Here I am. Back at work, mentally and physically.

I spent all of last week, jet-lagged and sleep deprived, trying to get back into the beat of my life. It didn’t help that I attended another dance festival, this time in Montreal, hosted by Teacher. My feet are killing me. I estimate I did 50 hours of dancing in 10 days.

At Teacher’s Gindungo festival, one of the instructors from Paris (she is the woman with black hair, in jeans and a white t-shirt next to me in the video below) mistook me for an instructor from Vermont – huge compliment bc I deem the Vermont instructor to be one of the best dancers I’ve ever seen. Once Paris instructor realized her mistake, she pointed out that if such a misunderstanding was possible, perhaps I should stop being so shy when I dance and own my place during dance offs? I explained to her that no, I’m still a beginner, and the last thing I’d want to do is to embarrass Teacher at his festival in front of all of his international guests. She rolled her eyes, “You only have one life. Dance if you feel like dancing.”

Behold a video of a Kuduro workshop at that same festival – I’m starting to exhibit my inner Pussycat Doll, because I’ve accepted my right to self-expression.

 

These were the most incredible 3 weeks.  This trip has shown how much I’ve grown, over the past few years. My struggles with mental health and unhappiness appear to be under control.

I’ve only one life, and I’ll dance, bc I do feel like dancing.

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Recap of this trip – Paris:

• Roller-coasters were never my favorite
• Suitcases: tricky concept
• Mais je me considère Parisienne, du coup!
• Follow the church spire

Recap of this trip – Dubai:

• Solo tripcations are my new fave thing
• Dubai? Why?!
• First time on a beach
• All I’ve done is eat, chat and watch people smoke shisha
• I didn’t know vacations could make me so happy
• Where I test out this whole ‘solocation vs social anxiety’ concept
• Dancefloor drama
• Discovering different kind of friendships – Moments of Truth, part II
• BossMan
• My Arab & Muslim family
• A tale of 4 days
• A valuable lesson