New job

Hello friends. So I'm one week away from being finished with my very first set up of a city. For those of you who don't know I've joined the staff of Up with People and am not a Field Marketing and Operations Manger. Basically what I do is go ahead of the cast to a city and do all of the organizing that it takes to bring a cast to a city. I find host families, meals, community projects, a venue, media outlets, sell tickets, write lots of memos. Basically anything you can think of I probably do that. It's a fun and sometimes frustrating job. My coworker in this city is Phil W. It's really been a pleasure to work with him. I'm so glad he was my first partner because we have a very similar working style and we've gotten along great! We got our interns two weeks ago, Karoline from Norway and Yohannes from Ethiopia. They've been great and so fun to work with. I think we're pretty much ready for the cast to arrive on Monday. I feel like there should be so much more I need to be doing, but everything I'm in charge of is pretty set. We have all our host families. (provided no one else drops out before Monday) and although no one would donate meals to us, I think I've got the budget all sorted out so I can buy them. It's been tough, but we've had a lot of fun too. My first week in Dade City, Phil and I went up to Tampa to a parade called Gasparillia. It's basically a pirate themed Mardi Gras. There were pirates, booze and tons of beads. We had a great time just watching the people go crazy. Then the next week there was the big Kumkwat Festival in Dade City. It reminded me of Arts in the Park in North Platte or Imperial. Lots of booths and food and music and some booths with useless crap that no one would ever need but you just feel like you should buy it because it's there. Haha. Then the week our interns came my boss Christy called us up and asked if we were free that weekend to come down to Orlando and hang out at Universal Studios for free. Umm....duh. So we took our interns there and rode some rides and ended up getting to ride on THE Universal Studios float for their Mardi Gras parade. We got to dress up and throw beads into a screaming crowd of thousands. It was super fun!!!! Plus the Jurrasic Park ride may have been the coolest ride I've ever been on. I got soaked and it totally ruined my hair for the rest of the day, but it was worth it. I can't wait to go back and also go to Disney World. I love rollercoasters!! Anyway, the cast gets here Monday and I'm super excited to see everyone. I've really missed the staff. We got pretty close during staging and I think the hardest part of this job is being secluded and away from people for months at a time. It's been great having Phil. I can't imagine doing the job alone. I think I'd go crazy. Anyway, I should know where I'm headed to next in about a week. It will either be Deridder, Louisiana or Tyler, Texas. I'm pretty sure I'll be sent to Texas which would totally make my day because it's not that far from my friend Javier. I have no clue if anyone still reads this blog, but I'm going to try and keep it up because it's a great way to let everyone know what's happening in my life.