To all my dear Up With People Host Families, Cast C friends and people I have met, this is a little update of what's been happening in my life. Please let me know what's been happening with yours!
July 1998 My dear friends and families: Hoping that this letter finds you well and happy, I have to start by apologizing! For most of you, it's been very long... too long since you haven't heard from Lili Cantú from México. I'm so sorry, and eventhough I know excuses are worthless, the main reason is that I wanted to write to all of you personally. Well, I think that if I keep waiting to have the time to do that, I'll be an old lady before you hear from me. So excuse me for sending you the un-personal kind of letter, but I asure you that the answer to an answer to it will be handwritten and very, very personal. And that's because I know that I won't have to write so many letters at once (hopefully they will be a lot of letters, only scattered). Anyway, let me start, 'cause I have lots to tell you. I met most of you during my Up With People year. I had the fortune of having you either as a friend at Cast C or being hosted by you and your kindness, or meeting you along my tour. You all form part of the most amazing and fulfilling year of my life. Eventhough that year put some stress in my inside, changing me so deeply before returning to a very conservative Mexico, it added so very, very much to my existence that I'm sure I'm a better person and can give much more thanks to it. And the wonderful people that I met (all of you), that alone makes anything worth anything. After my year I worked for a while at a big auto part company, at the Human Resources Dept. But I didn't find much professional challenge at that place, so I started working with my dad for a while, helping out with logistics at his business. Meanwhile, everything was getting ready for my sister's wedding, on May 10th (we're talking 1997 here). Mary's wedding was the most beautiful event anyone had attended, not only because Mary and Julio and both families took care of every detail, but because we all enjoyed (and keep enjoying) doing it. Every time they hang a new painting on a wall at their little pretty home, it's a national event. I miss my sister, my best friend. But, as I wrote in the song that I sang to her at her wedding, she has started a new stage with a wonderful man, and I'll never be able to thank God enough for making us more that sisters in blood, sisters in heart. If we ever meet again, I'll sing that song to you.
Tati (sister-in-law), Ismael (brother), Ismael (dad), Mary (sister), Julio (brother-in-law), Paquito (grandpa), ME!. Seated: Manena (Mom) and Titita (grandma).
A couple of days after Mary's wedding, the most amazing opportunity arose for me, when I decided to start searching for a job that truly fulfilled my professional desires (working with my dad was great comfort and schedule wise, but not really challenging). I interviewed and got the Public Relations Manager position at Parque Plaza Sésamo, which is an amusement and aquatic park with the Sesame Street's theme, which actually opened while I was on tour, on 95. I love my job, basically because it's so similar to UWP and to the promotion work I did for my cast in Porto, Portugal. Media interviews, meeting people, representing a nice organization, delivering cheery messages of amusement and good times for all the family, event coordination, handling matters of support to low income people that want to visit the Park and wouldn't be able unless we helped them… PUF!! Everything is great. I love going to the park and running into the Cookie Monster, Ernie or Elmo (Sesame Street's characters) and giving them a big hug, or just looking at the children having fun at the attractions. It's great.
Me with Elmo, Bert and Cookie!
I also started my master's degree on International Communications. Sounds like Up With People, right? Right! I'm going rather slowly with it, since I'm working full time, but I like it a lot. It mixes international matters, communication matters, media maters, new technology matters, delivering messages matters… all that good stuff that I love. That's the way my life has been since last year, professional wise. On January I took a few days off (nice thing about low season: I can do that with no problem) and visited my dear host family, the Luckys at Denver, where my cast and I got trained for our year in Up With People. I visited the Opening Ceremony and first week of Staging of the new casts: D and E 98. Didn't stay long enough to see the new show, but it was great anyway. The only not so great thing about it was to realize that there are no Mexicans in those casts. How could there be? Up With People hasn't come to Mexico since I saw them, back in 1993, mainly because that tour can be defined as a big mess and lots of losses for UWP. So now, aside from still loving my job and doing my best at it, I presented UWP a proposal for starting operations at Mexico again. The only job I could think of that could beat the one I have right now would be to represent UWP at my country. Organizing the tours, finding sponsors, unifying all Mexican alumni, and at the end, bringing UWP to Mexico again and getting Mexicans in UWP again, would be the best thing for me. Still working on it, but I have a good feeling… In the personal field: Oh dear! Mmmm. OK. I had to learn to get used to being the last one at home. Not having siblings to share parents' attention, wishing to find myself my significant other looking upon my brother and sister, both happily married, being a 24 year old "working girl"… It took a while. I was constantly searching, constantly hoping… constantly hitting myself against the wall of another "nope, that one wasn't either"… I can truly say that I got the hang of the "single and happy about it" way of life about four months ago. I realized there was nothing I could do to make things happen faster on that field... they have to happen alone, and it will usually be when you least and where you least expect it. And so it happened. About two months ago, in the most awkward situation, at the most uncommon place for me to be, I met someone that keeps amazing me everyday, each time that I find another thing in him that is exactly the way I wished to find in someone. I have probably said this before to some of you, and time will tell if I'm right this time, but I'm pretty sure I've found him. Now I get why Chuyito (that's my nickname for God) was making me wait. It was definitely worth it...
Hopefully you'll get to meet Antonio (Toño) someday. For more details about this matter, don't hesitate to express the request. On the sad note, this year I experienced for the first time the loss of a close loved one. Paquito, my grandpa, passed away after some time of suffering kidney problems. Not that long time, thank God. I had never experienced death this close before, and eventhough it's sad to realize that I won't see Paquito and enjoy his company and great sense of humor for a while, It's nice to personaly corroborate that it's true: People don't "die", they keep living it the hearts and minds of those who met them, and they stay… everywhere. It was an honor to hold my grandpa's hand when he was leaving his beautiful shell, and I know he chose the wind to stay with us… ever since that day, the breeze feels different. I'm sure Paquito is making the angels laugh their wings off, and God too, with his merry (and lots of X rated!) jokes. God has been most kind to me my whole life, and I'm so very grateful to him for everything. Life is so great, and the pains and sorrows we may encounter do nothing but reinforce that feeling of trust, if one really trusts... I'm also grateful for all the nice people I have had the chance to meet throughout my life, because now I know that when I'm no longer here phisically, I will hopefully still be alive inside each and everyone of you all. OOOHHH, WELL! I guess you're thinking right now "Mmm, Lili has picked up a little of philosophical style during this time!". NOPE. I'm still the loquita mexicanita you met, and who would be so very feliz to see you again some time, preferebly within the next couple of years! Ah! I almost forgot. With the entretaining mexican telecomunications situation (AT&T and MCI fighting with Telmex for rights, while all of us users just have fun watching), something not that entretaining happened: my phone number changed! It's no longer: 52 8 378 58 89 (52 country, 8 area code, the rest, phone). Now its: 52 8 303 05 97 or also 52 8 303 05 98 Still living at the same adress, so letters will arrive. What adress? Platón #306 Resid. Chipinque Garza Garcia, NL 66290 Mexico Well, since this letter has already been pretty long, I'll be fast in the goodbye, not before letting you know how much I miss you all and hope you're doing well. Take care and God bless you. ¡Adios! Love always Lili Cantú
YUP! THAT'S TOÑO AND I
© 1997 lilicantu@wildmail.com
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