Here I am, nearly a year later, having just spent my weekend attending my second congress. This trip was definitely one of the first major turning points in my dancing. May of last year I went my first salsa congress in Los Angeles here I learned how much progress you can make not only by attending workshops but also by using your friends as resources to help you work out kinks in your dancing. Anytime I had an off night or a bad dance I'd beat myself up and not wanna dance anymore. My first year of salsa was filled with a lot of self-criticism. By spring I was dancing sometimes 6 days a week (including Ritmos classes and private lessons). Salsa was all I talking about, all I thought about, I looked forward to Thursday nights every single week. What had started as me being proud and attempting to prove that I'm not a failure became a full-blown addiction. I quickly made friends with my classmates, many of whom were people I saw out at the clubs. ![]() So, I signed up for Ritmos Latinos rueda casino classes, because I was told that that was the best way to get involved in the salsa community in Tucson. One night, after faking my way through some dances with Victoria's salsa friends, I decided that I was going to get good and I was going to come back and prove myself. At the time I felt SO uncomfortable and dreaded when people would ask me to dance because, well, partner dancing is scary. So, 1 year and 8 months ago I started dancing salsa.technically my journey began a bit earlier when Victoria would drag me out to Sapphire with her on Thursdays. Only time will tell exactly what I have gotten out of this experience, but for now I have discovered a love of life and a burning desire to see the world. Canada, Scotland, England, Argentina, even all over my own country. I now have more excuses to travel and see the world. I never expected to make so many friends while I was away. They listened to me bitch incessantly about how homesick I was, they took care of me when I was down, the made me laugh until I cried (like, daily), they partied with me until we couldn't anymore, they were there to share memories for me that I will hold dearly forever. I couldn't have asked for better people in my life the last 7 months. I've learned that I attract amazing people. I used to get little butterflies when having to do new things on my own but somehow, my survival instincts kicked in. I managed to tote myself around france (and the UK and Cyrpus) without the help of anyone but myself.and I wasn't even that terrified about it. Turns out, I really don't need that safety net. I've been fairly independent the last few years but I still always had my mommy there to help me, to advise me, to be my safety net. ![]() Well for starters, I am capable of being a grown-up and taking care of myself. So really, I ask myself, what have I learned? What did I get out of the last 7 months? Angers with Lea playing wii with her family. Learning how to tell (cold) weather in Celsius. Beach at least once a month during the winter. Birthday extravaganzas galore: University Party, Headfucker, Scavenger Hunt. Cheeky students: "have you got facebook" ). Monday nights at the Red Lion for "language exchange". I spoke far less French than I would have liked, but I have learned so much more about other anglophone cultures and english than I could have ever expected. I wouldn't say I love Marseille and I'd rush to live back here again, but I do love the grittiness, and the uniqueness, and I love how it has taken so much timidness from me and has forced me to grow. Once the culture shock wore off and routine set in, Marseille grew into something so important in my life. At the same time, I am so heartbroken and gutted (thank you uk friends) to leave this place and all the fantastic people I have met. ![]() I could not be more excited to see all my loved ones, my cat, my dog, my car, my bed, my friends, cacti, desert sunsets, ALL of it. However, I still have the feeling of being torn. Now, I feel much less erratic than I did at that time. There was fear of the unknown, fear that I had made a mistake, sadness of what I'd be missing by leaving. I was torn between the most excited I have ever been, merely days from moving abroad while at the same time never having been more distraught and upset to leave EVERYTHING I knew and loved behind. September 20, 2012, I was basically having a life crisis. Here I am, sitting at my computer feeling more or less the same as I was 7 months ago.
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