Friday, June 6, 2008

Brief Salsa Update

Went to La Salsera tonight for another class. This was my first time with this instructor—Juan Manuel. He was excellent. He paid close attention to time and was right on the money. I was quite happy about that.

Afterwards, he and a few other students—Hector, Natalia, and Melisa—were heading out for pizza and he invited me. It was a good time just hanging with some really nice locals. Although I've been robbed twice and had a third attempt, this kind of experience is beginning to add up. That is, I'm meeting and hanging out with more and more people who are genuinely kind, generous, and fun, and I continue to make good, new friends.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hmm, must have missed something... I remember that you got "taken to the cleaners" by some helpful Argentines a few months back, and remember the case of "The Running Man," but didn't spot the reference to the failed attempt in previous blogs. I hope that you didn't do anything too violent in repelling the failed attempt (I presume that you didn't, since south american authorities are SO unsympathetic when NA touristas start acting like their movie counterparts - and you're still dancing, not in the slammer).

However, there is a "Blithe Spirit" aspect to your serene certainty regarding your post restante in the afterlife; I'm still speculating whether it's another aspect of (what you write as) your voyage of self-discovery, or whether you are waiting for someone to convince you that that's just not how things are.

It's true that what people write doesn't necessarily show what they are truly thinking -- but I can't help but wonder what is behind the angst that is so very evident in what you commit to the page.

Well, please pardon my foray into personal aspects of your life - I guess that it's easy to speculate uninformedly when you know someone strictly from their blog.

But since there is life behind (that can't be altered) and life before (that is wide open) I hope you'll find something more in life than merely dancing and photography before it's all done.

Buena Suerte,

Eduard

Jay Philip Williams said...

1) http://travelsinlatinamerica.blogspot.com/2008/04/peruvians-world-travelers.html

2) I'm trying to be honest in my writing. I probably won't write about it if I don't think I can present the truth—unless it's intentional fiction, if you know what I mean.

3) Time will tell.

Anonymous said...

RE: Your previous comments about wanting to be precise in dancing - I remember that you said that one of your favourite movies was "Mr. & Mrs. Smith."

I've got that one at home and can guess which scene you are thinking of; in the flashback at the beginning of the film (subtitled "Five or Six Years Ago"), BP & AJ are dancing outside the hotel with a bunch of locals (where she says, "So, it speaks..." and throws a glass into the firepit where it goes "fuff" and explodes into flame [incidie-really a great riff on russians tossing their vodka glasses into the fireplace after a toast because the glasses may never be used for a lesser purpose]), and both of them get soaked by a raging thunderstorm while dancing in perfect sync (with a thunderstorm in close proximity? - they must have been pretty confident that they wouldn't get picked off by Vulcan's Thunderbolts).

Please recall, however, that in order to have a happy ending to the movie, BP & AJ had to almost kill each other ("Come to Papa!" - "oof!" - "Who'se your daddy now...") before blowing away three M-Series BMW's, a furniture store, 200 hired killers, and a metaphorical partridge-in-a-pear-tree.

If you're looking for true romance, there's GOT to be an easier way to go about it than trying to duplicate BP & AJ's celluloid adventure. At least I presume that your purpose in perfecting your dance step is still to find the perfect ultra-freaking-hot-chick, as noted previously.

Regardless, my whole purpose in this long-and-drawn-out missive was to ask if were BP & AJ dancing the Salsa in the outdoor downpour scene?

So keep dancing and watch your step!

Eduard

Jay Philip Williams said...

Nah...no Salsa there. In the first place, they were really hardly dancing at all. Mind you, I'm not complaining.

More importantly, maybe, "Mondo Bongo" (Joe Strummer And The Mescaleros) is far too slow and has the wrong kind of feel...not even close to Salsa. I love the song, though.

Also, regarding fixing one's relationship by almost killing one another, you do recall, don't you, what followed the knock-down-drag-out fight betwixt the Smiths? Maybe it's a good technique for solving one's problems. Also, remember how honest and open they were with each other after that? Something to think about.