Beto, Nathan Blake and me

Ok, I better write this now, before another week or two passes by. I already knew October would be busy, so I gotta do this while I have the time and energy for it. Well, it's 10 PM so my energy is hardly gone, but I wish to have this done once and for all.

Yesterday I attended a Master Class with Nathan Blake and a mother & daughter duo from Stockholm Zumba (Lena & Amina). More about that in another blog post. First let me think back about last Saturday. The Master Class with Beto Perez.

I joined up with a lot of other girls going by bus. We stopped in various citys along the high way, to pick up zumbanistas as we went by. It was a 6-7 hours bus ride. Some of the girls brought along a sign that we used as a bumper sticker. It reads "Zumba chicks on the road."

As we got to Ballerup Super Arena, we had to stand in line to get inside the building. The weather was extremely warm for an October day. I can't remember when we had a warm day like this in October before.

The line inside was not that long as they arranged a lot of check in points. You just had to use the check point that had your first letter. So I was in the "K" line. I got my two bracelets. One for the master class and one for the after party later on.

As you can see, they matched my sweat band pretty good.

At first we checked in our luggage. Then we went upstairs where the zumba shop was selling zumba wear. The line to get in was so long. Once you were in, there was also a long line to pay. Luckily I was able to skip the line as I was paying in cash.

I bought one top... But they alos had an outlet store and I ended up buying 3 more things. One of them being the the wind track jacket, that I have been eyeing for a long time.

I know some people find it silly to spend money on zumba clothes.. But zumba becomes a lifestyle and some of the clothes I realy like... Especialy those that have a funny print. I do find some of the zumba pants funky... However, I don't even fit an XXL in the zumba pants, yet I'm only a S in UFO pants. I think they should think about that. Some women, like myself, happen to have big thigs - which I now refer to as zumba thigs ;) Although a lot of fat has gone from my thigs, the muscles are still there! Anyway, I'll continue to use my UFOs.
While people were shopping, Beto and his film crew was testing all the settings, as they were doing recordings for a ZIN video, that is a dvd being sent to all Zumba instructors every month, I believe. Unfortunalyely I'm not an instructor, so I might never get to see it.

After shopping, I had to get in line again, to put my purchased items in my bags in my stored luggae.. Because I was shopping, I ended up being among the last 10 people to get in to the arena. The warm up crew was already going on. I snapped a picture before putting my camera in my luggage. Someone told me that cameras, wallets, towels and water bottles were not allowed.. So I left everything in my bags.

I changed my spot every now and then cause... Let's face it. It was too crowded. People would step on your toes, there were huge cables, not to mention the flying camera, to look out for. But all in all, it was an awesome experience. I did see people putting up a few clips on facebook from the master class, but I will leave it to you guys, to find those clips yourself :) There was one choreography that I can't wait to see again. Beto did a mix of river dance and Bollywood... I thought it was fun to do :)

As the acual master class was over, there was a surprise zumba act for Beto. In the end of the arena, I noticed a place with a short line and realised it was an area for having your picture taken with Beto. I asked someone if you had to bring your own camera, and they said yes... So I rushed out of the arena, picked up my bag with my camera, and rushed back to the arena to get in line. I took these pictures from the very end of the arena

I think it was easy to see, that Beto was very exhausted at this moment... He was so tired, which you can definitely tell in the next pictures.

However, he seemed to come a bit alive on my picture :)

I am so happy with the outcome of this picture. I feel like it was me and Beto shaking hands to a healthy agreement that zumba is the best thing that happened to me, and I will continue to zumba far out in the future!

After I changed into some more decent clothes, I met with the other girls that I travelled with. The Danish Zumba shop had arranged shuttle busses going from the arena to the after party. We got on one of those busses, but wanted to go eat some dinner first. On our way to the arena, we had made reservations at a vegetarian restaurent that offered a yummy buffet. It was so nice. I think I will definitely go back there some day. We sent all our luggage in a cab to the bus that would take us home later... After dinner we went to the after party. But to tell you the truth. It sucked. It seemed like part of a shop had been turned into a club for the evening. More than 400 people bought tickets for the after party. Yet there were only seat for 10. There were no toilets. Outside there were 2 festival toilets. Come on. It totaly sucked!

A bunch of us left to find a better place. Afterall, this was the capital of the city and they wanted to give us that crap?!! On our way out in the city, some people stopped me to ask for directions to the after party.. They saw me wearing my new zumba wind jacket. I told them it sucked, and they told me there was a latin club called "Club Mambo" so me and one of the other girls went there. It was much better. There was a live band playing samba. I thought it was a funny way to end the night as it was the birthday of my regular zumba instructor, who moved to Brazil. We received a message saying that Beto had entered the after party. Beto left just 5 minutes later. They poor guy must've been so tired. It turns out that there was a better bar and party next to where the after party was held. That's where the VIPs had been hiding when the party was boring. Dj Francis was there and the party ended quite strangely! The last song he played was Guns n Roses "Sweet child of mine" - everyone thought it was a stupid song. But with my twisted mind, I turned it into a bachata :) Try for yourself

Just after 3 AM we went to find the bus where some of the other girls were already sleeping. We all had a great day and slept for 3-4 hours. I was dropped off around 7:30 AM and slept most of the day. I made sure to cancel next day's zumba!



I've been to New York & Montréal

I apoligise for the lack of updates lately, but I've had a few things to deal with. All good, thank God.

To start with the most recent. I just got back from a trip to NYC and Montreal. It was awesome. The main goal for the trip was... Shopping, of course. It's been 10 years since I last was there, so I also took the trip as an aniverssary trip. Last time I was there, the WTC were still standing, but 1½ month later, was 9/11/2001. I'm so thankful that I had returned home safely. Especialy since I was flying from Logan air port in Boston, which was also where the 9/11/ planes took off from. A Bostonian actualy told me at the time, that Logan airport had so much bad karma, that something bad always happened. We did have a minor problem when taking off, as my friend seemed to have been checked in as another friend, whom had already left on an earlier flight. Anyway, I'm thankful to have been without any further problems.

We saw all the tourist sights such as Times Square, Central Park, Empire State Building, Brooklyn Bridge, The Statue of Liberty, China Town. We also went to a mall in Queens, went shopping in Harlem and many more places.

I was hoping to bring home some new zumba sneakers, but a vist to both Sansha and Capezio, didn't leave to any purchase. I did find a few cute dance tops. One of them reads "I live for dancing." :) I will post a picture later.

While being in NYC, we also went to see Macy's big 4th. of July firework. It was awesome. 1 show would've been enough, but because they were doing it on the Hudson river, they had 7 firework displays and we could see all of them. It was awesome.

We stayed at a brand new hotel that had just opened in the beginning of June. The Yotel hotel. It was only a few blocks away from Times Square. We stayed at the 15th. floor with a great view. I recommend the hotel to anyone going to NYC.

July 1st. I made sure to go buy something very special on-line. The ultimate zumba experience was being put up for sale that day. Mr. Zumba himself, Beto Perez will be having a zumba master class in my country. It is so cool that he is actualy coming to my small country!! I'm so excited. I feel that zumba has changed my life and always wanted to grab the opportunity of meeting him once I had the chance. Well, it's coming! October 1st. I will join his master class in the capital of Denmark. Funny thing is. October 1st. is also my zumba instructor's birthday. I know that he will not be in Denmark at that time, as he's moving to Brazil in September. But hey, what great way to honor him, right? Beto, Zumba and me having a party on my instructor's birthday :)

After NYC, we took a train to Montreal to spend a couple of days there as my friend was attending two U2 concerts. I spend the time shopping and having a look around the city. Well, I didn't see much of the city as I was already tired from the week in NYC. I also went to see the Bio Dome one day, as I love animals. I loved it. I know it was not exotic animals, although they did have a small section with animals from the rain forest, but most of the animals were animals you can find in the various climates of the world. I saw animals that I never saw in any zoo before. Such a great experience! 

I didn't catch much sleep on the way home to Denmark. After a long trip abroad with many things to think back on, I just couldn't sleep on the plane ride home. Instead I killed some time watching "Black Swan" - the movie I was too scared to watch at the movies. I hate scary movies, but by watching it from the seat of the plane, I was able to look at the passenger in front of me's movie, so it was a pleasent way to both kill time and watch a scary movie. Afterwards I watched something crazy as "Gnomeo & Juliet."

As I got back home, I decided to see if I could avoid jetlag, by staying awake till night time. I thought I succeded, but then, then following night, I could only sleep for 1 hour and I was very tired at work. I still feel a bit tired, but hopefuly the jetlag will be over with this week-end.