Juanchito, Chango, and Salsa Caleña

You'd have to be heartless not to smile as a little kid sings ABC by the Jackson 5. I'm waiting in the airport after a very chill weekend in Medellin, being serenaded by a hyper Colombian boy who apparently is a Michael Jackson fan and future musical sensation in the making, and whose parents look completely disinterested. I didn't plan on stopping in Medellin, but so many people suggested that I do, so I decided to make the trip. It's an interesting city - quite beautiful, surrounded by mountains, with plenty of nightlife and a modern, pristine subway system. Most evenings I hung out in the Zona Rosa area, a neighborhood with countless bars, clubs, and restaurants with people I met in the hostel and who I had met in Cali. The highlight of going out at night was stopping by this bar playing funk music - a ton of James Brown. It was great. The crowd was quite mixed with some wild clothing and hair styles on display.

They also had some salsa in the back so I had the opportunity to practice what I had learned in the two classes I took back in Cali. They definitely helped! Salsa in Cali is different than anywhere in the world so it was cool to learn that specific style. Anyway, like Cali, Medellin is a more relaxed city, although there was definitely a bit more hustle and bustle. I finally made it to a futbol game, Colombia v. Ecuador, which was amazing. I actually thought I was Colombian for like 3 hours. It was such a familial, fraternal atmosphere - everyone making friends with those around them, offering each other snacks and drinks they had bought, as well as tons of marijuana (which was not allowed but I was surrounded by weed clouds). The score was 0-0 for awhile actually, but towards the end of the second half, Colombia scored twice! When they scored each goal, it was if each person in the stands won an all-expense paid trip to Bermuda. There was such emotional intensity and personal investment that was contagious, to the point where I was hugging complete strangers. It was a great game though!

My time in Cali overall turned out not to be anything too special. The city is a bit too quiet and laid back for me, to the point where during the week I had nothing to do (you know thats the case when you take multiple trips to the mall, although mall was real nice). Clubs were surprisingly expensive so going out too much wasn't an option. When I did go out, it was often in large groups of people from the hostel, all of whom were cool, but made the situation inevitably complicated, as each person had a different idea of what to do. What saved my opinion of Cali though is the richness of the salsa music and the ridiculously talented dancers that I saw. On Sunday night, a group of us, a mix of salsa teachers, gringos, etc., went to Chango, this famous salsa club, that draws some of the best dancers in the city, in Juanchito, which is kind of like the Harlem of Cali (uptown, predominantly black...). We entered the club and I was floored. The place was one of the coolest places I've ever seen. It had a 50's style, with low ceilings and two large circular rooms, with a dance floor in each one surrounded by curved couches and a bar in the middle. There were flashing, colorful signs all over, complementing the dim lighting and red lights.

As we sat down, I immediately noticed that some masters were in the building. This tall black man with a black hat tipped over one eye and a tall tanned woman with long curly hair and a flowy red dress were burning through the dance floor. Their feet were moving so fast, they were completely synchronized, and perfectly on the beat. Such a spectacle to watch, so much so that I was actually nervous to dance at first. I sat out the first few until a girl asked me to dance, and I assumed she was Colombian (she was actually from Spain). This fear gave me 2 left feet and I danced awkwardly as I wondered why she wasn't helping me out or telling me what to do. I laughed for awhile when I figured this out. Over time I got more comfortable and our group was out there dancing to every song. I fell so much in love with salsa that night as we stayed until 4am, as all the impressive dancers didn't seem to tire at all. The salsa teachers we rolled with were really cool too - they were young, like early 20s, and extremely talented, friendly and confident. One of the teachers was a black girl named Yamile from far south in Cali (my friend Nick from NY and I visited her house and met her family, as well as her ADORABLE niece who was my best friend for about 6 hours). She explained so much to me about salsa, about Afro-Colombian influences in the Pacific. And no matter the style of music, she could do it at a really impressive level. This is why I was mad excited when she told me how good of a dancer I was when reggaeton came on. Four years of grimy college parties with hip hop and reggaeton improves skills I guess. But despite maybe too many rum and Cokes, I had an unforgettable time and might try to go again when I go back to Cali for my flight out to Panama!