Tranqui

Alternate Titles: CST - Colombian Standard Time, Arriving Late and Living Now

“Tranquila,” “tranqui,” trankis.” 

I hear and read the word constantly: from my coworkers when we lesson prep, from my dance teachers when I mess up, from my friends when we make plans, from my students when they refer to their weekends, from my moto driver when he is late, and from everyone else when I am late. 

Google translates the term to “calm down.” 

It should be noted that I HATE being told to calm down. I’ve always thought that being told to “calm down” was unhelpful and annoying advice at best and a sexist remark at worst. 

But tranquila is different than calm down. I would argue that tranqui translates more directly to “no problem,” or “don’t stress on my account.” When I am running late and I get a message that reads “tranquila,” I breathe a sigh of relief. That message is assurance that no one is mad at me and that there are no real consequences to my tardiness. A message reading “calm down” would never have that effect. Or, perhaps, an American would never be capable of waiting so peacefully, so unbothered.

I struggled to be tranquila at a dance this morning. Robinson (my dance teacher) decided to play some slower salsa options and I messed up over and over. I kept adelantándome and stepping 1 on the 8th beat. With each misstep, Robinson says “tranquila.” When the song finally ends, he explains that professional salsa dancers love to dance to slower salsas. In fact, they prefer it to fast salsa. Fast salsa is for competitions, but slow salsa allows you to enjoy all the different steps you have time for. The music, he says, is like a patineta. You can’t be behind the skateboard, you also can’t be in front of it. You have to let it carry you – the music has to carry you in the moment, one 1,2,3 at a time. Disfrútalo, he tells me.

I’ve come to learn that this is how time, not just dance, works in Colombia. Grudges from the past are not held and the future is not thought of far in advance. Costeños especially live life like dancers at a social dance, not at a competition – lo disfrutan. 

I, on the other hand, have a color coordinated google calendar that I have depended on religiously for 3 years. Before that I depended on a color coordinated Lilly Pulitzer planner. That’s not to say I was never late (I was and am often late), but that lateness did generate anxiety. Since moving to Colombia, I have had to let that go – plans here are going to be canceled, schedules can not be predicted, and punctuality is not a priority. Being stressed about a schedule would mean living in a constant state of displeasure and anxiety – so I let it go. I still use my google calendar, but it’s more of a general suggested order of operations now. I am learning to let time carry me, instead of trying to carry the past, present, and future on my back – I am beginning to understand the appeal, I feel much lighter.

Adelantandome: getting ahead of one’s self 

Patineta: Skateboard

Disfrutar: to enjoy