Hello, hello, Sunday…
I swear today was proof that Dan and I brought Florida along with us. The humidity, the HUMIDITY! The heat, psh, no problem. It’s the stuff we’re made of. But this morning, the entirety of Boston must’ve awoken drenched in its sweat. We definitely did.
BUT I think it served a purpose for my day—I finally got a chance to break out the dance clothes and the climate loosened my muscles up for class. I was melting before we even began, and when the class adjourned each dancer had created quite a slough to show for the hour and a half of work. I showed up hoping to take a modern class, but had to settle for ballet when the front deskers informed me that the modern instructor was out of the country. Needless to say, I got my ass kicked in ballet, but it was such a good, well-worth-it ass kicking…It’ll be nice to get back in dance shape. And the location—the Dance Complex off of Central Square— is just so grand. It’s a 2-story windy, creaky wooden building with intimidating staircases, awkward carpeting, and nooks and crannies out the wazoo. There must be at least 10 mirrored studios, pianos for accompaniment, and more dance equipment than I’ve ever seen. Puts me in the mind of Parisian opera houses…
Last night I had an unforeseen dip into suburbia last night when my cousin India and co. abducted Dan and me. Really surreal experience. Here’s how it goes: My aunt’s ex-husband’s new wife’s son’s girlfriend (for real) hosted a going away party since she’s moving to Texas on Wednesday. I’d spent Thanksgiving with them when I was studying in Portland, so it was only right that the 2 of us trotted our way over to their Jamaica Plain pad to send our well-wishes. But we literally had time to do just that: soon after speaking with our host’s, India and her husband TD grabbed us and plopped us in the backseat of their minivan with their kids (“We couldn’t just leave you there, you wouldn’t know anyone and you’d be in the corner the whole time kicking around dirt”). We had a backseat to front seat conversation, yelling over the movie the kids were watching via hang-down screen. After stopping at their cul-de-sac home they treated us to a meal at a Japanese place called the Lotus Blossom, as an inclusion in a dinner date they’d scheduled with some friends. Very nice and generous of them, but I couldn’t shake how wholly suburban it felt. There were neon green apple martinis (“They taste like jolly ranchers,” India said, and hoo-boy was she right). The talk was of dogs and kids and soccer practice, etc, etc. I’m glad it makes them happy, because it just catapults me into a state of anxiety translating myself into such a lifestyle…BUT it was wonderful to see India and TD and the chillun’. They’ve definitely got their niche. And they’re always so genuinely interested in what I’m what doing, what Dan is doing, what everyone is doing, it’s impossible not to reciprocate. It’ll be great to see a whole lot more of them soon. It’s reassuring to know family is within hollerin’ distance.
