Hakuna Matata

Jourdan Cleaver
Alpha Xi Delta

The magic continues with more new friends, drama in the workplace, and trying to balance work life, fun life, and in Jourdan’s case, classes. After a few weeks, we are finally getting into the hang of everything and are about veterans.  By checking in Jan. 11, we were one of the first groups of CPs (college program students) to come.  After being here more than a month, it is somewhat comical seeing the new students come in that are just as confused about everything as we were at first. Yeah it took a while, but we are finally feeling “at home” here in Orlando.

Compared to West Lafayette, Orlando is a gigantic city.  There is something new to do here every day. While we work for Disney and have our housing provided for us, we actually don’t live anywhere really near anything Disney. Around our housing complexes, there are so many restaurants, hookah bars, grocery stores and an outlet mall, all pretty much within walking distance. Because of the fact that we work at Disney World day in and day out, our free passes to the parks are not always too appealing.  Granted the parks are an absolute blast, it is still nice having so many other options to do around the area of Orlando that we live in. Now to touch on the social scene here.

Compared to the social scene within the Greek community at Purdue, I guess you could say here is… different. But definitely not in a bad way.  Aside from West Lafayette, Orlando offers tons and tons of different bars and clubs that are all for the most part ages 18 and up. Something exciting that all the CPs should experience at least once is the party bus. The party bus is a bus that you pay probably at most $10 to get on, which covers your transportation, as well as cover charge for the club that it goes to.  After it takes you to a club in downtown Orlando, it drops you off, and then picks you back up and takes you home. Even though we are both underage, it’s still fun to go out with your friends and have a good time. 

One other plus about living in Orlando compared to living on campus at Purdue, is that we are about one hour from the coast in both directions.  In this past week, we have visited Daytona Beach on the east coast, as well as St. Petersburg beach on the west coast, which is something that is unheard of in Indiana.  Although the ocean water is a bit chilly during the winter months, the 80+ degree weather keeps us warm. 

We are learning new things every day and learning how to adapt to Florida living, which is 20 times better than Indiana. Sometimes we feel like we are living in a show like “The Real World” because we work, go out, and have fun all the time. The only part that’s not fun is spending your money on groceries, when you’re used to having a cook in the house to make everything for you. As our journeys continue, we will keep you all up-to-date on the magical lives of being a Disney cast member.