Day #1

In bed, reflecting. Hah. Not really. 

So today was good. I was talking with Sophia on the way back from the BBQ and we decided that it felt like several different days instead of just one. It was so long and exhausting and basically just gives us a general idea of what we're going to have to deal with the rest of this week. 

Today:

I woke up this morning in the room Jillian and I shared for the night. We roomed together and woke up around 7, instructed to be downstairs around 8:45. 

We played around with our make-up for a while, finally putting on our dresses, figured out some double sided tape and headed for the hotel lobby armed with our gifts for the mayor.

We all got onto a luxury (no joke) school bus and endured the short drive to City Hall. 

Once there, we posed for multiple group photos, several with Jackie Geist, and then alphabetized ourselves by title and made our way inside.

We sat around talking, waiting for the council to get there, then decided to take more group photos as we waited. 

We were finally able to present our gifts to the mayor (her assistant rather) and I presented my grapes with apologies that it wasn't wine. 

Afterwards, we all re-boarded the luxery bus and headed back to the hotel where we made our way to a ballroom for a meeting. Bob and the hostesses sat down with us and told us all the rules and what to expect for the week. 

They also handed out a pamphlet dubbed "The Bible" which was our schedule for the next week. 

We headed back upstairs, changed into our rehearsal clothes then Jansie and I headed to get lunch. 

Once lunch was over, we all headed over to the theater where we were introduced to Season, the choreographer. We learned the ENTIRE dance for the Opening Number in two hours. So much dancing!

We were released and headed back to the hotel. 

Jansie, Alex, Sophia and I did some stretches in the hallway of the hotel, tried to figure out the dance some more, then gave up and just decided to eat.

We got dressed for the BBQ and met up with everyone in the hotel lobby. 

We got onto the school bus and headed to our host's house. When we got there, we were shocked to see that it was a mansion and it totally reminded me of something out of the South. I kept expecting to see chinese lanterns and twinkle lights laced inside the trees.

For dinner, we sat at the loudest table, where one girl knew the Taco Bell rap and where we passed our phones around, showing off pictures of our pets. 

Overall, it was a fun day. Exhausting, but not that bad. I don't know what I'll say after tomorrow, since we have rehearsal from 8:30am to 11:30pm.

I don't know if I'm quite so into that.