Senior Ivy Padilla has been highly dedicated to cheerleading throughout his high school career. Through cheerleading, Padilla has received the honor of being chosen as an All-American. Any cheerleader who receives this honor gets offered the opportunity to go on international trips and cheer with others who were chosen. This year’s trip opportunity was to London, England, and Padilla attended to have a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

What were the most beautiful sights of your trip?

One day, we were given a tour of the Tower of London. We got to see where they stored the crown jewels, the White Tower and its older architecture, and the Tower of London with its famous execution/torture devices. It was only when we stepped out of the tower, and I got a sight of Tower Bridge though that everything really set in. At that moment, my dreams had become my reality, and I had overcome all of my obstacles and fears. We also attended live shows at the Vaudeville, Victoria Palace, and Apollo Victoria Theatre. They held so much history. 

What cheerleading opportunities did you have there? How was the experience?

I was invited to cheer for the London New Year’s Day Parade. The parade route is about two miles long, going through Piccadilly Circus, the Regent Street St. James’s, Trafalgar Square, and ending at Parliament Square. As we marched down the streets, we were yelling chants like: LON-DON, we love London, here we go London, here we go. Every couple of yards we performed a dance routine for spectators watching in the grandstands. It was to “Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift, so, as a Swiftie, I was ecstatic.

Being able to cheer in the parade was heartwarming because London is a huge tourist city, and there were so many people of different cultures and nationalities watching. Being able to pump up the crowd and the audience yelling and cheering with us and seeing their smiling faces felt great. Despite our differences and chaos in the world, we were all comrades, even just for a couple of hours. 

What food did you eat? What was your favorite?

The food was actually not all that different from our dishes. I was able to try a traditional English breakfast of grilled mushrooms, tomatoes, scrambled eggs and beans on toast. I wasn’t able to try fish and chips, but I was never fond of fish, so I passed.

There really weren’t dishes offered that were a huge difference from American food.

We actually stopped at a Pizza Hut before our show one night, and they had some very cute mac-and-cheese and stuffed bread bites. My favorite though was a steak entree we were treated to on New Year’s Eve. It was the fanciest place I had ever been to. It was a grilled steak on top of a bed of truffle mashed potatoes, and it was ground-breaking.

Were there notable cultural differences? What were they?

Everyone working in retail/customer service in stores or restaurants there was so friendly and accommodating. Most places were bustling with people, but they still held their smiles and were always ready to help. When checking out at stores, they would ask if you needed a bag. If you said yes, they charged you about 50 cents for a paper bag. I think this was a great incentive to have people use reusable bags to cut down on waste. 

Most, if not all places, only accepted card/contactless payments, I always had to ask if they accepted cash. I didn’t know this before leaving the U.S., and London doesn’t accept Discover cards, which is what I have. So, the cash I converted to British pounds at the airport was all I had for that week. There were also barely any public bathrooms anywhere. We had to download an app to find bathrooms, and most times, you had to go into a random store to use their bathroom. So, that was odd.

How did this compare to your previous Hawaii All-American trip?

Hawaii was great. The beaches were so relaxing, and all of the World War II monuments were breathtaking. However, London has a city charm that I loved. All of the lights and buildings were so charming and magnificent. London also gave me a perspective of what it’s like to live in a bigger city, and I really loved it. So, it has solidified my future plans of moving out of here and living in one. If I could ever go back to London, I would do it in an instant.