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Thought #9 - Feb. 11, 2007
This weekend, I am headed up to Long Beach --- The Belly Dancer of the Universe Competition!!!!! Why am I doing this? I don't even know! Just thought I'd get out there and ......like in the Nike commercial......JUST, DO IT!!!! My style of belly dance is what I would call "feel the music" and "dance to it". ....spontaneous and non-choreographed. I use all my learned knowledge of this beautiful dance, the belly dance, and put all the right "moves" to the music. My dancing is described as "Egyptian" by Egyptians and ME audiences, as "American Cabaret" by my American dance peers, as "Turkish" when I dance to Turkish and Armenian music. Also, I do "fusion".....tribal/gypsy. I will continue to write about this on my return from the competition. I can't wait! So exciting, yet at the same time "nerve-wracking"!
Wowwww!!!! I made it back from the BDUC Competition ---- 3 Trophies!!!! Divine Champ, People's Choice Award, and Congeniality!!!! So thrilled, and still on Cloud 9!!!!
My win was possible through the help of many friends: Lucia (BDUC winner 2005) who helped me with my presentation, Yazmina Zarod who helped me with my Isis Wings, Joelle, Maryam and Princess Mikayla were my roommates at the hotel --- and you know how we get right before a competition! The night before I prayed to my favorite Angels for protection and strength (St. Gabriel & St. Michael), and God almighty! My mom is recovering from surgery, so she couldn't be there, but in the Mexican tradition she lit up all her "veladoras" candles and prayed hard all night to all the Virgins and Saints she could summon! Hey-----whatever works! I'm a strong believer in prayer, hard work, and practice! Being surrounded by loving friends doesn't hurt either! I received congratulations from many of my friends: Dondi, Luisa, Lucia, Jamila, Jheri St. James, Yazmina Zarod, my students, SAMEDA Board, Ralph Derderian, John Bilezikjian, Maryam, Raks Mexico,.........and many thanks to my talented costume designer: Nenee from San Diego, 619-233-9293
My students were in awe of these beautiful trophies and my accomplishment. This contest is a wonderful way to get "validation" for years of hard-work and training. I have been belly dancing 23 years. In-between my dance career, I raised my two beautiful sons, Steven and Paul, and took care of my home and husband. Both my sons are very proud of me. They have shared the YouTube clip of the contest with their friends, and they thought it was "cool"! Imagine having a belly dancing mom? I tell them, "See that belly? That was your first "condominium"! They just laugh! I can't believe that belly once stretched to accommodate those 7 & 8 pound boys! The wonder of the human body! So, this goes to show you the strength of the feminine spirit! We are beautiful daughters, mothers, grandmothers, sisters.......we can accomplish anything we set our minds to do! There were women of all sizes, colors and ages, and a few men-folk at the Belly Dancer of the Universe competition. Some were unexpected wins, some were expected --- but over-all, the pageant was exciting and beautiful for all participants, and an unforgettable experience for all of us, contestants & spectators. BDUC.....see you next year!
Thought # 8-March 1, 2006 - the BAD work experience (my real job).
It's been a while getting more "thoughts" on this page. A special reason I'm writing this is to tell you of my BAD experience that ended my time in the "work force". If I can at least help someone get their "bearings" on a situation like this, I will be happy. Good Luck!
I took a "forced" early retirement from my day job---politics, unions, the company didn't want to have to pay "full retirement" so they made my stay miserable. Three more years and I could have had full vested retirement. I hear this is common practice for companies nowadays. I should have hired a lawyer before walking in to sign my letter that gave me three choices: 1-Quit, 2-Be Fired, 3-Retire..........well, being that I was on medical leave because of stress: panic attacks, migraines, body aches (because all of a sudden, after working 16 years for that school district, I was told I was incompetent to do the job)!
My predicament started taking shape about 2 years before. I had suffered a burn that needed hospitalization for a week, then a recuperation period. When I returned to my position, I was told that my position was being eliminated. The school board voted against it and I stayed. Next, they eliminated the WHOLE department, I was transferred to a school site-----but, lo-and-behold----unbeknownst to me, there was a person in the school site that had been eyeing that "much coveted" position that I was "slipped" into (the Union has rules that if your position is eliminated, you have to be transferred to a "like" position).
Well, as you can imagine-----my own private HELL started. The secretary started telling me how I was to arrange my area. She didn't like when I placed some of my office belongings on the file cabinets (pictures, cute little decorations to personalize my belongings----nothing religious or obscene). She didn't like my title "Counselor's Secretary", and made it a point that the only "Secretary" there was she, and that I was nothing more than a "School Clerk"....NOT a "Secretary", and that she didn't know why my predecessor had labeled herself that. In a few short words, she "demoted" me. I really didn't care what my position was, so long as I was treated with kindness, dignity and respect----they didn't know the meaning of those words there, I was soon to find out . I was soon to find out that she would come to work in really strange moods, with her face all scrunched together and in the foulest moods you can imagine. And, guess what? She is now suing because she felt she was treated badly there! The principal is another story and I'll get to that later! He was a Nazi-type of administrator. I once saw him fall on his butt----drugs or alcohol, or just plain accident? His speech seemed a little slurry.......hhhmmmmm. I never saw him treat her bad. He treated her a lot better than he treated me. I felt paranoid in that place. Too bad she can't use me as a witness, as she was mistreating me the whole time too! I don't know what her personal life was like, but she must have been through some kind of abuse or mental issues, but the bad part was that I was getting the "brunt" of it.
No matter what I did, it was never enough. Of course, since I was the "new man on the totem pole", they could assign me any duties---even if they weren't done by my former predecessor. One of the Counselors was "in cahoots" with the secretary and the "coveting" person, and those 3 made my life HELL. The counselor would dig into my desk when I wasn't there.
There's still much more I will write.............to be continued in April
The only advice I have to give any one of you is: DO NOT ever sign anything without a lawyer present (one hired by YOU and not your Union)-----AND, don't trust your union person, as there is only so much they will do. Sometimes they are even in on things.....sometimes they are coworkers who are afraid to speak up---they stand to lose their jobs too.
Love, Ana
