Here is a New Years Day Entry!

Well, hello! It is 2009! Happy New Year! Last night was really exciting! A lot of Luis' mother's family live in the surrounding houses in this area. When the clock struck midnight (and a little before) fireworks started exploding everywhere. Everyone came out of their houses and started hugging and kissing and saying ¨Feliz año nuevo!¨ I could see fireworks over the tops of all the houses and people up and down the street were setting them off. One kid was setting off fireworks from the house next door. It was a little too close for comfort, but exciting all the same.
This morning Luis' father came to wake us up. Luis can sleep through anything, so of course I was the one to meet him at the door. He came to wake us up to tell us that we had a visitor. It was their family friend, Max. Max is also a singer although he says he isn't very good. When someone called to ask if I might sing at a wedding. Luis' mother asked Max how much I should charge, because Max also sings at weddings. Max, a very funny character said,
¨I don't know probably a lot. I am not very good. When I sing at weddings I am just happy to get some food!¨
We all laughed over that. We have had other visitors for New years as well. Rosalina's cousin Mariela and her 17 year old daughter, Mariel, have been staying for a couple of nights. Yesterday Mariel spent most of the day in a hammock studying outside. She has an important test coming up for medical school.
This morning Luis' good friend Samuel came over with his wife and his parents. This was my first time meeting Samuel and I liked him very much. All of this happened before I was even dressed. I came out dressed in my aqua colored butterfly pajamas from Luis' Mom. Although the pajama shirt says ¨Social Butterfly¨ on the front, I felt pretty shy!
Panama is a VERY social place. People receive their identity mostly from their family or at least I think it has a larger influence. For example many people, even friends have referred to Luis by his last name all his life and this is customary. People often live very close to their families. But, there are positives and negatives. Luis describes his family situation as ¨kind of like Seinfeld.¨ People just pop into his parents house without knocking. It is a sort of ¨open door policy.¨ This struck me as different from what I am used to and a little bit exhausting. I would describe the social visits that happen especially during the holidays as something out of a Jane Austen novel. Like the surprise visits this morning. People come on these surprise visits all the time and some times stay for hours! Luis' mother knows everybody in town I think!
Well, I am going to end this entry with a story I have been meaning to write about salsa dancing! There are still so many to write and not much time. I am starting to feel sad about leaving. I have enjoyed this time so much and I have been treated very well by Luis' family. I know that Luis' is sad as well. He has enjoyed his vacation and he has a lot of work and stress waiting for him in Montreal. However, we still have a few more days here and it is a new year now. We have to think positively about the exciting things ahead however scary they might seem!
At this point I have been to three salsa dancing classes and one regular aerobic dancing class with Luis' Mom. We went to Luis' Mom's friend Gina's dancing and excercise studio. A gentleman named Danny teaches the class every week. The teaching was very one on one and there were only 3 or 4 people in the class each time. I was very grateful for everything I had learned from Sam, my movement teacher at McGill. Some singers have had a lot of training in dance. I am not one of those singers. I love dancing, but following steps can be a challenge! I am starting to really reinforce what I figured out over time in Sam's movement class. The key to dancing is to keep a tall elegant posture, smile, and stop thinking so much! It is also more fun that way. The music was very loud.
When I started thinking too much it became a problem for Danny. He even attempted to speak English to me, pulling on my hands roughly shouting ¨No! I commando!¨
It is amazing how the brain works and I have been thinking a lot about learning lately. When I am practicing speaking Spanish and I am concentrating and focusing for a good portion of the day, I get so frustrated, because at a certain point in the day no matter how hard I try my brain just shuts down and I can't do anymore. What I have noticed though is that the more often I let myself get to that point the faster I learn. After a night of sleep I am good to go! I read an article in a science magazine Luis had, that said studies have shown the brain actually needs time to process what it has learned. We are very active in our dreams, and while we are dreaming we continue to learn and rehearse whatever we are weakest in. That's why each time I came back to the dance class it was a little easier!
Danny says that it is as important to know how to dance as it is to know how to swim. Well I am comforted that Luis can't swim. I know he can learn! I think I danced pretty well for someone who didn't grow up with salsa.
I love salsa music. It is so much fun. I hope I will continue to enjoy it. Luis' Mom has this awesome and funny cd of salsa music from a Japanese band. They are called ¨The Orchestra of Light.¨ The music is great. One song sums it up about salsa and all music ¨La salsa no tiene fronteras!¨ ¨Salsa has no borders!¨