vamos, cubana!

i think one of the best things about this city is its spontaneity and the effect its having on me. last night i went out for a bite to eat with holly and laura, two of my hostel friends. the weather turned mid-meal and we got stuck in the pouring rain, unable to squeeze onto a packed collectivo or hail a cab. soaked and freezing when we finally made it home, all i wanted to do was rip off my wet clothes, wrap myself in 18 blankets and enjoy the Iguana beer i had bought at a kiosco when i realized my night was probably shot to shit. I had planned to see a local band in Palermo, but on rainy nights like that I much prefer to stay in, and I knew everyone at the hostel would probably be doing the same thing.

I wrapped myself up just as planned and went downstairs, opened my beer and plopped myself on the couch next to los colombianos. just as i was starting to get comfy and mildly drunk, in walks juan. remember juan from the last post: he's the crazy ballerina that is literally mario jr.'s twin. he's a ball of uncensored energy, cursing and yelling profanities left and right, but he's a real stand-up guy and it's apparent from his infectious spirit. anyway, in he walks like a bat out of hell, sopping wet and complaining about the music they were playing on 9 de Julio (it's the bicenntenial anniversary of el dia de la revoluciontomorrow, so there's been a massive celebration all weekend on the city's main avenue). He had more beer with him and stuff for making pizza, which, by the way, was probably the best homemade pizza ever (for all you experimental chefs: PLEASE get your hands on a cheese that's named queso de santa brigida, i think it changed my life). Anyway, one liter turned into oh, about three. normally after a long night of getting stuck in the rain and drinking in my pj's, it'd be lights out. but around 1:30, when juan screamed, "vamos cubana! vamos a bailar salsa!" i shrugged my shoulders, ran upstairs and got dressed. in a city like buenos aires, where the action's abound, where any night could easily become one of the best nights ever, you have to be ready for anything.

i don't think i was ready for how much fun i had that night, doing a HORRIBLE job of keeping up with juan (i mean, the guy is literally a professional!) sweating my ass off, and watching everyone dance. i felt like i was in old Havana, men approaching women to dance, the women spinning wildly on the floor, shimmying their shoulders and throwing their heads back in the air con gusto. everyone was so unbelievably good that it makes me want to sign up for salsa lessons yesterday. i felt intensely connected to a part of me that i hadn't thought about in a long time: i pictured my parents when they used to dance salsa at parties and what not and it made me feel like i was home. more and more, buenos aires is becoming home, a home to that piece of me that for some reason has been stifled for years but is just bursting to come out.

that piece of me perhaps is the latina in me, but also the adventurous part, the fearless part of me that knows that you have to choose the path that feels right in that moment, even if that path leads you somewhere you weren't expecting. i have found myself in a very different situation than i have ever been in, one that has set me on fire but at the same time, one that i'm in no rush with at all. usually, i'm flying full force into this kind of thing, unable to control the urge to act on my impulses. but maybe you could say i'm "growing" in that sense, insistent on being patient and uncovering every layer of this one at a time.

i have devised four major trips that I am determined to take, in ordert o cover Brazil, Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Uruguay. If anyone is interested in joining me for any of them, you are more than welcome. bueno, hasta luego amigos!