Started set dancing on Monday.  Boy is that work!

There were about 30 other dancers, all Irish of course, and all were familiar with the basic steps so even when the instructor asked if they had ever danced before they all were familiar with the general idea -- except me.  When he heard my accent, he asked "do you know 1-2-3?"  Well, no.  He then separated me from my friend Mary (Irish, knowing 1-2-3) and I was next to him the rest of the evening.  I got 1-2-3 pretty quick but the rest of it, whew.  It was dizzying, twirly and fast.  Except for getting dizzy and quite sweaty; more than the others and partly due to my thyroid medication I think, it was really, really fun!  I was glad I'm fit because otherwise I would not have been able to keep up.     

Fortunately for me as a newbie, I was always in the female position.  Since there are mostly women in the class (no surprise there) some women have to take the male position and then everything is opposite.  This is an issue because one aspect of set dancing is alternating partners.  About a quarter of the class is men so half of the people in the male position are women, and when in that role the women led the way women lead, they explained stuff.  Dancing with the men was easier because they approach the task by forcing you to do what's needed.  They squeeze, pull and push.  The women didn't do that at all, they held lightly and said "do this; do that".  It was hard to process the explanations when things were happening so quickly, much easier to get squeezed, pushed and pulled in the right direction.  Venus and Mars all over again! 

Most of the people were really nice, although some seemed not to want to dance with me and my two left feet.  No one was mean or anything, but when it came to the men changing circles (there were three of them) I was always the last to get partnered up.  Fortunately the instructor kept a good watch on me and sometimes pulled a better dancer to me so that he didn't have two klutzes twirling awkwardly together, a survival tactic for his work I guess because that could definitely cause a pile-up.

The dance is like square dancing in that it's four couples in a square with a pair facing each other most of the time.  It's also similar in that there are various formations and what, in square dancing, is called promenade is used at the start.  The big, big difference is that one-two-three.  Instead of in square dancing where people walk normally, all of the steps in set dancing are done with a one-two-three shuffle, similar to polka.  That's what makes it so strenuous. 

The only problem with the current class is its location.  I have to admit that the neighborhood is quite dodgey (a word used here a lot to describe bad).  It is OK in the going but the class is out at 10 p.m. so it's pretty dark and lonely coming back.  My friend drives and the parking is also not good, although on Monday she found a spot about a block away.  She wouldn't hear of me standing at the bus stop and drove me to a better one.  We go in different directions and I just don't want to take advantage of her, so this is no good.  We have found another place that is in a country pub with parking, so next week we are going to try me taking the bus to her place, driving there and then me getting the bus back from her place. 

I've been without a car for a long time now, 8 years since we moved to Washington, and I'm used to public transit, but I have noticed people who have cars just can't fathom waiting for a bus.  But I know I have to be careful about that because it can also lead to a lot of inconvenience for drivers if I were to take advantage of that mindset.  I really don't mind the bus, I'm used to it. 

Next week we start going to plays in the Dublin Theater Festival series and Alan's sister and brother in law come for a visit, so things will get busy.  We are looking forward to having guests again!