I was looking forward to it all day long. School was rather dull because I knew what was coming later would be so much better. My private lesson had been canceled, so I was able to come straight home, make some of my favorite CPK copycat bean/corn/guac dip and then go out on a little walk. It was one of those perfect after school afternoons where I felt absolutely free to do whatever I pleased with no "have tos" or "shoulds."
On my walk I came across some adorable shoes that would look perfect with all my Springtime dresses I'm about to break free from my closet at the first sign of real sunshine. ^_^ I knew it was a dangerous idea to try to wear them for the first time out dancing, but they were too cute, and so I chanced it.
I went back home, got all ready, and was out the door - looking and feeling slightly more put together than usual. ;)
Now, it HAD been over half a year since I'd worn heels... but I think the problem was more that it had been FOREVER since I'd worn heels that weren't fancy BKE, Steve Madden or some posh Italian designer. See, I don't often buy heels, but when I do, I go all out.. and it's totally worth it because they are always so comfy. And while I'd felt like I'd splurged on these ones, they were from Spain's version of a much more stylish but equal in cheapness Payless. A walk to the train, 40 minutes on the train and a walk to transfer to the metro and my feet were literally bleeding. I understand breaking in a shoe, but jeeze louise.
I knew there was no way I could even make it the rest of the way to the metro, much less through a night of dancing, so I left the station and went in desperate search of shoes - any shoes - that would make my feel feel like they weren't in a war camp. Of course, I'd taken so long hanging out on my free afternoon and getting ready that I'd totally not realized it was already 9:30 and NOTHING was open anymore... except for Corte Ingles.
Corte Ingles. How DO I describe Corte Ingles to somebody whose never in Spain? Hmm... It's pretty much the EVERYTHING department store - but generally a little higher end than normal. They have little mini stores inside of the bigger Corte Ingles - and they're all Coach, Longchamp, Prada, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, etc. They have normal priced things, too... but those sections aren't quite as large.
And so I was just hoping I could find shoes that were affordable in this huge place, because if I couldn't, I was seriously SOL.
First, of course the Corte Ingles I was at was a good six floors tall, with a very confusing store map. I had to walk all over just to find the shoes (and my feet were STILL bleeding and there was no taking my shoes off in a store like this - people were already staring at me!). When I finally found them, their shoes were gorgeous... they had shoes by Steve Madden (imported from America, mind you, so uber expensive), Hunter, Uggs, Ralph Loren, Valentino, Prada, Burburry, etc. Gorgeous eye candy. Unfortunate choices when you really need a cheap shoe and fast. >_< I hobbled as gracefully as I could, the only customer on the whole floor with at least five perfectly polished sales people staring at me, and finally came upon a pair of ballet flats for 19 euro. SAVED. Normally, ballet flats hurt my feet WAY worse than heels do (I can't explain it - they just rub me in all of the wrong ways and provide no cushion whatsoever), but I was willing to settle for anything at this point. I picked a color at random, tried them on to make sure they fit, and purchased them. I had no idea if I'd ever wear them again, but at this point, that hardly mattered. I could throw them away at the end of the night for all I cared - what mattered now was finding a secret corner in that department store and taking the evil shoes off and putting the new ones on... which is exactly what I did.
RELIEF.
As I waited for the next metro, I caught a glimpse of myself in my new shoes in the window of a passing train. Much to my surprise and delight, the shoes I'd just purchased turned out to be the exact same color combo as my new, favorite scarf - which I purchased to match my brown leather jacket. The shoes are a Tiffany blue suade with the exact leather color of my jacket lining it. ^_^ Holy awesome! I'd been in so much pain and desperation that I hadn't noticed how completely perfect and adorable they were!!! Yay!
Shoe drama aside, my night was pretty much awesome. I hadn't seen H (yes - he's graduated to a single letter in my blog - and keep in mind it must be pronounced as it would be in Brazilian Portuguese /ah.GA/ and not like /AE.ch/ - teehee) in two weeksish and I was happy to see him again - especially under the guise of a night full of forro! :) Yay!
I'd wanted to go back to that mini dance bar/club we'd gone to the first night we'd met, but a combination of not wanting to go out late on a Thursday when I'd have to wake up to teach on Friday, coupled with just plain being too chicken sh*t to ask, had allowed two whole months to go by without doing so. We'd danced a time or two in between, but it wasn't entirely the same. This little place has this really awesome live Brazilian band on a mini stage with colorful lights shining down on them and they play super great Brazilian music that everybody really gets into it. Equally as awesome is that almost everybody on the dance floor is Brazilian (and, thus, pretty awesome to watch or dance with). It seriously feels like a little slice of Brazil in a Spanish hole in the wall! ^_^ Anyway, since I'd watched "Silver Linings Playbook," I'd really been missing dance... and when I realized we'd both be gone for the next few weeks... I made up my mind to get rid of the excuses and go for it.
Best decision ever. ;)
While the first time we went I'd only danced with him, I was feeling a bit more confident (/he went and told the really good dance instructor type guys to dance with me) and danced with a bunch of Brazilians. There was one guy I'd been watching for a few dances who was really awesome to watch and did this one move that I love in West Coast Swing but had never seen in Forro. It's hard to describe (or even demonstrate), but basically it's when the lead throws off the follow's upper body balance a little, and counteracts it by doing the same himself in the opposite direction. This makes both dancers sort of roll through their abs and it looks ridiculously cool!! I purposely was watching this guy pretty closely and laughing when he'd do a cool move. I knew he'd seen me watching, but he didn't give any sort of response, so I was shocked when he came up behind me and asked me to dance! Oh, hell yeah! He was one of those rare dancers who was just as much fun to dance with as he was to watch. :) Awesome!
At little while into it all and the amazing Brazilian band announced that they would be taking an intermission break. Instead of waiting around for them to return to the stage, we walked down the street to the bar we'd first met at for a cheap beer and tapas. Um, brilliant. Don't get me wrong - dancing all night long was amazing - but this little side trip was what really made the night out so crazy unique and cool. After we walked in and got our drinks (P.S. I really like tripels now... J would be so proud... and I owe it all to my trip to Belgium!), the chill owner guy told us to come on down to the basement, because they were having a mini jam session/open mic kind of thing. He locked the bar's front door and led us down the stairs... and all of a sudden we were in a super old mini cave!
Oh holy crap.
It was the coolest underground thing I've seen in all of Madrid. It was just the tiniest room made entirely out of bricks and it felt like it had to be at least a hundred years old. It was so cold and the ceiling was arched, as the bricks cris-crossed over themselves. But it really started to get surreal when H's friend volunteered to take control of the guitar for the next twenty minutes and began playing (and singing!) Brazilian music.
O_O
Maybe it was the tripy atmosphere, or maybe it was the tripel, but for those twenty minutes with that guy and his music and all of the languages being spoken around me... I just felt like I was in some crazy scene of some alternative, indie movie. It was. Ah. Mazing.
We left before the novel appeal of it all had even begun to wear off, and we were back on the forro dance floor moving our feet crazy fast. :) I got to dance with some other Brazilians (one of whom was really great - and gave a thumbs up to H and yelled across the floor that I was actually really good - yesss!), and continued having a hoot right up until the end when it was time to go home. ^_^
I love my teaching life, my roomie/home life and my me time life... but it's really nights like these that are the cherry on top! No amount of stalling to write this post - fearing I won't do nights like these written justice - can ever be enough to express my feelings of luck and happiness!! ;oP
XOXO
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