BEDA Deux: Orlando Highlight Reel

Day 2. Oh dear, I have no idea how I'm going to be able to keep this up for the rest of the month, but I'm committed, so now I have no choice.

I feel really lazy today.  I was planning on going into Chicago this morning to take ballet and possibly modern, but it turns out that my mom's car is busted, so she stole mine to go to work, so I had no way of getting to the train station, which foiled my plan.  Upon learning this, I went back to sleep and didn't wake up til 11...which is absurd and should never happen again.  Nothing else exciting has happened today, so I guess I'll more fully recap my five weeks spent in Orlando:

Most of the RA girls at Universal City Walk

There were 12 RAs total and 1 "head RA," ranging in age from 18-25...I was the 2nd oldest at 22 and Brandon, our head RA was the oldest (that's most of us in the picture at the top--last night/no sleep/don't ask).  And I felt old most of the summer...being around a bunch of 15 year-old ballet prodigies will do that to you.  Anyway, we resided on University of Central Florida's Rosen College of Hospitality campus, which was small, but fairly brand new.  The apartment-style setup of the dorm was lovely, and there was plenty of space to move around, and there was a pool--which would have been awesome for the whole summer, except that a pump broke in the middle of week 2, and the university never got around to fixing it before we left (UGH!).  The only complaint I had with where we stayed was the food (it was just awful) and the lack of things to do around campus (seriously, the only things within walking distance were a Publix, chinese food restaurant, and pizza place across the street).

The dancing was good, but I won't go into too much detail about it because talking about it would probably bore you.  The days were long.  There were a lot of baby ballerina prodigies.  My body was totally shot by the end.  And I got into better shape than I've been in for a while.

At Downtown Disney for Cirque du Soleil's La Nouba (eating Wetzel's Pretzels) with Kendrick, Lauren, Kelli, and David

The weekend excursions on which we accompanied the kids were probably the most memorable part of the program.  I was fortunate enough to have been able to attend all four trips--Disney World's Magic Kingdom, Aquatica (Sea World's Water Park), Cirque du Soleil's La Nouba, and Universal's Islands of Adventure (aka THE WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER).  I really don't have much to say except that it was all AMAZING and MAGICAL and AWESOME and INCREDIBLE and I'VE RUN OUT OF ADJECTIVES AND THOSE DON'T DO IT JUSTICE.  My family was not one of those families who went to Florida every year.  In fact, before this, the only two trips to Florida I'd taken were a visit to Ft. Lauderdale as a toddler of which I have no recollection and Virginia School of the Arts's 20 hour bus ride to Miami to spend four days at The National High School Dance Festival my senior year in 2006.  Needless to say, I'd never been to Disney World before this.  When I walked in and began walking down Main Street and got my first glimpse of Cinderella's castle, I started crying.  It was just so magical and wonderful and I was with my amazing RA friends and there was so much togetherness and loveliness and AHH!  Moving on...there's not much to say about Aquatica, as it was cloudy the day we went, and I hate waterparks, but whatever.  La Nouba was freaking awesome, as I've never seen Cirque live and there was a ballet dancer and it kind of got me thinking about the many options I have as a dancer, not just this closed-minded view of the ballet world.

In front of Cinderella's Castle...clearly more excited to be at Disney than most of the six-year-olds there

And then...(drumroll, please)...there was The Wizarding World!!!?!?!!!!!!  My friend Liz and I arrived at Universal and literally ran, as fast as we could, to the back of Islands of Adventure to get to the park.  And I started crying when I saw the gates of Hogsmeade.  It really was like my imagination had come to life right before my eyes.  And it was amazing because the park hadn't even been open for a month, and I was there.  And with people I loved.  True, it would have been even more epic to experience it for the first time with Infinitus goers at The Night of a Thousand Wizards, but it didn't matter because I. Was. At. Hogwarts.  There's really not much else to say...I started crying again while riding The Forbidden Journey-tears of absolute unadulterated joy.  I never thought I'd get to go, and here I was.

In front of the Hogwarts Express... "I will miss the train ride in..."

With my good RA friend Liz in front of Hogwarts Castle :D :D :D

Another awesome thing happened in Orlando.  As the program coincided with Infinitus, I was able to go to the Royal Pacific and hang out with some of my favorite people, if only for a few hours the night of the ball.  I spent the early evening swimming in the amazing pool with Marlena and Leah, and then hung around and waited for people to get ready for the ball.  While I didn't have a ticket and couldn't stay that long, my dear friend Adam had the brilliant idea of sneaking me in...and it worked, and I got to hang out for an hour or so, and see lots of awesome people.  I didn't want that night to end.  But, alas, it did and I returned to the land of bratty ballerina children.

From left to right: Adam, Marlena, Leah, and I at the Infinitus "Night of Frivolity" Ball...clearly I'm a little underdressed, but I didn't mind because I was with people that I love <3

Speaking of bratty ballerina children...I've literally never in my life seen kids this bratty, spoiled, or entitled.  I think it must be a generational thing because all of us RAs were just appalled at some of the things that went down.  It was as if these kids had never been told "NO" in their entire lives.  It also appeared as if they'd never had to do anything for themselves, including cleaning a bathroom or making a bed.  They felt they were owed everything by the RAs and sought to constantly bend the rules and see how far they could push our buttons.  It was outrageous and awful and I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY hope I was never like that as a 14-year-old.

One piece of not-so-great news...my grandfather passed away while I was in Orlando, forcing me to go home for a few days during the second week.  He was 88 and just a few days shy of his 89th birthday.  He had been battling cancer for several years, and it was peaceful and quiet.  It was hard to say goodbye, but I'm glad I returned home to do so.  You are missed, Grampa.

And so another day of BEDA comes to a close.  I'll try not to make my posts so long from here on out, but I felt like I needed to write about my experience in Orlando.  Happy blogging.  Love, me.