One Rising Star

Salam alikoum (Hello in Arabic) Well, I have made it to Dubai everyone! Here is a very QUICK breakdown of what I have been doing or noticing since I arrived in Dubai. 1 .      The long trip The trip was very long; I left from the Buffalo airport, stopped in Chicago, Houston and Doha before arriving in Dubai. I won’t lie…it was painfully long. Seeing my apartment when I arrived though made it all worth it! 2.      TID (THIS IS DUBAI) Dubai is not the most organized place I have visited. Thankfully, many people had warned me about it so I wasn’t too surprised. People are often late and plans change all the time! 3.      The truth behind the glitz and glamour Behind all the nice big buildings and the beautiful malls are lots of labor workers who are underpaid and mistreated. I am blown away! 4.      Shop till you drop I’ve gone to the malls way too many times since I arrived...

I know many of you want to know how my trip to Orlando went, so here I go... The 2012 Zumba Instructor Convention officially kicked off on Thursday, August 9th 2012, but I was anxious to start my "ZUMBACATION", so I got right in on the action Wednesday, August 8th 2012! I started with some much needed shopping followed by a Master Class with the great Alejandro from China-Venezuela! Thursday morning, I woke up early and waited in line for the Zumba Outlet Store to open...At 6:15 a.m. I was already sitting in line! I finally got in the store around 9:15 a.m.!!! I made my way to the official kick-off where I was lucky enough to hear some great people speak and some very inspirational stories. Already, I was feeling the Zumba Love! In the afternoon, I had my very first workshop, which was Brazilian Carnival! I LOVED IT!!!! I got to do some samba...more samba...and more samba! At night, we were invited to attend a "Party in Pink Fitness Concert". The venue was...

When I was younger I dreamt about visiting Mexico. I had an apparent passion for learning Spanish and new things about the latin culture. Little did I know, this passion would go far beyond Mexico and Spanish.  5 years ago, I started teaching at an amazing French school called Pavillon de la jeunesse in Hamilton, Ontario. This school brought forth many challenges, but with every obstacle I surpassed, I learnt so much about myself and the World around me. I was lucky enough to work with a very multicultural group of kids who in the end probably taught me just as much as I taught them. Thank you to all the students and staff members I was privileged to work with in the last 5 years!   After my first year teaching, my passion for learning about new cultures and for helping others fuelled me to go on my first humanitarian trip. I really had no idea what I was getting myself into at the time, but the experience was absolutely life changing. Within about 3 years, I went to...