dipping birds, Romon and Cuban Dance

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Hello Everyone: I have 15 minutes to write my blog. I will start with Romon. The other night on the way home from supper we paused to watch tacos being made at a little hole in the all restaurant. There was a crowd of people sitting on those little plastic stools that I mentioned in my other blog. The cook whose name was Romon was the center of attention. He moved like a dipping bird, bobbing up and down, hands moving in all directions. He looked like someone who had to pee or like he was about to tip over at any moment. When he dug out the tortillias out of a bag when flip them on to the pan like a player dealing out cards. When everything was put on the plate it looked like it was going to flip out of his hands at any moment. He was carrying on rapid conversations in the midst of all these odd actions. Cars would pull up and people would stand in line, waiting to order. We watched for about 15 minutes reluctant to leave, we will probably go and watch him again.

Yesterday we went to Baldaras Park to watch people dancing. This happens every Saturday from 11 am to 6 pm. The 5 acre park was filled with dancers. In one corner there was couples dancing to a live band. Everyone in the park was doing a complex Cuban dance called danzon. It migrated to Mexico City in the early 19th century. In another corner there was recorded music where people stood in lines following the instructor at the front. There were about 4 to 5 groups taking dance lessons. The most beautiful spectical to watch was the group of men and women who faced each other. Two the men were dressed with formal Cuban style suites with panama hats and black and white shoes on their feet. They had red roses in their lapels. The men and women faced each other, the instructors calling out the complex moves and we watched 40 to 50 people dance in unison with each other. Every 5 minutes they would pause and clap in delight at what they had done. They were all shapes and sizes, no beautiful people here, some even in suites, many round with frizzy hair styles but the elegance of the steps transformed them. We stayed for 2 hours. They do this year round, I tried to imagine this in Vancouver, people laughing, clapping, looking delighted with each other, moving in unison with delight. Love Carol

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