Salsa dancing

I had two of my very first salsa moments in life today. 

The first was the class I decided to take at the last minute this afternoon.  It is no joke that everyone in Ecuador can salsa. This is something they learn apparently shortly after birth, as some Quitoans have informed me. Thus, though salsa actually hails from Cuba, most Ecuadorians like it and can dance it fairly well.

I learned this during my first week at the house with Huayra Causay, when the whole lot of us went out to El Aguijon for salsa night and they all danced for hours and hours. Though I joined in and tried really hard to look convincing, I stepped on way too many feet.  Besides, moving your hips and legs in nonstop circular fashion is really only fun for the first 20 minutes. 

So I wasn't expecting to really like class today - though I was curious to see what the steps actually looked  like when you slowed them down.  Turns out they are pretty simple, and also pretty fun when turned into a sequence played out in time to the music - and depending on the partner (!).  It was a big revelation to discover how much I could enjoy salsa when I could follow along with the rythmn and switch it up and also let myself be led without tripping.

"Basico!" "Atras!" "Traverse!" Gibson, our teacher, kept prompting.  Suddenly salsa wasn't so boring! And the super fast beat suddenly made sense.

The other salsa moment came later this evening, when I was trying to (discretely) show Nuvia my new salsa moves while waiting for our cab at the bar we'd gone to for drinks.  The adorable waiter who'd been serving us offered himself up as a partner and there I was salsa'ing away in a near empty bar at midnight in Guapolo. Needless to say, this guy knew what he was doing and was very helpful and there is nothing like finding yourself dancing with someone who's name you didn't know a moment ago and turns out to be an incredibly good dancer.

I hear rumor that salsa is addicting and I'm not expecting anything like that to happen here. But I will be taking a few more classes in the hopes of making a proper comeback on that dance floor in the Mariscal before I leave Quito.