Salsa and Wednesday.

Alright, so I suppose that all being right and proper, I should pick up where I left off. Last night, I was tired but ready to go out and do some dancing! Nico, Leo, Kim and I went out early to find a bar. We left around 9:45 and made our way to the square celebrating the 24th of May. It was about a 45 minute walk each way plus around 15 minutes at the two bars we stopped at. The square was interesting. It has a huge archway made of marble and a large church is on the north edge of the square. On the south side is another massive cathedral. It seems that the square is a central point for trams and transport. 6 different lines converge there and it offers easy access to the Duomo.

Walking through Milan at 10-11pm at night is much friendlier than Tempe… I can assure you. Despite being colder here, there are people outside the bars and pubs talking, socializing and drinking…Beautiful culture of activity. We made our way back to Club Tropicana and I entered around 11:45.

This next part deserves a section all its own: The salsa scene here is amazing. Flat out, down right, amazing. The club itself is downstairs below a school and the open club – style dance floor had at least 100-200 people on it with another 100 or more in the wings… on a Tuesday! I met up with a colleague from work after wandering the club by myself for a bit and she graciously introduced me to her daughter and her friends from the classes. I immediately started dancing and kept dancing for the rest of the night. My colleague’s daughter is a beautiful young Italian woman with black curly hair and Mediterranean coloring. She was sweet and very well mannered – a great partner to start the night.

The club is three floors below ground. The first floor is ground level with a slope down into the coat check and cover area. There are sets of stairs which lead down into an upper level with bars – built much like VIP areas in clubs across the world. These were empty… on the final level are three bars and a huge open area roughly the size of Paragon where we dance in Tempe. At the front of this space is a stage and a DJ’s booth. Throughout the night (every hour and a half) the instructors – five males and two girls – lead the group in excercises (warm ups and choreographed dances) at breaks. The music was wonderful with 10-15 minutes of salsa, then bachata, with a 5-10 minute run of fast cha cha tossed in before the cycle repeated itself. Dancers were still going strong when I left at 2 AM. The club closes around 3-4 ish I believe. I’m still in shock that the crowd was so thick on a Tuesday. I can’t wait for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I may need to get some cheap dance shoes because with boots I need to be careful of my knee’s…but I haven’t decided yet. I will know after this weekend.

Work went well today. I got three additional assignments to work on through this week. Good chance to test my researching skills. I’ve found a little trick. Because I connect through the department of state version of IE it automatically tells the sites that it is English. If I use the .it endings for sites (such as Google) I get a completely different set of results. A wonderful revelation since as I’m learning more Italian reading these pages becomes less difficult every day. Also I’m researching local politics so using the resources which tap the .it network and not the .com/us network is also more productive. It seems self evident but I only realized it yesterday.

I had a nice talk with my mentor today and we ironed out a few more details about my work and the direction he would like to see me take. Good to have some more direction from him. Makes it easier to work down the right path.

Tonight Mimmo, Kim, Nico, Leo, and I are watching the Juventus vs. Napoli. Nico is excited since Napoli is playing. We’re all sitting around the table drinking and intently watching the game… speaking of which I’d better stop writing.

Ciao!

Journal Three-
What an exciting morning. I awoke today to discover that it was bright and sunny, such a different city with a little sunlight. We met up with some others in our floor kitchen and decided to all head over to the Natural History museum, an unbelievable place full of wonders and excitement! As we wandered through the museum it felt like we could stay for hours more and only touch the surface of the history enclosed therein. My two favorite displays were the Green display (wildlife, birds etc) and the gemstone collection on the third floor. The collection of Aurora diamonds was beyond compare, and in black light some of them glowed different colours. Sparking, gorgeous rocks which captivate and scintillate. Out of the green exhibit the most terrible and yet beautiful piece was a long glass window approximately 8 by 5 filled with what seemed like thousands of birds. Layered four deep there literally were only a few inches between each bird on branches inside the case. It was sad because all those birds were killed and stuffed to make the display, but beautiful for their feathers and stunning colours.

I stayed later than my companions at the museum and later caught up with them outside where they had been waiting for me. We walked back toward the housing and ended up stopping at a little sandwich place where I bought some spaghetti, it was the first food I had bought all day, and without a doubt it was amazing. Ordering it was interesting; I was trying to learn how this baguette sandwich worked. I asked the girls at the counter who gave me odd glances and shrugs… despite the fact that they make them… that was fun. Instead I turned to a man in a suit next to me and asked him. He was happy to help and I managed to order without a hitch. After getting some food we walked up to Hyde Park and lay out in the sun in the thick grass. We rested for a few hours then came back to the housing to nap for a while.

I woke up a little late at 6:45 after my nap, which was unfortunate because I was to meet some girls at Kings Cross at 7:00. I felt bad but it worked out for the best. They had left by the time I arrived and I had the pleasure of wandering about Kings cross for two full hours. I stopped by a local market and picked up some pastries and a 700ml bottle of water. I wandered some more and found myself intrigued by a sculpture which had been erected on an ally wall. I walked down the alleyway and found myself at a restaurant which was doing a pre opening special. I got a whiskey and sour and had a nice conversation with the bartender.

The bartender was friendly and offered me advice on places to go dancing. One place he mentioned was a club called salsa. This club played primarily its namesake in dance with a lot of Meringue and a tiny amount of Bachata. There was a live band that played Salsa, Mambo and Raeggeton. After midnight there was a DJ who picked songs. I paid the £8 cover which was hefty and stayed from nine until 2 when the club closed. They dance a slightly different style but I figured it out and after starting their way drew the women to my way of dancing. I had a blast and danced all night.

When I left an older women recognized my accent as foreign and asked if I’d ever ridden the bus. I said no so she walked me to the bus station and showed me how to tell which line to ride. I caught the bus and learned a stop too late that the drivers don’t announce the stops. One must know where they want to stop before they board and what it looks like. It only added ten minutes onto my walk which was fine. By three I had made it to Sainsbury’s a local grocer and picked up supplies to make sandwiches for the next trips and cheap lunches. I wandered home and was in bed by four. All in all, a great day.

Co-Creator: Latin/Ballroom/Salsa Night Out

I fell in love with Latin, Ballroom, and Salsa dancing when I first took Ballroom/Latin/Swing level I at Arizona State University in 2006. In fall 2007 my brother Alex Berger and I decided to create a social networking group to help inform students and community members about dancing in Phoenix. The Night-Out group is a coalition of students, community members and instructors that utilize social networking sites to provide safe means of entertainment through dancing to college students in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. Administrated by David Berger and Alex Berger, the site lists important information about going out dancing (Dance Basics), as well creates events to inform about venues and opportunities to dance.

For more information please visit the group at:

Latin/Ballroom/Swing/ Night out