We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance...

"Bringing your friends with you to a new dance class can be a good thing. But it can also be a bad thing. A very bad thing. You will inevitably look superior and self-confident and make them feel inferior to you. Your friends walk into this room with a bunch of people who don't know each other, all wearing similar clothes, the music starts pumping, and everyone bursts out in these crazy choreographed moves. They have an underlying 6th sense that allows their heart to beat in rhythm, their body to hit the moves in sync with those around them. If your friends aren't normal gym-kinds of people this will be a traumatizing experience for them. They will think they are fucked. And they will hate you forever. So it's crucial that you screen your friends before you bring them with you. And if your friends are awesome enough to cut it, then they will love you forever."

- My hip hop teacher. I wonder if he has ever been to an @ conference.

change is in the air...vamos a ver...

Castro steps down as Cuban leader...

Cuba's ailing leader Fidel Castro has announced he will not accept another term as president, ending the communist revolutionary's 49 years in power.

The BBC's Michael Voss reports from Havana that most Cubans will be saddened by news of their leader's retirement but many hope the political transition will bring economic improvements.
....

Anyone hoping that Fidel Castro's departure from the political scene would bring about the end of the communist regime was disappointed, the BBC's Nick Miles reports.

Whilst Cuban exiles celebrated in Miami there were no protests on the streets of Havana calling for political change.

In part, our reporter says, this is because the regime does not tolerate dissent but it is also because many in Cuba are wary of what change will probably mean - a mass influx of exiles returning from Miami.

out of my dreams and into my life...

Connect. Connect with people on any level that you can. You will be inspired.
Share your stories. You will inspire others.
Dance. Dance your heart out.
Reach out. Step out of your comfort zone.
Listen. Force yourself to keep your mouth closed and really process someone else's perspective.
Stay up late. This is when conversations are created that you will remember for a lifetime.
Innovate. Invigorate. Debate. Relate. Create.


Thank you, Rowdies.
Thank you for reminding me of your passion, potential, energy, and all-around awesomeness.
Thank you for reminding me that anything worth achieving will be challenging. If it was easy, anyone could do it.
Thank you for bringing me back to my roots, reminding me where I am from, and why I do what I do, each and every day.

I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down....

When paths diverge in life, in so many ways, it's reassuring to know that there are some connections you can count on to remain strong, in spite of the time and distance. A comfortable reminder of the past that was once home, that will never again be home, but that is familiar all the same. The direction that I have chosen is one I have never regretted. I could not imagine 'settling' or living the life that most would consider 'mainstream'. I have long preferred the unexpected, the constantly changing, always being on the move. My friends keep me grounded, inspire me, have helped me grow into the person who I am today. Relationships are easy to maintain when you live in the same dorm, meet in the library for late night study sessions, can walk to the same bar for FAC after a long week of class. When you choose to make 'home' a fluid concept, maintaining true relationships across this type of existence is a constant challenge, one that invariably demands effort. It may not seem possible that life in New York can become mundane, but it does. Regardless of where I live, I crave the frequent, spontaneous escape. Will that ever change? I know not. As long as my friends are spread around the world, I doubt it. To travel for the sake of traveling, to cross countries, borders, for the sake of sharing a drink with someone who means a lot to me, sharing a conversation that will last for hours, challenge me, and make me feel like 'me' again. Several reunions are in order.

Xin Nian Hao

Celebrating Chinese New Year with my wonderful Deloitte trainees!



Not going to lie, my personal favorite part of the parade was the Colombian Chiva at the end. Very out of place in Chinatown, but I loved it :)

Baila en la calle...

If I had to choose only one thing from Colombia that I loved the most, that made me feel alive, that captured the passionate culture above all else, it was the dancing. So many memories revolve around dancing - carnavals, chivas, concerts, dancing in the streets, dancing around our apartment, dancing in restaurants...there was almost never a time that we weren't dancing.

I went to a salsa class tonight and it wasn't quite the same. NY salsa is different from Colombian salsa. I felt the beat of the music running through me as I always have, my feet naturally fell into step, my hips moving back and forth... and yet for the entire hour, I was off-step from our instructor, whose feet moved too much, and whose hips moved not enough. Just like I learned to speak on the coast and my Spanish is Costeno or nothing, I dance like a Colombian, with a little bit of cumbia and mapale influencing my salsa. I step on the two, not on the one. And I have no intention of trying to change that.

Here's to Barranquilla....

In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer...

Never doubt the power of a message of peace. Something small, that quickly spreads across the world. A message that a nation, whose history has been characterized by violence, believes to the core. The idea was sparked a month ago and spread like wildfire through the network of facebook to over one hundred cities around the world.

No mas secuestros. No mas mentiras.
No mas muertes.
No mas FARC.

No more kidnappings. No more lies.
No more deaths.
No more FARC.

It was estimated that a million Bogotanos marched through the main streets to the Plaza de Bolivar, in the center of the city. The image was repeated throughout the country. "Freedom! Freedom! No more FARC, no more kidnappings", drew hundreds of miles of people who turned the streets upside down in 40 Colombian cities, which practically paralyzed the country at mid-day, as had been predicted by the youth who organized the protest through the internet and who had requested that it not be capitalized by any political organization (El Tiempo newspaper)
Un millón de voces unidas contra las FARC. A million voices united against the FARC.

In Barranquilla, 300,000 gathered from Teatro Amira De la Rosa to La Plaza de la Paz - fittingly, the Plaza of Peace. It was the first time ever that Barranquillero left aside a Carnaval event to cry out for those people who are being held in captivity (El Heraldo newspaper).

I told JuanCa that I didn't think there was anything in the world that could stop Barranquilla's Carnaval. His reply - Nuestros deseos de paz. Our hopes for peace. The images are still bringing tears to my eyes.The world has not turned its back on Colombia. More importantly, Colombia believes in itself. Millions have come together to raise their voice and fight back. I hope this is the first of many steps toward a more peaceful Colombia.

YO CREO EN COLOMBIA.

I BELIEVE IN COLOMBIA.

To all my friends in Colombia, I wish I could have been there with you today, in Barranquilla, in Bogotá, in Medellin. You are all in my thoughts. I love and support you all.

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas...

...but the highlights included some kick-ass team bonding and intense planning, long drives through the deserts of Nevada, multiple visits to Denny's and Starbucks, watching the sun set from 800 feet above the city, VIP treatment at Dick's in the Excaliber, rock-paper-scissors, early morning coffee at the Venetian after partying like a rockstar at the LAX club in the Luxor until 9am, cruising the Strip in our Malibu, blackjack, slots, and much more that words cannot describe...

Vegas is a bizzare and unique city, a sensory overload. My first experience here will go down as a weekend to remember ... I'm sure it won't be my last.