Put an A into your STEM

Being a woman that grow up around STEM world, i have always felt comfortable in a technical world, but with time and a lot of trips i found out that the STEM environment is needed but not enough for a real balance life, i found out my self enjoying learning languages or dances from different countries more than improving my technical knowledge.

So i started checking around me , and ask my friends and acquaintances what are their hobbies, what is the only thing that will make them relax, many went for exercising, others would be fan of movies etc... but i found a bunch of students more focus into organizing events, from language day to a specific nationality , from sports tournament to simple science workshops.

And i realized that these students, even if they did focus about the STEM, they were able to bring some Art to their daily life.
and then there are those crazy test on social media asking you which side or your brain is the most predominant , and funny that most of my university mate where happy that their brain is Logical then creative, i was happy that my result showed that i am logical with a good percentage of creativity.

So i have decided to change my routine from work home series sleeping work home, into work, taichi, home, work dancing, home, work writing, home or just from home to learning something new about a country or a culture.
so i see Culture as part of Art, and i believe by doing this i will be able to balance a part of my life.

Now if this can be explained in schools or to parents, we might be able to raise a new generation of STEMer with the love of ART.    

let's try to be STEAMer than STEMer!!!

Facts about Uganda

1) Uganda is the Pearl of Africa
2) Uganda is one of the countries where power coverage is less than 20%
3) When you want to meet somebody right now it’s better to say “ Now Now”
4) Boda-Boda is the real transportation mode for Ugandans in towns
5) The Source of the Nile is in Uganda
6) Ugandan are very friendly people and extremely caring
7) Mobile Money is well implemented in the country and the best way to send and receive money directly from your phone with fees lower than banks
8) There are differnt types of bananas, the small sweet, the big sweet, the one to cook and green bananas obviously they all have names and I am not able to remember them
9) The official language is English and Swahili has jst been introduced to become one of them. Luganda is largely spoken in the central region and ton centers.
10) There is a President of Uganda but also a kings of different tribes, Buganda being one of the kingdoms where Luganda is spoken mainly.
11) When visiting the country you can see so many languages on the panels: English of course but Chinese, Arabic, French.
12) Every Ugandan will have an English name as first name and African name as Family Name , Tradition from the colonial time
13) In Uganda, you might be Christian, muslim or Hidou, you will be respected, and not judged for your religion.
14) Uganda is an Auto Sufficient country, having a very fertile land, fresh vegetables and fruits are a must
15) Kampala is on 7 hills, so you better a be a good driver , otherwise you might be blocked on a steep street.
16) Rule number one if you drive, don’t knock anyone and don’t get knocked , otherwise it will take you at least 3 hours for the police to show up
17) Security is a real concern in Uganda, Working hard to face potential terrorist attacks
18) Christmas is one of the most important celebration of the year
19) The weather is from raining to hot temperature variation during the year is very small, min around 14 max 28 degrees.
20) Most of Ugandan would buy Power bundles according to their needs, which makes it easier to control the budget.
21) Kampala can get foggy
22) Even if situation is not always ok , Ugandans joke a lot and bring good environment
23) Shotguns are everywhere , every security guard will have one either in an office building or at a residence
24) Whatsapp is the chatting application
25) Even if muslims  are less than 15%  of the population, there are enough mosque to hear Azhan almost everywhere
26) Sometimes when family is organizing a party or a dinner and planning to invite muslim guest, the slaughtering will be done by a muslim
27) Betting is a serious deal, Ugandan might spend a lot of time on their weekends betting on games
28) Because of the big water spaces, Uganda have a big variety of birds.
29) When you go to supermarket, you gonna pay attention when you buying chips, it might be different dry fruits chips
30) No plastic bag at the supermarket, only paper bag to keep a clean environment

Mzansi Salsa Festival Cape town 2015

First time ever, flying to attend a dance festival, I would never have imagined I was able to do it, going all the way down to Cape Town for a weekend of crazy dancing and amazing learning.

Going back to the mother city, I felt naturally home, even though the weather was pretty cold for the first couple of days but the city with its environment and awesome energy made it special.

On the sun-kissed salsa afternoon, I felt shy to ask people dancing with me, I felt a little nervous around all these amazing artists and dancers, it was difficult for me to be there and feeling so lonely, I had that feeling during all the weekend, as comfortable I was in china or Algeria, asking guys to dance with me , this time it was a bit different I felt that my level was not good enough to do that.

I still managed to have two dances, thanks to Samson for giving me that opportunity and another guy that I don’t recall the name.

On the first party, it was crazy good feeling, I was surrounded with my BailaAfrika family and I was ready to kill the dancefloor, between a salsa dance with The great Osbanis another one with Freedom or a Kizomba with Edd, I loved it, still was not able to ask many people to dance with me, I was watching a lot and trying to learn and enjoy the music.

Workshops!!! Oh my goodness, so many choices, so many classes and I was not really sure which one I have to select, knowing my self, I like to have fun and enjoy every second, so I decided to go for Kizomba, Salsa Cubana mainly but I added few footwork , lady styling or Kuduro.

I needed to learn more, I needed to improve the little that I knew, I enjoyed every Kizomba class from all level to intermediate, with ou without tarraxicha, classical or somehow urban,  for every move and with different partners I tried to relax, I tried to lose control and just follow, obviously , having fun and smiling was already there.

During the salsa cubana, I loved the energy of Osbani and Annetha , they represent exactly what I love about dancing, natural, sensual, energetic, happiness, and joy, after their workshop I just want to go to cuba!!! I want to experience that feeling of dancing with the heart and full understanding of the music.

African outfit night, I regretted not bringing my Ethiopian or Namibian outfits, people were awesomely shining super-duper dancers, I was amazed by the effort of everyone showing amazing African prints, the room was colorful and pretty warm.

The salsa room was fully packed the kizomba/bachata was pretty busy as well, but once again I found it little difficult to be invited for a dance, I ended up going to the hotel around 3 am because I couldn’t stand up anymore.

Second workshop day was full of energy, from kudur to hiphop, from kizomba to salsa cubana or musicality, I loved every second of it. The day went well because I was able to do my TaiChi exercise early morning in the park between the hotel and the river club, it’s important to take control of my breathing and internal energy before to do anything.

Last Party , white party, it’s true that white color brings more chic and glamorous feeling in a room, it was the opportunity to dance with the teachers, and kill my feet till the morning, which I did.

I went asking every possible person to dance , luckily I had a couple of people that never said no to me, and were there to make me feel special.

I will always feel thankful for all the dances I had.

This festival was a wonderful experience, being in a place where everyone wants to have fun, enjoy life and just be part of a big and international community.

Cape Town you have always been amazing to me… I will be back!!! 

The power of the dance!!

as far as i go back on time, i always remember myself dancing, my father playing music or watching spanish tv and me dancing, it was just a second nature.

i grow up with the rythme, i learned to understand it, and to follow it by learning to read music, which was a lovely time spent with my father.

but then ive never taken classes till last year and never really went to parties, ive always been a house girl, reading a lot and spreading my imagination in books.

then working started with the travelling, meeting new people, and being surprised with cultures and traditions.
Since my trip to south africa, i dance on regular basis, and it brought a new addiction to my life, if dancing has always been a sport or an art for me, it became my best stress relieve and more than that it's my dopamine source, that happiness hormon that help to balance the body.

when i stand up to dance and i get the perfect connection with my partner, so i am able to lose the controle, and follow every little sign , at that moment i smile and i relax, and even if the dance is difficult, because of the spinning, and the balance on the heels, and the rythme of the song might be high, i still enjoy it, it will push me to get the skills, to listen, to feel, to really connect.

durng my last trips to china, i enjoyed dancing with people i don;t know, i check first if they can lead, then i ask them for a dance, one guy was amazingly professional, when we danced together i felt dying because of the speed of the spinning and the way he trusted me with figures and routine ive never done before, but it was an awesome challenge to learn and improve.

dancing does make me feel better, happier, cutter ...from salsa, bachata to kizomba, as long as the person can make me dance, i am always in!!!!

I do matter....

most of the time, when people would meet me, their first impression would be related to my smile, or that i talk too much or may be that i am friendly, but it would takes them longer to see underneath and realize that i might be more emotions and character.

last year, i spent a long time in south africa, ive met a lot of people, some are my friends and others are just a family that i don;t see everyday, but i had a friend who after a nice dinner and a deep conversation told me that i matter, i was confused, when i heard this, i knew that my opinion matters, my choices matter, but what would it mean that I MATTER.

it took me some time to think and realize that he meant, my life matters, wow!! at that moment i liked it, and i felt happy, that somebody would realize this, but then i started reviewing my life and ive seen how i don;t give that much importance to my life and i don;t make myself matter.

Ive always said, i am who i am, i have a strong character and i like adventure, surprises and happy life, but then i did not make the best choices, i didn't take decisions on time, which made my life or my situation pretty bad for me, because for the people around me everything was going well, but i was the one suffereing.

so i realized how wrong i was, what ever my reasons are, i should consider my happiness as the first condition, and more important i should accept and without guilt that i matter.

i still make the wrong decisions, but at least i know that i am important in this life.

now if i do something , it's first for me, to make me happy, then for others.

one day i might find the person that i can consider as the right one, and for whom i might consider changing my choices but till then i am the one who matters!!!