The Flamenco Diaries: Crazy

I was practicing turns in the garage until 2am last night. I woke up the next morning at 7:30AM and practiced footwork on the backyard deck. I probably woke the whole neighborhood up too.

Random Facts About Me

Decade of birth
1970s

Dream job
Food critic

Where do you see yourself in three years?
Married and in Pharmacy School

What do you spend most of your money on?
Cosmetics: drugstore, Nars, MAC; Food

Favorite way to procrastinate
Watching YouTube videos

Shy or extrovert
Shy

Mac or PC
Mac

How many books do you own
50

Fanta or Tango
None, yuck

Worst school subject
Calculus

Best school subject
Anthropology

Pet hate
duckfaces

Currently have a crush?
Yes… :)

A country you want to explore
Japan

What will you do after filling out this questionnaire
Sleep

Most cherished life experience
Living a year in West Africa

Favourite place to be
In HopAlong's arms (cheezy but true)

Drink you always order
Arnold Palmer

Blue or black ink
Black

Currently addicted to…
Youtube makeup tutorials and reviews

Something that excites you
Dancing

I get many compliments for
My hair

Early bird or night owl
Night Owl

Something you do not understand
text speak

A trait you dislike in people
selfishness

A trait you admire in people
Empathy and open-mindedness

Something you want RIGHT now
For HopAlong to be here :(

Worst feeling in the world
Rejection and failure

I get criticized for
My negativity

The Flamenco Diaries: Week 6- Vueltas

I thought flamenco class was cancelled today. I walked up to the studio and discovered that it was locked. The lights were off and nobody was there. I was not thrilled at all as I had to travel into the city to get here and it was a complete waste of my time. If class were cancelled, the teacher would have emailed us. I checked my email, and no email from teacher.

I decided to walk out to the corner on market street and wait. About 20 minutes later, I saw my teacher leave a cafe nearby walking to the studio. Phew! Class is not cancelled. I followed her. She too discovered the door was locked and she didn't have the access code. She called the studio owner for the code, all she got was a voicemail.

More students were showing up as we were waiting for the call back. The teacher jokingly said (or maybe not jokingly), "If we can't get in, we'll just have class outside. The concrete will do wonders for our knees."

The owner finally called and we were able to get in the studio.

There are some days when you are having an "on" day. You're in the zone and everything just clicks for you. Today wasn't one of those days. Talk about being humbled. I felt like a downright idiot. The teacher introduced us to vueltas (turning). She broke down the turn for us and showed us how to spot. Spotting is where you focus on a "spot" in front of you and when you whip your head around you go back looking at that same spot. This prevents you from getting dizzy and from being off balance.

I hate turning. Turns are my major downfall. Even back then when I was taking flamenco 5 days a week, I still had trouble with turns and would get intimidated when we had to do them in choreography.

So she made us travel across the floor doing vueltas, switching sides after a set. I don't know if I was psyching myself out or what, I just couldn't do them. And these beginners who've NEVER taken flamenco before could do them. This makes me lead to believe, either I've picked up a bad habit or it's a mental thing.

My teacher approached me after class and said, "I notice when you are turning you are using your head as momentum to get around. You need to use your core." I told her that turns were my weakness and the other teachers I took classes from never bothered to break it down. They just had me do them without proper technique. She goes on to explain that some of her advanced students don't even know how to do turns for this very reason. And she said my spotting is perfect and to stop psyching myself out. I'm guessing she saw my frustration and felt the need to approach me after class.

After class, I wanted to kick myself. I hate it when I don't get something. Anyways, now I know what I'm doing wrong. It took years for someone to point this out to me and I'm so thankful for it. Every week my teacher proves to me that she is an amazing teacher. Most flamenco teachers can't be bothered.

I vow to practice every day until it becomes second nature. I'm going to get it, hopefully by next week when she makes us go across the floor again.

It's Eva Again...Dancing Like She's Possessed (As Usual)

Brilliant! I can never get enough of her!

Hangin' With My Peeps

I took this pic last year.

Every year in June the Filipino community throughout the Bay Area celebrate a festival called Pista sa Nayon.

The tradition of the Pista sa Nayon dates back centuries to the rural areas and towns of the Philippines. During Pista sa Nayon (a Filipino phrase translated “town festival”) Filipinos would gather for a fiesta in the middle of town to celebrate a good harvest, and it would be a time for people to focus on their neighbors, family and friends, solidifying the sense of community and hard work. -www.pista.org

I went to one today in my hood. Here you see lots of vendors, food, musical entertainment, comedy acts, food, food, food and more food!

Since we're on the subject of food...

I drank fresh coconut water which is a rare treat for me. So perfect for a hot summer's day!

Did you know that..."Coconut water is the second purest water next to water itself and is an isotonic solution which replaces the fluids and minerals that the body loses during physical activities. For this reason, many athletes and persons who work out regularly are encouraged to drink coconut water to replace all the minerals and fluid that they lose while working out? Coconut water is also almost identical to blood plasma and this makes it easy to use for blood transfusion. In cases of emergency coconut water has been used as an intravenous hydration fluid instead of the standard IV." (from associatedcontent.com)

In a nutshell, it's a natural sports drink!



I also indulged in Mango and Ube ice cream! Ube ice cream, a purple sweet potato used as an ingredient in many Filipino desserts, is a very popular flavor in the Philippines. Don't let the purple color fool you, it is delish!



It was a great today! I'm so glad that summer has finally arrived! I had been waiting impatiently because it sure took its sweet time getting here!

Shindiggers for Spin Class

which I will start taking next week. It has a well padded chamois so my butt doesn't hurt as much.

The Flamenco Diaries: Week 5

Teacher walks up to me after class and says...

Teacher: You've danced before!

Me: Yes, but I haven't danced in 4 years.

Teacher: How long were you dancing flamenco?

Me: About 5 years.

Teacher: I can tell. You need to move up to a higher level.