Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

It's officially 2016. It felt like 2015 just flew by. I moved (again), began a new school (again), and then began yet another new school! Will I ever be done with my degree(s)?

One of the main differences in 2015 was that I really got serious with my belly dancing - and it felt soo good! It was long overdue. School for me has always been a top priority (gotta get a good job so I can pay for all these costumes!) so it takes up almost all of my time. As soon as school starts, there's no time for blog posts, practicing...heck, I even forget to eat sometimes! But I know that it will be worth it in the end.

I enjoy making New Year's Resolutions. Two years ago I gave up soda and I feel healthier for it (I don't scold myself if I have a coke or anything - I just rarely drink soda now). Last year I didn't officially make any resolutions, but you could say that seriously getting back into dancing was one of them. This year I have a lot on my plate, but I'm going to try to keep them all!

1. I would like to continue with my dancing. I have two amazing teachers in my life now and I have so much to work on, perfect, and learn - it's so exciting. I competed in my first competition late last year, so this year I want to continue that (and hopefully win one!). I also want to take new pictures and really work on uploading some youtube videos! Looking forward to some real self-promoting this year!

2. I want to devote more time to my instruments. I unfortunately have been pianoless for several years now (it's just too hard to carry a piano everywhere...) but I have a beautiful fiddle and darbuka that love being played! My husband cringes every time I'm just the slightest bit sharp or flat when I play fiddle (and if you've ever played violin, you know how difficult of an instrument it is, what without frets and all) so my goal is to really perfect the songs I know well, and try to make an effort to learn new ones on a regular basis. I'm a true beginner on darbuka, and sometimes it's hard to know what to work on to improve after a certain point, but I hope to find a teacher in my city to help me.

3. Language. I really want to get back into my Arabic studies. When I came to France, I basically spoke Arabic to anyone who looked remotely Arab to get around. Now, my French is quite good (I'm studying engineering in French right now) and so my Arabic has fallen toward the wayside. It's difficult because I'm at such an advanced level of Arabic that most native speakers don't even remember the rules enough to help or correct me (and I don't blame them - I'm sure I couldn't do the same for English). It's also difficult to find speakers who can speak with me, since most Arabs in France are from Morocco, Algeria, or Tunisia and the Arabic they speak is quite different from the dialect I know (although they all understand me perfectly). I have to get my butt in gear and start really practicing.

4. Posting on my blog!! I would like to try and translate more songs (I have about 5 songs half translated already) and regularly post something here (maybe once a week?)

Lastly, a new year deserves a new blog template! I've changed up the blog to something a bit more crisp and clean (thanks Nejla for letting me use the same template as you haha!) and I'm really excited to start this new year off right!...well, after final exams are over... :P

Do you have any resolutions you're going to try and keep? Let me know in the comments below!

As always, happy dancing <3