Salsa!

We had a really fun day! This morning we swam for a while at the beach. Then we spent some time studying Spanish, and Bill fixed ham sandwiches for lunch. Classes went really well. I’m learning a lot, and I love my class! I wish I had more time to spend in Spanish-speaking countries.

After class, we did a salsa class offered by the school. It was a blast! We had a fun teacher who’s Afro-Colombian who could really move! There were several students who did salsa with us. Most of us had little or no experience with salsa, so we were mostly equally bad, but everybody had fun. My new French friend, Dominique, came. She can’t do the steps at all, and doesn’t seem that interested in learning them, but she loves to dance and just did her own thing the whole time! She swiveled and shook all over the dance floor. It was hilarious! She’s living life to the fullest! Bill and I are not going to make Dancing with the Stars any time soon, but I think we have potential! He thinks he might be better at waltz. I love salsa! I would love to find a class in Cedar Falls, but I don’t think there is one.

Bill traded me in for a beautiful African woman during our dance session. See picture below. (That’s not exactly what happened, but he has been listening to a Spanish CD that teaches you how to ask women to dance.) I have video of them dancing together, but my blog doesn’t allow videos. Bummer! Maybe we can get more pictures next week.

Yesterday, I had lunch with Dominique, the French woman. I spent all morning listening to the French news and reading in French so I’d be prepared for an hour long conversation in French. It’s really hard for me to switch back and forth between French and Spanish. I did relatively well with the conversation. She seemed impressed but that’s probably because I had tried and failed to speak to her in French the day before. It was a good conversation. She lived in the US for a couple of years and in Africa for a few years. She’s been divorced for years and decided to travel around by herself in Colombia for a month. She worked as a secretary in some big international businesses before she retired. One of them was owned by Ross Perot.

I met a woman from California today. She’s also a student at the school. She decided she didn’t like her job, had some unspecified family drama that she didn’t want to deal with, so she quit her job and is spending the next year touring around South America. She’s doing 6 weeks at the language school here then she’s headed to Peru and Argentina. Maybe some other places too. She’s the second woman I’ve met at a language school with that kind of story. I wish I was that kind of person, but I mostly like my job so I guess it’s not quite the same.

After salsa, Bill and I stopped at this little open-air restaurant around the corner. It’s a local place. We got good food, super cheap! There was a TV with a telenovela playing behind us.

Our washing machine was leaking a bit when we got home. Bill is washing a load of towels now and put me on washing machine patrol while he’s in the shower. He gave me very specific instructions about how to start mopping up the floor if it floods!

That’s all I have for tonight! Pictures are below. Bill will have an update soon.