Mumkin Ayrabiya!!!

mood: it´s embarassing when you can´t stop smiling
music: Ace of Base. They´re obsessed in this country.
random word: booth. there are phone booths next to me in this cybercafe.

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Have you ever been so simply blissful that as you walk down the street (or rather, prance down the street because for once you actually know where you´re going), positively beaming from ear to ear, you worry that your smile is so loud someone will hear? Even though you haven´t listened to them since you got here, for fear it would make you too nostalgic, Great Big Sea suddenly starts blaring in your head and you find yourself double-checking to make sure that you haven´t accidentally burst into song and that everyone isn´t staring at you. You haven´t. And they aren´t. Even if someone does happen to notice the glow in your eyes, they´ll most likely pass you by thinking you got some last night. Which you didn´t. But maylish.

Friday morning, I met with a woman from the Facultad who kindly explained to me that the readon I have been showing up to Arabic class and not finding any professor or students is that the class is not actually at 8:00 in the morning alla schedule Midd, but rather at 8:00 in the evening. Sweet! She also told me that this class is 4th year Arabic but that I would probably be able to integrate into the class since I´ve already studied a year. Not entirely sure how that will work but I´m going to go meet with the professor next week. I´m hoping I´ll at least be able to audit it. Also, (and here´s my favorite part!), this amazing woman also invited me to Middle Eastern dancing classes...

So yesterday, I wondered downtown in search of this little hole-in-the-wall hippie/Eastern influence studio where I found a group of 7 women and a teacher who gather every Saturday at 2:00 to learn gipsy dancing! It was AMAZING! At first, it was terrifying to try to dance in front of these women who all knew each other, had been dancing for years and spoke Spanish much better than me. But they were all really friendly and even lent me a gipsy skirt and a veil. Eventually, I loosened up and although I still didn´t really know what I was doing, the music sort of takes you off in a direction all your own and pretty soon you find yourself spinning and leaping around the room, dodging others that are doing the same and trying to keep up with the scarf that is whirling above your head one minute and draped over your face, your shoulders or you hips the next. We danced to music in Arabic, Persian and even some in Spanish! It was beautiful and lots of fun! And on Thursdays they have belly dancing. Which I will also be attending!

After the class, we all went to one of the women´s houses and spread ourselves out on the floor amongst silk pillows, a round table cloth filled with coffee liquor, dulce de leche and snacks, shut out the lights, lit insence and watched Middle Eastern dance films. It was like I found the Arabic House in Montevideo, only it was way cooler. And there was no Leyla. So I´m basically stoked. I´m not entirely sure how I did it, but by some strange yet wonderful twist of fate, I think I just networked myself into a community of Arab enthusiasts in Uruguay! Rock on!