More folk dance blogging.

So I have avoided blogging for some time for several reasons.

1. I'm lazy. (this is perhaps the most prominent point)
2. I don't take pictures anymore because...well refer to number 1. For some reason I feel like blogs are required to include pictures. However, I am quite sure this is not required.

Okay so that was only two reasons and not several. Oh well. It is now time to tell you about my crazy folk dance adventure of the last few weeks.

Coming back from Christmas break, I knew there would be a time crunch. We finished Christmas Around the World last month and after that we just rested after all the hard work. However, our first show for this semester was this weekend, and so starting at the beginning of this semester (January 4) we had about 5 dances to learn and get ready for this performance. So the first two weeks of school were fairly folk dance devoted. We had Saturday rehearsals and last week had two tech/dress rehearsals, the first being horrendous and the second being slightly more heartening. But let's be honest, we were still all pretty nervous about our show in Mesquite.

So we finally get everything together and off we go to Mesquite. That night we were split up, half of us spent the night at a hotel and half went to stay with host families. Lucky me, I got a host family! This was my first show like this (out of state) with the Performing Arts Company (PAC), so I wasn't sure what to expect. But I was paired with one of our band's violinists Ashley Carroll (who soon basically became my new BFF) and we went off with the Bowdens, the sweetest little retired couple ever. Deloy and Denece Bowden. Adorable alliteration!

First Denece fed us a full meal even though we'd already had dinner because we didn't have the heart to say no. She finished that up with a huge piece of pie. I prayed my way through eating it all. No joke. Seems silly now but I was feeling in dire need then.

After the full meal, Ashlee and I went into our lovely little guest room and talked for about 2 hours instead of doing the homework we both had. However, it was worth it because we bonded! Human bonding is way more important than homework.

The next day was spent in setting up the stage, rehearsing outside in the BEAUTIFUL weather, and being fed amazing meals by the amazing members of Mesquite. Our lunch was provided by some lovely ladies and there was probably just as much dessert as there was lunch. And for dinner we went to this ranch right on the border with Arizona and they fed us this amazing grilled meat (some of it was chicken, the rest was beef). I asked for it to be very well done and I got my wish and I was soooo happy. They also gave us apple pie and ice cream!

The best part about the dinner were the people I was sitting with. Tim, our bass player, was asking group questions for everyone to answer. His last question was, if you could combine two animals and have it for a pet what would it be? The best answer of all was Liahona's, she wanted a kitten and a mole because kittens are cute and moles are blind and slow. So basically, as Jared our banjo player pointed out, she wanted a handicapped kitten. Apparently they're cuter that way.

We then rush back to do our performance and it goes SWIMMINGLY! I can't believe it worked. Mind you there were hiccups, like maybe my curly wig fell off in the first 24 counts of the first dance and swung by my bun for the opening dance but hey, things happen. After the performance our audience (which was not only sold out but OVER sold, they brought chairs in for people) LOVED us. I had a dancer from Las Vegas who told me it was amazing and she'd never seen anything like it. I had someone else from Vegas tell me it was better than any show they'd ever seen there. I had a sweet old grandpa put his arm around me and say he just wanted to take me home. It was amazing! My mouth hurt from smiling, truly.

The real adventure is coming. We take down our show and wait for our bus driver who is an hour and twenty minutes late. So, this is already feeling sketchy. Jon Wood, our manager and Ed Austin, our director, were a little worried when the bus came that the driver was intoxicated because he didn't look quite right and they weren't feeling good about the situation. But they couldn't smell any alcohol on him. So off we go. As soon as I got on the bus and saw our bus drivers face I knew something was wrong. I didn't feel good about the situation and knew in my heart he was under the influence of something. So for the next forty minutes of this situation I could be found in my seat, cranking up the classical music, and in the prayer position.

Quickly, Jon and Ed could tell that this man wasn't fit to drive as he was never really in a lane, driving on the rumble strip, getting really close to people in front of us, etc. Ed sat right up next to him ready to take the wheel if need be, and Jon and Brian, a dancer from our team, got together and tried to figure out what to do. Thankfully, the man who had booked our show was following us because he felt like he needed to. The Church is true! He could tell our bus driver was under the influence of something by his driving, so he called the highway patrol who called the port of entry into Utah who stopped us and made the driver come in for a "routine check".

At this point most of the bus still didn't know what was going on and had no idea anything was even wrong. The troopers then speed up and go in and sure enough he isn't drunk. However, upon getting his backpack they realize that his prescription of Oxycontin, which was filled yesterday, is now empty. So not only was it a miracle that we got to this point alive (after driving through the gorge by the way...) but that he was even conscious. About an hour after sitting at the port of entry our bus driver is arrested, and members from the St. George area are coming to shuttle us to a hotel. Even the workers at the port of entry volunteered to shuttle us over after their shifts. The world is so full of nice people!

The next day we just chilled in the hotel, had the best continental breakfast of my life, and waited for our new bus driver who was checked for EVERYTHING before they let him drive us. We had Sunday School on the bus, which was amazing. It's so cool that because of the Church website we were able to have the same lesson that everyone else was having. Can't technology be wonderful? So after that we had a long drive and got back to Provo by about 5:30 PM instead of 4 AM. No big.