flying fish and salt breads

i had such a great evening. aunty mo and uncle paul and sammy came to deliver some bajan goodness to me. i have to admit, when i opened my door and saw them i teared up a little bit. it felt so nice to see some family. family that i have been missing so terribly. i gave them the grand tour, which consisted of standing by the front door, where they were able to see the entire apartment. aunty mo bought me some flying fish and a pack of salt breads (and creme eggs and mini eggs for easter), which i am so excited to eat. i would have devoured some of it already if they hadn't invited me to eat dinner with them. mum also sent up some stuff, including a card with lovely drawings from ben and dad (with some (very much needed) money), a harbour lights 2012 t-shirt, some just-in-case medicine with her own instructions written on each box, some snacks from barbados, pepper sauce for my roommates to try. niza especially puts hot sauce on everything so i can't wait for her to try it! mum even included a little barbados flag in her care package, which was so cute. i wish i didn't have to work tomorrow so i could have spent four consecutive days with the fam, but i'm super excited for friday and saturday. friday is sammy's graduation - she's such a big kid now. and saturday we're going to universal which i can't wait for! apparently the first thing we're doing is the harry potter ride, which i know i'm gunna scream in. i overheard people on the bus talking the other day, and this one guy said that that's the only ride he can't do. so we'll see how that works out. i'm so happy right now, having family so close, and knowing that even more family is coming next week! still missing everyone terribly and very much looking forward to seeing everyone in summer!

homesick?

i miss barbados terribly. people assure me, "don't worry, you're not missing much. barbados is boring." while that may be true, barbados is full of all the people i love. barbados consists of things i am accustomed to. i am definitely beginning to feel homesick. i don't know why, because i still love everything up here! i love my friends, my work, my classes, i love everything, so i don't know why i am feeling so homesick! however, this week and next week will be lovely because i have family coming on both weeks! while it'll only be a couple days i get to see them, it's going to be so wonderful having some familiar faces and i am so excited to spend time with people i truly love and miss every single day. i even haven't been sleeping properly. my bed up here is nothing compared to my bed at home. i have been waking up every night for the past few nights, unable to get comfortable. i don't know if i'm just feeling anxious about still not knowing yet when i am changing over roles or where i'm going, when many of my friends have gotten their deployment papers, telling them what their new role will be and when they're changing over. i'm still waiting for mine. i'm so content where i am, i really don't want to leave. but i know how beneficial for me it will be to say that i have had two roles at walt disney world. i've been here for nearly three months now and while i've done so much, i feel like i haven't done enough! i want to do so much more and fully experience everything that i have waiting for me in the palm of my hand. i definitely need to start taking more advantage of all that i am able to do here.

i have a project and presentation due on wednesday.  of course i kept procrastinating, and i am yet to start. i was going to do it tonight, but i have found better things to do, like write my blog, and spend endless time on imgfave and wanelo (really time-wasting websites, you should check them out, especially if you're a girl, you'll love them.) so then i decided i'll start it tomorrow, among some other chores i have to do, and i completely forgot i have a class tomorrow! thank god i remembered or i would have slept through the whole thing! 

anyways, it is time for me to go downstairs and take my clothes out of the washing machine and put them in the dryer. it's times like these that i really miss mayfield. mum, make sure and tell her that i miss her! i hope everyone continues to be safe and healthy and happy.

dumbo and goofy

i just got in bed after an exhausting day. i woke up midmorning to get ready for my class in the early afternoon. i felt so tired during class, but powered through, excited to go to magic kingdom afterwards with some friends from work. when we got to magic kingdom, we took the steam train to the new phase which recently opened of the expansion of fantasyland. while only two things are open so far, it was so cute. even the cast members costumes were bright and colourful, and everything was perfect. the two attractions that are opened are the refurbished dumbo ride, and goofy's rollercoaster, both of which i did when i visited when i was six, but vaguely remember them. the first thing we did was dumbo's ride. we waited in line for half hour, and while the ride itself is quite short, we had the time of our lives, going up and down, and taking in the scenery of the surrounding magic kingdom. we also got a glimpse of some of the other construction going on for the rest of fantasyland, which will open in phases periodically in a couple years. afterwards we went on the goofy rollercoaster. the line for that was even longer, and the ride is about twenty seconds, but it is fun. before going on, we were laughing at people who were on the ride screaming, but i must admit, i screamed. obviously. after that, we were walking to splash mountain, but there was a fifty minute wait, so we decided to do something else, and while we were walking around, the smell of fish drew us into a restaurant. i haven't had fish since i left barbados, and i have been craving it. however, i knew it would not be the same. but nonetheless, we went anyway, and i got my fish fix, and it was pretty decent. after that, it was around eight pm, and it was dark by the time we got out, and we exited right near to the entrance to the haunted mansion. now. i have done this ride about five times since i have been up here, taking it very well, seeing it as more whimsical rather than scary. but going in there when it's dark outside, had me quite jumpy and as usual, every little thing scared me, making me jump. three of us squished together in one buggy and i got the middle, which i was thankful for, because even though i knew better, i felt as if a ghost or something was going to come an attack me if i sat on the outside. after the haunted mansion was finished, we went walking around. by that time, people already had their positions for the electrical parade and trying to walk past was almost impossible. but we took it like champions and found our way to walking space through the maze of people. we browsed a couple stores and while i wanted everything, i had to hold back from buying things. thank god tomorrow is pay day is all i have to say. but. my friend showed me a shirt in a store that was extremely necessary for me to buy. it's a t-shirt with goofy on it and he's asking 'what time is the 3:00 parade?' if you read my previous blog you can clearly see why that was a necessity. we went over to the confectionery and i bought one of our apples, that i had been dying to try. i still haven't tried it yet - it's sitting in my fridge, but tomorrow will be the day. everyone always tells me i should be ashamed of myself, having worked there for over two months and i haven't tried one yet. after browsing and chatting to our friends who were working, we made a run for the exit, because by that time the fireworks were over and the park was coming to a close, and the masses of people were on the same page as us and wanted to leave. we took the monorail back to the transportation and ticket centre and immediately after our bus pulled up. perfect timing. i came home and had to do a bit of cleaning because our first cleaning inspection is tomorrow and we're hoping to win the award. we're at least hoping to pass, because if we fail that's an automatic $25 off each one of our paychecks! i would not be able to deal with that very well. so fingers crossed for tomorrow! i'm really missing home now that so many of my friends are home for spring break. but i'm excited to see some family in just about a week and a half! it's going to be great! sending as much love as possible! xoxo

dos meses

today is the two month mark of being up in orlando. i cannot believe how fast time is flying! surprisingly, i am still not homesick yet. of course i miss home, and the irreplacable people i regularly surround myself with there, but everytime i reflect on this experience, i can't help but smile. everything still continues to be perfect. from day one, everything has been a dream, obviously with one or two hiccups along the way, but nothing that has terribly affected me. i am still happier than ever.

i'm soon going to be heading over to quick service food and beverage, in about a month or so. i'm still unsure how i feel about this. obviously, i am going to embrace the opportunity and be open minded, but everyone i talk to about this, gives me such negative feedback. but i know how fortunate i am to be able to say that i worked in two different areas at walt disney world, not many people can say that. however, i love every single person i work with in merchandise on main street. i have become so comfortable working there, and so comfortable with everyone i work with. it's nice that people i didn't know two months ago, are now the familiar faces i look forward to seeing every day. i can't tell you the amount of days of mine that have been made because of the cast members i work with. i'm really going to miss that when i go over to food and beverage. but i'm not nervous about the people i'm going to work with over there - the majority of the people that work here are so pleasant. the minority i rarely encounter, so it's okay.

i feel as if i am accomplishing so much up here. i feel like if i learn something new every day. a couple things are: i have become less dependent on things that don't matter. before i came here, i was so obsessed with being caught up on my favourite tv shows, and now i don't even know what's on tv, and instead, i am now i've gotten back into the habit of reading. and not reading articles online or in magazines. reading actual books. it is so soothing, and i can't believe how long i have gone without reading books. i have learned to appreciate my family even more, and i didn't even think that was possible, with how much i appreciated my story-book family before. i can't describe how much i miss my family. i have learned more words in spanish, and my need to become fluent in a second language has grown. i am desperate to be bilingual. or even trilingual. i have learned a few phrases in sign language. i have learned how to say what my name is, how to ask someone what their name is, and how to ask a deaf person if they can understand me when i speak. and i am hoping to continue learning sign language, because i think it is such a wonderful and neglected skill. spanish is sometimes difficult because i have spanish friends from different countries, and they speak differently sometimes, so when one of them will tell me what one thing means, another will argue that it means something entirely different. i've settled with the fact that i will more or less learn the general things i need. right? i have even moreso learned the value of time management. while i think i have always been particularly on time, something i inherited from my dad, being up here has showed time management to me in a new perspective. a couple weeks ago, i clocked in ONE MINUTE late, and i got half a point on my record card. i was so mad. i still, however, have not mastered the art of NOT procrastinating. i continue to do so for everything. right now, i am currently supposed to be organizing all my clothes, because i have gone a TAD overboard, and everything can't fit how it was organized before. oops. needless to say, i am quickly learning the value of saving and spending money. in barbados, i was a definite saver. in fact, my mother always quarreled with me for saving so much money, and said i had to spend it sometimes (which i did, mainly in harbor lights.) but yesterday, me and two of my roommates went to the outlet. we just wanted to go 'quickly.' trust me, we went quickly. and so did my money (and theirs.) we probably spent less than an hour at the outlet and charlotte russe was the only store we visited, but a couple dollars must've fallen out of our credit cards somewhere along the way. when i went to the atm to get cash to go out last night, i could't take any out because i had less than the minimum allowed to be withdrawed. that was a definite wake up call. but i am very happy with my purchases and i don't need to go there again for a while. like a month. or three weeks. or maybe two weeks. yes. i won't go again for two weeks. i have also come to the realization that i definitely took our beautiful beaches for granted. my skin is craving barbados sun, and everytime i plan to go lie out by the pool to get some desperately needed colour, it rains. so i do plan to go tomorrow, and my weather forecast says it will be sunny, so fingers crossed i can get in a couple hours of tanning and reading before work tomorrow evening. the relationships i am building with my friends up here i know will be everlasting. it's incredible how close i got to some people up here. we are close enough that we can quarrel with each other, make fun of each other, and sing together (which is the most important.) we are close enough that we can embrace each others similarities (which there are a lot of,) and close enough to accept each others differences (which there are a lot of.) i feel like i've already grown up more from being up here, and life has been put into perspective a little bit more, and i have come to the realization that i have the entire world at my fingertips. i can do anything i want to do. i feel unstoppable.

i didn't know what to expect before coming here, but it has by far exceeded anything i could have dreamed of. now i don't know what to expect when i go back home in just four short months. my friends and i have already told each other that we feel sad that we have to leave in four months. i have no idea why we're thinking so far ahead - that's never something i do;)

frequently asked questions

there are so many questions and statements that guests frequently ask or tell me. some of them have the ability to really make my day, some make me laugh because they are either such straight forward questions (that they could probably figure out themselves) or so random. i'm going to share some examples or situations, just for the mere purpose of having something to blog about (and i have an essay due, but i am queen procrastinator, so this is the result.)

1. 'you're from barbados! cool! ...what is barbados?!' - it's an island, in the caribbean. (pronounced "carib-ee-yun", not "curib-ee-yun")

2. 'you're from barabados?! do you know rihanna?!' -no i don't, but i have been to her concert

3. 'you're from barbados?! do you know johnny depp?!' -no i don't. (pirates of the caribbean is not filmed live in barbados) (obviously i don't reply with the latter statement)

4. 'you're from barbados?! do they speak a language over there?' -yes we do indeed speak a language, we speak english.

5. 'are you british?' - no, i'm barbadian (or bajan, as we say in barbados)

6. 'are you irish?' - no, i'm barbadian (or bajan, as we say in barabados)

7. 'are you scottish?' -no, i'm barbadian (or bajan, as we say in barbados)

8. 'are you australian?' - no, i'm barbadian (or bajan, as we say in barbados)

9. 'are you from new zealand?' - no, i'm from barbados, which is an island in the caribbean

10. 'you got a little mexican thing going on' - no, i'm from barabdos

11. 'you sound kind of russian' - i'm not russian, i'm from barabdos

12. 'is barbados in england?' - no, it's not, we used to be ruled by england, but not anymore

13. 'what other languages do you speak in barbados?' - none, we only speak english

14. 'do you sell water in here?' - yes we do, you can find it in the fridge RIGHT there

15. 'where can i get a cup of coffee?' - a couple doors down, on this same side of main street, at the main street bakery

16. 'is this the bakery?' - no, this is the confectionery, we sell candy here

17. 'what can i do in here?' - well, sir, you can purchase art or books, or watch the cartoon loop that's playing on the big screen

18. 'where's the closest bathroom?' - right across the street, on the right of city hall

19. 'how much does this cost?' - well, sir, let me check the price tag on the bottom for you

20. 'i LOVE your accent!' - thank you, i love it too

21. 'you have really great eyebrows' - um, thank you?

22. 'are your parents originally fro barados?' - yup, my parents, grandparents, the whole family

23. 'do you live on the beach?' - no i don't, but the beaches are just about twenty minutes away, if that

24. 'you have beautiful eyes' - thank you very much

25. 'where can i see my photos from photopass?' - you go to photopass. it's in the theatre, the last building on your left of mainstreet when you are leaving.

26. 'where can i see my photos from photopass?' - it's right in the next store, but i'll show you where it is

27. 'where can i see mickey?' - mickey's in the theatre right now! if you go quickly you might be able to catch him

28. 'you remind me of the first love of my life' - (i hope that's a good thing, and i'm going to try and not think of it as totally creepy since you're like 80?)

29. 'where can i get a birthday button?' - right here! how many celebration pins do you need?

30. 'what time is the electrical parade?' - it starts at 7, so make sure to get a good spot!

31. 'what time is wishes?' - 8pm, so if you stand anywhere on mainstreet, you'll have the best seat in the house

32. 'can we get our names put on this hat?' - i'm sorry, in magic kingdom we only embroider the mickey ears felt hats, but if you go to hollywood studios or downtown disney they can take care of that for you

33. 'can i put this on my hat?' - i'm sorry sir, we cannot put anything on the hats that may be seen as offensive

34. 'it's my birthday today!' - wow! well happy birthday! mickey told us you were coming and told us to give you this hat for your birthday!'

35. 'what time is the 3 o'clock parade?' - it starts at 3 o'clock, mam.


those are just a few of the questions or statements i get on a daily basis - there are so many more, but i'm having a blank moment right now. i guess it's time to start my essay. or maybe i should finish my book? we'll see what happens! hope everyone has a great weekend! lots of love and pixie dust!

for mum

from as far back as i can remember, every day for my entire life, i have heard at least once, "you are the spit-out of your mother," or, "you and your mother could be twins," or, "you are just like your mother, it's unreal," or something along those lines. every single day. the majority of the time, i would probably roll my eyes, or make a sarcastic comment like, "really? i've never heard that before!" but i never once took it as an offence. since i've been up here, i have not heard once that i'm like my mother, and trutfully, i kind of miss it. actually, i lie. my mum did tell me a story of gold cup day, when my friends were in full form, having a wonderful time, that they did notice i was like her. i'm wondering if they are that oblivious that they are the only people that never realized it?

mum, where can i begin with you? we definitely have our little arguments, granted, almost every day (although this distance was good for us, because we haven't argued since i've come here really) but it's probably because we're so similar. but you have taught me the most valuable life lessons that i wouldn't have learned without you telling me a thousand times a day. from "don't lie," (which i don't, which can be proven because i've taken over your catch phrase of "one thing i hate is when people tell a lie,") to "jo, please don't overdo it tonight." usually i listen to you, because i hear you quarreling with me in the back of my head, but mostly because you usually are always right (unless i'm right, of course.) sometimes when we argue you wind up telling me, "jodi do not speak to me like if i'm one of your little friends," (i'm still not quite sure why, after all these years, you throw 'little' in there - we are growing up, ya know,) and this comment always throws me. mainly because, i do consider you one of my very best friends. you are the one person who is always honest with me, even if it hurts my feelings for a little while. but i always say, i'd rather be hurt with the truth than be lied to. you tell me when i wear something unflattering, when the rest of my friends tell me "oh my god jodi, you are so not fat, i love that outfit," when i already know it looks horrible. i get vex when you tell me that (especially when you've told me that about every single outfit in my cupboard,) but i know you're right, and i don't know why, after all these years, i still get upset.

you have commended me for all the good i've done, and never once have you put me down. if i messed up, you would talk to me, and find out how i want to make it better. and even when i'm nervous to tell you news that i think might disappoint you, and i put it off a little bit, you find out anyway, and you're still the most understanding person, and i know you will go to all extremes to help. you are so patient, too. i know from when ben and i started school, it was just as much a learning experience for you. you started doing homework and projects again. you put so much responsibilities on yourself, that we probably could have, and should have, dealt with on our own, but you, being the wonderful, supportive mother you are, did it anyway. in the past few years, you have developed this constant worry, that i thought would have been more existent when we were little children, but for some reason, you have found so many things to worry about, but i wish you could see that you have instilled such morals and values in us that you shouldn't have to worry.

there are so many things i appreciate that you have given me. while you have given me countless material things that i would consider myself spoiled, you have shown me that those material things are not important. you have showed me that family, friends, health, love, happiness and education are so much more important. "family is the most important thing," and "all the money in the world can't buy happiness," and "your education is the one thing people can't take from you," are things you have told me that have definitely stuck. you have given me the skill of having good manners. from when i could remember, everywhere we went you told us "give so and so a kiss and a hug," and i despised that, but i did it anyway, because if not it would be trouble. now, it's something that i would feel wrong not doing, and i get so disgusted when i see little children who have bad manners, and i do not understand how they don't even say "hello" when they see someone. you taught me that manners do matter. another thing that i love that you have given me, is the confidence to turn any object into a microphone, and any location into a stage, and the social singer i become after i've had one too many drinks, become comfortable where i am. you also taught me not to let anyone tell me i can't do something (which is probably why people get so annoyed when they tell me to stop singing, and i continue on anyway.)

"the four of us are a team. we work and do things together." me, dad and ben would be nowhere without you. if we are all a team, you are not only the team leader, but the glue that holds us all together. please believe, that with all my heart i know you are the best mother anyone could ask for. i remember a couple of times you have asked me "do you wish i was more like so and so's mother?" NEVER. never ever. when i was younger, i used to complain that you wouldn't allow me to do certain things, but i know better now, i know that it's because you cared, and still care, so much. some kids got to do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, with no rules whatsoever, and i was so jealous, but i am so thankful now.

i have so much respect for you and i love you so much. i wish i could be home to celebrate your birthday with you, but i know you'll have a wonderful day anyway. have a special birthday mum. i love you so much and i miss you terribly. there is so much more i could write, because you are such a great mother, wife, daughter, friend, boss, role model and influence. i can't wait to see you AND GIVE YOU A HUG! lots and lots of love for a very special birthday. xoxoxo

nearly karaoke night

i just got back home from buffalo wild wings (better known as bdubs here) with some friends. it was exactly my kind of place. inside was karaoke, and they had some perfect sing along songs playing. there was some shania twain, backstreet boys, adele, cee lo green, and even some country music, among many other of my favourites. i was dying to go on stage and showed them what i'm made of. but, needless to say, people had signed up hours in advance and the list was closed - i probably wouldn't have ended up doing it anyway. if it were barbados, where the drinking law is basically nonexistent, it probably would have been a different story. when a song was chosen that killed the mood, outside was blasting all sorts of club music, so we could wander out there and get a change of atmosphere for a bit. it was such a good night. bar one thing. i understand the drinking law, and i will abide by it, but they take it way too far. before we even got in, there was a separate line for people under the age of twenty one. if you were in that line, you automatically got a black "X" drawn (scribbled) on either hand, big and bold, by the biggest sharpie ever invented. then you go, pay your money, and get a different band to everyone else, with "under 21" in big ang bold, once again, in red all around it. then, to take it one step further, if you go to the bar and ask for a drink (non alcoholic, of course) they draw ANOTHER "X" on the cup too! it's crazy. besides that one little glitch, everything was fun. in the outside patio, where the club music was playing, it was sometimes too hard to even move your arms because it was so crowded. inside only got really crowded when a crazy song people haven't heard in forever came on, like baby got back, or something by the spice girls. the karaoke part was so entertaining, and surprisingly most people sounded good! but of course, me being the wonderful singer/lyric-rememberer i am, i didn't even have to look at any of the six or seven big screens to sing along. my dreams of becoming a singer will come true one day. right?

confessions of a shopaholic

being up here has turned me into a real girl. before i came here, shopping was never an issue for me. yeah, i wanted stuff like clothes and bags, but it wasn't a big deal. up here, i always have the urge to go to the mall. i have spent the latter part of today looking at websites of all my favourite stores and i found myself having to close the windows when i see things i really "need," so i don't spend money. although, if i think it's a really amazing deal, like i have a time or two, i will end up ordering it. i just ordered a bag. i'm not even upset - i cannot wait until it arrives. there are a lot of clothes that i see that i love, but i figure i should do the responsible thing, and wait until i go the mall, so i can try them on to make sure i like them. because, many times, i go into the stores, and i try on tons of clothes and don't end up getting a quarter of them! but it's so easy up here to spend money! my roommates and i agreed that we are not going to the mall until, like, three weeks from now. but being sick, i have been in the house all day long, while everyone was at work, or playing. estoy muy aburida. i am so bored. so, so bored. so i just decided to "window shop" online. i decided to do a quick, little blog to distract myself from the websites, and to warn whoever wants to do this - it is so tempting to shop twenty-four/seven up here. my roomates and i are having a hard time understanding what will happen when we go back to our home countries and the outlet isn't walking distance from one of the disney housing complexes. i am definitely going to have to pick up some extra shifts if i decide to continue on the way i am! but i probably should decide otherwise. i know my mother is probably going to quarrel with me since i told her i had no money and had to use the emergency credit card to buy medicine today. but i figure, i am her first born child, and i am sick and she's not even here to take care of me. i had to walk to walgreens by myself and buy medicine by myself and had to remember to take it at the right time by myself, so the least she could do was buy my medicine for me, right? i think so. and i think i deserved to buy myself a little treat with my own hard-earned money. i feel better already!

give em the pickle!

the past few days at work have been really great. i'm really getting friendly with many people who i work with, and i'm getting even more comfortable than i already was. today i'm really missing home, because it's the first day i haven't been feeling well. i miss having mum or dad twenty minutes away, that i can just bbm them and ask them to get me whatever i want that i believe will make me feel a little better from the supermarket or the gas station; and i miss having nan to send down some lemonade (the best in the world,) down; and i miss having mayfield to ask me what i need or just fill my boring moments with never-ending stories about a friend of a friend of a friend.

i had my second week of my des course (disney exploration series,) today. i chose to study guest service training. i figured it would be super beneficial for any career i have later on in life, especailly being trained by a disney professional. the class is two hours long, and so far i feel so happy i've chosen this class. i feel like i can better serve guests or customers already and it's been two sessions so far. we also watched a couple videos today. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOpOhlGiRTM. this first one is of a little girl, lily, who got the suprise of going to disney for her birthday. it is so cute! the second one, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISJ1V8vBiiI, is of a restaurant owner who has customer service down-pat. this is not the full version of the video, but it's the best one i could find, and it does have the just of it. the gentleman in the video, mr farrell, has a restaurant, and when you watch the video, you'll understand why it's called "give em the pickle." in this part of the video, he mentions the first key of customer service is service itself. while this part of the video doesn't contain the other three of the four keys, he said they are attitude, consistency, and teamwork. within the full video, he told a couple other stories that i thought i'd mention. one, is when he went into a bank, and seven of the eight tellers were closed. when he finally got to the one teller who was open, all he had to do was sign a document, and he didn't have a pen. he asked her for a pen, and she showed him the one on the counter, which was chained to the counter. he asked her why, and she responded with "because customers steal them," and he got so angry, that he yanked the pen (chain and all) out the counter and said "well! then get your brand on more pens, and use them for advertising!" and then he went on to pull the same pen from the bank out of his pocket, with the chain still attached to it. another story came about when he mentioned how important it was to use customers names. how we do it, is if we see the name on their credit card, or if they have mickey ears with their name embroidered on the back of them, or if we overhear someone else in the guest's party use their name. anyway, mr farrell in the video, said that long ago, he used to work at a gas station and one of his managers told him it was important to use the customer's name, that it adds a personal touch, and makes them feel special. so one day, a customer came to get some gas, and mr farrell asked what his name was (because this was long before credit cards came around,) and the gentleman told him. without the customer knowing, mr farrell went inside, got some tape and wrote the customer's name on it. he then went back to the car, and stuck the tape on the inside of the gas tank, so that whenever the following gas attendants opened it, they saw what his name was so they could refer to him as that. i thought that was a great demonstration of teamwork.

i also learned a couple more fun facts about disney today. i'm going to just put a few on here. okay. here goes. within food and beverage, about nine million hamburgers, seven million hot dogs, nine million pounds of french fries, two hundred and seventy five thousand pounds of popcorn, forty-six million coca cola drinks and about thirty million packets of ketchup packets are sold annually. if you put all of the mickey ear hats that are sold annually together, they can go for one hundred and seventy five miles, or add up to be enough to cover every single man, woman and child in florida. there are over two thousand weddings in walt disney world and disneyland combined yearly. disney's animal kingdom has over three hundred species of mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibiams, and over three thousand varities of trees. that's a lot to wrap your head around, isn't it?!

last week in my corporate analysis class, one of the videos we watched was from the 'village of 100.' this is an organization who study the globe, and what they did, was reduce the population of the world to one hundred people. and this is the outcome:

-how many asians would be in the village? - 60
-how many would be europeans? - 12
-how many would be from the western hemisphere (both north and south) - 13
-how many would be africans? - 14
-how many would be from the south pacific? - 1
-how many would be female? - 49
-how many would be male? - 51
-how many would be white? - 18
-how many would be non-white? - 82
-how many would be christian? - 33
-how many would be non-christian? - 67
-how many would be heterosexual? - 89
-how many would be homosexual? - 11
-thirty-two per cent of the entire world's wealth would be in the hands of how many people? - 5
-how many of those people would be citizens of the united states? - 5
-how many people in the united states (actual population) have work disabilities - 17,000,000
-how many in our village would live in substandard housing? - 80
-how many would have hiv? - 1
-how many would suffer from malnutrition? - 50
-how many would be unable to read? - 67
-how many would not have a safe water supply? - 33
-how many would have a college education? - 1
-how many would not have electricty - 24
-how many would have access to the internet? - 7

some of those facts are so sad. it really brings the world into perspective, doesn't it? sixty-seven people out of one hundred people in the world can't read? half of the world suffers from malnutrition? only one out of a hundred has a college education? it's unbelievable. really.

anyways, i thought all of that would be pretty interesting. for now, i'm going to get back to reading my book (what a privelige it is that i can read, now that i think about it,) and enjoy the peace and quiet for a bit. definitely missed home this weekend with gold cup among other things going on. but i know everyone had a blast and had fun, as usual! hope the weather at home is treating everyone well. two days ago, it was boiling hot here, and yesterday it was freezing! today was pretty cold too! i have no idea what's in store for tomorrow, because google never seems to tell me the right thing, and the weather is so bipolar! sending all my love to everyone. and i miss all my family and my friends so much! i miss mum and dad and ben and nan and pa and gran and rozzy and uncle ron and aunty serena and jessica and cindy and liam and uncle paul and aunty mo and sammy (because we barely see each other here, too) and stephie and jacob and joey and aunty annalee and seamus and vv and uncle jean-marc and aunty lee and abi and maddy and sydney and aunty saralee and uncle barry and brianna and eryn and uncle andrew and aunty gina and megan and barry and jacob and uncle bru and aunty debbie and brett and laura and josh and rachael and aunty t and uncle derek and j and eri AND EVERYONE ELSE IN MY FAMILY! so much. too much. come visit me! going from seeing every single one of those people at least twice a month to not having seen them in two months is insane! but i'm still so happy and wouldn't trade this experience for anything. i hope everyone is happy, and still continues to be continunally positive and thankful for all their blessings always. lots of love

one more disney day

to celebrate leap year, disney decided to have one more disney day, whereby magic kingdom in walt disney world in orlando, and disneyland in californoa were open for twenty four hours,for the first time in history, from six in the morning yesterday to six in the morning this morning. guests started lining up from ten pm the night before in order to be the first inside, and to be the first to get their hands on limited edition merchandise. i feel quite honored because i was one of the people who helped make the disney ear hats that said "one more disney day" with the date on it. the night before, my task at work was to complete two hundred more hats. it's pretty cool.

yesterday i had a couple classes, so i couldn't be one of those people who got there early in the morning. in fact, i was waiting for a couple friends, and didn't go until like ten pm last night. i thought the crowd would have died down by then, but no way. people were having the time of their lives, and many of them even in pjs! i had such a good time, despite the fact that i didn't get any merchandise because they had run out! but it's okay. i was still there. we went on rides and just took our cool time doing whatever, because all we had was time. we went on space mountain at like one thirty in the morning, and splash mountain shortly after. spinning in the teacups from the mad tea party at three thirty in the morning was something i never thought i'd do, but it was so fun.

at first, i was determined to make it til six am but around four thirty, that was it, and it was time to head home. i was exhausted! i slept until two thirty this afternoon! i know - that never happens!

i'm now getting ready to go to the outlet, to get the security tag taken off of a skirt that i bought. i doubt i'll buy anything today. (yeah right.)

it's a new day, a new month. i hope everyone only has happy, positive days. much love!