My Blog

Short trip to Paris

meissoun — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:44:19 GMT

Wow. What else can I say? I am on the way back from a short but intense trip to Paris. Left early on Thuesday morning to arrive at noon and thought for another time that one should go to Paris more often, since it's only a 4,5 direct train ride. I went to Anasma's place where I met her, Willow and Geneva Bybee (another dancer). I took those two to Pigalle and up to Montmartre. Later this evening we did something interesting: The three of us taught a workshop together on Tango Oriental fusion. I covered more of the tango side, Willow added the Oriental flavour and Geneva put it all together with a tribal fusion edge. Sounds interesting? It was - and you can book us :-) I think we profited at least as much from each other as the students did. At night we went to a Milonga together. But I was a bit dissapointed. I'm so spoilt from getting to dance with many men in Istanbul and Zurich but the Parisians chose to completely ignore me. I only got one dancer, because Willow had danced with him before and told him to ask me. Most people only danced with the same partner all night long. On the other hand I tried teaching Willow's friend Anthony a few steps. But of course it's harder for the guys. On Friday I went to Notre Dame with Willow which was not so easy because a lot of shops got into our way... :-) I had to run from there to go to the tech rehearsal for the show on the same night. After I was through there still was enough time for me to go to Forum des Halles and do some serious cheap shopping. I even found a purple handbag I had been searching for since about a year! The show itself took place in an old round wooden theatre with a very nice athmosphere. There was a nicely mixed program with a lot of creative costuming. Then we went back home to Anasma's place which is fortunately quite a big apartment, to have an after party. Today I got up first and was apparebtly the only obe of us whith enough time and energy to go out and meet Anthony for a late breakfast at Angelina, a very nice old café where the chocolat chaud was so thick that it made me wonder if I should drink it or chew it? Then I spent a lot of time in the Post museum that had an interesting exhibition on the history of sending messages. Unforunately Willow got hold up and we departwd for the train station very late. Geneva drove us there and although she did her best ( she is used to the traffic in Rome and drove Italian style) we missed the train. Well, we did get on an other train but now, instead of getting home directly, we will have to change trains 4 times and arrive very late....

Between excitement and trying to get some sleep...

meissoun — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:11:08 GMT

Havin a house guest is a bit like being on vacation - if only one didn't have to go to work inbetween... Last Thursday I went to the airport to pick up Willow who had arrived from Honolulu. With 3 suitcases and a big box! It's always interesting to see how much stuff I can put into my small car :) Since then it's been a mixed program of morning walks, shopping, tango nights, a dance show.... And not enough sleep for both of us! Willow is fighting with her jet lag and me with having to get up early after going out at night and trying to catch up with naps during the day. But it's fun! After my tango spree in Istanbul I get to have another one here in Zurich. A good occasion to show off ALL my tango shoes :) This morning I put Willow on the train to Paris - and I will follow on Thursday. Now I have 3 days of work, meetins, dance lessons... and am trying to fit in the packing and practicing my dance for the show on Friday in Paris! And yes, I want my 7 hours of sleep!

And now the end ist near

meissoun — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 19:49:25 GMT

So why did we get up on our last day after hardly 5 hours of sleep? Because as Katharina says, a visit to the hamam is as good as two hours of sleep. So we did our last packing, had some breakfast and went off to the Galatasary Hamam because it's only a 2 minutes walk from the hotel. You know that you have been carrying a heavy handbag for a week when you get a massage... My neck muscles needed some special work! Katharina's flight left two hours before mine so she left after some small lunch. And we promised each other to come back together as soon as possible, we had been such good travel companions. I strolled up and down the street a bit and successfully avoided buying any more shoes - which was wise because at the airport it turned out that my luggage was overweight. No surprise! Stuff like hip scarves with coins or tribal jewellery is heavy! And I even had given the Bella costume to Katharina! Luckily the guy at the check in counter let me pass without charging anything. I spent half of the flight calculating what I had spent for all my stuff - and I was even under budget for the costumes! Good girl!

Last evening in Istanbul....

meissoun — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 14:13:50 GMT

We were both so happy with our new costumes that we had to take pictures. Fortunately the hotel has a very nice, old fashioned lobby which makes an excellent backdrop. Then we packed our tango shoes and went to Özsüt for a late cake dinner. Of the different milongas going on this evening we chose BailaTango because it's practically situated in the same street as Araf where we planned to go later. Besides this I have been there before and liked the atmosphere. Like many buildings on Istiklal Caddesi this one has a club on every floor. You might find an 80ies party on the first floor, traditional Turkish music on the 2nd floor, salsa on the 3rd and hard rock on the 4th - while they are playing house music in the basement! You also find a lot of bands playing live music. There really is a party for every taste - if you get bored at night in Beyoglu, it's your own fault... Although we had been warned that there would be "only 5 people" the milonga was pleasantly crowded and the owner of the dance school, Metin Yasir (who is rather famous dancer and teacher) even sent us two dancers over in the beginning to make sure were dancing. Then one dance partner followed the other with hardly 5 minutes to breathe inbetween. I have never had such busy milongas as during this week! Katharina left first because one of her friends was already waiting at Araf, I followed her a little later. I am not sure at what time because it was the night when they changed from daylight saving time to regular time. Fortunately for us, it meant one hour more of sleep... (comes in handy if you get up at 9 am after a long party night!)

Last full day

meissoun — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 17:24:17 GMT

Today we walked a lot... first we started by Dolmabahçe and wanted to stroll along the Bosphorus. But we had to find out that there had been so many palaces and other big houses built right by the shore that there was practically no way to walk by the water. Instead we walked along the noisy street behind these buildings until we had enough and caught a bus out to Bebek. Bebek is an area a bit outside that's quite pretty - a place where rich people have their weekend houses and maybe a little yacht in the harbour... After taking a little snack we walked back, enjoying the view on the Bosphorus. After about a total of 2 hours of walking in the sun we were getting tired. So we got a taxi and went to another part of the city called Nisantasi. It's a great shopping area, in case this should interest you :-) But most of all we went to have a kebap t Hacibey - it's really expensive but tastes absolutely delicious! No comparision with any kebap you have ever eaten! Then it was time to collect our costumes. Katharina got hers from SIM very quickly. I then went to Legends, but they were still working on it - 4 women sewing like crazy. But the result is absolutely stunning! Now it's time to pack and get ready for the last night - we plan to party hard!

between hectic and relaxed....

meissoun — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 17:11:47 GMT

Just after we got off the ferry (relaxed) we went back to shopping, checking off some of the last things on our shopping lists. So we first went to the fashion jewellery and glitterstone shops behind the Egyptian basar. I even found the most tasteless golden soap dispenser in the world, just perfect for my bath! Then we had to run up to the Grand Basar to pick up our orders from Gülseren before they closed the shops. By now all the relaxation had faded away... But we went to visit one of Katharina's friends at his cozy hotel and had dinner there to cool down a little. Then it was time to get ready for the milonga at TangoJean where we were already expected by all our fans :-) Kathrina danced so much she got blisters on her toes! By now I think we can say that she's an official tango addict... Of course I also had my share of good dancers. And I tried to explain to a beginner dancer that he should slow down and dance more to the music instead of cramming all the moves he knows into one song which results into a rather gymnastic experience. But he didn't really get it... Maybe in a year...

Some fresh air

meissoun — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:24:00 GMT

Even we need a break from shopping -so today we took a ferry to Büyükada (princes island) and took a round trip in a horse carriage. It wasn't spectacular but quite nice. Then we had lunch in one of the many fish restaurants. By the way, if you are wondering when I get the time to write my blog: I write most of it on my iPhone when there is some "sitting around time" like waiting time like at the costume tailors or right now spending 1,5 hours on the ferry back to Istanbul.

Tango fun multiplied

meissoun — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:21:38 GMT

Last evening I waited for Katharina to get home from her tango lesson.... I waited a long time. When she finally arrived it was clear why: she was carrying several bags from different shops... That's what you get from having one of Istanbul's main shopping streets as your way home! She was quite exhausted and had to take a nap during which I sorted out my own aquisitions, went through my e-mails and prepared my clothes for the night. In the end we got out after 10 PM. Fortunately we had had a real lunch for a change, so we decided to have some big, fat cakes for dinner. Then we walked to the milonga which took place on the top floor of a nice hotel. Again a great view that few people were looking at ;-). Katharina had planned to mostly sit and watch - but she actually was asked to dance several times. It's funny to see that she is now where I was 6 years ago: a bloody beginner in her first ever milongas in Istanbul! For me it was the moment to dance in my brand new shoes. I mostly danced with Özdener, my newfound tango soulmate. He's a pianist in his fifties - and musicians often make good tango dancers because they really feel the music.

Day four... getting tired...

meissoun — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:53:13 GMT

So, all that heavy shopping and a slight (hahaha) lack of sleep are starting to affect us... Our main adventure today was to go to Çedikpaşa hamam, my favourite. Not expensive, but spacious. And they have an extra sauna room and a little pool. We really needed the sweating, scrubbing and massage.... Then Katharina went for her tango lesson and I picked up my shoes - and had a siesta...

Nightlife

meissoun — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:42:12 GMT

We met up for dinner with one of Karharina's friends and two of his friends. I seem to be eating some sort of meat for most meals... köfte and the like. But so far I haven't gotten bored with it :-) The we splittet, I went to the milonga at TangoJean. Katharina just came along shortly to arrange a private tango lesson for the next day, then went to party with the boys. I was very busy dancing with a different man for every tanda (round of 4 - 5 songs). I guess I have arrived at my goal of becoming a decent social dancer :-) I don't have ambitions to teach or perform this dance, but I want to be good enough so that men want to dance with me more than once. A woman even complimented me, saying that I am a "çok güsel dansöz". Mission accomplished! After the milonga was over I joined the others at a club called Araf - motto: All Music From The World. And that's exactly what they played, it eas so much fun! We had a blast there until nearly 3 AM...

Let's Basar!

meissoun — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 06:35:53 GMT

Day three and it's about time we hit the Kapali Çarçi, also known as Grand Basar. First we went to have breakfast at a small hotel where Katharina had stayed before and was friends with the owner. He took escorted us to the basar and took us to some shops where we bought tons if tribal jewellery. After a short break we went to see an old favourite costume shop called Gülseren where I had bought one of my favourite costumes about 12 years ago. I bought a shipload of hip scarves for a friend of mine and ordered a skirt while Katharina got pants for her group and another skirt. Wholesale galore :-) We'll need to go back and piıck up the stuff later but anyway, we still have some things on the shopping list we need from the Basar... Afterwards I went to Sim for a fitting for my new costume and to Bella to pick up my new costume! Looks great! And then I took Katharina to the tango shoe maker so that she could order her own custom mades shoes. Who cares that she is a beginner - she has great shoes! Needless to say that it was another day where I was nearly starving until we finally got dinner! But more about that later, it's hamam time now...

More Tango

meissoun — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 05:58:29 GMT

Last night I went to a very nice milonga - they even had a panoramic view down on Istanbul. Funny, at first I sat for a while and somehow thought that I wouldn't dance much tonight...Everybody was just sitting and chatting... And then I ended up being the first on the dancefloor. My dance partner was a tango pianist - it's always nice to dance with musicians, the really feel the music. I also happened to dance with a guy who is Turkish but was born in Germany, so we also had a nice little chat afterwards. He called himself a "beginner" since he only has been dancing tango for 3 months - but he must have been dancing a LOT during this time, I never met a man who danced so well after this short time! And we agreed that dancing tango is like entering a parallel universe... It's a place apart from the normal world...

A beauty-full day

meissoun — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 05:51:08 GMT

It's nice to travel with a friend who understands the importance of beauty. and wellness treatments... To start the day we went to BELLA, Istanbul's most famous costume designer. There we both tries on at least 6 costumes each. In the end I had narrowed down the choice to two silver/white costumes. One cost 320 €, the other the double... But that would exceed my budget - and honestly I just can't justify such an expensive costume right now. So I chose the cheaper one and decided to buy some big rhinestones at the basar later to give it more sparkle. There is a shopping mall right over the street frim Bella where we went to eat. We found out that Ibrahim Tatlises is not only one of Turkey's most popular singers and host of the "Ibo Show" on TV but also owns a chain called "Tatlises Kebap"! So there we had lunch. Then we fulfilled our shoe shopping duties :-) (4 pairs, ıf you want to know) And to make sure that our feet would also look good naked, we went to have them pedicured at a nice beauty parlor called California Nail Bar (owned by an American woman). Katharina stayed there to get more treatments while I started my hamam testing program at the Galatasaray Hamam. Nice place, even if not the cheapest one.... I like that they take their time and don't rush you through the program. It's supposed to be relaxing after all!

Tango quote of the day

meissoun — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 05:58:43 GMT

"If a girl doesn't sweat while dancing tango, it's like making love to a rubber doll." Well, there was plenty of sweat last night, let me assure you! I went to the milonga alone since Katharina was too tired. It was rather empty but since there were only few women I got to dance all the time. Two of the guys turned out to be tourists from Paris - they had come to run the marathon on Sunday. We danced until after midnight and then went to have a drink in one if the many small side streets if Istiklal. Sitting outside of course!

Day one in Istanbul - Life is good!

meissoun — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:13:21 GMT

Walking on İstiklal Caddesı with the sun in your face.... especially when it's cold at home.... how nice! It's strange but strolling down this bigş busy street with thousands of people around me has a very relaxing effect on me. And even more when I just ordered a new costume at SIM's for a reasonable price :-) Today was order day. Two Summer dresses from Servet, a costume from SIM (which will be sent home) and one from Legend Costumes (which she promised to finish by Saturday!) plus two pairs of tango shoes (he says he can make the Jimmy Choo style! Yippie!). Now I am waiting for my friend Katharina who went to SIM a bit later so that we can go and eat some yummy Turkish food....

Istanbul approaching

meissoun — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:00:31 GMT

Yes my lovelies it's soon time for another of my travel blogs! I booked my plane ticket to Istanbul in July - it's how you get cheap flights :-) Then my friend Katharina finally decided to come along! For weeks we've been breaking out into hysterical screaming: "We are going to Istanbul!!" And now it's getting close. On Monday I will take the flight..... I have already made a detailed plan: arrive at hotel - throw luggage into room - go to Servet (tailor) to have him make two dresses out of Hawaiian fabric I bought in Honolulu - go to Misar Butik and order a multi-color costume - go to SIM and Legend to check out what they have - go to Tango shoemaker and order 2 more pairs of shoes.... Eat dinner.... go to Milonga and dance Tango! On Tuesday morning we'll head to the Cat Cave (aka Bella, the costume designer who has about 12 cats in her showroom....). From SIM, Legend or Bella I will order another multicolor costume and also get one in silver (ready made or order). I have sold so many costumes that I have a big budget, ha! Then there are some hamams to check out, "normal" shopping, frequent visits to Özsüt (pastries), Milongas and a trip to the Pinces Islands. And no, we won't be gone for a month, only a week...... :-) I already started packing. I am filling a small suitcase with the most necessary stuff and putting it into a big empty suitcase. Then when I come home the big suitcase should be full with the small one on the side....

Inspired!

meissoun — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:16:47 GMT

What an inspiring weekend I've had! I don't take many workshops nowadays. For one thing I teach them myself, so I don't have the time. And the I was kind of over-workshopped for a while. I had taken so many workshops with so many teachers - and finally found that not much stuck with me. So it was a good opportunity this weekend that one of my workshops was postponed and I had the opportunity to take two days with Diana Tarkhan from Cairo. Wow, she was great! I normally don't use choreographies I learned in workshops, but this one is so great, it's really worth practicing it. And I think I'll be performing it in 2,5 weeks at a company event. Hopefully in a new costume from Istanbul :-) And then I stumbled over a video clip of Nagwa Fuad dancing to the song Ali Luz. I once transferred it from an old cassette to my computer, but the cassette's quality had already suffered and it was not usable for performance. So suddenly I thought, why not ask the world wide bellydance community? That's what discussion forums are there for after all! And just a few hours later Tamra Henna from Texas sent me a sound file of an old recording. It sounds so great, it gives me goosebumps! I love it even more now than on my old synthesizer-version. That will be the other song I'll dance to at the company event. It will be a nice contrast to dance an impro to an old fashioned piece, followed by modern Egyptian style. Looking forward to it! The picture is from one of my recent performances - also an inspiration, I want to recreate it when I have my next photo shoot to have a better version of this dynamic action-shot.

How my bicycling influences the climate

meissoun — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 08:20:12 GMT

So you live in Switzerland and you are happy about this exceptionnally nice September weather we are having! Thank me! It’s all my doing. Really…. I live in Zurich, world capital of road construction workers… You really can’t complain about bad roads here. What you CAN complain about is when there’s road construction going on all over town to make the roads all shiny and new (and put some new tubes, cables etc. down into the ground). Actually, complaining about road construction is what unites all inhabitants of this wonderful city. And this Summer it has been especially bad (oh, did I mention that we say this every Summer?). Normally I go to work by public transport. Takes about 25 – 30 minutes from door to door. But now they are renovating a big bridge (street is only half as wide, slowing down the bus) and a big square close to my office (total confusion for everybody!). Not to mention all the wholes in the ground on the way there… In August I bought a bicycle, just because I suddenly had this idea that it would be nice to have one again. When I was young (yeah, THIS long ago!) I rode my bicycle to school and to work for 12 years. Then my office moved and it was no longer practical. For a while I even walked to work (over a steep hill, no chance for a bike!). But bicycles get stolen, and some day I just didn’t replace the last one… Anyway. A few days after I got my shiny new bike, I went to work by tram. And it took me unbelievable 40 minutes! Including a lot of waiting around for the connecting tram. That was it. I had enough. That evening I went to buy a helmet (good girl, always ride with a helmet on!) and a lock for my bike. Next morning I went to work by bicycle and arrived in 20 minutes! This was in August. In the last 1,5 months I have been going to work by bike every day except about 3 times when I took public transport because of light rain and once when I went by car (not a good experience) because I had to. Notice something? 3 rainy days in 1,5 months! OK, there was more rain, but that was the week when I was away on vacation J Yes, I do believe that my bicycling has a good influence on the weather! At least for this week it also looks as if it’s going to stay that way. And maybe 2 weeks more. But then, get out the umbrellas because I am leaving for a week in Istanbul on Octovber 19 ;-)

Busy....

meissoun — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 07:10:03 GMT

So, I wanted to tell you about my one week vacation on a river cruise on the Donau. But ever since I've come back I have been kept busy from all sides, especially at work and with dance classes (taking and teaching). I practically had to train 2 persons at the same time (for different things) and do various other things on the side as well. I will be in the office for some hours on Saturday and Sunday morning too.... So now I have decided to take most of the day off to relax a bit and sort things out. Yes, and put my holiday pictures online! More later.

THE show

meissoun — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 21:29:58 GMT

Saturday was FINALLY the first night of the big Puja show we had all been waiting and preparing for. I really must say how much Willow worked for this event, to bring a very varied bunch of artists together and to promote it. The theater is very well equipped and we could watch the entire show backstage on monitors. It was really an amazing show. Today we have an early show at 2 PM, and tomorrow will be my last day here already...

Waikiki surf report :-) And show business...

meissoun — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 21:23:38 GMT

Unfortunately the good waves didn't last too long. They were still good on Thursday, crappy on Friday and on Saturday I didn't even bother renting a board. I just sat on the beach and read my book. Which is definitely a good experience as well :-) The evenings were more eventfull. Thursday I went to see a small dance show with Anasma. On Friday the whole bunch of us performed at the Bishop Museum, open air (see picture). It's really great how much the museums here do to reach out to the general public. So you don't just go there during the day for the exhibition, they are also part of the nightlife. They have those "First / Last Friday" of the month events with performances and other special treats.

Back to Waikikiiiiii

meissoun — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 04:56:25 GMT

Today Anasma and I got up at 5 AM in the morning! We were supposed to go surfing with one of Willow's friends at six but he couldn't make it and so we walked there by ourselves and hit the waves at 7 AM. And yes, there was already a crowd in the ocean! The waves were great and we surfed for 2 hours. Anasma had never surfed before, I gave her a quick introduction and she did quite well for her first day. Then we got some food, sat on the beach and just relaxed for a while. After that I showed her all my favourite shops :-) And also one I had never been to with Hawaiian print fabrics. We must have spent an hour there... Now I will have to go and get ready for my workshop tonight. And I am already looking forward to surfing again tomorrow!

3 days on the Big Island of Hawai'i

meissoun — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 04:51:30 GMT

I hopped over to Hilo last Sunday, early in the morning and immediately booked my first tour when I arrived at the hotel. And I was very right about that because there isn't really much else to do. Hilo is a sleepy little town (I dare say village). http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=hilo,+hi&sll=37.579413,-95.712891&sspn=34.186646,27.421875&ie=UTF8&ll=19.697547,-155.073395&spn=0.077899,0.086002&t=h&z=13 I walked there from the hotel and found everything closed... I can make this quite short because everything exciting during these three days happened on tours, there isn't much else to report :-) All three tours were with the same guide, and it was only him and 2 other guests in the car which made the organization quite flexible and we didn't have to wait for a big group. A bit more expensive that way but definitely worth it. The guide knows a lot of nice little corners to show and is quite flexible. I walked over lava fields and through rain forests, saw craters and waterfalls, many different plants, cows and some hippies... It's really fascinating how the landscape changes every 10 minutes. And the big volcanoes are so impressing! I am really glad that I went there. Even though I was also glad to return to Honolulu yesterday afternoon and to be in a CITY again!!!

more Honolulu

meissoun — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 06:59:42 GMT

I had a great day on Saturday, but I am already in Hilo on Big Island and the Internet connection in the hotel is rather expensive, so I'll keep it short... On Saturday morning I went on a tour to Shangri La. It's one of those houses you just want to move into. Look: www.shangrilahawaii.org In the afternoon I taught two workshops (step combinations and Bollywood dance technique). Then we went back home and got ready for the next dance gig. It was in a restaurant called the Living Room. Anasma (who I had met in New York) had arrived and came along to perform together with some more dancers. It was hot in every sense of the word... :-)

Honolulu / day 5

meissoun — Sat, 30 May 2009 22:22:08 GMT

Yesterday I had a great morning and evening and a rather dull afternoon. Most excursions and tours start in the morning. So when you have done one thing, there's nothing left to do in the afternoon... Especially when you don't want to risk a sunburn by hanging out on the beach too long. Anyway, in the morning Willow and I walked all the way up on Diamond Head. It's an ancient crater next to Honolulu. You actually start the hike in the middle of the crater and then walk up to the highest point from where you get a great round view - and a cool breeze which is very appreciated after walking in the heat... In the evening I went to the Honolulu Academy of Arts for the monthly event of "Art after Dark". http://www.honoluluacademy.org/ There was a band and a DJ in the various courtyards if the museum, food and drinks, and you could go and see the exhibitions. It's apparently the place to be for the beautiful people of Honolulu, people where very stylish, loads of stilettos and very short skirts :-) It was an interesting difference to the normally rather casual style of dressing here. Then I went home, grabbed my costume and we went to the Indigo, a very nice restaurant/club where I danced 2 Bollywood numbers for the "Bhangra Bashment". As people told me afterwards, I was "awesome" and "on fire" :-) We hopped around a bit more but finally had to go home because we both had to get up early today.