The dance is something I’ve wanted to do forever but really never to the time to learn it, the music video is great but it can only take you so far in figuring things out, it’s always good to have someone else figure it out and then teach it to you. Right? Lol! And it’s not like everyone knows it! I’ve gone to many a Halloween parties where the song comes on, everyone is excited, but no one really goes into a whole Thriller line dance (I actually tried to do that at an event this year because, hey, I knew the dance now, but people didn’t even try to join… oh well!) so, when someone is willing to teach it to you and a few others it’s always a fun time. Plus they wanted to do a flash mob which is something that I’ve always wanted to be a part of. All I had to do is learn the dance and dress up like a zombie. I did a good job if I do say so myself with just one day to prepare.

Here’s a video of everyone walking on and doing the dance, it’s a bit long to watch but while we were there it felt like it was very quick! I was also a bit surprised that none of the kids there started crying because I was participating and I felt freaked out to see all the living dead walking on…

The video at St. Vital Mall is not as good but it went well. Aside from the amount of security guards around when we started coming in (what would you do if suddenly the mall was overrun by zombies? Lol!) the crowd was bigger and even stopped us afterward because they wanted pictures.

It was an unforgettable experience. Just like the ones I look for constantly (because who wants to experience forgettable experiences, right?). I think that anyone who loves to dance and perform should definitely be part of a flash mob. It’s like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. If you want to do it, then DO IT!

I think that this is the first time in my life where I find that I belong to something bigger than myself! Fitness is so much more than big body builders on steroids chugging back litres of Creatine and/or Whey shakes and pumping iron 8 hours a day! It is an industry that ranges from, yes, those protein-chugging-muscle-heads  to calming and flowy yoga instructors, from kids sports to senior aquafit, from participants that weigh 90 pounds to Sumo wrestlers! It emcompasses so many areas and people of all shapes and sizes that there is a 100% probability that no matter who you are or what you do, you will find something that fits you!  Fitness is about getting you off the couch and moving to keep you healthy! So, I have found the programs that I know worked for me and then some…

My especialty and what I feel so excited to teach every day is what it’s all about for me! Zumba is dancing and feeling like you’re at a dance party, Turbo Kick has the best music mixes that keep you motivated and the cardio kickboxing combos are like a flowing movement from one to the next.  I am currently getting my Aquafit certification to teach water fitness and will be doing my PiYo™ and Bellyfit® certifications later on this year to complement my classes and have a wider selection for my students.  I want to have a full body and mind understanding of what fitness is to be able to integrate that to my classes. I just wish there were more hours in the day to teach! I want to eventually have my Yoga Teacher certification and keep finding other programs that I want to teach! Who knows? Maybe in the near future I will have my own little studio (or co-own one) and bring my passion to everyone who is willing to let me teach!

This road to my inner self has been over 30 years in the making, but I can honestly say that I have NEVER EVER felt so happy and so good about myself before. And all my struggles to find out where I belong, and failing or giving up, have prepared me for this moment in my life, I am healthier, happier and in the best shape of my life since I started this journey, I have met amazing and inspiring people and have forged some life long friendships. I know I am in it for the long haul… and I am looking forward to every single step of the way.

P.S. If you wanted to catch any one of my classes in Winnipeg here is my current schedule until the end of 2011.

Monday
5:45-6:45 pm Zumba Toning at Anunda Studio
7:00-8:00 pm Turbo Kick at Anunda Studio

Tuesday
7:40 – 8:40 pm  Zumba at Shapes on Nairn

Wednesday
6:00 – 7:00 pm Zumba at Silverheights Community Centre on Ness

Thursday
6:30 - 8:00 pm Zumba and abs plus full body stretch at Carpathia School

Saturday
9:30 – 10:30 am Turbo Kick at Anunda Studio

Hope to see you there!

At the Airport just Arrived

I still think that Sin City is one of the best (and inexpensive) destinations for adults, I personally don’t gamble really but I do like the arts and entertainment and, of course, I love to dance so even though this time around wasn’t as amazing as the first time I was there 3 years ago I still know that I will make there again.  I guess this time it wasn’t as much fun because it was a last minute thing. I wasn’t planning on going anywhere until December but it turned out that a friend of mine had to give up her ticket to go to the Salsa Congress happening there in July so I took her place with some coaxing and some feelings of obligation.  With all going on I think it really wasn’t a good idea to go to a Salsa Congress in a city with so much to do! I didn’t want to go to the salsa dance parties because I would have rather hit the clubs and have another awesome Vegas experience, but the friends I was with are very hard core salsa enthusiasts and all they wanted to do in the evening was hit the salsa dance floor. *sigh* oh well. I made the best of it.

Although I didn’t get to go club hopping or see any shows I still was able to enjoy myself on this trip. I did a lot of “family friendly” things though. Went to M&M’s World, The Coke Store, Freemont Street, The Hawaiian Market  and walked up and down the strip.  My favourite thing is still the fountains at the Bellaggio, sitting at their lounge overlooking the fountains and enjoying a drink while you get front row seats at the beautiful fountains. I definitely think that staying at Bellaggio is on my bucket list. One of the things to see before you die!

And athough I didn’t get to see the “Sirens of TI” show at Treasure Island because it rained (yes! it rained in Las Vegas while I was there) or go on the gondolas at The Venetian (still something I want to do with a special someone though) we did catch the Freemont experience light show and the living statues at Caesar’s. Again, I say, 2 days is NOT enough for Las Vegas…

If you do plan a trip there I suggest you go in May or September, when the heat is not so overpowering and when the crowds are a little bit smaller, and that you don’t fly with Allegiant Air. Now, I’ve been travelling in airplanes since as long as I can remember and I’ve never had to “rush seat” myself, as in, find a seat that’s available after the assigned seats (for an extra fee of $15 when you check in) have been taken! I still don’t know how that works with their flight manifests, don’t they have to know where each person is seated? Plus, charging you $2 for a soda is NOT my idea of friendly skies. So, spend the extra $100 and fly another airline, this Latina of the World suggests that! Especially if you have to drive from Canada to the US, stay overnight at a hotel, catch the flight within the US and then, because of weather warnings, have to stay at a hotel again when you return. I really don’t think we saved any money after all that. But, again, knowledge comes with experience.

Food wise, we didn’t do any buffets (the lineups were insane because we didn’t get there early) but did try a couple of things. The Mexican restaurant Gonzalez & Gonzalez in New York, New York had some very good pozole.  And, for the first time ever, I had a Filipino breakfast at the Hawaiian Market on the Strip. It consisted of rice, fried eggs and a choice of something different, I had the squid (because I’m adventurous like that ) and I really enjoyed it!  I do recommend you go to Kapit Bahay in the Hawaiian Market place on the Strip, inexpensive Filipino fast food, something different to try!

So, overall, this trip was pretty exhausting but still could’ve been better (and even more exhausting!). If you’re like me and want to have the REAL Vegas Experience then do some planning, catch some shows and hit the dance clubs, Las Vegas is home to some of the most unique, exclusive and fun clubs in the world and it would be a sin to not go to at least one of them during your visit.

Viva Las Vegas!

I am so excited that I am preparing for the trip a little more than I would any other trip. I really can’t explain why, I’m just doing things a little differently than what I would usually do before a trip. For example I got my “salsa” pants hemmed which cost me more than buying another pair of pants but I really want to wear them since I’ve only ever worn them once because they were too long and I kept stepping on them.  I went tanning… Yes… I went indoor tanning… and after you stop laughing I can tell you about it.   Winter really makes my skin look pasty and I thought, since I will be salsa dancing, I would like to look sun-kissed. There’s a place in Winnipeg called Body Shades that has a great selection of tanning lotions and tanning beds, for my first time I used the Entropy unit that gives you “6x the results”… to tell you the truth I did spend a little more than I wanted to because I did buy lotion and even tattoo protecting balm.  but it really was worth it. I actually did see the results after only 7 minutes. I think I may go again before I leave on Tuesday, I do have a pedicure and manicure there on Monday so I may have to take advantage of another session of tanning.  Other than that, I just have to pack and get ready for 4 nights of dancing and 2 days of workshops in beautiful BC.  Will keep you posted on my activities!

I recently went for dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant and had their “Vietnamese Coffee”, they serve it in a tall glass with condensed milk at the bottom. You get to mix it up and even add more hot water to it if you find it too strong but I thought it was perfect the way it is. The sweetness of the condensed milk mixed with the bitterness of the coffee really worked well, and I thourougly enjoyed it!

My dad used to love his coffee black, and he’s the one who introduced me to cappuccinos. I took great pleasure in preparing his coffee for him whenever he drank it. It really wasn’t a daily ritual by all means, and we never had a coffee maker at home (that I can remember anyway) but I do remember a stove-top espresso maker and the good ole instant coffee and whenever he drank it, which was only once in a while and usually in the afternoon I really liked fixing it for him.

Anyway, I’m getting a little off topic here. My point was that, after having that Vietnamese coffee, I realized how the North American coffee “culture” is really not a culture at all… you go to a coffee shop, ask for an overpriced, over-roasted, fast-food-ized latte and then you’re on your way. Whatever happened to sitting down with a book, a newspaper or a good friend and just savoring the taste and the moment that should come with a cup of coffee?  In the fast-paced “go-go-go” society that we live in now, I think that, if you do happen to drink coffee, you should do it slowly and enjoy it… not just mindlessly chug it down…  So, if you just so happen to have the time and the inclination to do something an itsy bitsy bit different with your coffee, here are a couple of good ideas from all over the world:

Vietnam (can be hot or iced)
Dark roast coffee, finely ground and individually brewed in a small metal drip filter. If you don’t have an indivudual drip filter you can just brew a strong cup of dark roast coffee in your regular coffee maker. 
Pour the coffee into a cup with a quarter to half as much condensed milk as coffee (depending on your taste) mix and enjoy. If you like it iced, just pour over ice.

Café Cubano
Another type of espresso coffee. It’s an espresso shot sweetened with demerara sugar as it’s brewed. Add the sugar to the container into which the coffee will drip.
You can have this coffee “cortadito”, which means small cut, by topping it off with steamed milk. Or as café con leche or cofee with milk, served alongside a cup of hot or steamed milk.

Italian Coffee
Now, Italians take their coffee quite seriously. And they have some variations on serving it. The main Caffe is really an espresso, a small cup of very strong coffee, topped with a caramel coloured foam called crema. My personal favourite, of course, is the cappuccino. Cappucino is a shot of espresso with 1/3 steamed milk and 1/3 foam, I like to top mine off with cinnamon.

French Coffee
Using a french press of course! The coffee is ground a little coarser so it won’t seep through the press strainer. Use two level teaspoons for six ounces of water, pour just enough water over grounds to wet them. Fresh coffee will expand as gas escapes. Pour remaining water and stir. Place the plunger over the press to keep the heat in but don’t press down. Let the coffee brew for 3-4 minutes and then push the plunger down slowly. Pour and drink.

Brazil
If you’ve ever seen the movie “Woman on Top” you may have been curious as to what Penelope Cruz did to the coffee to have the aroma travel as far as it did… It looks like she added cinnamon to it.  Here’s the closest recipe I found to what she was making:
1/3 cup cocoa powder, 1 tsp. salt, 1 teaspoon cinnamon (or a cinnamon stick), condensed milk, 5 cups water, 1 1/3 cups strong coffee.
In a saucepan combine cocoa, cinnamon and salt. Add condensed milk and mix well. Over medium heat stir in water and coffee and heat thorougly but DO NOT boil. Strain and serve.   

Mexico
1/2 cup ground coffee, 1/3 cup chocolate syrup, 1 tbsp cinnamon, 1 cup milk, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp vanilla.
Combine coffee, cinnamon and nutmeg and brew in coffee maker.
In small saucepan heat brown sugar, syrup and milk. Stir until sugar is melted. Pour sugar mixture into hot coffee and add vanilla. Listo!

Café de Olla (Mexico)
In El Salvador we drink “Café de Olla” (Pot coffee) a lot. Even though it originated in Mexico, I like to call it our own.
8 cups of water, 1/2 cup coffee, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 2 cinnamon sticks, 3 whole cloves, 1 square semi sweet coffee.
Boil water in saucepan, add cinnamon, cloves, sugar and chocolate. Bring to a boil and skim off foam. Reduce the heat to a simmer and add coffee. Steep for 5 minutes and serve.

Now, there are myriad of ways to prepare coffee, Ethiopia, Morocco, Great Britain, all have their own rituals or ways to prepare coffee that are interesting. You can add a shot of whisky here, a dash of Kalhua there, but the ones I’ve listed above are my favourites. Do you have any new recipes for coffee? I’d really love to try them!

Now that it’s January, a new year, I’ve had a chance to cook and bake a couple of times. Seeing as today is the Epiphany, January 6th, I made a traditional “Rosca de Reyes”, which translates as “Spiral of Kings”.  When I lived in Mexico as a child I remember very well going to the neighborhood party on January 6th, Dia de Reyes, (Day of the Kings) and having a piece of bread. The tradition is that everyone gets a slice of bread, and whoever gets the little plastic figurine of the baby Jesus (yup, there’s a little figurine baked in each bread)  has the honour of having a party and making the tamales for February 2nd which is Dia de la Candelaria.  Every kid wanted to get it, I know my parents were not very keen on the idea of making tamales for the whole neighbourhood, and, now that I think about it, in the whole 5 years that we lived in Mexico we never had the honour of getting the little figurine.

Anyway, in the tradition of holiday nostalgia I really wanted to make one… Now, aside from the fact that I used whole wheat flour, hence, making it very dense to eat, it turned out very good. So, here’s my version of a traditional Rosca de Reyes.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup warm water
1 packet of yeast
4 cups flour (2 cups whole wheat, 2 cups white)
4 large eggs, beaten
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp anise seed
4 tsp vanilla extract
a small figurine (optional)
Candied fruit (I couldn’t find a lot of fruit so I used candied pineapple, figs*,  maraschino cherries, mangoes and apricots)
Maraschino cherry juice

Preparation:
Sprinkle the yeast on the surface of the water and let it sit for 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the yeast water, flour, sugar, eggs, butter, salt, cinnamon, anise seed and vanilla extract. Mix until a dough forms and knead for approx. 5 minutes, then cover and let rise in a warm area until dough is doubled in size, about 2 hours.

Punch dough down and shape into a wreath by rolling it into a log shape and then bending the ends around to form a circle. It should be about 12-14 inches in diameter. If you are using a toy you can insert it by pushing it up through the bottom. Smooth out any lump or tears.

Preheat oven to 350 Celsius.

Add the fruit by laying it out across the top and pressing it in slightly. Let it rise until doubled. Brush top with the cherry juice (or spoon it on top) and bake for approx. 45 mins. 

Ready to Bake

And there you have it, let it cool slightly before serving. It’s a delicious accompaniment for tea or coffee or, of course, chocolate caliente.  I personally really enjoyed it both with a cup of my favourite tea and with a cafe con leche. I did make a couple of substitutions and additions (ie. the cherry juice) but it turned out very well.

Enjoy the delicious Rosca de Reyes!

Ready to Serve! Yumm!

The training was very fun, starting with a Master Class and moving on with the theory and basic moves, once you’ve taken this training the other trainings are open to you: Zumba basics 2, Aqua Zumba, Zumatomic (for kids), Zumba Toning… the possibilities are endless! Our instructor or ZES (Zumba Education Specialist), Amanda, was excellent and so full of energy, made you wonder what was in her food! She’d been working all weekend and travelling back to her home province that same night! As soon as I got home all I wanted to do is shower and crawl into bed! But she had more energy than anyone I’ve ever seen, I hope to be that energetic after instructing for a couple of hours!
Now, I am all set to start preparing my first class and I will definitely post on how it went once I teach it. I’ll probably start subbing for an existing instructor, just to get my foot in the door. But with my love of dance and fitness I know it will be a smooth transition. I am slowly starting to move into this world and hope to leave behind my office worker days very soon!

with Amanda (middle) and Suz

Celebra la Vida

No sé si soñaba,
No sé si dormía,
Y la voz de un angel
Dijo que te diga
Celebra la vida.

Piensa libremente,
Ayuda a la gente,
Y por lo que quieras
Lucha y sé paciente.

Lleva poca carga
a nada te aferres
porque en éste mundo,
nada es para siempre.

Buscate una estrella
que sea tu guía,
no hieras a nadie
reparte alegría.

**CORO**
Celebra la vida, celebra la vida,
que nada se guarda
que todo te brinda.
Celebra la vida, celebra la vida,
segundo a segundo y todos los días.

Y si alguien te engaña
al decir “Te Quiero”,
pon más leña al fuego
y empieza de nuevo.

No dejes que caigan
tus sueños al suelo
que mientras más amas
más cerca está el cielo.

Grita contra el odio
contra la mentira,
que la guerra es muerte,
y la paz es vida.

**CORO**
Celebra la vida, celebra la vida,
que nada se guarda
que todo te brinda.
Celebra la vida, celebra la vida,
segundo a segundo.

No sé si soñaba,
No sé si dormía,
Y la voz de un angel
Dijo que te diga
Celebra la vida, celebra la vida
Y deja en la tierra tu mejor semilla
Celebra la vida, celebra la vida
Que es mucho más bella… cuando tu me miras

Celebra la vida, celebra la vida

Celebrate Life

Don’t know if I was dreaming,
Don’t know if I was sleeping,
And an angel’s voice said to tell you
To celebrate life.

Think freely,
Help people,
For whatever you want (in life)
Fight and be patient.

Carry little baggage,
Don’t cling to anything
Because in this world
Nothing is forever.

Search for a star
To be your guide,
Don’t hurt anyone
Spread joy.

**CHORUS**
Celebrate life, celebrate life
It preserves nothing (for itself)
It gives you all.
Celebrate life, celebrate life
Second to second
And every single day.

And if someone has cheated you
When they said “I love you”,
Add more fuel (wood) to the fire
And start again.

Don’t let your dreams
Fall to the ground
Because the more you love
The closer heaven gets.

Scream against hatred,
Against lies,
Because war is death,
And peace is life.

**CHORUS**
Celebrate life, celebrate life
It preserves nothing (for itself)
It gives you all
Celebrate life, celebrate life
Second to second…

Don’t know if I was dreaming,
Don’t know if I was sleeping,
And an angel’s voice said to tell you
To celebrate life. Celebrate life
And leave your best seed on earth
Celebrate life, celebrate life
Because it is so much more beautiful… when you look at me.

Celebrate life, celebrate life.

There it is! A beautiful, uplifting and meaningful song if I ever heard one! Don’t you think? It’s definitely one to share with the world.