"El Poder Del Swing"
12 O'clock I wake up with just an hour to get some breakfast, shower and get ready for my first private spanish lesson with Leandro. 1pm promptly Leandro arirves at Tostaky. Now Leandro advertizes on his flyer that within 2 weeks he can get an absolute beginner from nothing to being able to get by and in my case he will be able to get me from get-by spanish to a highter level. I am under no illusion that I will get to fluency within 5 weeks, all I am interested in is getting to the next level. The lesson is very enjoyable and we end up cracking a few jokes. Leandro is in his mid 20's so dude is cool and keeps the energy going but at the same time, he is quick to correct me when I make a mistake and exposes many holes in my spanish. The lesson went really quickly and I decide to start booking 2hour classes for the rest of the week.
I plan to spend the whole day just chilling out, so I go online and speak to a few friends on Facebook .The master and commander Joe Davids & my Ritmo Latino Brother from a Latin mother Julian Mr.M are both online. They are both excited bout the Latin Fest this coming weekend and Joe esecially lets me know that im missing out. I can tell Julian really wants to be out here as he hasn't been back to Colombia especially Cali for a while. He hooks me up with his cousin's number and remind's me that his uncle drives a cab out there & trust me u need to get cabs to get around in Cali. I see more and more friends online and get sucked in so many conversations, I end up signing off and getting some rest.
I wake up a couple hours later and get a call from Nilson asking me: "What happened yesterday, we we're supposed to go out, no?" I told him that I had to go out with the guys from Tostaky but iIwould come down to see the guys from Swing Latino tonight. He says: "No come now and meet everyone". I couldn't refuse. As I am waiting for my taxi, I bump into Ocean and Ricardo and they are both keen to go out tonight even though I wanted to rest, I was curious to see what Ricardo had planned for tonight and even more curious to see what Ocean can do on night out. You know what, "rest can wait" so I arrange to hook up with the guys after I visit Swing Latino.
I arrive at the newly built acadamy of Swing Latino. Anyone who knows even a little knowledge of Cali salsa would've heard about these guys. They have won titles on numerous occasions and world titles 5 times. I am greeted at the door by a mature, sexy door host who takes me to see Nilson. Nillson has visited the UK twice and he is probably the most senior and experienced male dancer there at Swing. I also meet the rest of gang who visited London recently Daisy, Milady, Deiner and the current world salsa chamions Jhonatan & Lorena. All seem happy to see me and make me feel extremly welcome. Nilson introduces me to "El Mulato" (owner , creator and teacher of the students) and his wife Marta, who by the way has a booty that would make Marc Anthoy drop JLO quicker than Usain Bolt in a race (trust me it was that bootyliscious).
In every studio there is either lessons taking place or students are training. 2 kids( about 16) catch my eye and u can see they are almost ready to compete already. I am taken to the main room, this is where I witness, first hand the power of Swing. All the professionals are preparing for a competiton this weekend. "Mulato" runs a tight ship and is very strict. He makes the students drill various routines over and over until he is satisfied. I ask one of the mother's, how long the training is and she responds: "when Mulato lets them leave, normally they train from 9am till 9pm but it is not uncommon for training to go on till 11-12 at night ". He does crack the occasional joke with them but this never lasts long. Watching everyone dancing, you can see that Jhon and Lorena stand out but only slightly. EVERYONE in Swing Latino is really good and it wont be long before we see more titles coming from different couples there.
The lesson finishes at 9pm and Lorena introduced me to my future mother-in-law and her little sister, who turned out to be the girl I saw training with her partner earlier. I take a taxi with Jhon & Lorena to "La quinta" (town in cali) and we sit down and have a meal and catchup. They are still really humble for world champions and they fill me in on what they have been up to and tell me that they are looking forward to coming to England again in 4 weeks time for SALSA KINGDOM. My meal is continually interrupted by texts and calls from Ricardo & Ocean, who are both eager to go out. Jhon & Lorena take me back to Tostaky and we arrange to meet on the weekend at the local salsa competition.
Back at Tostaky, Ricardo & Ocean are dressed casually but are keen to get the night started.Now I was really tired at this point but the guys are sure it's gonna be a good night. Im thinking this better be good coz these dudes seem to be talking a very good game. Granted, Ricardo has proved his playa status but all i've heard is a lot of talk. I decide to go more to see if Ocean is the real deal.
"El Poder Del Oceano"
12 O'clock I wake up with just an hour to get some breakfast, shower and get ready for my first private spanish lesson with Leandro. 1pm promptly Leandro arirves at Tostaky. Now Leandro advertizes on his flyer that within 2 weeks he can get an absolute beginner from nothing to being able to get by and in my case he will be able to get me from get-by spanish to a highter level. I am under no illusion that I will get to fluency within 5 weeks, all I am interested in is getting to the next level. The lesson is very enjoyable and we end up cracking a few jokes. Leandro is in his mid 20's so dude is cool and keeps the energy going but at the same time, he is quick to correct me when I make a mistake and exposes many holes in my spanish. The lesson went really quickly and I decide to start booking 2hour classes for the rest of the week.
I plan to spend the whole day just chilling out, so I go online and speak to a few friends on Facebook .The master and commander Joe Davids & my Ritmo Latino Brother from a Latin mother Julian Mr.M are both online. They are both excited bout the Latin Fest this coming weekend and Joe esecially lets me know that im missing out. I can tell Julian really wants to be out here as he hasn't been back to Colombia especially Cali for a while. He hooks me up with his cousin's number and remind's me that his uncle drives a cab out there & trust me u need to get cabs to get around in Cali. I see more and more friends online and get sucked in so many conversations, I end up signing off and getting some rest.
I wake up a couple hours later and get a call from Nilson asking me: "What happened yesterday, we we're supposed to go out, no?" I told him that I had to go out with the guys from Tostaky but iIwould come down to see the guys from Swing Latino tonight. He says: "No come now and meet everyone". I couldn't refuse. As I am waiting for my taxi, I bump into Ocean and Ricardo and they are both keen to go out tonight even though I wanted to rest, I was curious to see what Ricardo had planned for tonight and even more curious to see what Ocean can do on night out. You know what, "rest can wait" so I arrange to hook up with the guys after I visit Swing Latino.
I arrive at the newly built acadamy of Swing Latino. Anyone who knows even a little knowledge of Cali salsa would've heard about these guys. They have won titles on numerous occasions and world titles 5 times. I am greeted at the door by a mature, sexy door host who takes me to see Nilson. Nillson has visited the UK twice and he is probably the most senior and experienced male dancer there at Swing. I also meet the rest of gang who visited London recently Daisy, Milady, Deiner and the current world salsa chamions Jhonatan & Lorena. All seem happy to see me and make me feel extremly welcome. Nilson introduces me to "El Mulato" (owner , creator and teacher of the students) and his wife Marta, who by the way has a booty that would make Marc Anthoy drop JLO quicker than Usain Bolt in a race (trust me it was that bootyliscious).
In every studio there is either lessons taking place or students are training. 2 kids( about 16) catch my eye and u can see they are almost ready to compete already. I am taken to the main room, this is where I witness, first hand the power of Swing. All the professionals are preparing for a competiton this weekend. "Mulato" runs a tight ship and is very strict. He makes the students drill various routines over and over until he is satisfied. I ask one of the mother's, how long the training is and she responds: "when Mulato lets them leave, normally they train from 9am till 9pm but it is not uncommon for training to go on till 11-12 at night ". He does crack the occasional joke with them but this never lasts long. Watching everyone dancing, you can see that Jhon and Lorena stand out but only slightly. EVERYONE in Swing Latino is really good and it wont be long before we see more titles coming from different couples there.
The lesson finishes at 9pm and Lorena introduced me to my future mother-in-law and her little sister, who turned out to be the girl I saw training with her partner earlier. I take a taxi with Jhon & Lorena to "La quinta" (town in cali) and we sit down and have a meal and catchup. They are still really humble for world champions and they fill me in on what they have been up to and tell me that they are looking forward to coming to England again in 4 weeks time for SALSA KINGDOM. My meal is continually interrupted by texts and calls from Ricardo & Ocean, who are both eager to go out. Jhon & Lorena take me back to Tostaky and we arrange to meet on the weekend at the local salsa competition.
Back at Tostaky, Ricardo & Ocean are dressed casually but are keen to get the night started.Now I was really tired at this point but the guys are sure it's gonna be a good night. Im thinking this better be good coz these dudes seem to be talking a very good game. Granted, Ricardo has proved his playa status but all i've heard is a lot of talk. I decide to go more to see if Ocean is the real deal.
"El Poder Del Oceano"
10 o'clock, just a lads night out tonite, me, Roberto and Ocean decide to go to a club called "Melodias" near the town centre. I hear this club is more like the clubs in London , where u dance with anyone you like. We get to "Melodias" and it did look a bit dry inside so we decide to head down to the famous tourist strip in Cali called "La Sexta". I have heard many things about this place, Good and bad. I was put off from what I heard because it sounded like it was more a place to get with the prostitutes and chicks that want youir money, not really a place if u want to go dance. Ocean seems to know many of the locals working around "La Sexta" and he asks around for the best spot we can go and find single women. We get directed to a club (forgot the name ) which is playing crossover music(mix of everything).
Soon as we walk inside Me and Ocean spot two hotties, 1 of them is a real buxom bodied Latina (lets call her Buxy ) and the other is really slim and petite (lets call her petty). The two girls notice us looking at them and they smile back at us. Again they are in a group and its hard to tell whether the guys in their group are their boyfriends. Ocean is reluctant to ask the girls to dance and says: "nah it looks like these guys are trying to get with them girls and i am not the type of dude to just try and snatch a girl from another dude" I notice petty is looking at me and Devil is in my ear saying: "bro, remember the window and u'll be fine" . Ricardo says: "bro these girls here in la sexta like tourists, I used to work in "la sexta" for 10 years and trust me its cool to go for them". Thats all the window I needed, so the next salsa song that comes I ask Petty for a dance. We dance a couple songs and then I dance with Buxy to bachata (mmmmmmm que rica). Ocean is still sitting at the table and just when im starting to think that the dude is a bit of a blagger, Buxy asks him to dance. Now dude isn't the greatest dancer on the planet but he dances on time and with sabor and thats all you need to get by in cali.
30 minutes into the night, Ricardo introduces us to a dude called Allen. Allen works on the strip of "La Sexta" and lours people into the clubs. He used to live in New York so speaks to me in English. Allen says "if u want some girls , i can hook it u 4 guys" ......"Seems a bit dubious 2 me" says Angel , "i don't know , lets see where this is going" says Devil. I was in two minds on this one and just jammed at the table with Ocean and Ricardo. Allen then brings two more girls to the table and introduces us (LILLY& Ximena ). Both are hot but I would say Buxy and Petty are hotter, plus it felt a bit sleazy getting introduced to chicks like that. I am a hunter by nature, so prefer to catch my prey myself (must be my African blood). Me and Ocean dance more with Buxy and Petty and invites them to "Menga". Now, we all go to Menga together , Me, Ricardo (CON Campana) , Buxy, Petty, Allen . lilly and ximena , follow us on a motorbike (loads of girls in cali ride motorbikes and scooters).
We get to Menga and hit a club called Mi Tierra. Its kind of like The cuban in Camden in the sense that it has an area to dance outside. We chill outside and it looks like Ocean is making some serious ground with Buxy and I am with Petty. Now one of Allen's girls Lilly asks me for a dance. Now as she is in the group I say yes and dance with her. She was dancing close but to be honest, they all do. We dance to more songs and asks me if I would like to go with her, she says as she has a motorbike I could just ride on the back . I didnt really know what to say so I ask to my friends: "what do i do?, do i go 4 the sure thing or roll the dice and gamble on petty" Angel's advice was: "roll the dice Petty looks more clasy and this girl seems a lil too easy" Devil says: "nah , I think you should go for Liily, she is banging plus ur only here for a month forget petty". Again two good arguments that I cant decide between so I ask Mr Campana , Ricardo. He tells me "nooooo, if a girl asks u to go with her so soon , that means she is up to something, either she is trying to set u up or just wants u to spend loads of money on her. Tell her that u dont have any money on u at the moment and u want to go later and see what she says but only go when u want to go " So i tell Lilly exactly that and she replies "ok, i'll wait"
Now I get back to the table and see Petty is giving me the cold shoulder and dancing quite a bit with Allen. Now Allen is out with us but as we are paying or everything (me , ric and ocean) really Allen's job is to make sure we are entertained and it seems that he likes Petty and is entertaining himself. Now here is where an important guy code comes into play. When one of your boys is working on a girl until it is clear that nothing is going to happen between you, you cant try and work the same girl. Now in my eyes Allen was in violation of this code. I then ask Petty to dance and we end up dancing for a while. Meanwhile Ocean is way ahead of me and is already kissing Buxy. Later that night, Allen tells me to talk to his other friend Ximena as she is sitting alone. "A bit odd" i was thinking but anyway I went over to Ximena and asked her what was the matter, she told me that she was ok just wanted to be alone for a bit, she then asked me how my trip to Cali has been and I replied "good" then she cut to the chase and asked "what are you doing after this, because I want to continue the party" , this basically meant she wanted to hit a motel. Then it hit me, i'm being setup by Allen, I look over my shoulder and see Allen dancing with Petty. Ximena looked good, very good infact but there was something bout Petty I was starting to like and plus when u have been slow cooking a nice roast steak in the oven, opting to take a kebab wasnt an option. I told Ximena to hold that thought and went back to the table.
Petty was fuming with me and said: "dont talk 2 me i saw u with that girl" i was thinking "hey ?that girl? surely u know her?" then it dawned on me Ximena and Lilly never actually sat on our table and they werent really with us. Buxy and Petty didnt know who they were at all. Dam that Allen had played his last trick on Puglyboy Biskit Fonts tonight. Petty said "i am a very jealous girl, i just want u 2 know that" I ended up having to sweet talk Petty in my Telenova spanish which she found quite funny and told her "look, your mate Allen has been trying to set me up with these girls all night and i keep saying no but he is insisting that i take one of them 2 the motel but i would much rather be with u" I know I did lie a little bit but thats what u get for playing games and breaking a principal guy code. The sweet talk worked and me and Petty we're kool again, dancing the night away till 7am. We got a taxi back and all 6 of us were crammed in. Ocean and Buxy were kissing in back infront of everyone. We drop Allen off first and then head back to Tostaky. Being the gentlemen we are, we gave the taxi man money to take the girls home.
Outside Tostaky, me, Ric and Ocean are talking bout the night and as Ocean got the furthest, he had the most to talk about. "man i had her boobs out in the back of the cab, trust me those things are real". "YO Biskit how did things go with ur girl" i replied "yeh kool , i got her number but thats it" Ocean replied "yeh u made a bad move by chatting to those other girls , these girls here in Cali are super jealous and if u go and dance with someone else they think that ur choosing someone else over them and they take it very personally" Ricardo agreed "yeh this is why i like European girls, cuz they are more open, but i think she likes or she wouldnt have given u her number".We then discussed the plan 4 tomorrow. Ricardo says: "just wait for tomorrow, we are gonna hit a solos y solas night (single men , single women) then take whoever we hook up with to "Chango". Hey! now that sounds like a plan to me. Another great night out in Cali and I finally get to witness the power of the Ocean. tomorrow Solos y solas , the adventures of Puglyboy Biskit Fonts continue.
Soon as we walk inside Me and Ocean spot two hotties, 1 of them is a real buxom bodied Latina (lets call her Buxy ) and the other is really slim and petite (lets call her petty). The two girls notice us looking at them and they smile back at us. Again they are in a group and its hard to tell whether the guys in their group are their boyfriends. Ocean is reluctant to ask the girls to dance and says: "nah it looks like these guys are trying to get with them girls and i am not the type of dude to just try and snatch a girl from another dude" I notice petty is looking at me and Devil is in my ear saying: "bro, remember the window and u'll be fine" . Ricardo says: "bro these girls here in la sexta like tourists, I used to work in "la sexta" for 10 years and trust me its cool to go for them". Thats all the window I needed, so the next salsa song that comes I ask Petty for a dance. We dance a couple songs and then I dance with Buxy to bachata (mmmmmmm que rica). Ocean is still sitting at the table and just when im starting to think that the dude is a bit of a blagger, Buxy asks him to dance. Now dude isn't the greatest dancer on the planet but he dances on time and with sabor and thats all you need to get by in cali.
30 minutes into the night, Ricardo introduces us to a dude called Allen. Allen works on the strip of "La Sexta" and lours people into the clubs. He used to live in New York so speaks to me in English. Allen says "if u want some girls , i can hook it u 4 guys" ......"Seems a bit dubious 2 me" says Angel , "i don't know , lets see where this is going" says Devil. I was in two minds on this one and just jammed at the table with Ocean and Ricardo. Allen then brings two more girls to the table and introduces us (LILLY& Ximena ). Both are hot but I would say Buxy and Petty are hotter, plus it felt a bit sleazy getting introduced to chicks like that. I am a hunter by nature, so prefer to catch my prey myself (must be my African blood). Me and Ocean dance more with Buxy and Petty and invites them to "Menga". Now, we all go to Menga together , Me, Ricardo (CON Campana) , Buxy, Petty, Allen . lilly and ximena , follow us on a motorbike (loads of girls in cali ride motorbikes and scooters).
We get to Menga and hit a club called Mi Tierra. Its kind of like The cuban in Camden in the sense that it has an area to dance outside. We chill outside and it looks like Ocean is making some serious ground with Buxy and I am with Petty. Now one of Allen's girls Lilly asks me for a dance. Now as she is in the group I say yes and dance with her. She was dancing close but to be honest, they all do. We dance to more songs and asks me if I would like to go with her, she says as she has a motorbike I could just ride on the back . I didnt really know what to say so I ask to my friends: "what do i do?, do i go 4 the sure thing or roll the dice and gamble on petty" Angel's advice was: "roll the dice Petty looks more clasy and this girl seems a lil too easy" Devil says: "nah , I think you should go for Liily, she is banging plus ur only here for a month forget petty". Again two good arguments that I cant decide between so I ask Mr Campana , Ricardo. He tells me "nooooo, if a girl asks u to go with her so soon , that means she is up to something, either she is trying to set u up or just wants u to spend loads of money on her. Tell her that u dont have any money on u at the moment and u want to go later and see what she says but only go when u want to go " So i tell Lilly exactly that and she replies "ok, i'll wait"
Now I get back to the table and see Petty is giving me the cold shoulder and dancing quite a bit with Allen. Now Allen is out with us but as we are paying or everything (me , ric and ocean) really Allen's job is to make sure we are entertained and it seems that he likes Petty and is entertaining himself. Now here is where an important guy code comes into play. When one of your boys is working on a girl until it is clear that nothing is going to happen between you, you cant try and work the same girl. Now in my eyes Allen was in violation of this code. I then ask Petty to dance and we end up dancing for a while. Meanwhile Ocean is way ahead of me and is already kissing Buxy. Later that night, Allen tells me to talk to his other friend Ximena as she is sitting alone. "A bit odd" i was thinking but anyway I went over to Ximena and asked her what was the matter, she told me that she was ok just wanted to be alone for a bit, she then asked me how my trip to Cali has been and I replied "good" then she cut to the chase and asked "what are you doing after this, because I want to continue the party" , this basically meant she wanted to hit a motel. Then it hit me, i'm being setup by Allen, I look over my shoulder and see Allen dancing with Petty. Ximena looked good, very good infact but there was something bout Petty I was starting to like and plus when u have been slow cooking a nice roast steak in the oven, opting to take a kebab wasnt an option. I told Ximena to hold that thought and went back to the table.
Petty was fuming with me and said: "dont talk 2 me i saw u with that girl" i was thinking "hey ?that girl? surely u know her?" then it dawned on me Ximena and Lilly never actually sat on our table and they werent really with us. Buxy and Petty didnt know who they were at all. Dam that Allen had played his last trick on Puglyboy Biskit Fonts tonight. Petty said "i am a very jealous girl, i just want u 2 know that" I ended up having to sweet talk Petty in my Telenova spanish which she found quite funny and told her "look, your mate Allen has been trying to set me up with these girls all night and i keep saying no but he is insisting that i take one of them 2 the motel but i would much rather be with u" I know I did lie a little bit but thats what u get for playing games and breaking a principal guy code. The sweet talk worked and me and Petty we're kool again, dancing the night away till 7am. We got a taxi back and all 6 of us were crammed in. Ocean and Buxy were kissing in back infront of everyone. We drop Allen off first and then head back to Tostaky. Being the gentlemen we are, we gave the taxi man money to take the girls home.
Outside Tostaky, me, Ric and Ocean are talking bout the night and as Ocean got the furthest, he had the most to talk about. "man i had her boobs out in the back of the cab, trust me those things are real". "YO Biskit how did things go with ur girl" i replied "yeh kool , i got her number but thats it" Ocean replied "yeh u made a bad move by chatting to those other girls , these girls here in Cali are super jealous and if u go and dance with someone else they think that ur choosing someone else over them and they take it very personally" Ricardo agreed "yeh this is why i like European girls, cuz they are more open, but i think she likes or she wouldnt have given u her number".We then discussed the plan 4 tomorrow. Ricardo says: "just wait for tomorrow, we are gonna hit a solos y solas night (single men , single women) then take whoever we hook up with to "Chango". Hey! now that sounds like a plan to me. Another great night out in Cali and I finally get to witness the power of the Ocean. tomorrow Solos y solas , the adventures of Puglyboy Biskit Fonts continue.
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