Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Mexico City: Mucho Gusto!

I love to travel- I am crazy about exploring new countries, experiencing a different culture, tasting new foods, and meeting new people. I spent the past five days in Mexico City where we promoted NFL Mexico and represented the Denver Broncos. I was surprised and happy to see that we have a solid fan base in Mexico City as I met many fans covered from head to toe in blue and orange.

The group consisted of myself, Melissa Lopez-Aust, Erica Weston, Terita Walker, Sara Oliver, and Lindsay McBride. Also we were very excited that alumni cheerleader Catherine McEachern was our representative. Cat did a great job keeping us on schedule, making sure that we were safe at all times, and answered all of our questions. We could not have done this trip without her!

The Broncos Cheerleaders have been very lucky in regards to traveling. While we do not travel to away games, we do have other opportunities. Our team has visited locations such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Dubai, Egypt, Barcelona, Italy, and many others. Next year, a group of thirteen will be touring Hawai’i, Japan, and Guam to perform for our troops. The group is working diligently to prepare a variety show filled with dancing, skits, games, and singing for the troops.

The Mexico City trip began with breakfast with Microsoft employees and their clients. This was particularly fun for me since I had not been able to use my Spanish for quite some time in the US. I began studying Spanish since the third grade and spent four months as a student in Spain. Breakfast was fun because I was able to chat with lots of people in Spanish. This helped me brush up on my Spanish vocabulary and prepared me for the rest of the trip.

The majority of our time was spent doing interviews, photo shoots for the Mexican media, and mall appearances where we performed several numbers. We were very appreciative to be greeted with enthusiasm from the people that we met.

Finally, I want to say thank you to the wonderful people we worked with while in Mexico: Victor, Carlos, and Fernando from Vance Security provided our transportation and made sure we were always safe, Geraldine and all of the other wonderful NFL Mexico staff who assisted with the logistics of our events, and Carlos, our outgoing and energetic emcee/comedian for all of our mall appearances. It was a pleasure to work with all of them; hopefully I’ll have the chance to visit our new friends in Mexico City again some day.

- Laura (12/17/07)