DER TONY!!!

As I sit here in a cafe, I find myself thinking about all of the different things I have experienced in the past few weeks. Janet told us before we left that we would be busy doing so many things every day, and she was right. I have had the trip of a lifetime, and am blown away by all of the amazing experiences I have had. The first thing I will comment on is one that I had been most worried about on this trip. Dancing. I will begin by saying that I do not dance. At least I thought I didn't. The biggest step in this realization was understanding that my definition of"dance" was absolutely and totally wrong. Through the work we did I found myself not just simply participating in the many workshops, but truly enjoying them and looking forward to each one (though by the end, my feet would probably disagree with that last statement :P) the most important thing I learned is that dance is movement. Marcela told us, "As you are walking down the street, you are dancing. You just aren't paying attention to the numerous movements your body is making in order to create the walking process." I didn't get it. How could walking be dance? I now see that though this is a very simplistic movement, if given context or thought, walking can be very meaningful. I find myself in the workshops thinking about each step, each movement, every joint in my body and how each of these things changed what I was presenting. Now, to back track a bit... I never said I was a good dancer. I am a GREAT dancer, obviously. Haha just kidding. In all reality I don't really think it matters. Dance is something that I believe can be enjoyed, and if I have fun doing it that is the only thing that is important. I have truly learned so much about this interesting topic, and would love to have the chance to do more things like this in the future. My sincerest thanks go out to Janet, Jacalyn, Marcela, and Nadja for encouraging all of us to put in our all because I really think everyone on the trip got something great out of it. With only a few days left with the group I am seeing that it will be sad to not be around everyone and laugh and joke and learn together. I always travel alone, and this is the second worry I had before coming on this trip. Would I be able to get along with everyone? Would people be hard to live so closely with? Would I have to wait an hour to shower? Turns out none of these questions ended up being problematic. I mean, we have definitely had to wait an hour for a shower done days, but that didn't really matter hahaha. Not once have I felt uncomfortable with the group. Not once have I been upset with someone on the trip. Not once have I felt the need to escape and be alone. Not once have I felt stressed. Well that last one is a lie. The other students and I planned a few events for Teryn's birthday. This happened to be on one of our busier days, but the stress was totally welcomed and TOTALLY worth it. We surprised her numerous times, the best being the flash mob in front of the Brandenburger Tor. I'll let her talk more about that :). That "stressful" day was one of my favorites on the trip, as it was so much fun to see the entire group work together and pull everything together (thanks Sarah for laying on the ground in your nice clothes to make the dance perfect!!!!) If I had to choose a low point for the trip it would be impossible. I would probably say the the bomb shelter/bunker things we have visited. I absolutely loved them, but that was physically the lowest we got altitude-wise (see what I did there?? Haha.) Truthfully though, wow. Just wow. What an experience. Truthfully the trip of a lifetime. Thank all you guys on this trip with me for really becoming my close friends and for putting up with my goofiness and jokes (that's you Benji, lol.) Sui that's all for now! I have to run because my show is starting soon!!