Well, we made it to Los Angeles and back. We could not have done it without all the love and support from our families, class members and friends. For the nine of us that were able to attend the conference, I'm sure we would all agree that it was tiring, yet a lot of fun. We were able to connect with other Zumba instructors from all over the world. In addition to meeting new people, we were grateful to run into the ones we knew from our home state of Utah. We had a few minor bumps along the way with a few diva's, but for the most part, the positives outweighed the negatives. If you are an instructor and wonder if Conference/Convention is worth attending, I say YES it is!
Thursday: We all met at the Stake Center we teach at. Class was underway with Billie, Owen & Nicole. We did get to do some Zumba with them before we left. We left around 7 am, stopped in Sandy to fill up the van and pick up Satomi. From there we were on our way. We made a couple stops along the way. Our drivers: Dana, Twig, Beti & Satomi got us there safely. We arrived in Los Angeles around 7 pm. We drove straight to the LA Convention Center & registered. After registration, we checked in to our hotel - Holiday Inn Express. Once we somewhat unpacked, we headed back out to grab some dinner. We chose the Pantry Cafe - an old school diner that accepted cash only.
Friday: We all woke up, got dressed, ate breakfast at the hotel. It was our first day of class. Full day training. Sentao class with Pepper Von - Satomi, Dana & Maki. Sentao class with Patrice & Melanie: Sinai & Liu. Zumbatomic with Lindsey Taylor: Betsy & Twig. Zumbatomic with Gina Grant: Sela & Beti. A few of us met for lunch (lunches we packed). At the end of the day - 5 pm, we all took the shuttle back to the hotel, ordered pizza from Domino's & then got ready for the Fitness Concert. Fitness Concert began around 8 pm and ran until 10/11. It was an awesome event featuring many Zumba Instructor celebrities, Lil Jon, Mara, Pitbull and others.
Saturday: Day 2 of classes. Began with a Kick-Off Session. They gave a rundown of what to expect this year with Zumba. Keynote speaker: Suzanne Somers. Saturday's classes were two hours each featuring different "flavors". A few of the "flavors" chosen: Reggaeton Rebellion, Carribean Heat, Burlesque, Brazilian Carnival, Mexican Fiesta & some were in the LIVE taping with Beto Perez. We ate lunch at the cafe inside the Convention Center. After our classes, we headed back to the hotel on the shuttle. Dinner that evening was from Yoshinoya. Saturday night was the theme party. All except for Betsy & Twig got all dolled up and headed to this event around 11 pm. The theme for the part was "Classic Hollywood". We stayed about an hour.
Sunday: Day 3 of classes. Again, additional "flavors". Most of us (all except Sela & Beti) took Hip-Hop: The Zumba Remix. After our first class, we all took the shuttle back and had him drop us off at Jack In The Box. After getting our food, we walked back to the hotel. We then drove back to the Convention in our van. We all were in the very last class - African Workout - together. It was the perfect class to end our training. At the end, Beto made an appearance and we all got to dance one song with him & then we showed him what we learned. Again, LOTS of fun. After we finished up at the Convention Center, Sela & Beti had a surprise for us. They took us to see the Hollywood Stars. We ate dinner at a diner there. Afterwards headed back to the hotel. You would think after all the classes and what not we would hit the sack...instead we hung out by the pool. Some swam and some like me, just chilled on the side. We probably headed back to our around around 12:30 am.
Monday: 6 am packed, loaded and headed back home. We arrived in Salt Lake around 6/7 pm. We made the rounds and dropped everyone off at home. Sela & I were the last to get home, around 10 pm.
I wish I could go into more detail about each day, but that would be pages and pages of writing. It was an experience that I won't forget & definitely lots of good memories. We came together as a team and left as a stronger team. These are some amazing individuals! While out there, they continued to show unconditional love by sharing our food with several homeless individuals, make others laugh, make new friends and the list goes on. So proud to know & teach alongside them. Love you - Dana, Maki, Satomi, Liu, Beti, Sela, Betsy & Twig. Also love the others who were not able to go with us this time - Silia, Lila, Nicole, Billie, Ame & Souna. Florida 2014???
I wish I had the time & patience to load all of our pictures onto our blog...but I don't, so if you'd like to check out our pictures - go HERE.
We took a few video clips along the way...here you go:
Getting ready to head out to Los Angeles. Seatbelt check and all.
A few things we did to keep us busy during the drive.
Fitness Concert with Pitbull.
Lil Jon dj'ing theme party.
After our very last class.
~ Sinai ~
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