29 Nov 2010 2 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: aging, growing up, life, living
Why do some of my contemporaries refer to themselves as “old”? Late 20s is not old. They make it seem like the only years worth living are 18-24.
This is still the first half of our lives!
I, for one, am not old, although one day I hope to be. Furthermore, I’m way cooler now than the floundering teen-aged truant I once was. I shudder to think what my life would be like now if that had been its highest point.
27 Nov 2010 1 Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: belly dance competition, paparazzi, Project Belly Dance, reality TV, youtube
It’s actually an internet reality show, not a television show, and the photographers from US Weekly are not hiding in my bushes yet to get a shot of me grabbing the mail in my robe.
Still, it was awesome. Here’s the trailer:
24 Nov 2010 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: Facebook, high school reunion, travel
I love to travel so much. I haven’t gone outside of the States since July 2008, which seems like ages to me, but I have traveled quite a bit around the country. Instead, I’ve gone three times to California (Yosemite is incredible), several times to Phoenix, four times to New York (saw Fela! which was amazing, and was also my first time viewing a Broadway show ON Broadway), I’ve had a bunch of gigs on the Maryland Shore, not to mention the few I’ve done in the Middle of Nowhere, Pennsylvania recently, and I’ve gone about a thousand times to Ohio for weddings, engagement celebrations, hen parties, etc. Eventually, I’d like to visit all the US National Parks.
This Thanksgiving weekend is my high school reunion. I don’t care that much, because I’ve already come to know as much as I need to know about my former classmates via Facebook, but a few of my favorite people will be in town, so it’s a lovely time to go to Cleveland to see friends and family, and yes, Cleveland counts as travel.
These smaller trips are how I reconcile myself with the fact that I haven’t traveled outside of the country, which is one of my absolute favorite things to do, since 2008. Every year from ’01-’08, I visited and/or lived abroad at least once–
’01 Canada (This totally counts. We took a spontaneous road trip to Carabana.)
’02 Hong Kong and Macau
’03 England, Spain and Portugal
’04 Brazil
’05 Turkey, Cyprus
’06 Turkey, Spain, and Bulgaria
’07 Turkey, Portugal
’08 Turkey (Recurring theme here)
While life in DC and domestic travel are wonderful, my wanderlust has set in, and it’s really calling for a Big Trip. In my mind are seedlings of a Turkey-Egypt trip. (Yes, Turkey again. I can’t help it.) Also on my “immediate need” list are trips to Hong Kong, to visit my brother, and either Poland or Spain–where ever my friend Andy is when I’m ready to fly.
19 Nov 2010 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: tipping, valet
I didn’t have any change tonight, so tipped the valet a $10 bill. He wasn’t really that awesome of a valet, and I don’t really have it like that, but the alternative, $0.15, would have been an embarrassment for everyone involved.
I worked as a valet for about 6 hours while in college. I had to resign at the end of my shift not only because standing outside on a cold DC night is miserable, but because I found the customers under appreciative of my hustling back and forth to the garage, and also because the owner of this opulent, exclusive venue threw her shoes at one of her employees during the pre-work pep-talk. That was pretty crazy.
14 Nov 2010 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: bacon, guest house chronicles, misunderstanding, vegetarian
Here at Garden House, we keep a vegetarian kitchen. Guests are welcome to store their cereal, milk, yogurt, and other breakfast goodies in our kitchen. Sometimes, they ask us for a pot to heat up soup or make pasta, but for the most part, guests tend to take their meals outside.
Imagine my shock when I awoke to the smell of bacon. I sleep in the attic, but that smell could jar me out of a coma. I went downstairs to find their dishes piled in the sink.
There is a pound of bacon in my refrigerator. It’s going to be a long eight days.
12 Nov 2010 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: belly dance, family, Journey through Egypt, Little Raqs, Sahra Saeeda, Top Belly Dancer, travel
I’ve just returned to DC from a whirlwind two-week trip. I should sleep, but my mind is still running a mile a minute. I visited my sister and her family, and my mother in Los Angeles. I’m sure everyone says this, but it really is true in this case: My two nephews are the cutest and cleverest children on Earth. Really. The six week-old is already showing signs of brilliance.
After that, on to the California Bay Area, my other home, (does a nomadic belly dancer really have a home?) where I had a coaching session under the expert critical eye of dance coach Najia Marlyz, and performed with the band Al-Azifoon at El Morocco, got a chance to see one of my supercool California friends, and hang out a few more days with my hilarious, supportive, artistic mother.
I left Oakland on a harrowing flight (which I nearly missed) to Philadelphia, by way of Seattle and Salt Lake City. (Tidbit of advice for you: Don’t put off booking a flight when you know you have to be somewhere. The deals aren’t going to get any better.) In addition to what amounted to a full day of exhausting travel, my seatmate on the last and longest leg of the trip snored and emitted putrid gases as he slept. (I could write an entire blog entry on this guy, but I’ve already said too much.)
In Philadelphia, I participated in Sahra Saeeda‘s Journey through Egypt Certification 1, an intensive dance ethnology course on the regional folkloric dances of Egypt and their history. Sahra Saeeda is so inspiring! Don’t be surprised if soon I’m blogging from Cairo.
Now, home again, and back to “normal” life. Teaching belly dance to women and little girls, dressing up like a Princess, a court date in Virginia (I can’t believe they talked me into this one, but again, that’s a topic for another blog), running a guest house with an iron (but hospitable) fist, etc.
Next weekend, it’ll be headlining a show at Cazbar (exciting!), and then the filming of Project Top Belly Dancer. . . a belly dance reality show. Wish me luck!
01 Nov 2010 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: drunken guests, guest house chronicles, snacks, travel
I was preparing for my trip to California. The airport shuttle was scheduled to pick me up at 5 am, so when one of our couples, (a lively, fun- and alcohol-loving couple in DC for the rally) returned from their night out on the town at 3:30 am, I was toiling away, putting the finishing touches on packing.
After the couple had retired to their room, I went to gather my fruit, nuts, and whole wheat pita chips for the plane ride. But where were the chips? Not on the counter, not in the cupboard, not on the table. The pita chips had disappeared.
It took me a few minutes to realize the drunken couple had grabbed them before stumbling up to their room. I knocked on their door to investigate. “Am I going crazy, or do you have my pita chips in there?” They had been talking quietly in their room, but after my comment, the chattering stopped and they fell silent.
The chips were sheepishly returned 10 minutes later.
