. they had disney music playing in the background (and i don't mean like hannah montana and selena gomez and the suchlike, i mean like mary poppins and beauty and the beast and all the classics soundtracks.) it was lovely. then they had tvs on where they played little snippets from all the movies and channels like abc, espn, lifetime (which, if you didn't know, those are all of disney's channels and networks.) and on some screens they have different posters and information of upcoming events and times going on at disney. after waiting for not very long, we clocked in for the very first time using our disney i.d. which means we get paid for our training today! (woohoo!) also, you should know, that disney people say 'woohoo,' 'yay,' 'awesome,' etc after every single sentence. after every single person signed in, the guy showing us what to do told each and every single person 'awesome job, that was great!' it's so nice to be only surrounded by positive energy and people. (by the way, all of the new interns that were with me today are those who were chosen to work at magic kingdom, so today was a magic kingdom learning experience.) after clocking in, we all sat at tables, and then after all our 'teachers' introduced themselves, we were divided into two groups. i was in the first group. and we made our way to the bus station to get our bus to magic kingdom.

where the bus pulls up is at the mouth of the utilidor. that's the correct word for the 'tunnel' that everyone assumes is underground. in fact, i learned today that the utilidor is infact on ground level and magic kingdom is actually above ground, on top of it. so where everyone assumed that cast members were underground, they're not... just for your info. anyways, we went through there and got a little tour (again.) thereafter, we got a tour of magic kingdom - the entire thing. once again, it felt so magical and it had not even officially opened yet. we learned so much information, from celebrations, how to point directions, where first aid and babycare is, the right answer to give if a guest asks a question that doubts the magic, little fun facts about the buildings on main street usa (which is where i'll be working!,) that magic kingdom is "never changing yet ever changing" and so many other things that i can't possibly list all. it was their way of packing information into our brains, but they made it interactive and fun, instead of just sitting down in a classroom taking notes. we even all got different buttons since disney's theme this year is about celebrating something. those who have birthdays recently got buttons that said happy birthday, and every single cast member we past told them happy birthday; people got buttons that said it was their first time at disney; some people who didn't really have a specific reason to celebrate got a button that just said that they were celebrating. these buttons are given away so that guests feel special when cast members compliment them or start a conversation that's in connection with it.

today, as part of our class, we HAD to go on two rides. what a bummer eh? at the beginning of the tour, our tour guide said "no, none of the rides we're going on has the word 'mountain' in it!" it was so funny, but i was glad. the two rides we went on were the buzz lightyear ride (one of the few things i remember from my trip to disney when i was little... we went on it for ben's 4th birthday - i was so jealous that day because we only did what he wanted to do and i didn't understand!) and then we went in the haunted mansion. i was so freakin scared to go in that thing i was like going to cry - but unfortunately, it was mandatory. in the end i was glad i went in... it was more whimsical than scary. one part was actually kinda cool. i sat with this girl called andrea from guatemala, and we were faced to a mirror at one point, and this ghost switched our heads. i still don't understand how that happened. it is in fact the only attraction in the whole of disney that the cast members are not supposed to smile at. our guide told us that cast members liked working there because they didn't have to keep a permanent smile on their face. i, on the other hand, am glad i have to keep smiling.

it seems like we didn't do much today, but we walked. and walked. and walkedandwalkedandwalkedandwalked. and walked. it was insane. i have terrible blisters on the back of my heels - they're actually purple. it's gross.

anyways, we went and had a quick break in the mousketeria. now that is an insane cafeteria. it is basically opened all the time. it has food from all over the world and things like subway, and starbucks coffee, and tons of snacks and fruit, and vending machine upon vending machine. it's huge. after our break, we went upstairs and watched a video by the vice president of walt disney world (who started out in the company before walt disney world was even created.) it was great. another motivational thing... most of the bajans slept through it as usual. but alike everything else, i was in awe at everything. after that video we met our trainer who will train us starting sunday. i got a picture of what my costume looks like. in fact, i have two costumes. one, which is for regular merchandise is a huge, long skirt, that looks like it is made out of a picnik blanket, with shades of red, blue and green. then i have a long sleeve, puffy white shirt. it really is absolutely attractive. my other role while in merchandise is confectionery (which means selling candy.) that costume is just as flattering. it's a pastel yellow long dress, with a white apron on top of it, and a similarly shaded yellow floppy pancake hat. before i got here, i said i knew my costume was going to look retarded. but now that i'm so close to wearing it, i'm actually very excited. i don't care how silly it looks, because i'm supposed to look like i'm from a story book or movie. and it is a costume anyway, and i don't go to work, i go on stage. i've had my fair share of bad costumes from being in pantomimes, so i'm really not bothered. plus, my costume looks amazing next to some peoples, and i'm sure they wish they would be able to wear a costume like mine. seriously, sometimes when people in costume walk by, i have to laugh (after they pass of course,) because they look so funny. but that's all part of the great show that's performed every day.

the day ended earlier than planned, and we went back to the bus station. behind the bus station is costuming. that's the place where everyone gets their costumes from. i don't get mine til sunday, but i got my shoes. i had a choice from between 3 shoes, and i did go for the most comfortable. they are disgusting looking but i'm gunna be on my feet for the whole time i'm working so i decided comfort first was the most important this time around.

i decided to go to walmart this evening just to get a couple things, like a few sweaters, another pair of jeans, plasters and all the necessary things (including a flat iron because this is perfect hair-stays-put-all-day-and-night weather.) the bus actually takes us directly to walmart and it works out great. a bus runs that route every half hour when it's actually running. (because some days it ends early, or starts late, etc.) leaving walmart there was another intern who just went to the supermarket. he had four bags. one bag was filled with microwavable mac n cheese, one was filled with microwavable pizza, one was filled with gatorade and one was filled with the necesseties, such as milk and bananas and chips. it was quite funny. another girl, who was a bit (a lot) on the heavy side had a carry-on full of groceries and a huge jug of hawaiin tropical punch that looked as heavy as the suitcase.

tonight i need another quiet night. i'm so tired once again. this non-stop full day thing is getting to me. i keep saying that i'm going to go to bed early but i never end up doing that. i'd like to go out and socialize, but i'll leave that til tomorrow i think - possibly at magic kingdom! (finally?!) 

i hope tomorrow brings another wonderful day in my new adventure. i'm really loving it so far. besides my horribly blistered feet and my exhaustion, it's becoming a dream come true. i'm so happy. after all, i am in the one place where dreams do come true. i hope that all the people i love are good - i continue to miss everyone every day! keep being safe and smile often! xoxo

please refrain from flash photography/definitely join our flash mob

this morning, niza, idalia, stephanie and i were up early and ready to take the 9am bus to the transportation and ticket centre to go to magic kingdom. we were so excited! we were literally smiling the whole way there; it was as if we slept with hangers in our mouth last night! so when we get to the transportation and ticket centre (which would then take us to the park we wanted to go to,) we find out that we can't get in using our disney cast i.d. since president obama was there (in other words, we would have had to pay the $90 and be actual guests.) so while we were quite disappointed, we had so many other options and we decided to go to hollywood studios. when we got there, we had a special entrance for cast members and their guests and we went straight in. going in there was unreal. it was so amazing to see everything. it was picture perfect - and speaking of, it took us forever to get anywhere because we wanted to take pictures of anything! how could anyone resist?!

the first attraction we went to was one which took you on a ride through movie history. it really was phenomenal. going through different types of movies from john wayne westerns, to mary poppins, to the wizard of oz, to casablanca, to other scary movies (which, if you know me, i clearly would not know the names of!) it was so amazing, it was as if you were actually in the movies themselves.

OH! BY THE WAY I ALMOST FORGOT! we nearly tried out for american idol! when we got in there, we saw a huge sign that said 'the american idol experience - auditions now!' so we went to find out more information and we could have tried out, even though we weren't american! i actually really wanted to do it. and even if you didn't make it, you would receive a pin that said 'i just tried out for american idol.' niza and stephanie wanted to think about it for a while, but adiana and i were ready. but we decided to give them their time and wait for them, and go to attractions and whatnot in the meantime. needless to say, the whole day went by and we never tried out for american idol... such a disappointment.

after the movie attraction, we saw a little mermaid attraction. we decided to go check it out. (but on the way, we stopped and posed for a picture with piglet.) when we go inside the 'voyage of the little mermaid' there are 4 chairs right at the front of the stage and we got them just in time! that show was awesome. it was short and sweet. it was pretty much a musical, as it was filled with singing and dancing sea creatures, like sebastian and all the rest, and of course, ariel, eric and ursula. between every scene, they had a water feature (literally,) and it made it look like it was raining in a perfect line on stage. we were so close to the stage that we actually got wet by the water every single time it came on!

following that, we were all quite hungry, so we got some lunch. while eating lunch, the girls spotted the "tower of terror," and had the brilliant idea to go on. i was not too pleased. thankfully, i saw "rock n roller coaster" (featuring aerosmith) on the way, and convinced them to go on that instead. now, that seemed like a good idea at the time! while we were waiting in line, i got more nervous every second. the girls found out today that i get scared easily, which to my disadvantage, they found hilarious. the roller coaster is an indoor one, and before you go on the ride, it's pretty cool. it has featured all types of dj machines, record machines, microphones, guitars and what not, with explanations of what they were used for in the land before time (ya know, like when mum and dad partied... just kidding. you guys are so young.) then, in the next room, there was a window of a recording studio, where aerosmith was projected, (i am saying projected, because i don't actually know HOW they got them to be in there, because they looked so real - it's astonishing - everyone should go see it,) and they talk for a bit with their manager and then invite the guests to go to the concert with them... which then leads to the 'alley' where the 'limo' picks us up. lord have mercy, i have never held on so tight to anything in my life! (except maybe driving with brandon or alex.) let me tell you, i kept my eyes closed the entire time. the ONE time i decided to open my eyes, we were about to go upside down. it was insane. it was a short ride, thank god. i mean, i guess it was fun but i have never been so scared!

after, stephanie and i split up from niza and idalia, because they were going on the tower of terror. we nearly made it but decided that we just couldn't do it. the deciding factor? we could see the drop through windows of the building and could hear screaming from far away. no way jose. so we just walked around a bit. then we got ice cream cones, and they didn't even melt! in barbados you have to eat ice cream super fast if not it vanishes from right in front your eyes and ends up all over your hand and clothes. not here. here, i took my cool time. (and no, mum, i did not even eat all of it.) then, we walk into a little show going on in the middle of the road where it was a matchmaking show, and they picked a lady from the audience (who already was married with two kids,) and they had 3 bachelors (who were obviously playing the parts.) it was so hilarious. and we were right in the action.

then, we're casually just walking around, and this lady comes up to us saying they're starting a flash mob in ten minutes. they some people learn 3 moves on hollywood blvd and we were included. then, the music started, and we were in the flash mob. it was insane. but obviously, with my excellent coordination, i missed steps, and my bag kept hitting me in my face, and my hands hit other people, but it was fun. the last time we did the little routine i got it done perfectly! it made me feel a little better that stephanie was just as bad as i was. the flash mob was filmed, so maybe you'll see me on youtube embarrassing myself one day... hopefully not too soon though! we then went into a store and we were looking around, and then a pixar parade passed by. because we were so far away we could only see the things that were right up in the air. it was unfortunate that we missed it, but we got to do a lot of other cool things, so we weren't too disappointed.

we then took a bus back to the transportaiton and ticket centre and waiting for our bus to take us back home. (also while we were waiting, there was this girl in white pants sitting next to us. it got really chilly and we put on our sweaters, and then she went to put on her hoodie. when she put it on we realized it was a buzz lightyear hoodie, which matched her white pants. she looked so funny!) anyway, the bus had to make a couple stops and we were so tired.. we even fell asleep on the bus. but when we got back home there was a hawaii themed welcome party for everyone. music was playing and they were giving away pizza and drinks (obviously they were in cans, and no alcohol was served - which is a blessing nan and pa!) mickey and minnie were there in their beach outfits and there was a line to take pictures with them. a few of us were in line together to take a picture, and right when it was our turn, mickey and minnie had to go to another event (or their shift ended,) but lilo and stitch took over so we got pictures with them! after, ther was a competition where you get four beanbags and you have to throw three in the hole in the board (you know what i mean right?) well i got two in so i didn't get the prize (which was a shirt.) stephanie went, and got all four of her beanbags in! i was determined to get this shirt so stephanie went again, but this time she got none in. i went again and got none in as well. then she went one more time and then got three in.. so we both got our disney polo shirts!

we then went back inside to where the party was and danced talked and danced a bit. of course, if you haven't gathered by now, all my friends so far are spanish. so i did feel a bit out of place when spanish songs started playing and they started like salsa/mambo/whatever-dance-it-is-that-spanish-people-do dancing. but it was okay, i thoroughly enjoyed watching those who were not spanish try to do the same thing as them.

i also learned a lesson tonight. a guy came up to me and said 'hola,' so i politely said 'hola' in return. huge mistake. i had no idea what he said, but he was speed-talking for like a minute in spanish. he waited for my reply, but all i could tell him was 'lo siento no habla espanol.' he was like 'oh. okay' haha. i'm glad that to be able to work at disney you have to speak english so he understood and spoke to me in english instead. he's funny though. everyones groups of friends stood in circles and danced, and he went in every group in the middle and did a little dance of his own.

today was super long and i'm now in bed writing this. i have a huge day tomorrow, as it's my first day of training. i will also get my costume tomorrow - i am going to look so hot in huge skirts and shirts with long puffy sleeves with frills all over. (i don't know if that's my actual costume, but all the merchandise cast members really look quite special!) i am going to delay going to bed for a bit, because i've already been asked to put up photos from today. can't wait to tell you all about tomorrow! muchos bessos! <3

there is only one mickey mouse

today was the day that they call 'traditions.' it's a day where we are educated about the disney past, present and future. furthermore, we are taught little things that are vital to the disney company such as safety, show and other elements that make the disney company the success it is today.

now before i go into what happened today, i was observing today a couple differences between guys and girls today. almost every single guy was wearing the exact same thing. a long sleeve shirt (majority with vertical stripes) tucked into long pants, bar a few who wore a jacket over it (literally a few, like three boys out of hundreds.) the girls all wore something completely different. not one girl was dressed similar to another. and like the boys, there were hundreds and hundreds of girls. however, there were some pretty exotic 'professional outfits' worn... none that i would have classed as professional. we received a piece of paper a few days ago saying what we were to bring to traditions. we were to bring our passport, program guide and the same piece of paper. all the guys literally brought those 3 items and nothing else. all the girls had huge bags stuffed with everything you could possibly think of. all the girls handbags looked like they weighed the same amount as my suitcase coming up here (and it was over ten pounds overweight!) i don't know why i thought those differences between the chicos and chicas was so funny.

traditions took place at disney university. i didn't even know there was a disney university until i signed up to do my program here. the university is on disney property and the inside of the building is absolutely mesmerising. it is so welcoming that it would make people actually WANT to go to school. the walls are all yellow, blue and red, and are totally captivating. on the walls they celebrate disney legends. these are the people that made a huge impact on the disney company, and most of them were artists. it featured a different legend on each wall in the hallways, with a few samples of his or her work, and a synopsis that was engraved on a gold plate that described why he or she was the legend that they became. it was actually quite motivating because it made me feel as if i should be up there one day. now, today, the disney people had to deal with thousands of people and let me tell you, these people know how to organize an event. it takes a great skill to be able to move thousands of interns through a series of stations (for example, to get our new disney i.d. cards and what not) and then get them into different classrooms. with all this organizing they had to do, you'd think that they would be stressed out and rushing. not a chance. everything moved so smoothly and everyone still continued to wear the biggest smile possible on their faces. and while our names weren't up on the wall for being a legend, the disney people sure do have a way of making you feel like you deserve to be on the wall anyway.

throughout traditions, we listened to two cast members talk (they were our teachers for the session.) then, they surprised us by taking us over to a bus and taking us to magic kingdom to show how the key elements that make them successful are executed throughout magic kingdom. we went through the staff entrance, which actually is underground (more specific, under cinderella's castle.) inside there, music was playing and even though it was just underground, it was still a relatively nice place. there was signage all over saying "the best cast members walk this floor everyday" and other cheerful, positive photos, bulletins, posters and whatnot. while we were walking to get out of the 'tunnel,' sleeping beauty and belle walked right passed us as they were going to there work location. even though we are all over 18 on this program, a moment of silence fell over us and we got lost in the magic, simply by two princesses walking past us. unfortunately, we could not take pictures as what goes on down there is not to be seen by guests. that, and president obama is going to magic kingdom tomorrow and will be going through the cast entrance as well. he is doing this, not only because it's fun, but because disney is so advanced that there are a lot of corporations that actually have partnered with disney to be able to use their technology. in fact, nasa had orginial engineering, and disney then bettered the engineering, and nasa had to then go back and partner with disney to be able to get their machines to perfection. disney is so advanced, it's actually incredible. we did go outside into magic kingdom for about 15 minutes, and again we couldn't take pictures because we were "working" and it would not look very professional to the guests if the cast were on stage taking pictures. but let me tell you, i wanted to cry being in magic kingdom. it is so beautiful. all the architecture is victorian style and the music that plays is so perfectly coordinated with all the goings on that it feels as if you are in a movie. there were some characters posing with guests and there was so much to see. all i wanted to do was go and play but obviously, it was not the right time or place. i am hoping to actually go and play tomorrow, if everything works out.

anyways, after that, we went back to disney university to finish traditions. while the cast members were speaking, we heard a knock on the door. and then in burst mickey mouse! we were all so tired at that point, but as he came in, everyones faces lit up and magic was instantly created, once again. he had a huge present with him, and later we found out that it was all of our name tags that we will be wearing on our costume when we go on stage. mickey was at the front of the classroom with the two cast members who were teaching us the class, and they unanimously decided they were going to ask a couple questions so that mickey could give away some prizes. the first question they asked, i answered and i got to go up to mickey and receive my prize. he shook my hand professionally, then kissed my hand. what a gentleman. after mickey left, the room instantly became dull again. not because what we were learning was not interesting, because it was, but because we were all exhausted.

around 12.30 the class ended, and we piled into the busses and headed back to our respective apartment buildings. i had to go meet up with a couple teachers and cast members to organize some of my course registration issues, but then i came back home, and made myself some lunch. (i made a chicken caesar wrap, but it was nothing compared to the ones that abi makes.) i later skyped with my mum and dad while they were at work for a bit (i know, they really are quite productive eh?) i wasn't really missing home too much til i saw them and spoke to them. afterwards, i skyped with izzie for a little while and then i had to go and meet with another fella about some course registration. but, then i got held back a little bit because it started to rain. it was the first time it rained since i got here (that i have seen.) and it was nice to watch the rain fall on the pond outside our room. after i went to meet the guy. his name was hershel. quite a creative name there.

i've just been in my apartment since then, being peaceful. all my roommates are out at the moment. one of the maria-joses was here for a while, so that was nice. but again, i'm all by myself for now. last night i was planning on going to the mall tonight but i am so exhausted. i'm quite enjoying just sitting here listening to music. i plan on having an early night tonight in case i go to disney world tomorrow - which i definitely plan to! right now, just waiting for the family to call me from home. so excited to see them!

i posted the few pictures i was able to take today, but hopefully i shall have plenty tomorrow! miss everyone at home and love everybody! keep being safe! xoxo <3

awkward

wow. today was extraordinarily long, and yet somehow i don't feel that tired. the only thing i keep dreading is that i have to be awake at 5.45 am tomorrow morning. so. what did i do today? i woke up around 8 and got ready to catch a bus at 9.20 which took us to a housing welcoming seminar-type thing. while we were waiting in line to go in, i met this guy from mexico (can't remember his name) and he was telling me how he wanted a roommate from africa, europe and another country. he said he got all, except an african, but he has two roommates from barbados so he guesses that that's the same thing haha. anyway, when we go inside, disney music is playing so loud, and inside the room is kinda smoky with multi-coloured lights flashing everywhere, it was just like going to a club away (except replace the disney music with something like techno.) that's the atmosphere they had us waiting in. afterwards, the regular lights came on, and the music shut off and various people talked to us about rules and what they help us with and the usual stuff. everyone wears the biggest smiles ever and is always so happy. they had a couple random questions that they were asking, and the prize for winning them was a huge box of fererro rochers. (but they did explain later that they order them by the truck-load (obviously an exaggeration, ben,) because when they have random room inspections and someone wins the "white glove award" they give them away, and usually most people win it.

afterwards, i came back to my apartment here at vista way, and just chilled for a bit. i wanted to take a nap but i knew i would never want to wake up for my next meeting. my next meeting was another tc3 orientation meeting where i met my teacher who'll be teaching me my online classes. his name is bud moody. seriously. he is a trip! he is so funny! i wish the classes weren't online so that i could see him on a weekly basis, he can put a smile on anyone's face. it's hilarious to watch him talk because he is always trying to rush for time, but he also wants to speak slow and enunciate every single word so that people who speak different languages can understand. it's so so funny.

after that meeting, we came back "home" and then i called a taxi to take us to walmart (FINALLY!) stephanie introduced me to two other colombians, named julian and consuelo and the four of us went to walmart to buy groceries and things like that. on my first night i bought a couple emergency food stuff, but this morning it all ran out. so i bought enough food that should hopefully last me for a long time. i had so many things and bags that i had to go to security and get this wagon looking cart. now. this was an experience in itself. firstly, the handle of the cart is so long and it swivels, so everytime i tried to turn it a little bit, it would go waaaaaay past where i wanted it to go and it always bumped into me (i don't know how because i was pulling it, so it was behind me, but you know me..) i usually cut through a basketball court to get to my apartment, because it makes life so much easier. the other way is a little pathway with tons of turns and hills. i get to the basketball court to find out there are a bunch of guys actually playing (i have never seen anyone near the court before tonight.) so i had to turn around and go the other way. i had to leave my cart at the bottom of the steps (because i live on the first floor, no, not the ground floor, ben, the first floor) and make two trips. as soon as i came back downstairs, the basketball game ended. just my luck. so i'm at the bottom of the stairs and i'm trying to fold the cart back together and i am having immense difficulty. so these two guys come over and ask if i need help, and they just took the cart from me before i even said anything, because they could obviously tell how uncoordinated i was. they offered to take the cart back to security for me, but i had to return it so i could get back my property i.d. so i start to wheel the cart back, and it bumped into me again, and i nearly tripped up (and the guys saw.) also, one of the guys who was helping me i saw yesterday at a seminar, and i thought he was kinda cute so that made it even more awkward. but i guess by now in my life i should be accustomed to making awkward situations for myself thanks to my total lack of coordination. so after making the trip alllllll the way back from security, i come back up the stairs, nearly fall over, and who's sitting on the other side of the steps? the cute guy. obviously. well, i went straight to my room - i just wanted to hide! i have to admit though, it's kind of funny. oh how nice it is to laugh at past situations. haha

well. i really dwelled on that topic. i apologize but usually i would call someone about this (like stephie or eri or anyone really) but i had no one to call. anyways, as i said, tomorrow i have to be up for 5.45 and maria-jose has given me the responsibility of getting her up - she's off galavanting with the other maria-jose. even niza isn't here. the only other person here is gabrielle, the other bajan, and she spends her life on skype. anyhow, it's off to bed for me! will hopefully be able to write another update tomorrow (and hopefully it's way more interesting than this one!)

p.s. my camera died today after taking like 1 picture! so i have my battery charging now so hopefully if i see anything interesting tomorrow i can take pictures and post them! also, tomorrow i have to wear "professional wear." ew. i've been so enjoying dressing warm and cute. ohh well! i find out all about my new job tomorrow!! so excited! buenas noches amigos! xoxox

Bienvenido a Disney World?!

so decided to start a blog, after an immense amount of pressure from all of you guys - my family and friends (that's obviously an exaggeration, but have been asked a couple times to do one.) i actually wasn't planning on writing a blog but decided to do so instead of sending e-mails and having to reply to a thousand different people who ask the same questions. so instead, everything will be in one place - makes life a lot easier! i have sent 2 email updates so far, so for now i'll just copy and paste those emails and then start the blog tonight or when i next get a chance.


Update 1:
Hi Family,

Finally settling down at the computer with a glass of DELICIOUS Airborne. My throat's kinda scratchy, don't know if it's because of the coldness or if I'm getting sick, so obviously I'm gunna play it on the safe side.

All my roommates so far are Spanish. Two of their names are Maria-Jose and one is Niza. Gabrielle is my other roommate from Barbados (yes, I figured out her name so smartly.) I guess we are supposed to have another roommate because there's one more bed left. There are 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. One of the bathrooms is in a bedroom, and the other is in between 2 bedrooms. I got the bedroom with the bathroom (mwahaha.) Niza is my actual roommate (as in we share a room together.) She seems nice. She's from Mexico and is 20. The two Maria-Jose's are from Peru, so I hope that my Spanish improves.

Tomorrow is a full, full day. Meetings and seminars and whatnot start at 1.50pm. I know you're probably thinking that that sounds like it won't be too late, but I won't get home til 10.30 pm. So tomorrow I can't go to Walmart again, and tomorrow will probably be another night sleeping with no pillow (except for the lil pil that Nan made for me,) and with just my blanket. FUH-REEZING!

The 5 of us roommates are splurging tomorrow and going down to the Help Centre to buy an Internet Router for a whole $22. I know, we're definitely living on the edge. I'm glad though because now we don't all have to sit huddled together in the same room sharing the same modem that we connect ethernet cables to.

Today was such a long day. SUPER LONG and I'm exhausted but I want to wake up relatively early so that tomorrow I can finally unpack all my things and maybe do some stuff before the meetings and seminars. I started to unpack this evening but really was not in the mood. I'd like to say that I'll be going exercising tomorrow (but I don't want to get your hopes up, but I REALLY REALLY am in the mood to.) Also, I think I may exercise OUTSIDE up here. I know - shocker. But the weather is so nice.. Yeah it is chilly but LOVELY. I probably would want to spend all day outside now.

Anyways, I'm sure there are a million other things I can tell you, but I am so so so tired. Feel free to forward this to anyone in the fam, they all said they wanted to see some updates, but I don't know everyones email addresses.

Love you guys so much, and miss you all like crazy.

Jo
xoxoxo



Update 2:
I never thought I would be so thankful for a pair of boots. (They're not really boots, they're like Uggs, so don't start making fun of me dad.) Today I bought them at Target (pronounced Tarjay, please,) and then during the day it got so hot. I was so vex (p.s. taught my friend, Stephanie that word, along with rasshole.) I thought I had wasted a bunch of money buying them, but tonight is FREEZING! P.s. I LOVE winter clothes. I look so cute in my jeans and sweater and boots and scarf (and even gloves - it's that cold.)

Today was so long. I started the day by unpacking my stuff, and trying to organize. Then my roommate, Niza, came in telling me she was going to Target and asked if I wanted anything. I told her I had to come, because I couldn't spend another night freezing. A taxi there costs $13, and I think it was worth it. Together we bought stuff like lamps, an iron, a mop and broom and little things that our apartment needed. I bought zebra-print bed sheets and a light blue thick blanket. It was absolutely necessary because it gets so cold during the night, even though our room is a bit warm. This morning when my roommate woke up she even put her blanket on me because she obviously saw how cold I was. We ended up with so much bags that it would have been a pain in the neck (to replace a more favourable word, but I'm assuming Nan and Pa will read this, so keeping it clean,) to move with that much stuff on the bus (which wasn't available and that's why we took the taxi.) After Target, we came home and had to get ready for our first seminar. It consisted of filling out some paperwork and doing things like getting our Housing ID (which by the way, the stretch out the picture horizontally so it fits in the required space, and as you can probably guess, I am TOTALLY IMPRESSED BY HOW FLATTERING THAT IS! ....NOT!) Afterwards Stephanie and I walked over to this mini (and when I say mini, I mean mini) outlet that had like 4 stores - Starbucks, a phone store (like the Indian people at home,) a Disney gift store and a Sony store. We had some Starbucks for a late lunch and then headed back over to the Welcome Centre of our complex to catch the bus to our next meeting.

That meeting was called Casting, and the Casting building is in Disney World so we got very excited when we were going through and we took pictures from inside the bus. (I'll put some pictures up on facebook when I get a few more taken.) Inside the casting building was HUGE! All throughout the walls were murals of Disney characters and pictures of everything to do with Disney that you could possibly think of. It was quite a long process and I started to feel very impatient and tired. I found out that my first role is Merchandising, and I'll be located on Main Street of Magic Kingdom! I am so excited to be working in the heart of Disney, but I am going to have THE worst hours (which I still am unsure of, but will probably be told tomorrow.)

After that we had to take another bus to The Commons, where we had a TC3 orientation. They gave us sandwhiches for dinner followed by cookies for dessert. Let me tell you, these Disney people LOVE cookies. I think I've heard the word "cookies" AT LEAST 50 times since I have been here. I only just got back "home" from a super long day and have meetings all day from tomorrow morning. Afterwards, me and Stephanie will go to Walmart, because we've both been dying to go, but we were both so tired from today.

Stephanie and I seem to have a lot of little things in common (things like she doesn't like vegetables, loves ice tea and little silly things like that.) She has been "helping" me with my Spanish. She says I'm on level B because when she tries to teach me something new, I already knew it -feeling like a scholar and a half. I guarantee my Spanish will have to be improved. At this moment, I am sitting in my living room with all Spanish people. Gotta admit, I'm going a little crazy. Dad, you thought being in Miami and hearing people talk Spanish so much was frustrating, try having 1239819023892103 Spanish girls in your apartment 24/7! I am glad for it though - it will most likely be beneficial to me.

Anyways, once again, I feel as if I have so much to say but I am so so tired that I just need to organize myself for tomorrow and get to bed. I hope that I sleep a lot better tonight than I did last night.

So, night night, love you all very much and hope everyone's good! (Feels like I've been away forever, but also feels like this still isn't happening - someone pinch me now!)

jo

p.s. i'm about to post a FEW pictures on facebook. when i start doing this thing for real, i'll probably add some pictures then.
XOXOXOXOXOXOX