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Thursday, August 16, 2012

Complete.

Dance camp was a complete success. The entire week may have been the best week of my entire service. With the 3 PC volunteers helping me, my 4 Macedonian "helpers," and of my my favorite local people by my side, it could not have been better. The girls learned 8 choreographed dances and 13 Zumba. I am proud to say that every single dancer performed on stage, and the majority of the girls performed every dance! Most of the dances have been uploaded online, so I'm attaching them. I have to warn you, there are a lot of videos in this post!! Without saying much more, here are some of the dances:

This is the hip-hop dance I taught. You can see me front and center : )

This is the "pop" dance I taught.

My dance crew kids did this for me....I had no idea!!!!!

This is the ballet piece that Enid did....she's front and center.

The Charleston dance I did. I'm in the front again, but the quality of the video is pretty crappy. 

The modern piece that Enid did.

There were also some amazing photos taken by Lilika from the show. They are only available on FB, so if you are friends with me on there, you can see them! If not, let me know, and I can email you some of them. They are really fantastic!

My kids planned a lot of surprises for me. One of them was the "Bounce" dance. I'd been begging them to do it, but they surprised me instead! I also got more roses than I've ever received in my life, complete with a sheet banner that the kids made saying "We love you Morgan." There was a lot of crying and hugging and photo taking. The entire city was at the show to show their support, and there was an epic news segment too. The night ended with a really nice dinner at a place in the park..all my favorite people were there. 

Overall, is was a perfect week. The next few days were complete....I was so happy. And now...well, now it's on to the next adventure. :D

Ajde ciao-

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Humble?

Today is a national holiday in Macedonia. Most people are either out of town, picnicking, or spending the day eating and celebrating with families. Personally, I have a lot of work to finish, as my dance camp begins this Saturday, and everyone will be coming into town tomorrow.

I have to admit, I have felt extremely stressed lately. Ive had a lot of work pile up in the past week or two, and it all makes me feel unorganized. I have everything done for camp, but Im still nervous it wont turn out as good as Im hoping. I know its unfair to think that way, and I know its kind of normal to be stressed over big events. Thankfully, I've got a lot of people coming into town to help me with the camp. I'll have 3 volunteers staying with me for the week, and two of them will be teaching their own dance classes. Right now, we will be teaching Zumba, hip-hop, ballet, modern, jazz, swing (Charleston), and a "Dancing the Classics" class, where the kids will learn stuff like the thriller dance. Originally, I had the boys teaching a breakdancing class as well, but they've dropped out. Instead, I want to offer an advanced choreo class, but Im still in the air about that one. I've also got some younger Macedonian ladies, who I worked at GLOW with, coming in to help me with whatever little daily things need to be done. They will be lifesavers, I just know it!

Right now, we've got the Mayor's office donating us bottled water for every day. We will be providing fruit every day, and we even have camp t-shirts made! On Wednesday, we will have our dance recital, where we will have about 13 or 14 dances total. I know it isn't that much, and the show won't be that long, but it isn't really the point. Honestly, I sincerely hope the dancers will all be willing to perform, as I know the concept is intimidating for those who've never been on stage before. There's no point in worrying, and I know this, but it still makes me anxious. : )

On a total side note- I've had a creature living in my kitchen walls for almost a month. If I had to guess, I'd say it was a rat. My walls are wooden, and most are slanted, so I can always hear where IT is. Well last night, a SECOND creature appeared and battled the other one! There was squealing and claws scratching, and the entire thing lasted for quite a while. They sounded like two mini-pigs, with all the squealing. I heard what I think was one death, possibly of the smaller creature. Then, for the rest of the night, I heard the winner slowly clawing its way around my walls, looking for a new opponent. The entire time, I laid on my couch just staring at the walls with my mouth open and my computer on mute. I kept thinking, What if they fall out of the wall? Always an adventure!


Humble people, I've found, don't get very far.
-Muhammad Ali