FINAL OPPORTUNITIES to see S.O.U.L 2010 in concert!

Tuesday May 25, 2010
Redeemer Methodist Church 7pm (FREE)
20571 Vernier Rd., Harper Woods, MI
AND....

FINAL PERFORMANCE 
Thursday May 27, 2010:
Stout Middle School 7pm (FREE)
18500 Oakwood Blvd, Dearborn, MI

Please come see what the team and I have been up to for the past five months!! You'll be missing something GREAT if you don't! :-D

On a scale of 1 to 10 you are an 11.1...officer.

After NYC we spent another couple weeks in New York and New Jersey. Fairly low key weeks...amazing host families....we saw the Lake George area and the Adirondecs (sp?) in New York - a really beautiful area. I got pulled over by a New York State Police Officer...interesting fella - told me basically right off the bat that he wasn't going to give me ticket (probably largely due to Zuly's beautiful eyes and impeccable blinking skills) for going 70 in a 65. he then proceeded to ask a host of questions about SOUL, and where the singers were from, and when I would be in the state next since I was from Michigan...blah blah blah, AND THEN he tells me to wait one more moment and comes back to the car with an "equipment malfunction form". Huh? Apparently you can't pull people over in New York without giving them some sort of citation. So he fills out a form for me that basically says my speedometer was broken and I was unable to tell how fast I was going - and he also filled out the bottom part which is meant to be filled out at a dealership to say that I have had the faulty equipment repaired. He hands me the form and says all I have to do is mail it in and then everything will be fine since he already filled it out...oy vey, tons of sense that makes, eh? ooo! Wait....not in Canada quite yet.

OH CAAAANADAAAAAAA....oh border crossing time eh?

I don't think I have been this nervous in a long time even though I was doing absolutely nothing wrong...I have just heard so many order stories about border crossing including some that came from previous SOUL tours...I'm not smuggling immigrants officer I swear! Annnnnd of course I had myself all worked up for nothing - piece of cake...took about 15 minutes total. Passports please. So, one from the US and none of the others? That's correct. Ohhhh...my family is originally from Estonia!...okay I'll need you guys to pull over to the side and check in with immigration to make sure the Visa's are all in order. In and out of the line...no problemo, phew! I am really happy there were no problems...but on the other hand, that certainly didn't provide for a very interesting story eh? Anywho, off to Niagara Falls! A beautiful site at night although it was a bit chilly for us. It had been SUCH a long time since we had a chance to go out that after Zuly and Steve decided to head back to the hotel...Teele and I decided to discover Niagara Falls nightlife...which is not bad I tell you, not bad at all! We danced I would say for at least three hours straight at a really cool nightclub. We met a group of guys outside after the club closed who were out for their friend's bachelor party...they provided some the best laughs I have had in a while! One told us that on a scale of 1 to 10 we were definitely 11.1's...which somehow wasn't quite as flattering as it should be...why can't we be 20's, huh? anywayyyyy entertainment at its finest...guys at a bachelor party. I also experienced a little culture shock of my own: I ordered a medium coffee from Tim Hortons and then proceeded to argue with the lady that it was not my order when it was ready..."Um, I ordered a medium..." - "That is a medium" - "THAT is a medium??" The medium was so tiny!!! I'm sorry if it sounds ignorant or what have you...but I say, you definitely get more for your money in the states. Niagara Falls was just a one night stand though...a break in a long drive...so after returning to our hotel room around 5:30am we woke up at 8:30 to drive the rest of the way to Toronto and grab some lunch before meeting our new hosts. The singers performed at a coffee house event and a church service and then today we had a chance to be tourists downtown Toronto which is a very nice big city! The one thing that stood out the most to me was how clean it was! We did some shopping and watched some great street performers including an artists who creates masterpieces on the sidewalk with chalk...and I mean amazing!! Steve and I also saw a guy who was quite possibly the most intoxicated person I have ever seen...walking around in the middle of the day....on a Monday. Oh dear. We did a lot of Subway riding again...I just have to say again how much I love love love public transportation!! It's just so convenient, and easy, and cheap not to mention better for the environment and probably much safer because not so many people are on the roads!...Hey Obama Administration - maybe now since everyone is really angry with the oil industry, particularly BP for spewing oil into the Gulf of Mexico - it would be a good time to focus on mass public transportation and an infrastructure to support battery powered vehicles! Oh wait, I forgot...government officials usually don't make changes...they just like to talk about it a lot.

Tomorrow we move on to Waterloo, ON for a performance at a university and then...drum roll please!...We are driving back across the border into Michigan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is crazy to me. There have been times where the tour seemed to drag But for the most part it seems like we all met as team for the first time yesterday..and now we are going to be back in our home state with just under two weeks left. Honestly...I am dreading it ....saying goodbye to my new family is going to be one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. But I also am really looking forward to seeing my original family and friends that I haven't seen for five months!!! I think the next couple weeks will surely prove to be an emotional roller coaster.

Countdown to The Netherlands: 26 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Peace, Love, and Maple Leaves. <3 Jackie

My Oh My, How so much can change in so little time

Washington D.C. was amazing...a city I have been to only once and already know I love. It is such an empowering feeling knowing that you are standing in the hub of your countries decision making city. As we SOUL members have become professional crammers...we saw as many possible landmarks in DC in 8 hours as humanly possible. The Smithsonian, The Capitol Building, The FBI building, The Washington Monument, The Lincoln Memorial, THE WHITE HOUSE....which I would like to take a moment to talk about. You can't fly to another country from a US airport without being subjected to thorough security checks, including but not limited to questioning, metal detectors, confiscation of personal hygiene products, and the occasional strip search - yet do you know how close you can get to the White House without any security checks at all?! The freaking house where the President of United States of America LIVES?? Yes Barack, Michelle, Sasha, Malia, and even Bo...you can practically stand right in their back yard separated only by a wimpy wrought iron fence that stands about six feet high and has 5 inch spaces between each bar....makes zero sense if you ask me. As I was standing...in the back yard...taking pictures of the White House, there was a guy with a strong accent standing next to me doing the same thing and commenting to his travel mate "I have traveled a lot...and I don't know ANY other country where you can get this close to where the President lives..." And as Teele mentioned for example: The US Embassy in Estonia is more protected than that!! Oh! And don't forget that since 9/11 you can no longer take tours of the inside of the White House....but you can take a lovely frolicking tour of the gardens on the grounds with massively large groups of people at a time and take pictures on the front porch. Well I guess it is helpful that they had one security guy dressed in all black standing on the roof in broad daylight...he really blended in with the WHITE house...Oh dear.

This is just something I found to be ironic...but overall I LOVE WASHINGTON D.C. Teele and I also visited the "Newseum" which was the most interesting and amazing museum I have ever visited...I wonder why it was so interesting to me? hehe They had everything from a memorial to journalists who have lost their lives reporting the news and a 9/11 news coverage memorial...to an interactive news room where people could experience things like the ethical dilemmas journalists face on a daily basis and what it is truly like to read breaking news from a teleprompter. My favorite part about this is seeing how difficult it is for some people...right after they say something like "Well how hard can it be?"...uh huh! It was really cool to me too, that the Newseum staff updates these shadow boxes EVERY day with a copy of the front page of nearly every major newspaper...in the WORLD. We also saw a "4D" movie about the history of journalism...what is 4D pray tell? Well it is 3D along with moving seats, puffs of air, vibrating floor, etc. It was really cool!

Also in DC....I think the biggest challenge SOUL 2010 has had to face....As many of you may have heard, SOUL has said goodbye to it's 4th singer, Makly Prophete from Haiti. Many people automatically think tragedy when they hear this news - so I just want to clarify that indeed Makly and his family are okay and his departure from the SOUL tour was unrelated to the earthquake.

Being in a management position, this is one of the most difficult situations I have ever had to deal with. This is a job where it quickly becomes difficult to separate the personal from the professional...when you spend practically 24 hours a day with people for five months you develop unique relationships that I have come to realize are equivalent to relationships you share with members of your own family. To lose one of our members...a part of our family...has completely changed our group dynamic and quite frankly changed our job quite a bit. It was a difficult decision, but ultimately the best one I think for the success of SOUL 2010. Although we miss Makly I am happy to say all things considered, the remaining members of our team are adjusting quite well and have been delivering outstanding presentations and performances as a trio.

Next Stop: New York City...talk about making the most of your time! Although I have been to the city many many times before...it never ceases to amaze me...and there is ALWAYS something new to see! Cramming for the group included: The Statue of Liberty, SoHo, Greenwich Village, Grand Central Station, Times Square, The Empire State Building, Central Park....WOW. I am glad for the singers that they were able to see most of the key landmarks...however, this type of sightseeing in a city like NYC is exhausting! What else? I did some minor shopping I couldn't afford, but also that I couldn't help. Teele and I received free tickets to an Owl City concert in which we attended and didn't actually see Owl City perform because they took too damn long to take the stage and they were wasting our precious opportunity to experience NYC nightlife...so we left. hehe The concert venue was really cool and the opening band wasn't too shabby, but it was going to take too long and there were too many pre-teens with their moms there. We are young and we felt old...that's how you know it's time to change the plan! We went to Adrian's Manhattan apartment (World Youth Choir friend of Teele's and now random acquaintance friend of mine!) I did see an opera for the first time, with Teele, that Adrian performed in at Juilliard..and I have to say it was above and beyond my expectations. It was Dialogues of the Carmelites and it was an amazing performance!! And Adrian still did a great job even though we kept him out until 5am Latin dancing at a Cuban bar and eating street meet on the Subway with some random kid whose friends drew a penis on his arm and then left him to sleep on the the train all night. haha fun times! I also saw a GIRL, who looked younger than I do on the subway with her husband and their little boy and she had the largest most obnoxious yet gorgeous diamond wedding ring I have ever seen in my life and a I took a picture of it, but the picture is on my cell phone - so unless you have access to my cell phone at some point...I won't be able to show you.

Now we are in New Jersey. We worked all day today at a private boarding school called the Pennington School...It was really nice...reminded me of the Cranbrook School in Michigan. We had a really good day and joined the host teacher after school for some delicious Gelatto. After work Teele and I returned to our hotel room and we were so tired we decided to take a nap before going out tonight. We laid down around 5...now it is 2:35am...we just woke up about an hour ago...and now we are starving because we slept through dinner so we are out to venture off and find a lovely greasy American midnight snack.

Countdown to The Netherlands!: 42 days :-D


Love, Jackie

What does Mother Nature have against us?

We left Florida yesterday and now we are in Washington D.C. and IT IS COLD! grrrr. But! We did have a great week in Clermont, FL. I took Teele on her first jet ski ride and she learned how to drive it as well...and I took Makly on his first REAL jet ski ride...their sound effects were enough to brighten my day for a week :-P hehe

We met several teachers at Clermont Elementary school that I think define what education should be. Dedicated and truly determined to do everything in the student's best interest...teachers that genuinely care about their students and their lives and their experiences...so thank you for that, and you all know who you are!

Many of the kids this past week had us laughing out loud...

*Zuly's instrument is called a "Cuatro". She is counting out loud in Spanish with the kids up to the number four so they can learn the name. Then she holds up the maracas and asks them "And how do you call these?" and a kindergarten student yells "CINCO!" as confident as ever....

*Zuly is trying to teach the kids how to roll their "r"'s by telling them to imitate the sound of a motorcycle engine...we just keep getting voom voom voom instead rrrrrrr!? (Other singers: "They don't have the rolling "r" sound in English...")

*I am selling t-shirts at an evening concert and a kid comes running up to the table (he's probably 7 or 8) and grabs an adult extra large t-shirt and starts screaming at me about how he wants it. I reach out to grab the t-shirt and tell him he will have to wait and come back with his parents...he proceeds to play tug of war with me and literally hangs from the t-shirt.....my face I'm sure was priceless (Something along the lines of expressing "Where are your parents and why on Earth did they let you out of the house today?!")...and Steve and Teele had the privilege of witnessing the whole scene...thank you guys for the back up...haha.

Through our wonderful connections at Clermont Elementary we also got to visit Walt Disney World! We went to magic Kingdom first and watched a parade of pretty princesses and handsome princes and then road some rides. Then we split up and Teele and I visited Epcot...Ya know, we created our future in a time machine and traveled around the whole world in just three hours...SOUL tours can do amazing things for you I tell ya....Talk about using your time wisely ;) Annnnnd Zuly, Makly and Steve liked Disney so much they went back again later in the week! I think they literally saw everything.....I'm glad they had the opportunity and had a great time!! :)

Friday after school we embarked on the longest SOUL drive in history I think...a total of 15 hours between two days...Being in the car for that long together can make you goofy... And I think some of the best people watching and random life experiences can happen at rest stops...officially. For the SECOND time on this tour, Teele and I found a ladies bathroom...a single ladies bathroom....one door....no stalls.....with two toilets set right beside each other. And (this is probably too much information but I will give it to you anyway because it makes the story  better...) we had to go so bad, we used them! So we are laughing and when we exit the bathroom Makly and Steve are still in line for the men's room. We explain why we are laughing and Steve walks towards the women's bathroom because he wants to see this - and I say "oh but Steve, you can't go in there!"...annnnd the guy working behind the counter proceeds to make the "psht" noise as in, uh it doesn't matter! and says "Oh yeah he can...it's probably better anyways". Turns out some kid had a volatile accident in the men's bathroom and it was inhumane to force anyone else to use it. So after Teele and I used the double toilet...so did the boys! It's kind of a weird and gross story, but I can just picture this being a great scene for a movie.

We stayed at a hotel in Savannah, GA last night...which makes me kind of sad because we heard so much about what a nice and pretty city it is...and we were only there basically to sleep :( Oh well...we did have a lovely continental breakfast that provided us with a great laugh to start off the day. Zuly see's a waffle machine but doesn't know how it works and so she calls me over and says "Okay Jackie you are the American here...show me." The hotel employee over-hears her say this and proceeds to pretty much make the waffle for her...and he says "When it's done it will beep at you." Zuly looks confused and says "what? beep?" and he looks her right in the face and says "Yes, it will go 'BE BA BEEE BEEEE BEEEEEEEP'" when it's done. It was the best impression of a waffle machine beep I have ever heard! It kind of reminded me of a scene from the most recent Alvin and the Chipmunks movie...which I saw with Miss Kristen Henderson and I think she is the only person who it will understand why, hehe.

Now we are in Washington D.C. and we get to be tourists all day tomorrow!! I think this is the thing I have been most excited for on the entire tour...I am really looking forward to it!! I am just bummed that I lost my camera charger, so i won't be able to take any pictures on my own camera :(

Countdown: 56 days till The Netherlands!!!

Peace, Love, Capitol Building! ~Jackie

p.s. I spent 5ish hours thoroughly cleaning the SOUL train inside and out this past week during my time off because I am officially a workaholic and now it is covered in bug guts. wahm wahm wahmmmmmm.

Caught in my own silly game

A lovely day off today was...slept until noon, when was the last time I did that?!!! ahhh the singers and I were also joined by our hosts at a lovely and crowded beach on the Gulf of Mexico :) Yeah life is goooood. Did you ever play the game of attaching money to fishing line and waiting for random people to grab it before yanking it away? My friends and I used to do that when we were younger. Today Teele and I were walking along the shoreline when I interrupted our conversation to say "Hey! There's a dollar!" and I went skipping over to pick it up...Just as I was bending down to grab it I saw it start to move and immediately heard a group of teenage boys start laughing. Yeah, I got served. But it pleasantly provided us with a good laugh as well! haha

One of our hosts here is the proud owner of a certified service dog named Lady, a beautiful and delightful Tebettan (sp?) Spaniel. She's a small little dog with a huge personality and I am totally in love with her! Also, the singers performed at a senior living center yesterday evening and we were joined at dinner by a couple who met each other there...Neill (yes with two "L's") is 91 and Jan is 85...neither of them look a day over 65...and they are more in love than a pair of giddy high school sweethearts! Seeing those kind of fairy tale-ish stories in real life is so refreshing to me!

My annoyance of the day: Makly, Teele, Steve and I are lying on the beach - our hosts (who mind you are all retired women) literally just left us to take a walk by the water, when a police officer comes up to ask us what is in our coolers, implying that we were trying to sneak alcohol onto an alcohol-free beach. He continued to explain that they check very thoroughly and blah blah blah. He asks if we are sure there is no alcohol in the cups - Teele says "Yeah, do you want to try it?" He say's flatly "no." Meanwhile there are at least 20 other groups of people around with coolers and cups that he paid no attention to. Yes we are young, and an odd looking bunch together, but c'mon people. Either check EVERYONE upon entry to the beach or don't check ANYONE. Singling people out is just a big-headed way to exercise your desire for power and prove your lack of self confidence if you ask me. And by the way...we were drinking V8 juice and Pomegranate juice.

I suddenly feel a little better about my job search overnight! I talked to my cousin (fav cuzzo em, love youuuuu) today and she gave me a great new website to check for job listings and I found nearly 20 listings throughout the country that I am more than qualified for! woo hoo! Looks like I have a lot of paperwork to work on here in the near future.

Tomorrow we have a program at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Bradenton and then it's off to Disney World to find our inner child!!

Peace, Love, and Magic <3 Jackie

I know, I know

Things have gotten hectic once again - and not to mention now, during our time off we are constantly tempted by the beautiful spring weather and Florida sunshine....it always seems to sound much better than computering. Last time I wrote I was sitting in a library and now I am sitting in the Freedom Villiage senior living center in Bradenton, FL. Since my last post we have hit two college towns - Florida State University and University of Florida, rivals! That by the way remind me  very much of the rivalry between MSU and U of M...interestinggggg. I only experienced FSU nightlife though which I can attest to being great. You cannot beat a $10 wrist band that covers your drinks all night long. This was also the night that Teele and I ate McDonalds...TWICE - enough said. We also visited Waculla Springs with our hosts in Tallahassee....A beautiful natural spring and nature preserve where you can take a boat tour and observe incredible animals in their natural habitats including alligators, a variety of tropical birds, BIG turtles, and the famous gentle giants: Manatees.

We then stayed in Micanopy, Florida in the most amazing house I've ever been in. All five of us got to stay together with our awesome host Jeff. We fell in love with the home and grounds which they also use sometimes to host events such as retreats and weddings - you can see pictures at www.baylaurel.biz. CHECK IT OUT! It is unbelievable. Although we had a crazy busy schedule during our stay there - our time we could be at home felt like we were in a relaxation oasis. Also while there, Zuly and I attended a lecture with Jeff given by a journalism professor at U of F. The title of the lecture was along the lines of  "Living in a world of anti-social social media". It was very interesting to me to notice the difference in opinions in generations in regards to the benefits and disadvantages of the internet and social media. I'm sure you can tell by the title of the lecture what the main idea was - very interesting indeed.

After Micanopy we had a short journey to Gainesville where I met my future self in my host. I stayed with Jean and Tony, and Jean my host mother is absolutely gorgeous in her 70's, she and Tony were full of life and personality, they had a beautiful home and two rightfully spoiled mancoon cats...I couldn't have enjoyed myself more with them and  I can only hope in my future I am as much like Jean as possible - if you read this, you are my new real-life idol!! :)

The singers and I have visited many more high school's than usual, recently it seems - which has been a refreshing change. That was a random insert, but I wasn't quite sure where to mention it although I know I needed to.

So now we are two days back at work - before this the singers and I enjoyed 7 exquisite days off on beautiful and historic St. Augustine....Am I making it sound too good to be true?...it was!!!! We spent a lot of time on the beach...yes I am tan! One of our hosts was a marine biologist at Marine Land and she was able to get us passes to go visit and meet the dolphins there...magnificent animals, they truly are...and so cute! We took a trolley tour of St. Augustine and saw Fort Matanzas, and we also received special passes for a Freedom Trail tour that focused on the history of The Civil Rights Movement in St. Augustine which was extremely interesting! We saw many homes where Martin Luther King Jr. stayed for example, and one of the places he was arrested as well as the homes of many other key name in American Black History. We also enjoyed a few fun nights out with a variety of live music and dancing - and the gorgeous weather just tied it all together perfectly, like a bright pink bow!

Now we are trying to get back into the working swing - oy vey. It is 8:00p.m. now and I left the house this morning to begin pick ups at 6:30a.m.and it started out as a rough morning...with the wrong address and a slightly unexpected 3 hour program...but throughout the day...aside from being utterly exhausted, things have gotten better and tomorrow, we have another day off! Woo hoo!

My parents are in the process of moving out of their house back at home and thankfully moving my stuff along with them for now for me...I know they are feeling the stress and pressure of moving and organizing and I wish I could be there to help! Love you guys...keep your chins up! I am really missing my parents, and my dog :( And also job hunting for after the tour has had me stressed in recent weeks....but other than that life is good :)

Also I just found out that after the tour I will be able to go and visit The Netherlands and a few other places in Europe thanks to Mr. Kevin Groothuizen!!! I will be overseas in 57 days folks, and I am completely ECSTATIC!! Thank you Kevin!!!!! :-D Can't wait!

Well that is the best recap I can do for now on the past few weeks in which I have totally slacked on my updates here...we will be enjoying the Florida sunshine for about another week and a half and visit Disney World on Sunday! Yay! After Florida we will head to the nations capitol, Washington D.C. which I am also really looking forward too!

Tata for now! Love, Jackie

Spelling correction: Thibodaux - and moving right along with 'the spring breakers'!

In my last post, turns out I was spelling 'Thibodaux' incorrectly - so my apologies for that :) And our busy week in Thibodaux ended swimmingly with a dinner for international students at my host Raj and Leena's house. Good food, good people and fun times. We played "Big Booty" for the longest period of time in the history of the game I think...we played so much that I had a bruise on my thigh from keeping the beat...oops! And Saturday morning on our way out to Florida I stopped by New Orleans to pick up my two hooligan children Makly and Teele before continuing on the journey. hehe

We are at that point in our journey - the point where homesickness creeps up on you. If you think about it...for six months, we sleep in a different bed every 2 or 3 nights, every time we want to take a shower or get dressed we must dig through a suitcase, you never know how long it will take to rinse your hair in the shower because of the differences in water pressure, each house has it's own noises at night wether it's the water heater or air conditioner or the ghosts of previous residents...There are just so many things you never think about at home, but become very noticeable when you are away from home for long enough. We discussed this as a group and realized we need to be there for each other more now than ever...

One helpful thing! We are now in Valparaiso, FL where the sun is shining, it's warm, and our week here is relatively free! We get to go to the beach and to a nature conservancy tomorrow...and we've been invited to go out on a boat to celebrate St. Patricks Day on Wednesday so that should be fun!

I find it amusing that the residents here in Florida use the term "spring breakers" to describe college kids here on vacation from other states. I have heard the phrase "They come in droves" or "the spring breakers are crazy" and it's just funny to hear kids basically my age described as a sort of different species. This is actually something working in our favor though because since we have almost the whole week off, we are looking for fun things to do, and because it is spring break for many universities, there is a lot going on down here in the sunshine state!

Boo on you American Health Care system. I am currently uninsured because I am no longer a student, I am not employed sull time, and I don't make nearly enough money to purchase insurance. I went to fill a perscription today and 28 pills cost me $44.00. If that isn't rediciulous, then I must be the only person out there who isn't a millionaire...and I know that is not true, therefore I have come to the justified conclusion that it is indeed rediculous. There were also two people in front of me in line who left their perscription at the counter because they were shocked by a price they just couldn't afford. Yes Obama, it is time for a change...so where is the change??, we have seen nothing yet. I know that the President is no where near soley responsible for dealing with our corrupted health care system - that is just something else that has been on my mind a lot lately...politicians who make promises they can't keep! ANYWAY....

As I mentioned before my friend Kareem (Kirky's boyfriend!) is safely home from being overseas with the Army Reserves! I am very happy and thankful for that...Welcome home Kareem!

I have another interesting story...that I'm afraid must remain an inside joke...but let's just say that I had an experience with the team the other day on our way to Florida that as Zuly would say, has proven angel's do exist...haha! Good for me!

Sunday was awesome here in Valparaiso...We perfomed at the Unitarian Church and then had a beautiful lunch at our new friend Elaina's house which is right on a bayou of the Gulf of Mexico!! It was gorgeous...and after that we went to a marina where there is restaraunt/bar. We spent the evening there...watched the sunset on the Gulf...ate good food...I tasted raw oysters, and they were gross (to me)...and we listened to some great, live rock and oldies music and we also performed including myself! I played drums and even sung a little bit :) As my momma would say "Go on with your bad self!". It was a great tropical night off complete with Landshark...Thank you Makly for driving! :) I would also like to thank my mom and dad. When the band was taking a break a woman came up to me and said "Young lady, I have been watching you and wondering, how do you know the words to every single one of these songs? I know some of them are 40 or more years old..." My musical knowledge can be attributed largely in part to the exposure to music my parents have given me from a very young age!! Plus, I LOVE oldies...let the good times roll!

The singers are performing right now...as I type...at the Mary Esther Library in Florida and I must go now because they are almost finished and we are going for dinner after this at Chilli's!

Best! Jackie

ps. I love the fact that my dad can text now - and the other day he sent me a text that said "love you JJ". I love this for a couple reasons...JJ are my initials and a nickname my Grandpa Dolan gave to me which I loved being called! That text just made me smile :-D

<3 JJ

Cajun Country

Life does exist south of New Orleans in Louisiana for those who thought otherwise - and a life rich with southern hospitality and history if I do say so myself. I did enjoy my two days off getting some personal stuff done - still didn't manage to get everything done though...like laundry, dun dun dunnnn - I'm afraid I may 'tomorrow' my way to no clean underwear. Eh, I'll do it tomorrow.

During Marcus' visit the singers and I had the pleasure of going on a tour of an old creole plantation here in Thibedoux, "The Laura Plantation". It is one of the oldest and best preserved creole plantations still standing and the tour was amazing! It is so eerie and interesting at the same time to know that you are standing in the bedroom for example of someone who lived such a such different life a couple hundred years ago. It makes me wonder "Is Laura herself listening right now and critiquing the way the tour guide describes her life?" The experience was extremely worthwhile and interesting! And being as many of these old plantations are right along the Mississippi River we also went on top of one of the levy's to take some photos of the river and watch some of the ships go by :) Each day it gets warmer and warmer for us...tomorrow the high is supposed to be 78, woo hoo!! It's really nice to be able to do these touristy, outdoor activities...makes me smile!

Today the singers did a performance at a music club meeting in a church and I took some time while I was waiting for them to look around at some of the old graves in a cemetery next door. I know what you're thinking..."depressing" - but in  Louisiana the cemeteries are above ground and I find them intriguing and quite frankly absolutely gorgeous. As I was walking around in there today I felt a wave of emotions. It's kind of comforting to see that families planned for their burial sites to be together and some grave sites have such inspirational quotes on them I love to read. This particular cemetery was especially interesting - some of the graves dated back to the 17 and 18 hundreds and we are in Thibedoux, LA and today I stumbled upon the resting place of THE Thibedoux family. For some reason this gave me chills - I am amazed and in love with preservation of history...I think that's why.  I also saw many graves of children who died in the 1800's...3, 6,7,12,16...very young children and it made me really sad. I saw one headstone of a 3 year old girl who died in 1980 whose parents are still alive and still visit her grave...how do I know? There were fresh flowers with a note card from them... Is it weird that I am completely intrigued by this cemetery? I don't know why, I was just drawn to it for some reason. I love the random things like this I get to experience and see because of having this job - these moments and experiences are irreplaceable and unforgettable and I am truly thankful for them!!

My favorite quote this week (so far) was from one of our hosts Angela. After the singers performed at a Rotary Club luncheon she commented after that she "loved the way Makly was keepin' the beat on his booty." Haha shake it boy, shake it like a Polaroid picture!!

I also ate real Indian food with my hosts Raj and Leena tonight, and it was delicious! I have been so good on the tour about trying foods I've never had before and I am glad because I have tried a lot of new things that I really like :) Yay...and we call that expansion of horizons...always a plus.

Another looong day for my team tomorrow so time for some shut eye now.

Peace, Love, and warm weather in March for the Michigan girl! ~Jackie

Jumpin' Jesus, hustlin' hunnies everywhere!

As our time in New Orleans has come to an end, we now have yet another experience under our belts we will never forget. We had such a busy schedule for the week, in the beginning we were worried we may not have a chance to see any of the city, but by the end of this last weekend, all was well ;)

The SOUL singers worked with the Symphony Chorus of New Orleans all week as well as area schools and a retirement home. Due I think partially to a packed schedule and partially to horrendous traffic and bad roads we were gone everyday of the week from 8am or earlier until 9pm or later aside from a couple breaks where we walked around town for a little while. The weather is now officially warmer for us!! Aside from one night where there was a huge rain storm with hurricane force winds....we had days in the 60's or higher and sun!! My point there is that although we didn't have a lot of time, it was nice to walk around outside a couple of times :) One of the days we had a break Teele and I were walking down the famed Bourbon Street when a guy from the doorway of a club shouted across the street "Ladies! Come on in, you know we love the hustlin' hunnies here..." WHAT does that even mean?! We found out later that apparently auditions for gentlemen's clubs take place in the afternoon and club employees try to recruit random people off the streets....oh dear. Aside from random outbursts downtown New Orleans is a beautiful place to walk around. The architecture is rich with history and detail, there are people everywhere out and about, everything is colorful, there are street performers and artists everywhere, and it seems there is a beautiful church or cathedral on every corner! I think this is one of those places you could visit 30 times and still find something new and unique every time you go. I personally am amazed the most I think by the street performers who are human statues...I could never be completely still in those contorted positions for hours at a time...hats off to you human statues!

There is a store in Jackson Square (basically the center of downtown) called Jackie's! I have a business card from there because it was all I could afford. I can't say I saw a single item in the store I did not like or wouldn't buy, and I can say that I also could not afford a single thing...$85 for a t-shirt is a little out of my recent graduate budget. Oh well. By Thursday night the whole team was ready to have a chance to go out on the town! I think this was partly the case because we discovered there are a lot of good people in New Orleans. Hence our new slogan: "We are Singles of United Lands developing international and cultural relationships through vOcal music from around the world!" Don't panic people - it's just an inside joke...that's not an inside joke anymore because I just told you.

SOUL had a concert Friday night with the Symphony Chorus of New Orleans and area school choirs that went really really well! The audience enjoyed themselves, SOUL received a standing ovation, the choirs sounded amazing together and I sold out of CD's! Woo Hoo...afterward was party time!! Let's just keep it at, we danced the night away...live music everywhere!! Salsa, reggae, jazz, rock, hip hop, anything you want!! We experienced people watching from the balcony's and the freedom of no such thing as open intox and no bar closing time :) (Ahem ahem attention Michigan law enforcement, please take note people can have fun without causing trouble even without ridiculous restrictions :)) We went out Friday night and didn't get home to our new friend Rehema's house until 6am on Saturday! We slept, woke up around 11, went home to eat and shower, and then headed back downtown for round two!! We saw some awesome street performers in Jackson Square and then ate dinner at Hard Rock Cafe...because well, how can you not? And as we spent most of Friday night on Frenchmen Street we decided to spend Saturday night on the Bourbon Street that everyone talks about, and I'm so glad we did!! We got to see a traditional New Orleans parade complete with TONS of people partying in the street, beads and flowers flying everywhere, loud music and lot's of dancing!! We then spent the rest of the night at a bar where a band was playing 80's rock which everyone loved being as we were all mostly children of the 80's :) we called it an early night at about 3am since we had to pack and drive the next day.

So in short, New Orleans was amazing however I have been a little frustrated lately. It amazes me that no matter how much you go above and beyond the call of duty people still don't appreciate you. My BIGGEST pet peeve throughout this tour has become people referring to me as "the driver". Driving is about one millionth of what I do as a Manager for this organization. When I hear those words it makes me want to bust out a spiel about how I graduated from two intense programs with a degree in two fields, with honors, in just 3 1/2 years and if I wanted to be "a driver" I wouldn't have busted my ass with two or three jobs at a time and more than a full course load at all times to put myself through college...I would just go work for a taxi company. My second pet peeve is people assuming that this job is easy, or that they could easily do it themselves...I would love to see anyone try. It's times like this where I have to keep one of my favorite quotes in mind:

"People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered..LOVE THEM ANYWAY, If you do good people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives..DO GOOD ANYWAY, If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies..SUCCEED ANYWAY, The good you do will be forgotten tomorrow..DO GOOD ANYWAY, Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable..BE HONEST AND FRANK ANYWAY, What you spent years building may be destroyed overnight..BUILD ANYWAY, People really need help but may attack you if you help them..HELP PEOPLE ANYWAY, Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth..GIVE THE WORLD THE BEST YOU'VE GOT!"
+Mother Teresa+

SO on that note it's time for another "Kudos to Jackie session". The Michigan Association of Broadcasters award ceremony was held last week in Michigan and although I could not attend to receive my radio journalism award I am still happy, because I was informed that Moore Hall Television (the station where I was a news anchor this past year) was awarded Television Station of the Year! I now have two prestigious awards to be proud of and add to my resume! It's this kind of recognition that keeps me going in life and reminds me that hard work does pay off.

On a lighter note! I have been using the expression "Jumpin' Jesus!" a lot lately...especially in heavy traffic and one day Makly said "Mom, you should never use his name that way!" and I said "Even if he's jumping?!" *Uncontrollable Laughter*. So I decided I should share the story of where this expression comes from: I was in Las Vegas with my Grandpa and my parents...Dad is driving 70mph on the highway when Grandpa yells "JUMPIN' JESUS!! Pull over! Stop the car!" Dad swerves to the side of the road like a stunt man and everyone turns towards Grandpa to see whats wrong as he leaps out of the car...when he says "Get the camera!! LOOK at THAT moon!!! It's beautiful!". Oh dear. This was my Grandpa, and my very best friend, who passed away in August who I miss and think about every single day and I think using some of his famous expressions helps remind me of how happy he made me with his craziness! 

Speaking of family, I found out my cousin Emmy got a job as a packaging engineer at the Kellogg Company in K-Zoo, MI so congrats to you cuzzo!! So proud and happy for you! :) Annnnnd to my very dear friend Kristen whose boyfriend Kareem has been overseas with the Army Reserves for the past year...the wait is over girlie!!! I'm happy to announce that Kareem is scheduled to be coming home sometime this week - so happy for you Kirky, you did it and now your wait that seemed like it would be forever is almost over!!

As for me, I am feeling a lot better about things today because our boss Marcus showed up this morning in Thibedoux, LA to meet us and offer me two days off! He also thanked me and told me he knows I am doing an outstanding job with the team this year, so that made me feel good and I plan to spend my time off job searching for after the tour!

Peace, love, Chavista.   ~Jackie

I love your dimple!

Our short, but full visit to Hattiesburg, Mississippi was full of pleasant surprises. A small world it is indeed...For instance: I meet my host mother Joanna..she shows me her beautiful wood cabin-style house in the woods and introduces me to her adorable pets (two dogs Molly and Belle and a handsome cat Leo), we talk a little bit about where we are from, our families, what we do... all the usual stuff and then as I am from Mt. Clemens, MI - she asks me if I have ever heard of Shirley Muldowney? Why yes I have! As a matter of fact I have actually met her and been to her home when I was child - my Dad did the graphics on her race car and trailer. (For those who may not know, Muldowney is a well-known female drag racer) Turns out, Joanna knows Shirley - Joanna's husband, the late Al Dapozzo was also a  successful racer and happened to be very good friends with Muldowney. What are the odd's of having that kind of random connection with someone?! Crazy!

Saturday was a day off - I'm sure everyone has heard about the recent 8.8 earthquake in Chile. Some members of the SOUL team were worried on Saturday about repercussions of the quake in their home countries. Venezuela (Zuly) was in range to possibly be affected by after-shocks and Rapa iti, French Polynesia (Steve) as an island in the middle of the Pacific was threatened by a potentially serious Tsunami. I am happy to report though that after a day with a little worry, a lot of news monitoring, and successful contact to family members - everything is A-okay. :)

Aside from Steve the SOUL team attended a Dulcimer festival all day Saturday with some of our hosts - and you may wonder what a Dulcimer is. It is an old string instrument originating from the Appalachian mountains and people who still play get together all over the country at festivals to share stories, music, and a common love for the art of the Dulcimer. Who knew? The festival didn't quite turn out to be what we expected. I think we were expecting to hear more jamming and more music. It seems a lot of the time people were just together talking, but as we have no real knowledge of the Dulcimer we didn't have much to talk about. It was still interesting though to hear about the instrument and we also attended a little mini workshop on how to play the wooden spoons which was pretty cool. We also on Saturday visited a faculty art exhibit at the University of Southern Mississippi  (a name you might recognize from the recent Blockbuster hit "The Blind Side" and also as the Alma Mater of NFL player Brett Favre). One of our hosts Betty is a professor of photography there and had some beautiful photos on display at the exhibit that she captured in Sierra Leone. We also met another photographer at the exhibit who works for the university and who came up to me asking if he could photograph me because of my unique dimple on my chin. It was an odd request and one I had never heard before, but I figured why not...when in Rome, right? So he took some photos of me at the exhibit and some photos of  Teele, Zuly and I together which was kind of fun and flattering when I thought about it afterward! It was also a really beautiful day outside which was nice...the weather does slowly but surely continue to get better as we move further south...yay!!

The entire SOUL team and our hosts also gathered Saturday evening at Betty's house for dinner, music and visiting and we were THIS CLOSE to finally watching La Vita y Bella (Life is Beautiful)...a movie we've been trying to watch almost since the beginning of the tour. But, everyone got to visiting and it ended up being too late...we will get there one day, I just know it..."I can feel it in me bonessss!"

Church was awesome Sunday morning! SOUL was basically the entire service and many people told us it was one of the largest turn-outs they had ever had. And the most ironic thing happened! For the second time in just two days...I had another guy come up to me and tell me how great my dimple was. I know my dimple is very noticeable and people may think about it all the time - but people whom I don't really know don't often actually SAY anything about it. Not that I mind, I think it is a compliment? It was just an interesting chain of events. It was another gorgeous day out today. We all went to Susan's house (another one of our Hattiesburg hosts) for lunch before heading out of town and we ended up getting more than we bargained for! First a chance to play with her two really cute dogs. And also my host mom Joanna and her friend Jaimie joined which was a treat in and of itself...but! Joanna and Jaimie are also both professional massage therapists so we kind of got our own little SOUL massage session. It was amazing, they were awesome!

Speaking of Jaimie - she told me a story that I just have to share, because it's one of the craziest stories I think I've ever heard! So she had a regular gray house cat that unfortunately was chased underneath her dryer by dog, had a punctured lung and died. So they put the cat in a box and her husband at the time was supposed to bury the box in the backyard. A couple months later while Jaimie was in her garage a gray cat appeared and started meowing at her like it knew her. It was the same size, color, sex, stature, etc as her other cat and acted as if it knew her - and was also seemingly afraid of the dog from the dryer incident like he knew what the dog had done. The cat was so strikingly similar to her old cat that Jaimie did a little investigating. Come to find out, her husband at the time had never gotten around to burying the box and when they looked inside it, it was completely empty. No cat, no body parts, no bones, no fur, and the box had not forcibly opened at any point either. To this day Jaimie and her family swear that it is the same cat, reincarnate, and they call him Church. Is that not the creepiest/coolest/craziest story?! I love hearing stories like that though...in a way it helps to reinforce the idea that anything is possible - which is always a good thing to believe I think.

Anywho...after lunch we hit the highway, New Orleans bound! We arrived and ate dinner with our new host family where we will all be staying together for a full week, woo hoo :-D It's only our first night here and we have already eaten beignets at Cafe Du Monde in the French Quarter, walked around Jackson square, found the greatest store on Earth (Coincidentally called "Jackie's" ;-)), and walked Bourbon Street. I have high hopes for this week and it is even warmer here than in Mississippi! And the best part is...we all learned about Dulcimer's and what they were just a day ago at a seemingly random festival in Hattiesburg and low and behold, what do we come across today? A guy, in Jackson Square, playing a Hammer Dulcimer like it was his job! (Oh wait...it is his job...) If that doesn't say small world, then I am Hawaiian and my name is Steve Angia.

Peace, love, New Orleans ~ Jackie

World's worst blogger...over...coming in for landing, over...Huntsville, AL

Since I last properly updated, SOUL has been to Chicago, IL and surrounding Suburbs, Avon and Berne, IN, Rogersville and Nashville, TN and we are now in Huntsville, AL. Needless to say, I have a lot to tell you all about! I won't make you you read a novel of every little event that has occurred in the past few weeks...but I will let you in on the major stuff!! There are also quite a few GREAT new jokes among the SOUL team I think you will enjoy ;)

FIRST before I update about SOUL stuff, it is kudos to Jackie time! A little background: Michigan is home to one of the top ten largest broadcast markets in the US (Detroit (also where I am from)), Central Michigan University is home of the best broadcasting program in the state (where I obtained my degree), And the Michigan Association of Broadcasters has recently awarded me with a third place award for "Best College News/Talk Radio Show" for a series of special interest stories I did for a show called Central Beat!! The good news is....THIS IS A HUGE HONOR!!! The bad news is...as I am on the road for work I will miss the award ceremony in which I was invited to accept the award :( But I can still add it to my resume, and it feels really, really good to be recognized by such a prestigious group of professionals!!

Okay now onto Chicago...first and foremost our Chicago host families were nothing short of absolutely amazing! We did not want to leave!! We visited several schools in Chicago including Whitney High School which is where Michael Jordan's children currently go to school and also First Lady Michelle Obama's Alma Mater!!! There was A TON of snow when we were in the windy city as well...Makly and Zuly both got to experience shoveling for the first time and driving without getting stuck every five seconds was....well challenging....

One thing we really wanted to do in Chicago was visit the SkyDeck at the former Sears Tower and we didn't get to because Mother Natures loves us, and it was just too cloudy :( But! We did visit the Chicago Institute of Science which was amazing! We got to do things like run in a human hamster wheel to experience just how hard hamsters work, do an analysis of our lifestyle to find out how old our organs are, see what we might look like in 50 years, learn how accurately we can read others based on body language, and much much more! ( I have photos I will add later, but right now my computer is failing to cooperate...oy, technology)

We also just happened to be staying in Chicago, very close to The Wild Hare (a famous reggae club) on February 6...the anniversary of the birthday of the late, the great, the one and only Bob Marley!! So we went to club to celebrates Bob's birthday and to make it even more spectacular miss Kristen Henderson was in town and she and her sister and friends met up with us!!! So great to see you girly...it was a blast!

I rode the subway with Carrot Top in Chicago as well which I will upload a picture of as soon as I can! hehe Just for that I will make this part of my entry orange!

On our way out of Chicago we stopped in a nearby suburb for a couple days and the SOUL team got to stay in a hotel for the first time! As much as we love our host families it was really nice to have a little change in the routine and be on our own for a couple nights! Makly and Steve shared a room, Teele and Zuly shared a room and for me it was the very first time I ever stayed in a hotel room by myself! I felt very grown up and official. :) Our hotel was really nice (freshly stocked with an abundance of Andes mints) and the staff was great too! hehe This was where we met Jose, who I think loved us because of just what a strange bunch we are. He worked at the front desk and seemed to be there every time we passed during our entire stay! He was the one who suggested TGI Fridays for dinner...so we went there and it was perfect! Why? Well Fridays was hosting a speed dating event and everyone was SINGLE, and ready to mingle! (SOULS new favorite phrase). Our waitress told us we were welcome to participate and Zuly promptly blurted "Well can we see the specimens first?" as if we were getting ready to conduct a science experiment to create the perfect man, which we all know is not possible, certainly not after meeting our beloved Jose ;) haha

Done with Illinois and now onto Indiana..."The Crossroads of America". Each time we get in the car for a drive we like to reflect on redundant things that make us laugh. For example every time we leave host families, they send us out of town with 1 million calories in the form of brownies, cookies, cakes, candy, etc. and Zuly always reminds us of the epic SOUL quote "Come May...I won't enter my pants!!". This quote actually stems from Rory (Chile), a 2009 SOUL singer who was trying to form a phrase in English about how he gained wait and came up with, "Oh no! I don't enter my pants". Another good one is us all imitating each others introductions for presentations since we hear them so much! "We are singers of united lands developing international and cultural awareness through vocal music.....I'm Jaaaaaaaaaackie Foisy, Aronga o Steve Angia toko, Buenos Dias me llama Zuleika, mis amigos llama Zuly, Bonjour toijsccnondownkjnemliufvhwuiorhtnglfnlcina Makly Benjamin Prophete, me llaman Teele eeestes.....and well I guess you'd have to be there. And did you also know that the number of motor vehicles on Rapa Iti island fluctuates depending on the day? Yessss, sometimes 25 cars, sometimes 27.

So, our experiences in both Avon and Berne Indiana were great! In Avon we were welcomed with a dinner raising money for Haiti relief and once again our host families were great! It was Valentines Day weekend and the boys and I all shared the same host home! We played pool with our host parents and Steve who was playing for the first time EVER was really freaking good at it....He got excellent grades in geometry I'm sure.

We braved a horrendous snow storm to drive to Berne and on the way we stopped downtown Indianapolis...we did a little shopping and SOUL 2010 discovered Noodles and Company...love at first taste. "Good for us" as Steve would say, and we would repeat. SOUL also had their first experience being haggled by a homeless guy in the US and as sad as it is...I told them this would be a good time to pretend they don't speak English.

Berne, IN: The US city with highest population of Amish people. As we pass a horse and buggy on the road Zuly gasps from the back seat as if she has just seen God. And Teele squeals "ooooo" like a kid in a candy store (no pun intended T) and by the time we arrive at our host families home, we are still talking in wonderment about the Amish when our host dad says, "well we've got an Amish neighbor down the way, Davey I who wouldn't mind answering some questions for you if you wanna pay him a visit..." So we went to visit Davey and his family and he showed us how they heat their homes and how they preserve their water supply and how to maintain a kerosene lamp and told us that one of the reasons the Amish cannot drive is because it is against their beliefs to have their picture taken and therefore they cannot have a driver's license....bet ya didn't know that, huh?!? It is evenings like this that I really appreciate my job...when else would I have the opportunity to sit with an Amish family in their living room and talk with them about their culture and hear them yodeler? Never!  Also a great joke came from this night...our new Amish friend Dave was practicing his Spanish with Zuly when I recognized the words "perro" and "caliente" and before I could put two and two together with my dog loving self, I became concerned and exclaimed "You eat hot, dogs in Venezuela?!?!" After laughing followed by a moment of silence I realized that we here in America also in fact eat...hotdogs....right.On our second day in Berne the SOUL train got a flat tire....no flat is an understatement...blown up tire would be more like it! Oh well...we got it fixed and the great concert with high school choirs that night made up for it!! And the host mother for the ladies the second night is a motivational speaker...the people I meet along the way never ceases to amaze me! :)

Next stop: Historic Rogersville, TN...Hello gorgeous mountains and natural beauty! All five SOUL members got to stay in one house with our host Guerry and her absolutely adorable dog Daisy in Rogersville! It was a great slumber party and we made a pact that everyone's secrets were safe, so, nananaaa boo boo! And Guerry is a folk singer, storyteller and performer so it was treat for SOUL to perform and be performed for! Rogersville is one of those hidden wonder kind of places. Every building and house has a history and IT WAS WARM enough outside to walk with just t-shirts and jeans to look at them...yay for southern weather :)


Music city USA, here we come! ( and that would be Nashville, woo!) First night there is a Friday and we have Saturday off!!! Let's just say this is a happenin' town and...what happens in Nashville stays in Nashville ;) Our workload in Nashville was lighter than usual so we really got a chance to relax and check out the city which was nice. One of our host fathers took us on a complete tour of Nashville including Centennial Park where there is a replica of The Parthenon and a walking tour inside the Opreyland Hotel, which when I put up pictures, you'll see, is the most amazing hotel ON EARTH!! Inside the hotel there is a jungle, an old fashioned village, a tropical paradise, flower gardens to die for and much much more! It was beautiful and incredible and I want to stay there and I also think I might not mind getting married there because it is sooooo pretty! hehe Oh and did I mention Marilyn Monroe was there? Yeah, she was.

Also in Nashville I was blessed to have a host father who is an IT guy and fixes people's computers on a daily basis. He worked throughout my entire stay there to clean off viruses and trojans from my computer that were partially preventing me from updating this blog!! Thank goodness for him and good riddance to computer nerds that have nothing better to do with their lives than infect other people's computers!(yes, this is my angry face)

AND now I again apologize for the lack of updating and I do believe I am nearly caught up! SOUL is now in Hunstville, AL...Sweet home Alabama!! We have had two evening concerts here, one of which was at the Boeing Company. As in Boeing 747, yes the airplane, yes the company that designs aircraft and defense machines such as missiles - one of the largest aerospace engineering companies in the world, what an honor! Speaking of engineers, here's a crazy fact...2 out of every 3 professionals living and working in Huntsville, AL are engineers of some sort. That is a lot of very smart people living in one area. There was a slam poet that also performed with us, and she was amazing...her name escapes me right now but I will find out and get back to you! Huntsville is also home to the US Rocket and Space Center (Alabama's #1 tourist attraction!) and Makly, Steve and I visited the museum today. We each picked the rocket we'd love to pilot and we rode a simulator of a mission to mars...it was radical dudes!

We also discovered our latest amusement. Our previous joke has been "I'm sorry officer...my GPS told me to." This comes from the fact that when you make a mistake she says "When possible make a legal u-turn", and Makly proposed one day "What if it said, make an illegal u-turn??" And keep in mind, that I always listen to my GPS. Except today when she said "You have arrived" and I yelled back "You are dumb! I'm not listening to you!" We were indeed not at our destination because we were in the middle of a field. Power to the humans! (Except...I did have the wrong address...) Anyhow, tomorrow morning we leave this astronaut town for Hattiesburg, Mississippi! And I promise...no more slacking on the updates :)

Hugs and a sunshine smile! ~Jackie

What Happens in Nashville stays in Nashville

Okay folks...better put your reading pants on for this one. I really apologize for the lack of updates here! Finding time to write with a lack of time and sometimes a lack of internet access is more difficult than I had imagined. Last time I wrote we were still in the windy city and now we are in Nashville, TN! I again have a lack of time but I will say that I have a notebook full of notes to let you all know about and I will write them all here as soon as I can! Stick with me, I promise the next entry will be well worth the read and the wait!

Love! Jackie

CRABBY PATTY

Oh. Em. Geee. I need sleep. On the road by 6am, presentations all day and evening, and another 4 hour drive tonight to Chicago...I love my job but man oh man am I tired : / I also know for sure that I am coming down with something. We have a lack of sleep, see hundreds of school age students every day, and my throat is killing me, dun dun dunnnnn.

Okay enough complaining. Our host families since my last post have been amazing as usual. I have lots of pictures of cute dogs to post here but it seems that every time I have the chance to update my blog I never have my camera cable accessible. Speaking of photos I will be sure to add a photo soon of how PACKED the SOUL train is...that will make it easier to understand why our stuff is not always the easiest to get to. So we have been in Clinton, MI, Custer, Saranac and today is our final day in Michigan!!!!

Finally on the road for REAL! We head to Chicago tonight and in just a little over two weeks we will be down south for the rest of the winter...yee haw!!

Just two days ago was my very best friend's birthday...Happy birthday Jen!! So sorry I couldn't be there to celebrate with you...but you know I will make it up in the summer when I am back at home :)

Feb 6 is the anniversary of the one and only Bob Marley's birthday and SOUL will be at a famous reggae club in Chicago celebrating!!! I'm sure I will have lot's to talk about here after our weekend in Chicago ;)

I have had several days of country living....which is responsible for the lack of wireless internet...but I should have it for a while now as we will be primarily staying in the city. Oh and ps, Makly is going to get me a job with Oprah while we are in Chicago, so be prepared for me to be famous the next time I write, mmkay? mmkay. sounds good :)

I bought cute Valentines day cards today just because they are funny...haha is that sad that I am buying Valentines for myself? I did buy a couple that aren't for me as well! Eh, oh well, makes me happy so deal with it!

OH! And SOUL is officially going to Canada this tour as well...soooo I officially applied for my first US passport and took a gorgeous mugshot! I am excited about it...now all I need is cold hard cash so I can travel the world and visit my new family once they have to return home :-P

The singers learned today that I am a phenominal rapper...I graced them with my own rendition of the 90's hit Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice.

AND Steve's new favorite song is Single Ladies by Beyonce. Yeah...we jam ;)

Thats all for now...I am too tired for details.

xoxo Jackie 

Tonight is the night!

So, we have been in Clinton all week working with student choirs, and tonight is the night of our first big public concert! I think the singers are ready and the kids are sounding great with them, and I personally am really excited to where my new purple high wasted skirt! haha

Last night we all went to an old fashioned cinema with only one theatre and we only had to pay $3 to see The Blind Side! For Makly and I it was the second viewing, and everyone else liked it alot as well! The singers were happy to see a movie that provided some insight into how American Football works, :)

I was driving in the car yesterday with Steve and we were listening to an Eric Clapton song...and he said "You know Eric Clapton?" and I said yeah, I like him, and Steve said "I know him too, he comes to my house for breakfast every morning...." And I said wait...what?!....noooo *BIG GRIN, haha Jackie, just for fun just for fun*. So our new joke is telling people that we personally know any famous person that is mentioned.

I am also loving English pronunciation jokes this week. Both Zuly and Steve have a habit of putting a "th" sound in the place of "d". Also Makly has had some interesting word mix ups too (such as "crumped" instead of "crammed")  or "the older people touched me" instead of 'IT was the older people who touched me' (because of their participation)...So here's the funny statement we came up with yesterday:

"In Venezuela, we have many many different types of births ("birds"), and we have sooo many  births that they are sometimes crumped ("crammed") in their natural habitat."

I think the singers have also really enjoyed having presentations in the high school this week. Thus far we have worked with mostly elementaries so it has been a nice change of pace for them I think to work with some older kids.

So anywho, our big concert tonight - I think everyone is ready and I'm excited to see the team in some high class performance action! woo!

We are also excited because we all have the day off on Saturday so the whole SOUL team gets to go out together Friday night, yay!!

Best, Jackie xoxox

I speak English. I speak Estonian. I speak Spanish. I speak Haitian. I speak Rapan.

After a little over two weeks of SOUL I am really beginning to understand what this project is all about. Living and breathing and spending nearly every waking moment together - the five of us on the team are learning quickly how to communicate in a variety of different ways - being as none of us share the same native language. I think after this project I will be quite effectively an expert at handling and diffusing misunderstandings and overcoming communication barriers.

We had a question at a presentation the other day: "How do you guys talk to each other?" And Zuly had a great answer: "We try to communicate with each other in English and we do have one language that we all share, and that is music".

It's always the little things in life. The little things make us the most happy - and it can also be the tiniest things that cause the greatest upsets. Some misunderstandings make us laugh, and others really make us think and learn to respect one another despite our differences.

Exhibit A: During a presentation Steve was explaining how he got to the US and he said he took 10 planes. Zuly was trying to help the audience understand by saying "He took 10 airplanes, you know?". Steve understood this to be Zuly correcting him during a presentation, when really she was repeating the word to the audience and not to Steve. This was a small misunderstanding that caused some hurt feelings and had to be diffused afterward. This is just an example of the small things that require careful attention to ensure that our team works well together.

Exhibit B: Misunderstandings and language barriers can also create quite the comical situation! Zuly and I were at the same host home for a couple nights last week. Peas, the little green vegetables of course have a different name in Spanish as do most things, right?! Yes, well at our host home some peas were spilled on the kitchen floor, and Richard, our host dad said "There are peas all over the kitchen floor and in my shoe!". I received the funniest looking facial expression from Zuly and later before bed she said "Jackie...what was on the kitchen floor?" and I said "peas", and again I got the funny face. So I explained "You know, the little green things we ate at dinner...?" She burst into laughter and I knew immediately, the whole time she had been thinking he said something else (Pee!) and I think everyone could understand how this could easily be mistaken! We laughed long and hard about this one.

We actually also had a long discussion about lingual and cultural barriers with our host family before the peas incident, and I used a cliche statement that describes SOUL prefectly: "NEVER a dull moment"....which should not be mistaken as anything less than spectacular! That is what I love about this job...even I, a person just about as open-minded as you can be, am learning new things every day about understanding and embracing the differences in others and appreciating them for the cultural richness they bring to new situations.

Exhibit C: Even with cultural and lingual barriers, some things know no boundaries! We were wlecomed at a pot-luck dinner in Clinton, MI by all of our host families and one of the children (there was a set of twins), either Ryan or Reece (8 years old I think, maybe 9), told a joke that everyone understood and loved!

"How do you make a tissue dance?!"

"Ya put a little boogie in it!"

*Outburst of laughter*

It just never ceases to amaze me, like I said, the small things that bring us the greatest enjoyment. :)

We are now here in Clinton for the week - right near Adrian, MI. The singers are looking forward to each spending a week with their own choir here (Zuly 6th grade, Steve 7th grade, Makly 8th grade, Teele High School). They will be teaching the kids songs from their home countries to perform at a community concert on Thursday night! And there will also be a professional photographer there to take photos of us all for the website, so that should be exciting!

I know, I knowwww, I need to add pictures here soon - I have been having memory card issues, but they will come soon enough!

Cheers and Peace!  xoxo Jackie

Elementary schools are getting fancy!

Stop number two of the tour: Williamston Elementary in Williamston, MI. This school was amazing!! The kids were awesome!! - Great audience, excellent participation, lots of good feedback, and really really good questions.

At the last school we were at, the mascot was a puppy and the kids had a BARK song (Be safe, appropriate behavior, responsibility, and kindness)! We thought that was super cute and had it stuck in our heads...UNTIL...we went to Williamston and were introduced to the appreciation clap which we are now obsessed with (two knee slaps, two claps, two snaps and two finger guns with a nice "YEEEAAAAHHHH") - I'm tellin' ya, you learn something new everyday :)

SOUL is rapidly improving everyday in every aspect - group dynamics, presentation skills, creativity, and musically as well. My part of the presentation has also gone swimmingly thus far - no complaints or horribly embarrassing life moments as of yet.

This time around my host families home is in East Lansing right across the street from the MSU campus...familiar surroundings! Connie and Richard are my host parents and Zuleika is with me this time!! We have a super cute guest bedroom that reminds me of being in a vacation cottage ( I will add pictures in a later post) - and our host parents are awesome once again :) So welcoming, and Connie is an excellent chef if I do say so myself. I think the kitchen here could appear on the food network and fit in just fine.

Our newest inside joke that is not an inside joke because we tell everyone, comes from Steve's song called Mitata. "Mitata" is something on Rapa Island that is a snail, but it's not a snail, but it looks like a snail...and as Connie says, it is "snail-ish". We cannot figure out the english translation for this peculiar little sea creature and so it has become a very light hearted and funny part of our presentations.  And now the cool thing to do is say, "It sounds like english, but it's not english, but it's spoken just like english", or "It looks like pepsi, but it's not pepsi, but it tastes like pepsi"...and you get the idea!

My driving, that's not my driving, that seems like my driving, scared the singers a little bit today during rush hour traffic. I have Steve in the back seat shouting "my mom loves me!" and I shout back "my mom loves me too!". But of course this craziness is caused by other drivers on the road who are highly UNDER-qualified to have a valid license. :)

The singers are rehearsing at my host home right now...it's like live entertainment and/or listening to the best CD you've ever heard, all the time! I love it. They are officially like my children. I am always worrying about them, and I beam with happiness every time I watch them perform :-D

Also our host family has a son who is the master brewer at a local Michigan beer brewery, and they have one of a kind beer for us to try with dinner tonight, so that should be exciting!

This entry is very all-over-the-place I realize, but I am just trying to highlight all of the most exciting parts of the past couple days.

Today at Williamston, we all felt like celebrities. The kids and their parents all wanted to take pictures of us and with us and they wanted our autographs! It was so cute - and people think famous people get sick of that....I don't know about that! I think I could get used to it, hehe

I am missing my friends of course - my roomates - and driving past MSU's campus this morning seeing people on their way to class kind of made me miss college! And of course, I miss you mom and dad and CHARLIEEEEEEE (and Kiki and Bob I guess)!

I got teary eyed today like a mother would - as the singers were performing at an all-school assembly this morning a 5th grade boy came up to the stage to borrow the microphone - and announced in front of the whole school, and to Makly in particular that he and his classmates raised over $1,000 for Haiti disaster relief. It was so sweet - Thank you Williamston Elementary!! As SOUL has become like a little family now - we all appreciate the thoughtfulness very much.

I have a head-ache now - I think from hunger/tired...these loooooooong days will take some more getting used to, but I will gladly get used to them, because I LOVE THIS JOB!

Tata for now.

Cheers! Jackie

And so our journey begins!

 So the SOUL team officially began touring Friday and now we are on the road, currently in Eaton Rapids, MI. We had a great day of presentations today and one young lady raised her hand and provided us with a quote that truly fulfills the mission of SOUL. During a question and answer session she raised her hand and said "Even though you guys are from all different countries, you still have really good music."

(From left to right: Teele, Zuly, "Rachel", Makly, and Steve!)

   It's really nice to see the SOUL team have fun with what they do, and make an impact on American kids better than any teacher ever could! We are loving our host families and they have been absolutely wonderful to us - they make us feel right at home :) 

   My host family this time is also Makly's family and they have two dogs that I especially love!

Below are the handsome Duke and lovely Beatrix!!

Tomorrow we are off to Williamston, MI and now that the group is into the performing and presenting groove, and I myself am starting to get used to my new schedule - I will be able to update more often with funny stories and details about all of our lovely adventures!

Peace. Love. SOUL.

~Jackie :)