plan S revealed

Well, it is finally time. . . I had mentioned "Plan S" (which again you have to speak as being Spanish and not English even though it's spelled the same). Well, on May 20, after one month of secretly taking lessons from a friend. . . I went to Tanya's going away dance at Ann Arbor, and actually danced. . . salsa!!

(Sorry it's blurry, it's a picture of a picture) Carlos Mauricio and I are doing some sort of turn there.
This was a pretty big deal for me . . . sometime a few months ago I decided I finally wanted to learn how to dance, which is something I've never gone out with our friends and done before. There was a lot of pressure to dance, which I didn't like, and it's also hard for me to allow myself to be vulnerable socially like that. There are also a lot of potential temptations and drama involved many times when people go out to dance, which I largely try to steer clear of. And I just didn't have much desire to dance anyway!! But, when I finally started wanting to, I prayed about whether or not I should and it seemed like it was ok, one of our friends who took salsa lessons and is great, Carlos Mauricio, agreed to teach me (and his girlfriend Rachel graciously agreed to let him). Tanya had taught me the basic steps, and then she went with me when I took a couple of lessons a week for a month, and we got a routine down. And there you have it -- I surprised myself and can do pretty well for a beginner. I have always liked salsa music (as opposed to other latin styles that I don't really care for) and it has been so fun to work on a secret project like this. And I also surprised a lot of our friends who were always trying to understand (unsuccessfully) why I wouldn't ever dance.

So, there you have it. I still am not a big fan of going out to dances all the time, that whole scene is becoming even less appealing as time goes on, and I am intentionally limiting how much I go so I don't fall into habits I will later regret, but I think I would like to keep taking classes either from Carlos Mauricio or in Lansing. And I can practice some on my own. It's really helped me learn how to enjoy myself and have fun, something I struggle with at times. I also learned some good lessons from the first dance about the value of relationships vs. ability in Hispanic culture. And it would be fun in the future if I ever date to (maybe) have someone else to learn with.