Disney Life

Hello!

Or welcome home! (That's what they say where I work)

I have officially began my adventure in Disney World as a cast member. It started on August 12, but I'm just now writing about it. Haha!

My role, for those who have forgotten, is custodial. I wanted this because I read about how awesome it is from other DCP blogs. When I got to check-in, I found out that I was assigned to labor in the Old Key West resort and Saratoga Springs resort (I said it like a mission call on purpose... haha). I was SUPER bummed. I really wanted to work in the parks and see all the magic that goes on in them.

Once training started, it didn't get much better. I didn't see any other CPs (College Program people), and everyone that worked custodial was either Hispanic or Haitian. So, I was alone. At least I am able to speak Spanish, so that helped a little bit. But not a ton. Also, it is SO HOT outside. And we are outside for probably 95% of our shift. Ew.

Then, I was on my own. My first day post-training was scary because I was by myself, but it was also awesome because I found out that there are other CPs!! I'm not alone!! And work isn't as bad as I was thinking it would be. The resorts are pretty chill, especially now during the slow period. So, things are looking up!

You didn't think everything would be magical, did you? ;)

Days off are definitely magical though!! So far, I've been to all of the parks, except for Animal Kingdom, and one of the water parks, Blizzard Beach. It is so much fun! Rockin' Roller Coaster in Hollywood Studios is DEFINITELY my favorite so far. I wish it was longer though.

I've had magical moments already! My first magical moment was when my roommate and I were getting dinner in Hollywood Studios, and I got a "Magic Tray", which meant that they sang a little song to me and gave me a free dessert!! Awesome!!!

My other magical moments involve meeting characters. I've met Chip, Dale, Tigger, and Pooh. Both Dale and Tigger tried to run away with me!! What can I say? I'm irresistible. It was so funny. :)

The major downside of being here is not being in Provo. I've never really been homesick before, but I'm definitely homesick for Provo. I miss the mountains. I miss the dryness (stupid humidity here). I miss the people. But most of all, I miss football games. I know there haven't been any home games yet, but next week is the first home game, and I might cry because I won't be there. Today is the first game (it's away), and my shift starts at the EXACT same time that the game starts. Great. If you know me, you know that it might kill me that I won't be able to watch the game today. You better believe it will be on my mind the whole day though. GO BYU!!!!

Basically, this experience is not what I expected. There is a lot more work and a lot less play than I anticipated. But that is good! Good old hard work is good for a person. And it makes those days off a lot sweeter.

I still love Disney with all of my heart! Some people already seem a little bitter towards Disney just after being here for a few weeks, but if anything, being here has made my love for Disney stronger!

Have a magical day! :)

Reflecting on My Time in Spain

Now that I have been back in Provo for a little over a week, I have had time to reflect on my experience living in Spain. Overall, the experience was definitely positive. However, I also faced some tough times that helped me question my beliefs and have made me stronger.

I think it's time for a pros and cons list! As most optimists should do, I will start with the cons.

Cons:

Some gross, ugly graffiti.

• The dad smokes, which I did not know before.
• The 6 year old was not very well behaved at times.
• The parents worked a lot, so I spent a lot of lonely days in my room.
• For the above reasons, I did not have the relationship with my host family that I wanted.
• I was a little disappointed by the landscape. It wasn't as pretty as I was expecting.
• The cities were GROSS. So much graffiti! 
• Sometimes, I was lonely.

Pros:

• My Spanish improved a TON. I speak a lot more confidently now, even though I'm far from perfect still.
• I met some amazing friends in the ward that I attended. They were all so great!
• I saw some amazing things in Madrid.
• I had the best time in Toledo!! I didn't write a post about it, but just know that it was great. 

  

  Toledo!

• When I went to Toledo, I went alone. I learned to be more independent.
• Though the host family situation wasn't ideal, I learned a lot about the culture from them and had good conversations.
• My testimony grew a lot from seeing the Church in Spain.
• I grew more confident in my ability to talk about the Church to people who don't know about it.
• I had fun! :)

If I had a time turner and could go back and do it all over again, would I change my experience? I don't know. I think I would change where I lived because of the smoke, but if I changed that, then I wouldn't have learned as much as I did. Or maybe I would have... I don't know. Regardless, I am not Hermione and I do not have a time turner. 

It was hard, yes, but as I have mentioned, I have learned things that I will remember for the rest of my life! I really am grateful for this experience.

I am also grateful to be back in Provo for the summer. Let the good times roll!

PS: 59 days until I start my journey in the Disney College Program!! :)

Madrid Adventures

Although I do not live in Madrid, I have visited the city multiple times. There is so much to see, so it requires multiple trips. I still have not seen it all and will not see it all. This post will be mostly a picture post. There are many more pictures on my Facebook page, so hopefully we are friends on Facebook or you will miss out on some pictures. :)

Disclaimer: I do not remember the names of pretty much everything. There is too much to remember!!

DAY ONE

The first day that I went to Madrid was with my host family. That was also the last day I went to Madrid with them. Haha! Not because it was bad, just because they don't have a lot of time to take me places. Anyway, we went to el Parque Retiro, which is a HUGE park in Madrid. It is like Madrid's Central Park. We hung out there all day, walking around, playing, rowing a boat (it was awesome). I don't have pictures of this day yet because Laly took them on her camera. I need to get them from her before I leave, and then I'll update this post. It was a fun day! :)

DAY TWO

My next day in Madrid was spent with Eva, Anais, and Anais's daughter Maddie. It started in Sol, the Times Square of Madrid. From there, we just saw a lot of cool buildings and statues. There was a lot of walking, which was annoying sometimes because it was HOT. Haha! A very touristy and fun day!

They took a picture of me getting down, and I think it's funny. That's why I included it. Haha!                      

DAY THREE

The third day was also very touristy, but this time only with Eva. And it was a lot colder than the first two days. This day was especially awesome because I discovered my favorite part of Madrid: chocolate con churros!!!! They are so delicious!!

Best. Thing. EVER.

DAY FOUR

I went with Eva, Anais, and Maddie once again to see inside el Palacio Real de Madrid for free. Unfortunately, it wasn't free until 5:00 pm, and we all had places to go later. So, we ended up exploring the city, looking for a certain monument. We got REALLY lost. But it was fun. Haha! :)

We FINALLY found what we were looking for, and I was pooped.

DAY FIVE

My fifth and last day in Madrid was with Eva. We went later in the day because we were going to el Palacio Real de Madrid for free like we wanted to do the last time we came here. It was SO COOL. I might even like it more than chocolate con churros! :) Unfortunately, we couldn't take pictures inside. You'll just have to believe me when I tell you that it was amazing.

Representing BYU in front of el Palacio!

Just chillin in front of the big church.

THE END....?

That's all of the time I spent in Madrid for this trip. Will I return again one day? Who knows! If I do, you better believe that I will be eating chocolate con churros! :)

The Worldwide Church

My favorite part about being here in Spain has been going to church. It has increased my testimony so much! But I'm getting ahead of myself.

The first few days in Spain were not good. I won't get into it, I'll just leave it there. My only ray of hope came from knowing that I was going to go to the local ward that Sunday. I was hoping to make friends in the ward so that I could have someone to do things with.

Finally, Sunday came. I got ready, put on my favorite dress, and prayed that it would go well. My host family was able to drive me there, luckily. The building is about 15 minutes away in a town called Parla. When we pulled up to the building and I saw this sign:

Multiple times I have heard stories from converts that when they went to church for the first time, they felt like they were coming home. I never really understood that until now. When I walked through those doors, I knew that this was my true home while I'm here. Everyone was so welcoming and nice! Everyone came up and greeted me (kisses on the cheek) as if I have always been in the ward. An interesting fact about the ward is that only two people in the ward are actually from Spain. Everyone else is from random Latin American countries. 

Side note: when I saw the American missionaries I could have hugged them!!! I was so excited to see someone from the United States. Haha! I even talked to them in English a little bit! 

As if all of that wasn't good enough, I made a friend! Her name is Anais, and she is in the Relief Society presidency. She's in her low 30s, is from Venezuela, and is married with a baby, but when I asked her if there were any activities going on that I could go to, she immediately started making plans with me. She was an answer to my prayers!! I didn't want church to end.

That next Saturday, there was a stake Relief Society activity that I went to with people from the ward. It was really fun! The sisters here in Spain are great examples of women in the Church! The food wasn't that great though.... Spain is famous for its paella, but paella with seafood is NOT my favorite. Haha! 

Do you see all of that seafood?? Ewwwwww!!

I met another friend at this activity: Eva! She is my age, and she was just baptized two months ago. She is also from Venezuela, like Anais. Being her friend has been such a blessing! I have done so many fun things with her! My time here in Spain would not have been the same.

With Anais and Eva, I have gone to Madrid multiple times and have just hung out in Parla. They have truly been answers to my prayers. I know that Heavenly Father is looking out for me here and that he sent those two to me to comfort me. It just goes to show you that you never know when you are going to be an answer to someone's prayers. 

               

Eva and me!

Anais, Maddie, and me!

I also had the chance to do baptisms in the Madrid temple. It was so cool! It was funny because even after I said my last name for them, no one could pronounce it. Haha I never thought Haner was hard to say! Anyway, it was a really great experience. It's funny how all of the temples are basically the same, but there are always little differences. It makes them unique!

After doing baptisms in the Madrid Temple!

One of the huge lessons that I have learned in Spain is that the Church is true, wherever you go! I am so grateful for the peace and comfort that I get from knowing that I can pray to Heavenly Father and know that He hears me. What a great blessing! :)

Home, Love, Family

Kimba the cat just chillin'

Hello again from Spain!

This post will be focused on the family, the house, and the town that I live in!

It's embarrassing that I have 2 weeks left here and am just now writing this. Geez.

This trip to Spain would not have been possible without my host family. As I mentioned in the last post, they are letting me live here and eat with them for free just to speak English with their daughter for a few hours during the week. So, I thought I should introduce them to you!

The mom's name is Laly. She is really nice! She has traveled all around the world to take pictures (she is a photographer). It is cool to hear how passionate she is about different cultures and her efforts to understand everyone better. During meals, she is always asking me about my life and beliefs. The family does not believe in any religion. It's a cool missionary experience for me. :)

When I got into Laly's car when she picked me up from the airport, I knew that living here was going to be harder than I thought: it smelled like cigarette. Yeah, the dad smokes. Edguardo is a nice guy, pretty intimidating. I just wish that he didn't smoke. I didn't know this beforehand, which I think made it harder on me. I can't stand the smell of smoke, so to live in the same house as someone who smokes is not easy. I don't know if knowing before I came would have made me change my mind, so maybe it's a good thing that I didn't know. I might have missed out on experiencing Spain! And he is a nice guy. Smoking doesn't define him as a person.

The amount of people here that smoke is ridiculously high. I feel like that's something that I should have known before, but whatever. Like I said, maybe it's for the best that I didn't know.

Kimba and Elivra

The last member of the family is Elvira. She is 6 years old and has a very spunky personality. My few hours playing with her each day are interesting to say the least. Honestly, I think that this girl needs a brother or two to put her in her place, but that's my opinion. I'm surprised that she doesn't know very much English (at all) because I'm the 4th student they have had stay here to teach her English! One girl lived here for 10 months! So, I don't understand why she can't understand me at all. Basically all she knows are those basic phrases like "Hello, how are you?" and numbers and colors. I'm doing my best, but I don't know how much progress we can make if the girl who lived here for 10 months didn't get very far.

There is a family friend named Paloma who is with us a lot. She is the one who usually watches Elvira when the parents are working. She is a nice, older woman, very skinny. She is also a smoker, but I think she smokes more than the dad does. It's hard to talk to her after she has smoked because her breath smells really bad, but she is SUPER nice and would do anything for anyone.

The family also has a cat and 5 dogs. The dogs all live in the backyard though, so I haven't really seen them. We took one of the dogs on a walk once, but that was the only time I've seen anyone interact with them. It's more like they don't have dogs. The cat, however, lives in the kitchen/dining room. Her name? Kimba. Yeah... that's awkward. The family calls me Kimberlie because Kimber is too close to Kimba. Anyway, Kimba walks all over the counters and no one cares. It's kind of weird. Also, I've never heard a cat meow as much as he does (Kimba is a boy). 

This family is pretty big on dance. The first floor of this house is a small dance studio that holds different dance classes almost everyday! They also own a discoteca (which is like a dance club) where they also have dance classes along with parties for kis as well as older people. 

Illescas is the town that the family lives in. It's pretty small and it is also kind of... dirty. I have never seen so much graffiti in my life. I thought that it was all of Spain (it kind of is), but in different towns I've been in, there has not been as much graffiti as there is here in Illescas. Aside from the gross aspect, it is a cute town. There are two really old churches here that are cool to see. 

One of the churches in town.

The other church in town.

That's all I have about the family and where I live! Stay tuned for the next post: it is going to be about my experience going to church here! I'm REALLY excited to talk about it because it has been my favorite part about being here! You don't want to miss it! :)

P.S. After going back and forth on a few movie-inspired family quotes, I decided to go with Anastasia because I watched it on the plane ride to Spain. This is the song that inspired the title: "Journey To The Past" - "Home, love, family. There was once a time I must have had them too."

I'm in Spain.... What??

Things just got real. I have traveled to another country by myself.

A map of where I will be this year

Before elaborating on different things I have done so far while here, I thought I would post something answering a few basic questions about this trip, such as who, what, when, where, why, and how!

Who: Just me! I have never traveled very far by myself, just to Utah. When I went to Costa Rica almost four years ago, I went with a group of students and a few teachers from La Salle, my high school. This time, I flew solo (literally). I'm living with a family that has just three people in it: the mom (Laly), the dad (Edguardo), and the six year old daughter (Elvira). More on them in another post!

What: I guess that this is somewhat of an exchange student thing. I am here to teach Elvira English. Monday through Friday for a few hours, I have to talk to her only in English. But I am also here to immerse myself in a Spanish-speaking country to improve my skills.

When: I left the United States on May 1 and will be here until June 5. That's not a ton of time, but I need to get back to Provo to work to save up more money for DCP (Disney College Program).

Where: The family lives in a town called Illescas. It is about 30 minutes away from Madrid.

Why: I guess I already kind of covered this in the "what" section, but I am here to be able to speak and understand Spanish better as well as to help Elvira learn English. That is why the parents bring English speaking students, to help Elvira. All I had to pay for was a plane ticket to get here. I live here and eat here for free!

How: This past semester, I was in a history of Spain class. My teacher sent out an email saying that there was an opportunity to live with a family in Spain. Cool! She gave the contact information for a girl who had stayed with the family before. I knew that in order to progress any further in my Spanish, I needed to immerse myself. So, I emailed the girl. After emailing back and forth a lot, it seemed like something I would want to do. However, I was scared. I didn't know if I actually wanted to do it. I was scared of being alone, of not knowing the family, of being worse at Spanish than I think I am... a lot of different things. Nevertheless, I decided to do it.

So, here I am! I hope to get back into the groove of blogging while I'm here. Some things that I will post about in the near future: my host family and my day to day life, my trip to Madrid, the FANTASTIC ward here, differences between Spain and the United States that I have noticed, and more! :)

Sneak peek of Madird :)

Until next time! Hasta luego :)

Dreams Come True

I'm just going to get right to it: I GOT INTO THE DISNEY COLLEGE PROGRAM!!!! I will be working in Disney World as a custodian during the Fall semester!!

Check it.

I got this email on March 2, 2013. My phone interview was just the Tuesday before that, so I was not expecting anything for at least a week and a half, if not longer. So when I saw an email from Disney on Saturday, I was shocked! I GOT IN!! I called my mom right away, then posted it on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Haha, gotta love social media!

How did I get to this point? I guess I should start from the beginning.

This is my second time applying to the Disney College Program. Fall 2011, I applied to do the DCP during spring/summer term. After submitting my application, I got an email letting me know that I qualified for a phone interview. Great! So, I did my phone interview. I thought it went well, but not spectacular. I was hoping that it was enough. Weeks went by and I still had not heard anything. Finally, I realized that I didn't get it.

I was really sad about not getting in. I knew that I was qualified, but things just did not work out. Eventually, I just decided that it was not meant to be. If I was meant to work for Disney, then I would have got in. I let it go.

Fast forward about a year later. Two weeks ago from today, I randomly decided to apply again. Don't ask me why or what prompted me to do it, because I don't know. Maybe it was the Holy Ghost, maybe it was just random. Regardless, I submitted the online application.

A little while later, I got an email saying that I was eligible for a phone interview, just like my first time applying! This time was going to be different. I prepared things to say, I really pondered on why I wanted to be a part of Disney. What do I want to do there? What do I want to get out of it? I thought of those questions and more. I also did research on what past participants have liked the most, particularly relating to their jobs. Multiple times I read that people loved being a custodian because they got to explore the park, do different things, and interact with guests in a fun manner. 

Tuesday came, and at 9 p.m. Disney called. This time, it was different. I felt great about my interview! I smiled the whole time, my answers were eloquent, and I felt confident. When the woman asked me why I wanted to be a part of Disney, I talked about how this was my second time applying. In the past, I have often thought that if it didn't work out the first time, it probably wasn't meant to be. But this time, I wanted to prove to myself that it wasn't always like that. When we really want something, we can work for it and try again. I applied again to prove to myself and to others that just because it doesn't work out the first time doesn't mean that it will never work out.

As I thought about my answer after the interview, I realized what a great lesson that was for me to learn. Not only because that got me into the DCP, but because it is a great life lesson to learn. Today, I related it to the gospel. We make mistakes all of the time! Does that mean that we can't get better? Absolutely not! Christ atoned for us because we are not perfect. We will make mistakes all of the time, but through the principles of the gospel, we can be better people. That is what I am hoping to get out of Disney. I want to be a better person!

On August 12, 2013, I will be in Orlando. I will be there until January 2, 2014. I'm bummed that I will miss a few things during fall semester such as football season (SO sad about this), RM friends coming back to Provo, Provo in general, and graduating sooner. However, this is absolutely worth it. I will be at Disney World during Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. I can't wait to see how everything is decorated!! It will be so cool! I'm so excited!!!

So just remember that if at first you don't succeed, try try again! Also, a dream is a wish your heart makes, so keep on dreaming! Because they come true! :)

PS: I have been covering women's basketball for BYU's newspaper the Universe this semester! Here are all of my articles: http://universe.byu.edu/beta/author/kimberlie-haner/