NGMthatface!: Zumba Convention Day One!

Hey guys! I feel like it has been ages since I have talked to you guys. I have missed you!!! After I came back from Orlando I was flung back into work. And I don't know if you remember, but I am studying for my group exercise certification so I can teach Zumba at gyms. Well, lets just say that its less than a months away and had a long way to go with the study guide, so that took up all my blogging time. But now that I am back on track, let's get on to the blog. I am so excited to share with you my vacation. It was sooooo much fun, and something I will never forget.

And so it began...

Traveling can be like a horror movie. The first half hour is just people living their normal life, and the whole time you are like okay when is the scary stuff gonna happen. Sometimes the movie satisfies your craving for screaming your head off and other times the movie is just whatever, but still pretty entertaining. Well my experience flying to Orlando was the one where you scream your head off. First of all, the sandwich I packed got all soggy, and I had no choice but to chow it down because we were about to take off. Talk about ew. Then we got to Orlando (thank god), but we had to stay in the sky for another hour. That had my nerves rattling. When we finally made it to the bag pick-up and got our car, it was another hour delay. Then we got lost going to the hotel (Orlando is very confusing at night). Checking into the hotel was fine, but we got there too late to register for the convention and would have to do it the morning it started. We were also so cranky from the flight that when we road to Walmart to get some essentials for the week, there was a lot of bickering and awkward silence. Not fun. By the time we went to bed it was past 1 in the morning and I was so ready to sleep. My mother and I made a note to take an early flight next time ha ha.

After less than five hours of sleep, we had to run down to register. Thankfully, our luck had turned around because there was no line. We were registered and heading to our first activity of the day. The first official day of convention begins with a kick off session, which is basically a huge meeting of all the Zumba people, creators, and special guests. The meeting was awesome! The special guest this year was Sherri Shepard from The View, and she was HILARIOUS. Then the creator of Zumba, Beto Perez (love him!) came out and said a couple words.

The theme of the whole convention this year was dreams, and so throughout the meeting they were making people's dream come true. One that really got me was a teenager from Germany who they surprised and brought on stage. He has been getting bullied all his life, but said that when he does Zumba "it doesn't hurt anymore". When the Zumba office heard about this kid, they decided to film their first ever, anti-bully video starring him. And not only that, but they were gonna do it right there. He started crying and his mother was in on the whole thing too. It was really cool, and since I have dealt with bullying myself, I was so excited to be part of the video even if I was just in the crowd.

I also saw a lot of the Zumba people who are on the tapes they send us. They are called ZES's. Each country has one to represent, to make Zumba the international phenomenon it is. They are like mini celebrities to us. Best believe I took pictures with everyone that I could get.

As for the classes I had, I took Burlesque, which was really fun. And then at night there was the fitness concert. Each class during the convention are 2 hours long, but I swear they fly by. Even when your tired you don't feel it because you are running on pure energy.

Wanna see some pictures?! :) Now I didn't get an pictures of the fitness concert because Beto made us promise (he really wants people to dance, and that was his dream for the convention), but I got a lot more so don't worry.