~:[CH5 - Day 40]: ~ Snow Incredible

~:[CH5 - Day 40]: ~ Snow Incredible

It was truly a 24 hour day. When we first voted on doing this trek, I am not sure if anyone really knew how exhausting it would be. For me, this is how I travel, but trying to get a group around, always makes it a bit more challenging. We left our hotel before 6am, as it was still dark outside and it was drizzling on our way to the station. We took the train and arrived early to the bus depot, so we lounged around before boarding. We headed up to Philly and on our way, the snow started to come down and in Baltimore, it really started to come down. We eventually arrived and headed to Reading Terminal Market and got some delicious food and snacks as we wandered around aisle after aisle. We ventured into Chinatown and finally got some decent boba before heading over to Independence Hall. We wandered around and ended up at the beautiful city hall building, the LOVE fountain, and of course, the world-famous Rocky Steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. We ended up having one group get lost, our group unable to get a cab, and of course, a little miscalculation of time, which led to our Megabus driving away. We quickly figured it out and got on a train and made it with time to spare. The crowd at Allegiance was amazing and I was so happy of how the students enjoyed the musical. From the actual performances to the importance of the story, I had no doubt that this was worth the obstacles and the fatigue. Because of the amazing Janelle Dote, we were ALL able to go backstage, which I thought in itself was incredible, but for her to introduce us to not only the stage actors but also to those who made it happen, I was overwhelmed, overjoyed, and so very thankful. As we were leaving, the group ran into Telly and AJ Raphael, as they serenaded him and ended up on his Snapstory. I was happy to sit down with Janelle afterward to just catch up and was so grateful of her generosity and selflessness in giving back to our school with an experience that they will never forget! As while we left on an overnight bus back to DC and fatigue would overtake us, it was worth the experience that the Allegiance cast provided. I am so glad to all those who took the time to make this production and even more thankful for those who spend some time talking to our students so that they could get the full experience and carry this with them for the rest of their lives - George Takei, Telly Leung, Michael K. Lee, Chris Nomura, Greg Watanabe, Stafford Arima, Lynne Shankel, and whoever else I may have missed. #cerritosHSmodelUN