Smiling in Cali

As I type this I am lying in a hammock at our hostel in Cali, Colombia, which is incredibly famous for it's amazing salsa dancing. I am taking a wee break from reading my very first novel in Spanish (I'm pretty sure it is going to take me three years. Do you know how many words there are in a language?). We arrived in Cali (actually in Colombia) on Saturday, and have since experienced the usual confusion around currency, and I don't really mean just straight conversion, which I can figure out (it's almost 2000 Colombian pesos to one dollar), but more about how much things cost, when is someone ripping you off, and how much money is enough to bring for a night of dancing? It all hurts my head.
On Saturday night we went out with a group from the hostel to this dicey little salsa bar that was packed full of Colombians, many of whom had spilled out onto the street and were dancing outside. I was so pleasantly surprised to see that not everyone was dancing 'Cali style', which is extremely fast and complicated, and I have no idea how to do it. Yet. It was great fun.
J and I went to the zoo here on Sunday, which was fun, though it really was something of a fashion show. There were so many young families there. We discovered that Colombians dress well! Even the little kids are dressed like miniature adults. I felt slightly under dressed.
We completely lucked out with our hostel, they offer free yoga and salsa classes (which is very unusual), and makes me feel so happy. We had our first class yesterday, and then J and I went for a run and then a group from our hostel went to a salsa place where the 'professionals' go (on a Monday!). It was completely amazing. I hace never seen people dance like that before, there was more than one would champion in the club.
We had yoga this morning at 7:00 sm, and this afternoon I start my private salsa lessons.

I can't stop smiling.