SALSA!

Last night Erica and I met her friend Nakita for salsa dancing at 51 Wharf in the Old Port (Portland). First there was a lesson first for $5 where we were taught the very basics and I learned how to dance the guy's part - the women were outnumbered (big surprise?). I couldn't believe how many people were crammed into this tiny room! The instructor was a riot and made the process easy and entertaining... he and the DJ worked well together - you could tell they do this every week. It was an absolute blast and I am already looking forward to doing it again.


I made a new friend - we'll call him Mr. Clean because he looked a little like Mr. Clean, shaved head and a goatee (a slightly outdated look, but I was willing to move past it for entertainment purposes). After we attempted dancing - he missed the instructional and I only knew the guys part - we talked for the rest of the night. He lives in NY and was here for work... he'll be back in September... He bought me a huge sunflower from the woman who was selling them on the street and I gave him my number... we'll see if he calls. I seem to have a thing for unavailable guys, whether it's location, emotionally/mentally unavailable, or just plain bad news... whatever it is I am like a moth to a flame... or rather I was. Rick and I work on that in therapy I am getting better at recognizing these traits from the get go.


I had forgotten what it was like to not be attached and effort it requires to be noticed in a bigger city (if Portland can be called that). It made me appreciate Bath even more. In Bath I can go to Maxwell's the Shipbuilders Pub straight from the Osprey - maybe change clothes first - without a shower, redoing my hair or make-up, or too much concern about what I am wearing and comfortably fit right in... making too much of an effort to get prettied up would make me stand in a not so good, "trying too hard" kind of way. The downside to this comfort is the selection of available men, there isn't one. Portland is a totally different scene, lots of guys and of course younger,and prettier girls everywhere and it made me feel old at 33. At times it's a painful reminder that I am starting over again and that it will be at least a couple years before I am married again and (dear god, please) having children...

Everything happens for a reason... I have to keep telling myself that.