Ballet Steps

I was never one for cultural events, but my girls are working hard to change that. This week, they persuaded me to take them to the Teatro Municipal de Santiago to see Swan Lake. I most enjoyed the beginning, where about 20 “swans”, elegantly adorned in plain, stiff, white tutu’s, danced simple moves in unison. They performed the same graceful steps over and over again, making it appear effortless, while surely years of practice and painful blisters went into each step.

Apart from the theater, this was a relatively dull week, challenged by my self-imposed to duty to blog about it. Ciervo was globetrotting, while the girls and I learned to write numbers up to 100,000, practiced adding ‘–ly’ to the ends of words, and wrote about our noses (don’t ask). I enjoy my time with the girls, but it does not always provide much fodder for my diary.

But today I was reminded how the plain things we do over and over each day, now effortlessly, are the simple, elegant joys of being here. For instance, I didn’t consult my “look-at-the-goofy-tourist” map when walking downtown today, the girls ordered lunch at the café by themselves, and I remembered with ease girls RUT (the Chilean version of a social security number) that I made up for them when signing them up for another month of gymnasia ritmica.

Being culturally challenged has provided my girls an opportunity to educate me in many ways. I’ve learned that “talent” is obtained only through practice, and “poise” is simply making difficult things look easy. I have learned to wear pink shoes whenever possible, but still question the decision of putting men in tights. If this blog gives the impression that moving 3,000 miles from home has been easy, it just shows how graceful I’ve become. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go re-bandage my blisters.

Sisma


Enjoying a simple snack after the theater