An Eventful Day - Part 1

It's Sunday morning and I went to sleep at 5, last night, after an eventful day. I missed Sweety when I fell asleep and I woke up early this morning, because I missed her even more. These are the days when things could be better.

But I'm not going to talk about today. I'm going to talk about yesterday - my eventful day.

I was recovering from 2 days of having fever and acute gastritis, when I received a call from Fizzy. I had been trying to reach her all morning to drag her for breakfast - but she had been doing her housework, laundry, etc. She popped the question - "You wanna go to salsa classes this afternoon?"

I hesitated at first, but I reminded myself that I've been thinking of jumping into salsa classes for ages, but never really came round to it. It was something I promised to do for me, not anyone else. For a change.

I said okay. Fyzzy approved. We made plans to meet, before dance class. My first thought was: what does one WEAR to dance class? Being true to my nature, I decided to go with the conservative look - collared shirt and pants, all in matching shades of blue.

At 2.30 p.m., there I was in my dance class in TTDI. What first struck me was that the ratio of women to men in the class. I mean, yes, I heard that there was always a shortage of boys, but a boys to girl ratio of something like 1:7, is ridiculous. Where are the men?

I was visibly nervous but I suppressed it from both Fyzzy or her French friend, Jean Luc. Hey, it's salsa class, for God's sake - and I was supposed to enjoy this!

It started out pretty badly. I was struggling to grasp the simple sequence of mambo steps and the tempo involved. And standing in front of a mirror with the rest of the class, accentuated even further, how out of step I was. Aisha, my instructor, realized that I was struggling and came to help me out personally, several times.

I was nervous and my movements looked stiff, in the mirror. And I was not particularly good at "isolating my ribcage" - everything looked like it was moving chock-a-block. The instructor reminded me to smile, several times - confidence and looking sexy was 50% of the battle in salsa. Alamak.

But the rhythm finally kicked in and I caught up with the rest of the class. I was beginning to enjoy myself. The music was addictive and the beat was so distracting. Just for a while, I let go of all my longing and discontent and just focused on the moment. I was having fun - and I needed this. More than I realized.

Then came the pairing up with partners. There were 2 men and 14 women. What were we to do? Well, the men were expected to switch partners - both Jean Luc and I had to dance with 14 girls! Passed on from woman to woman, (some of them rather attractive)like a dance prop.

I smiled - I felt like a sexy "jantan kabaret" - a seductive male predator on the dance floor. The fact that the girls didn't have a choice, was probably closer to the truth - but what the heck, a man is allowed the delusion of grandeur, once in a while, right? Haha!

But I played the role with much fervour and relish, albeit with a little shyness - I was not used to touching up strangers, for an erotic Latino dance. But I was determined to be a good prop - so that the girls would not lose out on the experience of dancing with a male partner. Dancing salsa together, is what makes it realistic. Lucky for me, the girls were pretty encouraging.

Slowly, my confidence built up and I was salsa-ing. The movements were not natural to me yet, but I knew that if I gave it a bit more time and focus, it would be. But Aisha was pleased with my progress - towards the end, I got some of the steps pat down, from the first instruction. I was pleased.

After about an hour plus - the classes ended. Admittedly, it was a good workout too - most of us were panting, at the end of it. But a familiar feeling gripped me. It was just like the first time I held a table tennis bat, or faced a chess board or got my first strike at bowling.

I'm going to enjoy this and I will learn, to be good at it. I could feel it in my bones. :) It's just a matter of time. And I was reminded again, of the joy of learning and trying new things and always pushing the boundaries of variety, which I seem not to be doing enough of.

Life has to be lived. I'm really looking forward, to next week's class. Meanwhile, I shall be rehearsing at home,...

p.s. Will continue with the rest of the events from Eventful Day, later. In order to avoid another bout of gastritis, I'm now rushing for breakfast. I hope you're proud of me, Sweety - wherever you are.