Sad I am missing DJ Lubi’s big party with La Excelencia in Leeds UK tomor so I’ll listen to his list of salsa tracks this weekend and have my own lil party til I can get my salsa shoes back on again. 


Despite my lack of dancing the last 6 weeks of my sabbatical I was very pleased to discover on arriving in LA last week to see some cousins that it was the weekend of the Los Angeles Salsa Congress. I nearly DIED from joy at the timing of it. It was really too late to catch much of it because I wanted quality time with my family but I enjoyed a rip roaring pre-party with all the people who came into town for it – 3 hours of dancing in a packed house and I didn’t stop for a second. I am still paying for the pain a week later with the way my heel got ripped up by my newish salsa shoes that aren’t quite broken in yet. Note to self. Always keep bandaids in the salsa bag! Best dances of the evening were from an Australian and an Alaskan guy. Now 6 weeks left of the sabbatical and then back to dancing regularly… 






DJ Lubi Current 100% Salsa Top 10
 
01. La Japonesa Salsera – Yoko Mimata
02. Dale Otra Opportunidad – La Excelencia [Listen]
03. El Nazareno – Orlando Ortiz & Orquesta Karibe Mambo
04. Tu No Me Quieros A Mi – La Charanga Moderna [Listen]
05. Salsa Pura Y Nada Mas – Don Sonero 
06. Con Mi Tumbao – La Sonora Libre [Listen]
07. Somos Rumberos Del Callejon – Rumberos Del Callejon [Listen]
08. Mama Calunga – La Tromboranga Orquesta [Listen]
09. Rumberos Del Corazon – Dorance Lorza & Sexteto Cafe
10. Cogelo Ahi – Bloque 53 [Listen]
 

Cannot say how much I have come to love and adore this band! I got their first album when it was still free and Live at Eddie’s Attic. I drove 6 hours round trip on a Monday after work to go see them and come back that eve (good show, horrible evening with a stressful drive to make it in time, will try* not to do that again!) They are coming in November to Newcastle and you can bet I will be there again. (Thanks friend for the ticket!) 


And the line “people always told me be careful what you do, don’t go around breaking young girls hearts” has had such a strange amount of truth to me as of late and I suppose to all the other girls who’ve had broken hearts. Which I suppose is all of us. 


But mostly I don’t take the song that seriously and just laugh at it for the amusement that it is. 🙂 It is great fun to dance to in it’s original form, great in it’s folky cover by this amazing duo, and great fun if you know any friends who can beatbox to it. Which I do. 




*I can never be trusted when a band I love is playing halfway across the country and I don’t have tickets for my city. I may actually do that again against all good judgment. 

I think I’d like to coordinate a routine to this one. It would be very interesting and sad to a very beautiful but sad song. One girl and a team of guy dancers is what I am thinking.

I’d have preferred this to have some cool music video for it or even just better camera shots for a video but forget the video and listen to the gorgeous piano music. Found it through http://www.Pandora.com Miss this station when I am in the UK! Sorry world.. unless you are in the USA you can’t access pandora. But if you are.. it is way cool and well you have probably heard of it already because it’s been around for ages. 

What can I say.. 8 years ago I was introduced to what is the shockingness of Eurovision. It is an annual mockery of a music competition that the Europeans totally take seriously whilst British announcers are dubbed over it in the UK to do one job: take the mickey out of the whole event (that would be mock or make fun of to you Americans)

My first Eurovision experience was to be invited to my British friends houses in Liverpool to dress up in “Pick A European Country ” fancy dress (costumes for you Americans) and to participate in the mockery of this weird and quirky competition the Europeans love and the Brits just scratch their heads not quite getting/ are amused by the political judging. All the Balkan countries vote for each other and no one votes for the UK ever.. despite the reputable music industry in the UK for example.

And it makes me think: I have definitely gotten the cooler country to live in on this continent. And reminds me of one more reason why the UK is most definitely not Europe.

What can I say? Totally for it. If God brought a man into my life who loved Jesus, was humble, was ongoing repenting of sin in his life and was growing in his faith, loved God, loved people and I was attracted to and we had similar visions for life.. would totally marry cross culturally or racially.


Adoption too. If we couldn’t have children or maybe something came up where we found a child needed a home who was a different race, would totally consider it. I live cross culturally. I am not ignorant to those issues. I just think with wisdom and care and prayer and education, they could be worked through.


This was not the view of the world I was shocked into learning a few years ago with two very good friends (still good friends! Love you guys!) who had a throw down with me over cross cultural/ racial adoption. I was so confused and shocked how anyone could be against it. This conversation went on for ages in my living room, them baffled at my openness and me baffled at their staunch opposition. 


It then occurred to me that the make ups of our families may have something to do with our world views being so different on the subject (I have no idea what they think of cross cultural marriage I should clarify, it was only adoption we were arguing about). Their families were all white and English… mine is.. well.. the rainbow would be a better description!


I have several adopted cousins. I also have a family on both sides who have no problem with cross cultural marriage and it shows from our family pictures. White, black, various latin countries, various southeast Asian countries, you name it.. we have it. 🙂 And I love it. 🙂 My family being a melting pot of American immigrant ethnicities of various African American and white European backgrounds all mixed in with Mexican, Peruvian, Thai, Philipino, Bolivian, Cherokee, Lebanese and probably ten others.. well just makes me smile. 🙂 If I brought home a white boy from Ohio my parents would probably by shocked. 


Equally so I’d love to have kids one day and if I couldn’t… well there are a lot of places in the world where kids need good homes and parents. 


Family pictures in my family are awesome with our hair colours from red to blond to brown to black 🙂 

So I have had various amusements with pickup lines all over the world. The worst and funniest were by far in Italy. LA has had some good ones this week. Here’s the roster:


Walking with my cousin out of Trader Joe’s today had the late 20 something year old manager flirt with both of us, ask where I was from, eye gorgeous Jenny and then ask if he could show us around LA and invited us to come back to Trader Joe’s to get him if we wanted to take him up on his offer to go party.