Mérida, México: SALSA!!!

Today was a day with a great variety of activities!! This morning I went to The Italian Coffee Company (no, I didn't translate it... that's actually what it's called) with Katelynn to work on homework and get caught up on some things! It's a really nice environment, and air conditioned :) I spent the afternoon at home! For dinner my mom ordered a "taco party" from a delicious restaurant near our house. It comes with tortillas, a variety of meats, toppings/fillers, and so many salsas! She also made fresh pineapple juice, can't beat it! My niece Silvana came over because my mom babysat her, such a cutie - so I got to catch up with my host brother, Porfirio, and his wife Adriana when they dropped her off! Then I got ready to head out for the night! First Kayla, Katelynn and I went to La Cantina. It's a really nice restaurant within walking distance of our houses. The girls ate dinner but just I snacked on the chips and salsas that came out :) It's fabulous food - and all the waiters were so interested in our time here and us learning Spanish, so that was fun! On our way home we stopped at the park for a little fun! Then it was off to the Central House to meet up with Emily S. and move the party to our final destination... Delirio Habanero - a Salsa bar! Emily's mom Sheri has been in town visiting, and her friend Cheri has a daughter who married a man from Mérida. So his family has been taking care of Sheri and Cheri while here, and tonight the mother-in-law (Nancy) and sister-in-law (Natalia) of Cheri's daughter (are you following?) took us out to work on our dancing!! It was incredibly fun, insanely loud, and an absolute riot. It alternated between a live band and a large video screen that played salsa music videos. We observed for a while, as they ordered a few appetizers, and we hydrated ourselves with our Coca Lights, then we hit the dance floor. And we hit it hard :) Us girls whipped out some of our moves from our Latin American dance class, I think we made Veronica proud, and Nancy and Natalia didn't even think we were too bad! The climax of the night wasn't when the owner unleashed a bunch of balloons, and wasn't even when two popular telenovela (soap opera) stars walked in, but when the two lead members of the band asked Katelynn and I to join them on stage! Absolutely hilarious! Salsa songs are painfully long, so there we were up on stage, busting out all sorts of moves. It was such a great evening, and my ears are still ringing! Natalia didn't drop me off until about 2:30am - and the party wasn't close to winding down when the Americans left! Really enjoyed getting out to so many new places today, and I'll probably feel all my dancing tomorrow!