ME ENCANTA!

I have a new love. I thought it was Salsa. It still may actually be Salsa. HOWEVER. Tonight I discovered Tango. Eight steps to a rhythm I don't actually understand. I would never survive if I had to lead the dance. Thank goodness I am a girl, because all I have to do is follow along. It was incredible!!! It's interesting how this all came about.

Today Ashley and I were in the kitchen at UVM studying for our grammar quiz. (Yay for first quiz of the semester) Our friend Derek, who I promise is Kyle Copley's twin, came to join us. After awhile of talking to him about his classes, we convinced him that he needs to move out of the beginner level and come into our class. The school said that would be fine, so he attended his first grammar class with us. After class we were all talking, and he mentioned that he was going to a dance class tonight. Now it was his turn to convince us. For only $2 we could take a two hour dance class, and that seemed like a pretty good deal to me! Of course, you have to realize, I was being taught by people who only speak Spanish. I speak English. It was VERY hard. Ashley and I spent about ten minutes just practicing the eight steps on our own. The teacher thought I had it down decent enough, so she lovingly threw me into the arms of someone who had obviously been dancing for a very long time. I felt so stupid. However, he was very nice and very patient, even though I couldn't dance or communicate with him. It was fantastic! After dancing for awhile, the teacher showed me how to do crazy eights. Ok, I know there is a real dance term for it, but I don't know what it is called. All went well, but I really need some legit dance shoes. Trying to rock Tango in Toms was just not happening. I kept going up on my toes to make it easier.

Ok now that I am off my dancing tangent, today was also a meeting for volunteering. I am taking Cultures in Contact and one aspect of the class is volunteering. We had the option of playing with kids, which was actually really hard to turn down, or we could go to schools and help teachers who teach English. I am opting to go volunteer with teachers, so one morning every week I will be at a local school. I am so excited!! The teacher can use me to read or model something in English if they need any help, and I get to help the students with their assignments and such. This is going to be such a great experience!

I am stoked. My schedule is filling up with amazing things to do in Chile!! I was kind of getting a tad homesick seeing ads for events coming up at UIW, but now I have great new opportunities here in Vina Del Mar!