California became home in 1998 and I lived happily in the gorgeous, healthy, eccentric, progressive, seaside town of Santa Cruz for about 12 years. Then last year, I recovered something special that I had been longing to incorporate safely into my life again. So now I live in the place where it was hiding, Cali, Colombia.
On a soul-searching vacation in 2012, I decided to spend 4 or 5 days checking out Cali, a big city in southern Colombia, famous for its own style of high-energy salsa dancing.
Most international visitors to Colombia pass right through Cali, staying only a few nights or skipping it altogether. Plenty of folks have no fun here at all because what's great about Cali isn't what you can do as a tourist. What's great about Cali is the vibrant, life-out-loud style of the Caleños, who welcome people from all over the world into their lives and onto their dance floors. Together, we sing and sweat and salsa together, dancing like humans always have, and as a result, suffering turns to bliss.
I was one of the many innocent tourists who come to Cali with the idea to visit for a few days but end up staying for months or years. Learning to dance salsa reconnected me with one of my deepest gifts, freeing me from an old ankle injury, to dance like my body and soul innately long to do.
So, here I am. Studying the fast footwork and powerful movements of Salsa Caleña, speaking Spanish, and teaching yoga to locals and travelers alike. Some days are hard, but we have a solution for that here in Cali. We dance.
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