Semillas de Amor: Learning to dance

Such a sweet post from Ryan, who is volunteering at Semillas de Amor:

May 28, 2012

¨Uno-dos, uno-dos, uno-dos,¨ Yuniris quietly counts.  She is teaching me how to dance and I´m sure it´s obvious that dancing is not ingrained in my culture as it is in Colombian culture because she laughs every time I try to do anything except step twice to the right and then twice to the left.  She´s already explained to me that each region in Colombia has it´s own typical form of dancing.  The ¨champeta,¨ for example is indigenous to Cartagena near where I live.  In other areas it´s the ¨fandango.¨  And still in others, ¨merengue.¨ But Yurinis prefers ¨salsa.¨ I wish she didn´t because the rhythm is too accelerated for me to get much out of a lesson from her.

Each day after school, Yurinis, ten years old, and a few of her friends practice for an upcoming presentation for their mothers.  Yurinis plays the part of a mango who falls in love with a lemon in the tree next door.  The only chance they get to talk is when the branches of the trees in which they live blow close together in the wind.  Each time this happens, the mango and the lemon dance.  Yurinis definitely dances better than her partner, Señor Lemon.  ¨But it doesn´t matter to me how well he dances,¨she tells me.  ¨Only that he tries.¨ I hope she is as patient with me.