As winter sets in…

Boy was the milonga quiet yesterday. There were plenty of people, sure. But the energy of the place was a bit… bajo. Low. And the floor was too slippery so it was hard for people to totally relax when dancing.

I was chatting with a friend I usually dance with, and he said that it’s probably so “blah” feeling because of not only the winter blues that everyone gets, but also a bit of confusion over the (hopefully temporary) closure of El Beso, stress over the problems re: the campo, lack of money to go out very often… un po’ di tutto, as it is said in Italian.

If I were in Seattle it would be mild and sunny, and I would be wearing a pink belly dancing costume at this very moment, getting ready to shimmy down the streets of Fremont with Delilah in the Fremont Solstice Parade. Summer solstice, that is. Here in Buenos Aires it’s the beginning of winter, and my body is a bit confused. It’s June!

Of course, I’ve just checked the weather and Buenos Aires, in its first days of winter, is only a few degrees cooler than Seattle, which is in its first days of summer. The sky is blue here - very blue, and when it rains it doesn’t take on that awful grey cast that Seattle is so known for. I love Seattle but I don’t like grey.

I miss my belly dancing girls. The Solstice Parade is the one thing I can’t miss in Seattle. I’ve done it three years in a row. This year I’m in Argentina.

I’m alone right now, apart from one of my roommates, in this large apartment with french doors that open on to tiny balconies. The heat is on low, the sun is spilling in, and I’m working, in my PJs. I’ll get up soon, put on a coin scarf, and dance around the house a bit, to show my solidarity with the sisters of Visionary Dance.

P.S. Yes that’s me in the photo, the morning of the parade in 2006.