I chose a Carlos class last Wednesday. It was most revealing, in two principal respects. My salsa vocabulary, though not, I hope, my fluidity, had stalled. Last time I went to a lesson by Carlos , c. 2 years ago, there seemed precious few new moves even in the advanced class. On Wednesday I felt quite lost, struggling with a mass of unfamiliar material. Regular attendance must be resumed; I shall go again tomorrow, after Colwick Car Boot, and before the 'Up and Down Under' bar. With Bilborough classes resumed I must have something to offer the more able dancers as well as the time to attend to those who struggle. Keeping up with Anna however, in either vocabulary or style, is a vain hope. She will, though, always remain an inspiration.

It was notable on Friday, covering for a General Studies class on religion, how little any formal religious practice touches the lives of so many. My Junior School experience of being drenched in daily Bible stories, and that not even at a Church school, seems ever more antique. It was gratifying, in covering Spanish, to discover that the students' reading matter is easily accessible to me, even without the aid of dictionary. I quite look forward to an all Spanish day on Monday, standing in for Raquel during her absence in Caceres.

Am now too tired to face 'The Book', but shall manage some guitar exercises. I shall make a more determined effort tomorrow at Colwick Car Boot. I discovered, at Thursday's COP, that my painfully slow progress is not untypical, even for salespeople from other areas.