Still trying to top my 28th birthday party that I had in Ojeda! There was so much great salsa dancing!

This is my birthday month! When I was living in Portland I would always look forward to celebrating with my bestie because we could combine our birthdays into a weeklong celebration.  Here in Venezuela I just hope I can go salsa dancing.  If I can’t get a week to celebrate my birthday at home with friends and family, at least I had several three-day weekends to enjoy the month of May.  And there was plenty of salsa dancing this month- even if it wasn’t for my birthday.

From Cuban Salsa classes to salsa practice in the park, to watching a salsa competition, I feel like I have finally found my groove in Valencia. I’m so thankful that I have found a Cuban salsa course to take here so that I have a group of people that love dancing as much as I do.  Whenever I can get in six hours of salsa a week I am a very happy girl!

Also, my friends and I went to Isla Larga again and I got to explore the sunken ship there. How cool is that?! I would love to go back with some snorkeling equipment to get a closer look at the fish I saw people catching.

On to the roundup!

Around the Web:

I always wonder how I will be able to afford to buy a house when I retire abroad one day, so I loved reading this: 5 Ways to Finance a Home Purchase Overseas.

Ever wonder how culturally appropriate your coffee is? Check out this handy infographic to learn how to order it the right way.

I’m mostly a solo traveler, so I am very conscious about traveling safely. This means being aware of my surroundings so I don’t get pickpocketed. Here is a succinct infographic to point out the most common spots to be pickpocket in while traveling in Europe.

As someone who always makes a budget BEFORE I decide to travel somewhere, I really appreciated this: Ultimate Guide to Spending Your Money in 42 Countries This Summer.

Music:

This song reminds me of a relationship I had a few years ago. hahaha

I am not a huge Justin Timberlake fan, but this song really makes me want to get up and dance: “CAN’T STOP THE FEELING!”

Books:

This month I’ve read six of Debora Geary’s witchy books. They are so cute! Even though I’ve been reading the Witchlight and Witch Central series’, they both overlap the Modern Witch series that I read last month.  So while none of them were amazing five star books, they were all very readable and enjoyable on the many nights I was without electricity (thanks Kindle for being bright enough to read in the dark, but soft enough to not hurt my eyes!).

Also, all of the witchy reading I was doing with the Geary books got me in the paranormal mood and I read a couple of the Cainsville books from Kelley Armstrong.  I really loved Omens and the interesting angle of weaving traditional omens throughout the book, but I especially enjoyed Deceptions which had some really fresh takes on the fae and reincarnation.

Movies:

I haven’t seen any good movies this month. Any suggestions?

TV:

Other than managing to keep up with Game of Thrones, I can’t say that I am watching much TV this much (this has a lot to do with losing 4 hours of electricity every day due to the energy crisis in Venezuela).  I did manage to stream the last episodes of the Amazing Race and Survivor (the longer I live in Venezuela the more I think I would be a good contestant on either of these shows).