The International Bellydance Congress and the launch of the H.M.S Cecil!

I've been meaning to write a post about the Congress for a week now, but before I go into that, I'm going to inform you of a slight change of plan.
I've been meaning to create a bellydance 'stuff' only blog for a while, so I've decided to keep this blog as it is, but only post stuff about bellydancing, eg. dvd reviews, info etc. Sooo, my new blog is going to be used for all my other stuff, but I'd appreciate it if you read both ^^ Also, if you know any bellydancers, it would be great to have more people to read this blog ^^ For updates about Cecil's random life, please go to:
http://theadventuresofsailorcecil.blogspot.com
Yay! Ok, now we can move onto the congress:

Saturday:
It's probably impossible to explain how ridiculously excited I was when we arrived. Seriously. No, srsly. Anyway, the queue to register didn't actually take as long as we were worried it was gonna (registration opened at 12, first workshop at one, about 1000 bellydancers attending the weekend to register etc etc.(...I use etc. too much...and these dots, I forget the name for them)), but we were done by about 12.15pm, which left 45mins to have a drink and try to quell my excitment before the first workshop: LST Signature moves with Les Soeurs Tribales.
LST are a trio of italian tribal bellydancers who are covered in tattoos, in the most awesome way possible. The one who spoke the most english sat at the front and translated what the others were saying. Another danced in the little patch of flooring in the middle of all the carpet and demonstrated moves, and the other stood towards the back, so that when we danced facing the back, we could watch her for what to do next. The workshop was great fun; we were taught combos that they as a group use, then we practiced using them in improvisation. Tribal bellydance is always done with at least one other person (as our translator put it; you can't be a tribe by yourself) and is all improvised. You follow a leader (the dancer in the front) and depending what little cues she does (a certain hand position, or a "yip!"), you all dance in near perfect synchronicity. Hard to begin with, but easier and lots of fun as we went on.
Next, we were going to go to another workshop, but I wasn't particularly interested and I managed to sufficiently distract my mum with the prospect of shopping.
Aw man, I don't even want to think about the shopping too much, cos it makes me wish I'd taken advantage of all the great stuff and spent more money. Baisically, there were three different shopping areas. In the first day, we spent...lets just say a lot. There was sooo much stuff for class wear and performance wear, casual wear and awesome props! But yes, must not think about it!.
After going back to our hotel to shower and change etc, we went back to the congress for the evening show. Of course, it didn't start at 7pm, but it definatly made up for it! The first show was put together by one of the women who had organsied the congress and who runs a bellydance company, which also provides qualified teachers to the masses. The theme of the show was elements, and in the first half we had water and earth, and in the second, air and fire. All 4 included different bellydance styles and performances by soloists and small groups.
After the main show, there was a smaller, tribal show. This was amazing and included tribal improv., tribal fusion, gothic bellydance and a performace with fan veils by Les Soeurs Tribales. There were a couple of intervals between the dances, in which a dj played fusion tracks and people were invited to dance. We didn't. Well, a few did, including what was obviously part of a Tribe who had all gone to the congress together. As I said before, tribal is all improvised, and upcoming combos are displayed through the use of subtle cues. It was amazing to watch, as every time I looked up, another member of the tribe got up from the table they were sitting at, and immediatly fell into sync with the other dancers. And I don't mean hesitating for a moment, stumbling and trying to follow what the leader is doing, I mean instantly falling into step with the rest of the tribe. I really wish that I'd gone up to them afterwards (or at the numerous other opportunities I had) to tell them how great I thought their dancing was and how seemless they were.
Anyway, to prevent boring you to death straight away with an account of teh whole weekend (and also cos I need to go shower before I go out...(omg there they are again!!!)), I've decided to write about the congress in three parts, a day in each. Part Deux shall be posted tomorrow (...possibly).
Sayonara!
(If you find any spelling errors, I'm sorry, I'm just feeling particularly lazy atm >< (=^.^=))

Fish

So

I've failed one of my modules by 4.marks. Now, I have to miss 4 days of work (about £250-£300) cos the flights are all fucked up. I emailed admin, explaining that I'm an international student, and that it's difficult for me to get to the exam, especially as I'm also working, and, as nice as the admin lady was, I was baisically told that I have no choice but to attend the exam, cos if i don't, I'll have to retake this one module next year along with all my other stuff. If I fail it again, I will be transferred to a degree without honours.
Honest to god,
I. Cannot. Take. The. Stress.

Mmm Sun...

...Would have been a nice beach day today.

Ta2

Yes! I finally got it done! Man, I'm sooo happy! The artist did such a good job! I didn't plan on it being this big tbh, but he put the transfer on, and took a pic for me to have a look at and I actually like it like this!

It took about an hour, roughly. Got there just before 3, then had to wait a lil' bit, then put the transfer on etc etc. The artist told me that the first tattoo always hurts the most, and that the first few mins would be the worst. It was ok actually, looking back. Some stars hurt more than others, but the line art was definatly worse the the shading in. The buzz of the needle before it touches your skin for the first time is pretty off putting as well, but it was ok.

I'd definatly recommend it though! Just make sure you have an artist that likes to chat! We talked about sooo much stuff! Everything from music tastes to traveling, including things like noisy students and what people thought about tattoos/piercings.

Also, make sure you go with someone who doesn't mind a semi-permenant loss of feeling in their hand! I took Scott with me and I hope that he soon regains the full use of his right hand ^_^

Anyway, picture time! Please comment Team Marmite!

Aaaahhhh...

As I'm typing this, I'm being spoken to by my freezer...apparently (Spotify adverts, yay ><). Just thought I'd mention it.
Anyways, I assumed the next thing I'd most on here would be pictures of my tattoo (which i'm getting tomorrow yay! ^_^) but after catching up on Marinas and Freddies blogs, I felt like posting somthing too. Unfortunatly, this means that I have no idea what I'm gonna post, but let's just see where it takes us, shall we?
Anyway, (man, I start lots of sentences like that don't I?)I'm kinda worried. I feel like i should be more panicked by the fact that I have a 2000 word report due on monday which i havnt started yet, an essay to type up and add 250 words to and I have exams coming up which i havn't started revising for either, but...I'm not. Atm, I'm really not fussed lol. I think it's the weather...
Going back to the start, has anyone else heard of Spotify? It's like this thing you download and you stream music from it. And you can search whatever you want (it has most stuff) so if you're craving a song which you don't have and can't download (we get banned from the internet if we do it here...) you can just listen to it whenever! Unfortunatly, it means you have to listen to adverts ><>
Hm...what else...Well I started using a bow in my violin lessons. It sounds like I'm skinning a live cat, it really does ><><
Oh, speaking of girls, what the hell is up with bitches going schizo for no reason?! Really, I did NOTHING! and I get called a wanker! Er hello! That's biologically impossible! Jeeeeezz, I think we need to keep SOMEONE away from the alcopops ><
On a closing note, if any of you are bored (you know, when you should be revising and stuffs), there's a reeeaaally cool drama on BBC iPlayer atm called 'All the small things', centers around a woman with 3 kids who's part of a choir that her husband conducts. It may sound a little boring, but I can't say much more or I'll give it away.
Anyways (there it is again) please watch even the first episode of it and let me know what you think!!!
Cya tomorrow with pics of my new tattoo!

And I'm feelin' good.

Summer! Yes, Summer! I don't care what people say, we're definatly moving into Summer weather now. The weather in Hull is amazing! It's been gorgeous since I've got back and I love it! As my new t-shirt says; "J'adore Sunshine!".
Doesn't everything seem better when it's sunny? For example, I did no uni work over the easter holidays. I have a report and an essay due on May 11th, as well as a load of revision cards to get through before my exams, but I'm not actually feeling that worried yet. I mean, obviously I know I should be (I'm not allowed to re-take anything ><) but it's just so hard to get worked up about stuff when the weather's this nice, you know? I'll probably try and do some later when it gets colder/darker, but I'm not making any promises! Right now, all I want to do is drink homemade lemonade and listen to Cat Power. Also, most likely due to the gorgeous weather, I have decided 2 things;

1) I'm dying my hair red again (hopefully on Friday)

And

2)I'm finally going to learn how to play the violin. I've found lessons and I'm checking prices of violins on Friday!

So what's the weather like with everyone else?