Buenos Aires
March 1-31, 2006
Wednesday, 3/1/06
Went to La Nacional (Adolfo Alsina 1465) last night. My first milonga in Buenos Aires.
Was so nervous my hands were shaking as I handed over the 8 pesos at the door. Arrived around 2a, and the place was still packed, so I stood around near the door as my senses adjusted to the smoky darkened hall for the rest of the tanda. Once the tanda ended and everyone returned to their seats I could see an empty chair against the far wall, tucked behind a column, and I picked my way around the crowded tables and past the smiling men standing by the bar to take my seat.
You can kind of see where I was sitting in the picture to the right. Along the right side wall towards the back of the room you can see where the room is divided with more seating beyond the break. I was sitting behind that little wall.
A few people from home had told me before I left about how frustrated they were by the milongas here, and how difficult the cabeceo was (asking with the eyes). Because of that, I figured I would be happy to just sit and watch my first night out. Unfortunately, the column my new seat was situated behind blocked my view of the dance floor, so I had to lean forward in my seat to peek around it.
So, I'm sitting on the edge of my seat, trying to look around the column, when a new tanda starts and a man turns around and looks right at me with a cabeceo. I mean, I thought it was. Blinking, I stare at him, and he tilts his head towards the dance floor. Yep, definitely a cabeceo. Well, that was easy. Held up my shoe bag to indicate that I needed to change shoes, and he nodded and sat down, keeping an eye on me as I slipped on my dance shoes as fast as I could, heart pounding. Hardly sat down again for the rest of the night.
Around 2:30a, one of the waiters came over to my sheltered chair and asked me if I would like a better seat. He led me to a table right on the dance floor, which I'm sure helped with getting better dances. The same waiter ended up being a fun dancer, and we danced a couple of crazy milonga sets.
Met and danced with people from all over the world, and even a few locals. At the very end of the night, had the good luck(?) of being asked to dance by the organizer who was very kind and handsome and a little tipsy. I didn't care, he was a good dancer anyway.
As I was leaving, at around 5:30a, my new waiter friend told me to call him next week before the milonga and he will reserve a dance floor table for me. I didn't know what to say. At the time, it seemed like those tables were full of social codes that I didn't fully understand, so I was hesitant to take him up on the offer. Besides, would I owe the waiter something if he did me a favor like this? Asked a local friend about it later, and she laughed. She told me that calling ahead to reserve a table is commonplace, and nothing the waiter was doing especially for me, but that I should consider his offer of a table on the dance floor as a compliment because tourists usually are seated near the back.
And here I thought I was special enough to be taken advantage of.
Friday, 3/4/06
Walked down to Calle Florida, the big hectic shopping pedestrian street in the downtown area of Buenos Aires. So many people, shops, street performers. It would take days to explore it all. I only had the afternoon, but that was enough for me.
I'm beginning to realize how important eye contact is here, and not just in the milongas, but everywhere. This afternoon I was sitting in a cafe for a good 20 minutes before I realized that the waiter was standing by the bar waiting for me to look at him before coming over to my table. I had walked in, sat down, decided what I wanted, and took out my book and began to read while I waited for service. After reading for a while I realized I was getting hungry and looked up to see what was going on with the non-existent waiter. As soon as I looked up and made eye contact with a waiter, he came right over and took my order. He wasn't causing the delay, I was. It's interesting, too, because waiters don't really check in on you throughout the meal, they only come to your table if you're lucky enough to catch their eye.
One of the best things about being in a foreign country is that even really mundane daily activities become exotic. Like doing laundry.
Went to the grocery store on my way home and was afraid to buy bananas because there was a fruit man who wouldn't let me touch anything. I had to tell him what I wanted, and let him bag it up for me. Not just what I wanted, though, but also when I thought I was going to eat it, and if I'd be cooking it or eating it raw, so that he could choose the right ripeness for me. So many choices. I just wanted a couple of bananas.
Tuesday, 3/7/06
Was determined to go to an alternative practica tonight. I've been putting it off because of nerves. So, first stop, Practica X (Anchorena 641), run by Pablo Inza and friends, then La Cathedral for the rest of the night. That was the plan anyway.
Running really late, I grabbed a cab in a torrential rain, and gave the address for Practica X. When we pulled up in front of the address I had written down it was already nearly 12 and the practica only went until 12:30a. I couldn't see anything through the windows that looked even remotely like a practica, just office space with desks, and though there were a couple of people standing outside I was reluctant to get out of the taxi in the rain to find myself stranded at a non-existent practica without an umbrella on an obscure street. Gave up on Practica X without even going inside (I admit, it was mostly because I was still nervous. What can I say, I'm a big chicken), and asked the cab driver to take me to La Cathedral instead.
Pulling up, the driver said "cerrado," and I groaned. Turns out, La Cathedral has been closed for a long time, since the big concert fire disaster last year when so many people died because the building wasn't up to code. So don't go there, because it's closed.
Ok, quick revision of plans, and I asked my cabbie to go to El Beso (Riobamba 416) instead. He laughed and we turned around. 10 peso cab ride, by far the most expensive of the trip so far, but still only around $3.
Arrived at El Beso and came face to face with Peter, Arturo, and a couple of other familiar northwest faces. Up until now, I've run into several European friends, but, amazingly this was my first encounter with North American friends.
By the time I finally arrived at El Beso it was pretty late, so danced a bit on the small crowded but nicely mellow dance floor until they closed, then walked the block and a half to Porteño y Bailarín (Riobamba 354) with a San Franciscan man. He seemed even more nervous than I was, and as soon as we walked in he went searching for other Americans for us to sit with. I was actually more interested in sitting by myself, because I'm beginning to think I get more dances when I am alone. Maybe a single woman is less intimidating or something than a table full of people who all know each other.
P&B is interesting because the space is shaped like an "L" and there are two dance floors, one on each side, so you kind of have to walk back and forth around the corner to check out each floor unless you're lucky enough to find a table by the bar with a view of both floors. Sometimes one floor will be packed and the other will only have a few couples on it, so dancers regularly switch back and forth from one floor to the other, sometimes even in the middle of a tanda if it's really crowded.
Eventually, the SF contingent of Homer, Randy, Leslie and a few others showed up, so we had reinforcements. They had been at Practica X, which had been going full swing inside after all. Turns out the practica is down the hall and through a couple of doors in a room full of huge file cabinets that have been pushed to one side. It's a nice sized space, though, plenty of room to practice nuevo moves. One of them mentioned that, for them, the practica had been a little strange, they felt like it was full of people trying to prove themselves. Well, I'll check it out next week.
Nice night.
Thursday, 3/9/06
Finally made it to my first nuevo practica, El Motivo, (at Villa Malcolm, Cordoba 5064). Took a deep breath and followed the tango music through the door, walked up the hall and surprised Luciana Valle while she sat taking money and eating dinner. Said hellos, and walked into the dance area to find Homer, Christina, and Carmen from San Francisco, and Brian and Deborah from Boulder. So many familiar faces, it was like being back at the Portland TangoFest. Suddenly, I was able to relax. Good dancing at Villa Malcolm, very fun.
Went to get some food at around 1a with friends from the practica before heading over to Niño Bien (Humberto Primo 1462), and sat across from a French man named Juan who was so tired he slipped indiscriminately between English, Spanish, and French while we talked. Amazingly, I followed him with no problem. I must have been tired, too.
Shown here in the picture to the right, Niño Bien is a beautiful ballroom, with a free drink included in the price of the milonga. Can't beat that.
I've since been told that it's the milonga known as "the place to be seen." Thankfully, I didn't know that, and I had a great time. Closed it down, was home by 5a, asleep by 6a.
Took an hour to get to sleep because when I walked into my 12th floor apartment and turned on the lights, a bat dive bombed me from the kitchen. Opened all the windows, once I finished screaming, and turned off all the lights and closed myself in the bathroom to give him a chance to let himself out. He did, without a word of thanks.
Friday, 3/10/06
Woke up early, around 11, then off to the bank and the rental agency to pay my rent.
I'm staying in the barrio Recoleta which I really like. It's busy all the time, so I feel comfortable walking around alone at 1:30a in high heels and skirt. It's great because I'm surrounded by women doing the exact same thing, but not in a prostitute kind of way, so stop thinking that.
Recoleta is pretty central to a lot of the milongas, and has fantastic shopping, but it's one of the more chi-chi areas, and even with the peso 3 to 1 to the dollar, I like to find a deal when I'm shopping. So, I decided to grab a cab to Palermo Viejo, where I'd heard there was great Soho-like shopping that would hopefully be closer to my budget.
I didn't know exactly where to go, so had the cab drop me off in the middle of Palermo Viejo, and wandered around for a while through some very residential streets looking for the great Soho-like shopping. After about half an hour of walking I realized I was really hungry, because I'd forgotten to eat breakfast, and finally found a little confiteria. At around 3p. Got 2 media lunas, and 2 more with dulce de leche. Mmmm. Funny, though, the media lunas sin dulce had a bit of sweetness to them, while the media lunas con dulce had a bit of onion to them. Still, mmmm. And I love the way every place I've been to has fresh squeezed orange juice on the menu. Every place. It's standard, like Coca-Cola. But better.
Eventually stumbled onto Jorge Luis Borges where there were actually shops. Randomly ran into SF Carmen in the first shop I walked into, and we did some shopping together before trying out one of the rare organic vegetarian restaurants in BsAs called Bio for a late lunch. Yum.
By this time it was getting late, because it does that pretty quickly when you don't get up until noon, so we caught a cab back to Recoleta and Comme il Faut (Arenales 1239, Puerta 3, Dto. M) for some fabulous shoe shopping. This place is great, because you have to go down a little French-like side alley/street, go up some winding stairs, and ring a buzzer to get in, very secret agent-like. The door opens on a small airy viewing room with a lot of leopard print. This is where you sit while the shoes are brought to you to try on. They don't bother trying to display of all of the different shoe styles they have in stock because the styles turnover so quickly. They usually only bring you a few models at a time, so if you have something specific in mind, let them know. While at Comme il Faut, time moves more slowly and I get to relax and enjoy the experience.
Slept through Chicho's practica on accident, and arrived at Salon Canning (Scalabrini Ortiz 1331) late, around 2a. It was still packed! Beautiful big ballroom, lots of smoke, but that's true everywhere. There was a performance with several tango couples at around 3a, with live music accompaniment.
Some American friends arrived shortly after, and I asked a good friend of mine about his experience of the milongas over the past week. Like me, it's his first time here, but he's only here for 10 days, and is trying to pack a lot into that time. He's an advanced leader, but he mentioned his frustration at having to start at the bottom again. Said he felt like a beginner all over, because the only women who would return his cabeceos were beginners, so he was starting to wonder if he really knew how to dance after all. I know the feeling. Not here, but the first 3 years of my tango process was full of self doubt and feeling inadequate, even while knowing deep down that I could be a good dancer if I just had the right circumstances. I can sympathize with him completely.
I feel lucky that this trip has been easy for me so far. I'm not having trouble getting dances and am enjoying some of the best dancing I've had in a long time, (outside of Portland, of course. Shout out to the home team!).
The highlight of the evening for me was something that happened at about 5a. The floor had cleared out a lot, and the only people left were the hardcore dancers who can't seem to make themselves leave until there is absolutely no possibility of any more dancing that night because the dj has packed up and left and he took the cd player with him. I couldn't believe my luck when both Eugenia Parilla and Geraldine Rojas began social dancing. At the same time! I didn't know who to watch. Two amazing women with very different styles dancing on a nearly empty dance floor. It was awe-inspiring.
I learned more in that 20 minutes than I know how to describe here. I even turned down dances so that I could sit and watch. Damn my forgotten video camera!
Home around 7a in a state of euphoria, strolling along with the morning joggers and street cleaners.
Saturday, 3/11/06
Met up with Carmen a little after noon to go to the Feria de Palermo Viejo (street fair).
Noon. Who decided that was a good idea?
Gorgeous weather. We were both pretty tired, so we walked around a bit in a fog until we finally gave up and sat down in a cafe to wait for Leslie to find us. Jugo de naranja and coffee rejuvinated us and we managed to walk the half block to the Diseño (designer) area. 
This, of course, was my favorite part of the fair.
Suddenly, I was wide awake. All these little booths crammed with local start-up designers selling their stuff. Very cool. The three of us all went a little crazy at one particular booth with fantastic stretchy fabrics and bright prints. Perfect for the milongas where any clothing is too much, it's so hot. Someone told me that the biggest offense you can make with what you wear at a milonga is by being too neutral. Break out the sequins and fishnets, ladies!
Home for some rest before heading out to Villa Malcolm and the live music of Color Tango. Even after the shopping adrenaline rush, I was starting to drag, and more in the mood for mellow sweet tango, not so into the intense Pugliese of Color Tango. The music was fantastic, of course, but the dancing for me this night, not so much.
Learned later that Saturday is "couples night," which leads to the strange phenomena of selective memory that I noticed in some of the leads.
Here's a typical example of Saturday night memory failure:
I see a man across the room who I've danced with several times over the past week at different milongas. I enjoy dancing with him, and figure the same is true of him, after all, he keeps asking me to dance, and I get a big smile and kiss every time I see him out. I'm happy to see him, and expect I might get a tanda or two, so when he comes my way I smile in recognition as he passes. Nothing. No eye contact, no smile, nothing. What just happened?
Then answer becomes clear when I see him sit at a table with a woman who wraps her arms around his shoulders and stares deeply into his eyes.
Sunday night will come around and I'll be back on the radar, but for tonight, he only has eyes for the one he came with.
Also, learned a tough lesson on saying "no" and "thank you" with assertion. Danced a couple of sets in a row with a man who I'd danced with at Niño Bien on Thursday, and there it had been fine. I wasn't feeling so connected this time, I think because I was feeling tired and both the music of Color Tango and my partner were feeling very intense. After four songs I was ready to sit down, and when he said something to me in Spanish that I didn't catch and walked away from me I thought, that was weird but whatever, I guess we're done, and returned to my seat. But, he wasn't done. He'd gone to say hello to friends and when he'd come back I was gone, so he came to find me. I didn't want to dance more with him, but made the mistake of doing it anyway, because I felt badly about the misunderstanding. After that, I felt a little stalked because he asked me several more times throughout the night, and I'd make an excuse not to, and then felt I couldn't dance with anyone else for a while. Won't do that again.
I guess dancing one tanda with someone is standard. Two means you're really enjoying it, and more than two in a row means you're going home together that night. Good to remember. I need to learn to be more assertive with my thank you's.
This was my least favorite night so far, and I headed home fairly early, around 4a.
Sunday, 3/12/06
Met up with Megan and Carmen to check out the Feria de San Telmo. Arrived just in time to catch the end of El Indio's street performance, then got stuck in El Balcon, a tango-themed restaurant with so-so food and live touristy tango shows, but amazing views of the fair, especially if you can squeeze out onto one of the outdoor tables on the two foot ledge, oh, excuse me, balcony. Ordering and getting our food took forever, though, even by Argentine standards. I think the wait staff was distracted by the high kicks combined with the waist high slit in the already very short leather skirt of the tanguera performing.
Did some shopping, once again hitting the designer part of the fair. It's truly amazing - beautiful jewelry, hip clothes, unique designs, all for next to nothing. Picked up a fabulous Pucci-esqe stretch skirt for $5.
Portland friends Laurel and Malcolm invited me to their apartment in San Telmo for a home cooked dinner at 9p. I had my first blood sausage, which was better than I thought it would be, very rich. Also had my first Argentine beef, which was fabulously prepared by master chef Malcolm. Nice to catch up with them. Home early, around 1a. That looks silly, typed there, like 1a is really early. But, it is. I swear! I almost couldn't get to sleep.
Good thing there's a lot of "What Not to Wear" on at all hours on cable tv here. I love this show. Especially because it's subtitled in Spanish, so I can feel really productive while watching it. You know, because I'm learning about how to avoid fashion faux pas, and practicing my Spanish. At the same time!
Monday, 3/13/06
Paid rent, walked to Palermo Viejo for late lunch, then did some window shopping along Sante Fe. So much cool stuff, it's overwhelming!
Had a completely bizarre experience on the Subte (subway). Was sitting on a train, reading, when two well-dressed men got on from opposite ends of the car, and met in the middle, and began some kind of play-let advertising something. My Spanish is truly pathetic, but from the body language I imagined something like this:
Man #1: Javier! How are you? You look great! Have you lost weight?
Javier: No no no. I've been using this new hair gel . . .
Man #1: Really? What's it called? I could really use some new hair gel . . .
The greatest part was that when their commercial was done, the people in the car applauded! I think I'm falling in love with this city.
Found out later that, because of the club fire disaster last year, a lot of independent theaters and clubs that weren't up to code were shut down, leaving a lot of independent actors and musicians out of work. As a result, some of those actors/musicians are being hired for cheap by small businesses to perform this kind of guerrilla marketing on the streets. It's pretty popular, I've heard. What a great idea.
Meant to go to Villa Malcolm and Salon Canning but was fighting off a headache, sneezes and runny nose, until I finally admitted I had a cold. Figured the cigarette smoke probably wasn't the best remedy, and stayed home with my roll of toilet paper.
Tuesday, 3/14/06
Took it easy. Went to Practica X, finally. Had a great time, probably because my expectations were so low after the description of last week. Went out to eat after with a group of Americans and Europeans, then caught a cab with Aspen Heather and Carmen to Porteño y Bailarín. Was supposed to meet Anne Leva Midon at El Beso, but by the time we got there I was too late.
Had a great time at PyB. Danced with an older man I recognized from the tango channel's "Codigos de Tango." This show is all about the differences between the old way of behaving at milongas versus the new. So, for example, the older man will be talking about how you should dress to go a milonga, and while he's describing suits and ties and handkerchiefs, they show a young guy getting dressed in jeans, t-shirt and sneakers to go to a milonga.
Anyway, the older man from the show asked me to dance verbally, which surprised me, but I said yes anyway because I was curious. He began straight away in open and started to man-handle me in an almost comedic way. After one song, I gave up and said thank you. He looked surprised, and I hated to do it, but there was no way I could keep dancing with a straight face, or any kind of comfortable technique. He came back later and asked me again, and again, I turned him down, feeling terrible. I just didn't want to have to struggle to stay upright for the next 10 minutes.
Experienced some of my first pangs of partner desire with a couple of local leaders I've seen around but who I didn't know, but also had so many great dances that I couldn't even think about complaining. Stayed 'til the end, and got home around 6a.
I've come up with a plan for the rest of my time here.
I'm only going to go to the milongas I've already been to. I'm thinking that there are at least 5 practicas/milongas happening all over the city every night, and each of those milongas has anywhere from 70 to a couple of hundred people cycling through them in the course of a night. I'm not great at estimating, but I'd say at least 1/3 of those people are tourists. That's a lot of turnover, which means that the locals are seeing a lot of different faces from week to week, or even from milonga to milonga. But, the locals have their regular routines, and just like at home, people tend to dance the most with people they know and are comfortable with.
What I'm realizing is that the locals see so many new people in the course of week, the odds of them remembering me are really small, no matter how great our dances might have been the first time, especially if they only see me once a week. So, here's my plan. I make my own consistent routine: choose one practica and one milonga for each night of the week and only go to those, so that the regulars at those milongas can get used to seeing my face. Have also decided to make myself as memorable as possible by always wearing my hair the same way when I go out, and always wearing my bangle bracelets.
That's my plan. I'll let you know how it goes.
Wednesday, 3/15/06
Another easy day. 
Finally met up with Amy for lunch at the fabulous El Ateneo bookstore/cafe. The space was originally a theater with historical ties to tango (Gardel often performed there in it's heyday), and has been beautifully converted into a bookstore, with reading areas in the balcony seats, and a cafe in the old stage area. It's truly breathtaking, and an inspirational way of recycling an unused space without erasing the history of the building.
Put my new plan into action by going to La Nacional again. Arrived at around 2a and was immediately seated by my waiter friend near the dance floor. What a difference between my first visit and second. I felt very welcomed.
This business of turning people down and saying "thank you" after only one or two songs is turning out to be more difficult than I thought. Danced with a couple of men who seemed very nice but who were clearly beginners and were a little rough in their leads, and I said thank you after only one song. I went back to my seat blushing because I felt so snobby. I was sure that the people watching were shaking their heads with disapproval. Strangely, the opposite ended up being true.
This can be a tough community, and every action sends a message to the room. If I continued dancing with the beginners I could potentially be limiting my dancing partners to that beginning level, at my expense. By saying "thank you" I was telling everyone what my level was and also what my standing was. It worked, I danced with comfortable, musical leaders for the rest of the evening. What a sad compromise. If I weren't so tired right now, and dancing with beginners weren't so much work, I wouldn't mind it. They have all been very nice.
But so have the better dancers, so, I don't know.
Strangely, I've also felt that by sitting at a table with a group of people, whether I know them or not, I am pre-judged a bit. An American friend mentioned this to me, too. She said that she had stopped going out dancing with an acquaintance of hers who was a beginning follower because the leaders in the room assumed that both of them were beginners because they were sitting at the same table. A man would ask my friend's acquaintance to dance, then figure that my friend was also a beginner, and they wouldn't bother to ask her to dance to find out.
I'm finding that by sitting alone I'm judged by my dancing, and my dancing alone, and I end up having a better night with nicer dancers. That means the dancing is better and there is more of it, but that the in-between times are less interesting, because I'm sitting by myself. It seems like tango is all about compromises sometimes.
Anyway, at one point during the evening a man and I ended up having virtually the same conversation we had last week. We danced, he said something to me in Spanish, I told him I didn't speak Spanish very well, he asked me where I was from in English, I told him, blah blah blah, he said he'd lived in Boston for a while, I asked him if he knew Hsueh-tze Lee, and that was when he looked at me and said, we've done this before. I said it was very likely, as I don't speak much Spanish, so I've basically been having the same conversation over and over again for the last couple of weeks.
We laughed, and it's funny in a way, but also frustratingly true. My lack of Spanish is just now starting to get in the way. Often, a leader will begin speaking to me in a great stream of Spanish after our first dance, and all I can do is apologize and tell him I don't understand. Or after a milonga a group will go out and I'll be the only English speaker at the table, so everyone will kindly try to speak English for me, but that's difficult to keep up at 6a when it's not your first language and they'll understandably lapse back into Spanish. I feel like I'm missing out on so much.
On the other hand, sometimes a man will try to compliment me poetically in English, but it just ends up sounding really cheesy and amusing. One man kept saying, I know it sounds bad in English, but it's really beautiful in Spanish. What a silly reason for me to want to learn Spanish, though, just so that I can understand the compliments!
Whatever motivates me, I guess.
Thursday, 3/16/06
It's Homer and Christina's last night. I'll miss them when they're gone. It's nice to have familiar faces around in the sea of chaotic milonga-hopping. We all went to Villa Malcolm for the alternative practica, then with a group to dinner. Several of us walked to Salon Canning, but then once we got there decided to go to Niño Bien instead. This sort of thing seems to happen a lot, especially with a big group of people. Everyone has their favorite places to go on certain nights, and it's difficult to get everyone to agree on one spot, so you end up going to three different places in one night, and missing everyone else, because they are all doing the same thing at different milongas.
One of my favorite times of the day is turning out to be after the milongas are over, at around 5 or 6a. Sometimes a group of tango stragglers will get together at a cafe for a coffee (really!) or beer, to unwind from the night. In these moments, I love sitting with friends, relaxing, chatting over the night, watching people come and go. I have to wonder, though, what are all these people doing up at 5a? I mean, people who aren't tango dancers. People who look like they've been up all night, but what were they doing? Shouldn't they be in bed? I'm fascinated.
Went out to a cafe after Niño Bien with friends and accidently tried to order for myself when there were Argentine men at the table. The waiter ignored me and looked at the man seated opposite me, who repeated my order to the waiter for me. I've never had this happen before, and it was kind of amusing. This is the only "machismo" I've experienced here, so far. Really, it just seems like the men in this country are more courteous, attentive, and gentlemanly and, if anything, overly protective of me than I'm used to. It is nice to be paid such close attention by the men at the table, but I have to admit it was disconcerting to be ignored by the waiter.
Good thing it's ok for me to order for myself if there's no man at the table. I'd starve.
Sunday, 3/19/06
Went with Carmen to the Jardín Botˆnico Carlos Thais, or the Botanical Cat Garden, one of the strangest places I've ever been to. It's a huge, beautiful park on it's own, but add a couple of hundred abandoned cats and it becomes something completely unique. Seeing cats taking ownership of a vast outdoor space like that makes them seem like little wild tigers, I was actually excited when I'd spot one, as if a cat isn't an everyday experience outside of the park. 
We'd be walking along one of the footpaths and come upon an entire collective of say twenty cats all lounging on statues, curled around each other, posing for pictures, eating cat food out of one of the many plastic cups left by one of the caretakers. Or, I'd look over one of the low hedges and accidently surprise a sleeping kitty out of it's cat nap. More than once I got a warning meow for disturbing a reclining feline. Cats of all ages, sizes, colors, all of them well-fed and groomed, looking clean, content, and lazy.
As we left the park we passed a cat food stand. Forget pigeons.
Back to Carmen's for a quick nap, then off to La Glorieta (11 de Septiembre y Echeverría), my only exposure to outdoor tango in Buenos Aires. Beautiful weather, great space, friendly dancers, very fun.
Monday, 3/20/06
Window shopping in Palermo Viejo, again. I can't help it. So many amazing things to see. Still need to go to Neo Tango, etc.
Went to my regular places; Villa Malcolm and Salon Canning. Arrived at Canning at around 1a, and it was way too crowded. I sat until around 3a, when there was a funny soccer/tango performance, and some live music with Loa Tubatango. After that, it started thinning out and I finally started getting dances with some nice dancers.
Strangely, noticed a lot of drug references tonight. Saw some pills exchanging hands, smelled some distinct smells, overheard some conversations. I know there is a fair amount of drug use in the tango world here. I mean, how else can someone dance until 5a, get up and go to work for eight hours the next day, and then go out dancing again at midnight? Still, I hadn't really seen it so intimately before tonight. I actually ended up saying thank you to a guy I'd danced with before and enjoyed, but had to stop after only one dance because I could feel him shaking from what ever he took.
Anyway, ended up having a really fun time dancing after 4a. Especially with my new found favorite, Giggio. He rocks!
Was coming out of the bathroom at around 4:30a and ran into Sebastian Arce and his girlfriend Michelle. It was great to see them again, and I'm looking forward to their NeoTango weekend in Sacramento at the end of April.
Another fantastic night of dancing. Home very late/early, maybe 7a. Sitting in the back of the cab on the way home I watched as the sky was getting lighter. I was in such a state of supreme contentment that I didn't want to go back to my apartment to sleep yet, so after the cabbie dropped me off on the corner I walked back around the block in my high heels and sequined skirt to a cafe for a couple of morning media lunas. All of these suits were rushing past me to work holding coffee or mate and briefcases, people in constant motion, waiting for the bus, hailing cabs, while I sat sleepily and watched as I sipped my coffee.
Tuesday, 3/21/06
Barely made it to Chicho's intermediate class at 5p, took it with Mic's expat friend Heather, and we exchanged lead and follow. It was good, probably would've been better if I had understood what he was saying. I really need to learn Spanish.
I asked Heather about the Argentine habit of making plans and then not showing up, because I'd been talking with a friend about her frustration over a missed connection with an Argentine. Heather said that that was a polite way of saying that they don't really want to hang out with you. Still not so clear about how this works, because how do you know when someone really does want to hang out with you, as opposed to the polite plan? Is there some secret word, or code, or something? I don't know.
Back to my apartment to meet up with Amy for dinner. Had the best bife de lomo with chimichurri ever at La Cholita (Rodriguez Pena 1165). I don't think I'm ever going to eat anything else ever again. It's so good.
I think Practica X is now officially my favorite practica. After the practica we found an open restaurant, had a quick sandwich, then paid 12 pesos(!) for Canning because Color Tango was playing. Walked in at around 2a to find sparse pickings. Amy, Carmen, and I sat for a while, watching the floor. I only saw one person I wanted to dance with, and that was only just. We finally gave up and left for Porteño y Bailarín around 2:45a without dancing.
P y B wasn't much better. Bizzare night. Had two nice sets with one of my regulars, then had a really weird interaction with a couple of men. It started with a man in a red tie at the table in front of me turning and verbally asking me to dance. I had my eye on someone else, and hadn't seen Red Tie dance, so said no thank you, I'm resting. A few songs later Red Tie was joined by a young guy, and both men came to my table. Red Tie asked me to dance again, while Young Guy stood to the side and endorsed Red Tie with a thumbs up sign. I gave in, we danced, and it was nice. Young Guy then found me later and told me all of these great things about Red Tie and about how famous he was. Then he said that if I wanted to go to La Catedral, he would open it for me tonight, right now. Huh? Why would I want to do that? I was kind of confused, so asked a friend to translate, but he wouldn't talk to her.
Wednesday, 3/22/06
Finally made it to El Pulpo's practica. I didn't know this when I first walked in, but this was only the second week of this particular practica, so when I got there at around 10p, the space was nearly empty. Well, I thought, I'm a little early, so I'll wait a bit and see what happens. As I was changing my shoes I saw Amy, so went over to say hello. Danced one song with a rough lead, then sat for a long time, and was beginning to be disappointed in the turnout when Santiago took pity on me and asked me to dance. Very fun.
Had just finished with Santi when Giggio walked in, and he saved my night. Well, at least the early evening. Finished the practica off with a fun milonga with Amy, then we caught a cab back to Santa Fe for some much needed food. Talked about tango, relationships, men. What else is there?
Went to La Nacional and had a great night. Danced every tanda with nice dancers, chatted a bit with friends, then decided to head out for La Viruta (Armenia 1366), which I haven't been to on a Wednesday, yet.
I know, I'm supposed to have a plan. But, it's working so well I feel like I can start to branch out a little.
Caught a cab over to La Viruta at around 4a, but arrived to find it closed. Wasn't expecting that, so, turned around and came home. About half way home I noticed that the cab fair was about twice what it should have been. I asked the cabbie, is that right? He said yes, yes, blah, blah, blah. I knew it wasn't, I've been spending a lot of time in cabs lately, but realized I couldn't argue much. I'm a woman alone in a cab at 4:30 in the morning with a cabbie who's trying to con me and I don't speak Spanish well enough to argue. 30 peso cab ride that should have been no more than 15. So frustrating. Oh well.
Thursday, 3/23/06
Today was a day for shoes. Went to Susana Artesenal (Anchorena 537), Flabella (Suipacha 263), and finally NeoTango (Sarmiento 1938), which was the only place where I actually bought anything. The two recent festivals, the Buenos Aires Tango Festival and CITA, have made for slim pickings for shoes. Susana Artesenal was interesting because it was very near the intersection of Calle Carlos Gardel and Anchorena, which has become a kind of tango tourist trap with lots of fun (and moderately expensive) tango momentos for sale. Beautiful shoes, but nothing really caught my eye. I've been to Comme il Faut so many times in the last couple of weeks that they bring me coffee now when I walk in. I guess they figure that if I'm going to be there for a while, I might as well be comfortable.
Went to Villa Malcolm with Amy at around 11p, arrived to find it nearly empty. Strange, the last couple of weeks were great. Hung around for a few minutes watching, waiting to see if it would pick up, or if the few dancers who were there were changing partners, but they weren't, so we decided to go to Niño Bien early, around midnight.
That was a mistake. The place was packed, literally no place to sit, not even out in the foyer. We hung out near the bar for a bit until one of the waiters took pity on us and found us some seats on the other side of the room next to the wall. We ordered some wine and sat for a while, content to watch the dance floor and chat. It was nice for the first hour. Then we started to get antsy. We decided to play a game, each of us picking a lead and trying to initiate a cabeceo. Mine was sitting far enough away that I couldn't tell if he was looking at me, and he kept dancing with one particular woman anyway, so my game was a bust.
Finally, I abandoned our isolated table and went to sit by the bar where the single men hang out. Got a couple of sets, not the best, but better than nothing. At one point I looked at a man who came over and began speaking to me in Spanish. He said, as best I could tell, I'm very drunk right now, so I don't want to dance with you tonight, but if you give me your number I'll call you and we'll dance later. Hmmm. Not so much.
Returned to our table in order to be closer to a particular leader I'd noticed. My eyes must be getting stronger, because he was sitting in front of me facing the dance floor, which meant that I was looking at his back. Amazingly, it worked! He turned all the way around in his seat and looked right at me. Reminded me of Bonnie Lee from Portland who related a similar story. So cool.
Suddenly, I was on a roll. I think I've found that I hit my peak dancing at around 4a, on average.
What's that all about?
Friday, 3/24/06
Went to the first class of three taught by Eugenia and Moira. Amy and I are taking it together, switching lead and follow. Covered a lot of body work, disassociation, pivots, ochos, line boleos, and the beginning of circular boleos. Four hours. Whew.
Can't believe I still had energy for dancing after. Home around 5a.
Saturday, 3/25/06
Second Eugenia and Moira class from 6-10p. It's a lot of work. Practiced every possible sacada for leader and follower, including a few that are physically impossible. No energy left. Taking the night off.
Sunday, 3/26/06
Met up with Amy to go to the Feria de Recoleta (known affectionately as the "hippie fair") for some much needed shopping therapy, then off to the last Eugenia and Moira class.
Covered every possible gancho, and then some. Amazing. I like the way they organized the structure of the class, and also the way they structure their tango. Very interesting. Talked with Eugenia about her coming to Portland when she comes to Seattle in May. I would love to work with her more.
Home for dinner and a nap before going to La Viruta around 2a. Had fun dances with a lot of my regulars, and home around 4:30a.
Monday, 3/27/06
Mellow day, beginning to get ready to go home. Don't want to. Went to Sexo Opuesto to pick up some pants for Homer.
Had dinner at La Cholita with Mic from New York. I can't get enough bife de lomo. I'm leaving in just a few days!
Then off to Villa Malcolm for the last bit of the practica. Ran into my friend Mathius from Germany there. So good to see him! A group of us went across the street for food, and somehow Mathius and I ended up sitting at opposite ends of the table from each other, so we didn't really get to talk, but he said he'd try to make it out one night before I leave.
Walked with the group to Canning. Had nice dances with all my regulars.
While dancing with with one of my favorite leaders I noticed that we were being watched by the tango stars table, which was flattering and really really scary. Even scarier, when I sat down one of them called me over to their table. I went over to say hello, and thankfully fell into an easy conversation about a new book just released in Argentina that is all about tango and community in BA. It was written by an Argentine tanguera who is also a sociologist, so there is a lot of information in it about the inner social workings of the milonga, and why it works the way it does. It's very interesting, and made for good chatting.
During this conversation I began to get nervous again, though, because I felt that one of the leaders at the table was going to ask me to dance. I was petrified by the idea of having to dance with this amazing dancer for the first time on a nearly empty social floor with his partner and several other international instructors watching from the sidelines. Luckily (?) the rest of the table became impatient and wanted to leave, Spanish was flung abruptly back and forth, and in the end the whole group packed up and left. But, not without the threat of a saved dance next time we see each other. I just hope it's on a crowded floor with no one watching.
Tuesday, 3/28/06
Woke up early, (10:30a) brain racing ahead with all the things I need to take care of, feeling the pressure of leaving this beloved city in just a few days. Got my plane tickets, answered email, etc.
Had dinner at Laurel & Malcolm's with Amy and Jerry, then we caught cabs over to Practica X. Walked in and realized I knew no one. Had some not so great dances at the beginning, and some really fantastic ones at the end.
Arrived at Porteño y Bailarin around 2p, had great dances, and was beginning to feel ready to go home at around 3:30a when another of my favorite leads walked in, so had to stay, of course.
Kept thinking I was ready to go, but then it got better and better the later it got. Closed out the night with one of my best connections, and as I walked back to the table one of the big wigs stopped me to say that he had wanted to dance with me, but the night was over, so no dance. Next time, he said. I've been here for a month, had amazing dances and connections, and suddenly, in my last few days, I'm being noticed by a whole new strata.
Home by 6a.
Wednesday, 3/29/06
Had a breakfast meeting with Raquel from Comme il Faut this morning, and it's finally official. I'm the newest US distributor of the fabulous brand of Comme il Faut shoes. I'm so excited!
Started off my second to the last evening here with Amy and Mic at El Pulpo's practica. Once again, not many people. Had one nuevo dance with a leader I've dance with a bit before. Strangely, when a traditional song came on, he said that he had to stop because he didn't know how to dance to milonga. I was incredulous, especially because it wasn't a milonga. I've begun automatically blaming bizarre behavior on drugs. Of course, I have no idea if this particular man uses drugs, but it's surprising the amount of strange things that can be justified by this excuse.
Had a fun run with one of my best leaders, then sat for the rest of the practica, there were so few dancers. Amy and I walked to the general area of La National, stopping at a greasy spoon to eat first. It's funny how a greasy spoon is a greasy spoon anywhere.
Went to La National and La Viruta, danced with my regulars, and began saying my goodbyes. Caught a cab home at around 5a.
Thursday, 3/30/06
Nearly perfect last day:
Met up with Amy at Comme il Faut to pick up the last of the shoe orders and drop off a check, then had dinner at La Cholita, my last dinner, so to speak. I meant to go to the only swing dance in BA, but got a late start and ended up going straight to Villa Malcolm. Thursdays have been kind of dead there lately.
After, Amy and I tried walking to the swing venue, which was supposedly about 10 blocks away. When we got to where the dance should have been we found the address didn't exist, so gave up and caught a cab to Niiño Bien.
Had bittersweet dances at NB, while keeping an eye out for friends I wanted to say goodbye to. I am sad, but not too much, because I know I'll be back as soon as I can, so the goodbye is just hasta and not adios. Left for home at around 5a with my notebook full of phone numbers, emails, notes, and other connections to the many new friends and old friends renewed.
I'm already planning my next trip.
I lost my camera the day before leaving for Argentina, so all pictures used in this journal are courtesy of my most generous friends.
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