A place to breathe….

It’s addicting!!!

Just came back from Divonne in France for my third time to be on roller blades. Each time I put those blades on I get more and more hooked up. The more you improve, the more you want some more.

First day:
I was screaming to death when I first put the blades. I was screaming because I was literally nervous to death. I almost thought of backing out but I already have all the equipments on plus the safety gear so I will really look like a coward if I backed out. The thing that makes me feel so nervous is that the blades do not feel right on your feet. It’s just not natural at all. I was extremely happy that I was able to stand already on the 1st day. No major fall and I was able to painfully walk and glide a bit with a friend at my side. Once she didn’t pay attention to me for a split second, she found me on the floor =) yup, oops down. It was extremely painful when I remove the shoes, it’s like the feeling when i first skid. the shoes are extremely hard so if you are not very well in doing what you have to do then imagine the unnecessary force in your feet.

Second day:
I brought the roller blades on my vacation to Chamonix. I was determined to find an hour or two to practice. I want to take advantage of the fact that I have two friends roaming around with me who can actually help me by holding me while I try to get my balance.

I was lucky enough to find a flat face in Chamonix (this is a place famous for ski, meaning mountain so to find a flat surface is really a miracle). So I forced to my friends my agenda and lucky me they didn’t have any objection.

so were were already at the park, Kristeta was holding me and helping me to get my momentum. for 3o minutes we were doing back and forth while she’s holding me. then they needed to go and look for toilet. i sat and waited for them to come back. i noticed it’s been quite a while already and they still have not come back. 10 minutes and more passed, i decided to try it by myself. little by little i was able to manage to go back and forth at the park without any assistance. of course i was barely gliding, more of surviving each step but who cares!

My friends actually came back after more than an hour. They were laughing when they came back. They have done it on purpose. They knew I wouldn’t try hard if they were there so they literally left me by myself. It wasn’t so bad, I was actually very happy with my achievement. No fall at all but one funny incident. One time, I can’t turn because it was a bit of a slope and I was moving down slowly. I called a bystander to help me go back to my lane and voila I was ready to blade again =)

Third day:
I’m quite fortunate that I have friends in the office who are determined to practice roller blades as well. Today, we went to a nice big park in France. It’s perfect to learn rollerblades, it has a big lane with a few people doing roller blades, biking and walking. And the fact that they can see you are not at all stable with your rollerblades, they actually give you all the space you need. They also give cheers of encouragement, i like these people! Some even stop to give some tips, unfortunately they speak too fast and i only understood a few french words =(

Today, it felt amazing. I started to glide. I started to feel good and have my confidence with the blades. I started to look like i was actually doing roller blades. I was so happy, you can’t imagine the sense of achievement i felt. And the good thing about this is, you can actually feel that you are improving so it gives you more push to try and try.

We are planning to do it every Monday, I have to see because I already have my reflexology every Monday night. I have to do this all the time and I’m sure in no time I will be gliding like the wind! Our target is to be experts by the end of summer, not at all impossible.

Lately I needed some changes in my life. Needed a new approach in everyday living. Things have been almost the same for a couple of months now and I needed something new in my life so I decided to embark on some small but new things in my life. They may be simple but they definitely adds color to my everyday journey:

1/ i colored my nails
it’s been more than a decade since i had my nails long and colored. one day i saw my officemate with nice & long red nails. that same day i decided that i will have my nails done. i was extremely happy after going to the salon to have it made. it makes you feel more lady like. now i change the color of my nails at least 2x a week.

2/ i’m learning rollerblades
yup! you’ve read it right! i’ve passed the 1st crucial part: starting! tomorrow will be my third time that i will be practicing rollerblades. i watched some videos on the internet on how to properly do it. tomorrow i will try the new moves that i learned from the internet.

3/ joined a book club
i am a member of an expat group in Geneva and they have tons of activities. i decided to join a book club. it is quite encouraging to make me push myself to find time to read a good book. we are first meeting on the 23rd of april and going to discuss White tiger. I had the book for almost 4 months now but haven’t really touched it. it’s good to have a motivation to read some more and at the same time meeting new people.

4/ back to yoga
after 7 months, i’m back to my yoga class. it was a hard comeback. every part of me was aching. dominique said, that’s what you get for being lazy

5/ bar hopping
one friday night, i invited my friend and her husband for a drink in geneva and also to meet daniel. only to find out that i barely know any nice bar in geneva. no, we didn’t go out that night. i wasn’t feeling very well but after that incident i decided to venture out in geneva and find some really nice bar. so far i have discovered: pickwick, britannia pub, alhambra, l’antedote, jazz bar in front of novotel and cafe cuba. not bad at all! will try to find more time to check out some other bars so next time i have friends over, i will know where to bring them for a drink!

it’s been fun trying and learning new stuff. i’m definitely not stopping here.