Days 10 & 11

On Friday, we got the opportunity to go back to Porto and explore the city some more. We were all really excited about that because we all love the city. We got to walk around and sit by the water and shop for souvenirs. We got to see the hotel we stayed at when we first got to Portugal and just walk around and enjoy ourselves. After we got back to Barcelos, we got ready for our next show at a fair in town. It was only a three-minute performance but we got the honor of dancing for the mayor of the town. He described our dance as: “many colors and much joy.” After dancing we got to look around the fair and many of us found unique, handmade souvenirs and treats.

The next day was the day of our biggest show yet. After practicing and preparing the whole morning, we had a pizza party to celebrate our hard work and get even more pumped for the show. Stuffing our faces with pizza and coke was fun but nothing could top the show that night. We had a parade leading to our stage and it was so much fun to see everyone cheering us on before our show. Some people were even throwing confetti and rose petals down from the balconies of their houses or out their windows. Our stage was amazing. It was huge and built over a river; Kaitlyn says it is the best stage she has ever seen on a festival trip, which was so exciting. People were lined up everywhere, on the streets above the stage and filling in the stands. About 500 people were there! We even had our own jumbotron! It felt amazing to dance on a stage like that and we also got to dance some of our favorite numbers, which are crowd favorites as well. After the show ended, we got to see an adorable and tear-jerking video summing up our trip, which was put together by the festival and highlighted all of the different groups that performed. We also got to watch an awesome fireworks show, which was a great way to end the night. BUT IT WASN’T OVER YET! After we came back we headed to our last party here. As we like to put it, we brought the party. We started dancing and having fun and got all the other countries to join in. Each country taught new songs and dances to the group. Our uptown funk Zumba was a hit!

Today is our last official day in Portugal. We are all packing and getting ready for our very last show of the festival. We all miss home and our families, but we will be sad to leave this beautiful country. We have made so many memories on this trip that we will never forget. Thanks to everyone who helped organize this trip and thank you to everyone who helped make our experience unforgettable.

Portugal, you’ve been great.

All the love,

T2 Illinois

(Written by Tayler and Kasey J)