Dancing

So. As I'm finding no matter how far you go, there are certain things that stay the same.

Unfortunately, this also includes that one person in the office you have tension with that can ruin your day.

Yesterday, I was slightly annoyed at the end of the day. But to my luck, the office manager Malika had followed up on a request I made several days before: belly dance lessons.

I've taken these in NY and San Diego from time to time, and it was something I decided for myself that I would try to keep up here. It's a hobby that I can bring with me to many places around the world while continuing something I love.

It was held at a snazzy gym but the teacher was Russian, not Uzbek or Arabic. We immediately got scolded for not wearing the appropriate attire.

The teacher was very Russian. By this I mean she did not show much emotion, did not smile, was serious, authoritative, and precise about the dance. She was awesome. Despite this lack of external expressions, you could feel her warmth in other ways. The way she would look over or try to translate a couple words to make sure I understand. The way she would glance a little longer at the adorable 3 year old girl who kept rolling yoga balls around the room while we were dancing. But what was awesome was the lesson was conducted in Russian.

And using the same words I've been using to be able to communicate with the cab drivers, there they were: "Left, left, right, right, straight, straight!"

I loved learning something in Russian. While I love working with my co-workers and joking with them in English, I'm now finding the urge to try to pick up some more Russian and communicate.

After the lesson I went back to the hotel. But I had the craving to go out again. I think I'm slowly coming back to my old self.

I asked the hotel concierge if he could find me a Korean restaurant, I was craving Korean again. He directed me towards a place called Casanova. He said "haroshi restoran" - good restaurant. I said, okay. I asked a couple times if he was sure it was Korean, he kept saying da, da.

So there I went and there I arrived. I opened the door and to my horror and mortification, it was a nightclub/restaurant.

In the US there's no way I would be caught dead by myself in a nightclub.

But I burst out laughing when I saw this. My taxi driver had left, and it wasn't as though I could easily find another Korean restaurant. It turned out this place was owned by Koreans, hence why it was listed under that section at the hotel. Hell though, try everything once, and everything is a new experience. This was over the top though, even for me.

I was seated on the 2nd floor and watched the people dance downstairs. The waiter, who spoke English and who would later turn out to be my one kill joy of the evening, said he could switch me downstairs if I wanted to watch dancing, and that they had a dance performance at 10pm. I was so excited. I've been craving clubbing and some form of dance performance since I got here. I was so fortunate that an accident turned into a blessing in disguise I thought to myself.

Thank god for Lonely Planet's section on food cuisine. I tried translating some of the menu to myself to learn a few words. Downstairs my waiter was a very young looking Korean boy. I became so excited. I tried asking him what the name of the song playing was and whether he could write down the singer. The waiter from upstairs would keep rushing down every time I asked something and in his broken English try to explain everything to me.

This quickly put a damper on my mood as 1) I really wanted to practice my Russian 2) I was having a lot of fun figuring things out in my broken Russian and finding ways to connect with the locals and 3) every time he spoke in English to me I felt stupid and as though he was insulting my intelligence.

Of course he was trying to make sure I understood everything and was comfortable, and also wanted to practice his own Russian skills. But by this point I had gotten comfortable with my broken Russian, a little bit braver, and eager to continue to find my way around in this new language.

In any case, out came a huge carafe of cherry juice, a basket of bread large enough for 10 people, my blini with caviar, and my Korean "banchan" which was a root vegetable I hadn't had before, but very strong and pungent with vinegar and spices.

I was so hungry I ordered another cutlet with french fries, to which of course the waiter came rushing over again.

So onto the dance performance. About 6 very young looking girls came out in an athletic sweatsuit type piece and did a hip hop dance. They were so cute and I thought to myself, they still had the feel of being young girls, the cuteness, but not quite yet the womanly feeling.

The next number they came out in black suits, it was much more serious, and there was something very sexy about it.

Well, I was right about that part. When the song was winding down, they suddenly took their clothes off to reveal leather bondage type shorts and corsets with stitching. Hineys in the air and moves I couldn't even replicate if I tried, my mouth just dropped.

Next was a flamenco type number with glow in the dark nude/light green tights.

But the finales were beautiful. They had these gorgeous turquoise type belly dancing clothes, and with shifon waving in the air, they went around to the tables to get tips.

Pretty sure no one would approach me as I was a single girl sitting alone, and generally women feel more comfortable asking men for tips then women, I sat amused and watched.

One adorable girl though did have the guts to come up, and I smiled and laughed as I gave her 1,000 soum.

Staying out way past my ususal bedtime, I finally felt it time to go. Of course the waiter rushed over to give me the bill, then to tell me to please give him X amount, that the total was X amount.

I realized how being a foreigner can often bring you back down to the level of a baby in your eyes or in theirs.

I returned to my hotel still laughing and got the best night of sleep I'd had in a long time.

I found out this morning that the place I went to was not exactly a nightclub, but really a strip club. The girls apparently are underage and are not allowed into these place. I vaguely remembered a Korean guy leading them in and out. The first thought in my mind when I saw him was he reminded me of a pimp.

But go figure. I went from arabic dancing to a strip dancing show all in one day. It makes it that much more fun being in a foreign country. For some reason, this wouldn't have been as funny if I had been traveling with someone.

There is something so wonderful about traveling alone, without any type of safety net, and completely being in the moment.