Well, after about five naps, a 14-hour sleep and two days of only partial lucidity, I think I can hammer something out about the Canada Salsa Congress.
First I have to mention how amazing it was.
I met my Internet Buddy, and her wonderful friend. That's a cool story. It was the first night of performances and someone was sitting behind me... That someone mentioned how nice her top was, and so, I turned around and commented on it too. We chit-chatted a little and then watched the performances. Nothing really out of the ordinary. The next night, Saturday, I felt a tap on my shoulder and she said, "were you sitting in front of us last night too?" I said "yes..." and she said, "are you from Edmonton?"
I got a little weirded out and said, "uh, yesss....", and then she said "and are you Thespina?" at which point it suddenly clicked and it was like "Friend!!" It was soooo weird, happening to sit next to each other like that. She figured it out simply from me saying I wasn't too familiar with Toronto. Wow! So kudos to you, my Internet Friend... You're sharp.
So I guess I'll break down my Congress weekend a little.
The hotel was great. The beds were deadly. The city was beautiful.
The Pre-Party at 6 Degrees on Thursday was fun, and I saw Al Espinoza and Karla for the first time, and was a little star-struck. I met some great people and had some surprisingly sexy dances. Although I was nervous and messing up all over the place. I was generally wide-eyed and out of my 
element for the most part, but very excited. The venue was fantastic, the dancers were great, and I wasn't used to seeing such good dancers all around me... And that was nothing compared to the dancers later in the weekend.
The Shows
I found the performances to be very very high quality, especially Saturday night. Each and every one on Saturday night blew me away. I was close to crying a few times. I didn't even mind the length of the shows. Poor Al and Karla lost their luggage and their music, so they did a number they came up with an hour prior to the show, which was fantastic, and funny, and proved what great sports they are, and excellent dancers. I'm taking back what I said about Al. I left with a very good impression of him. Karla seemed unhappy though. I get the feeling she doesn't enjoy the pace or the stardom as much as he does.
At any rate, I give the performances a great rating, even the amateur ones were spirited for the most part, and there was a lot of innovation in many of them. The Montreal troupes were innovative. I found them to be so artistic, sharp, present, humourous and edgy.
Workshops
The workshops were great, I only wish I could have taken more! I hated having to choose one over another for the most part. I think in the future, 
I'll take fewer, actually, and practice what I learned during the hour after the workshop, unless there's another one I really want to take. I found that cramming too much in almost made them a little less valuable, because I couldn't take it all in. I started to run out of juice. Red Bull next time?
Although, I have to say this - dancing 10 hours a day, workshops and social dancing, made me much stronger, and perhaps I took in more than I thought. Some stuff settled in and the exhaustion helped to push my brain out of the way, and get into a more instinctual place. I took Ana Massicot's Afro-Cuban movement - awesome; Burju's Afro-Puerto-Rican Movement - totally excellent and I love Burju: Bomba y Plena from Young Blood - that rocked; Super Mario's Intermediate Partnerwork Class - not so great; and Ladies' Styling On1 from Corinne in Montreal - that was also very good, although most of that stuff I already knew.
On Sunday, I took Dave Paris and Zoe's Techniques for Lifts and Tricks, which was really quite amazing and fun, and the Intro To On2, which was good for me, but I wanted a faster pace. Al Espinoza's Spin Technique which I picked up a few things, but I think I would have liked the partnerwork with Afro-Cuban styling a little better, then a Reggaeton class from the Young Bloods again, lots of fun for a little bit of a break. Finally, I took a Ladies' Styling from Ana from Boston. She's great. I saw her social dancing and was blown away.
I almost had a private with Ismael Otero, who joked around with me a bit over the Congress, but nothing materialized, which was just as well, since I was mostly toast during the off-time anyhow. Next Congress, I'll take fewer workshops and budget in a few well-chosen privates. I just didn't have the juice this weekend. I met Molina, Al and Karla, Super Mario and Otero, as well as all the very very, um, very friendly bouncers.
I danced till 3 or 4 every night and wore through a pair of dance shoes. I got a few new tops and hung out with some very cool friends.... I even had some drama on the dance floor. I wound up being kinda more popular than I was expecting.
Ocho y Mas - Wow!
On Saturday night the band, Ocho y Mas with guest singer Tito Nieves was awesome. Actually, it was the first time I'd heard a song that simply could not be danced On1. 
It was the first time I really understood the concept of On2 dancing being unavoidable in some circumstances. The crowd was huge and there was one point, where I was walking around the periphery of the floor, that I suddenly noticed the life in that room and got a sudden rush of elation. The music, the band, the vigor and skill of the dancing, the beauty of those people and how they were smiling and moving their bodies. I mean, it was unreal. I was on cloud nine.
Zen of Salsa
On the last night of dancing, I'd never felt that connected, been asked to dance that much, sweated that much or danced that well in my life. And I knew I was goofing up sometimes, but everything was coming together in a way I couldn't have predicted. I was higher than I'd ever been. So at 4am Monday morning, I finished dancing, went upstairs to my hotel room, packed up, said bye to my dear friend, got in a cab and went to the airport. I was awake for 32 hours before I finally fell asleep at home. When I got back home I couldn't believe how strong my abs were and how powerful and happy I felt. It was something else.
Unfortunately I'm coming down hard now, not so much emotionally, but physically. Another day of rest and I should be good. I'm procrastinating unpacking... but I'd better do it soon. Tomorrow I dance again and I want to wear the sweet halter-top I got in Toronto.