Angela's tango journey

Welcome back, tango mojo

2009-12-27T00:29:00.000-08:00

Well, it looks like my tango mojo came home. :) Not sure where it wandered off to, or why it left -- it wouldn't tell me -- I am just happy that it found its way home. And very timely, too, as I have less than 72 hours left in this amazing city!

It's hard to believe, but December, and my trip to Buenos Aires, are both drawing to a close. Time really flew by! I am really happy that I stayed in a shared house this time instead of a hostel. I got to meet many wonderful people from all over the world, have great conversations in both English and Spanish, and share delicious meals and go to milongas together with my housemates and other visitors. There is also a fantastic dance studio in the house where I could practice with my dance partners. And the best part was there was a big kitchen with industrial-sized range/oven, where I could cook myself and my friends delicious meals. I ate so well on this trip, 10 times better than on my last trip, when I only had access to a fridge, a microwave, and agua caliente when it pleased the night watchman to boil me some. One consequence is that I gained back the 10 pounds that I lost on my last trip and managed to keep off in the intervening 3 months, but I have got to think that most of what I am eating is healthy and good for my body, at least. ;)

Everything here tastes so delicious. There is a wonderful produce shop, a hole in the wall really, right next to my house, that sells really high quality fruits and vegetables (for no small price compared to elsewhere). The tomatoes, the arugula, the spinach, the peppers, the mushroom, the peaches, the apples, the grapes, the melons, everything I tried was absolutely delicious. Everything had such a fresh and distinctive taste. I lived all these years of my life not understanding why anyone actually liked to salad, as opposed to eating it as an obligation -- for the first time in my life, I can now conceiving calling myself a fan of salad. I made myself one with arugula, red bell pepper, and tomato tonight, topped off with a simple olive oil-based vinagrette dressing, and it was simply divine. I never thought I would ever use a word like divine to describe salads, but this was no exaggeration! I guess you have to experience the best in the world to be converted into a fan sometimes -- like how falling in love with Dunkleshefeweizen (dark wheat beer) in southern Germany converted me into a beer drinker whereas I had detested beer up until then; thereafter I have found many lagers and amber ales, in addition to the various weissbiers, that I enjoy drinking. I suppose this means that I will now go home and hit the farmers markets and experiment with various salads now!

Oh, and the fruits, wow! In the U.S., fruits don't have very distinctive tastes from each other. Mostly they differ in texture, but apples, peaches, nectarines, some pears, grapes, and even strawberries and rasperries don't taste so different from each other -- they all basically taste sugary (or maybe not even) and vaguely fruity, but not really so distinct. Try squeezing some fruit juices sometime and blind-taste them afterwards, it's ridiculously hard to tell them apart sometimes. I even remember getting blackberries from Pathmark in New Jersey once that tasted very strongly of chemicals (and nothing else) -- it was absolutely foul. But here, in BsAs, you can really taste each and every fruit. I normally don't like apples, and I devoured the ones I bought here. The honeydew melons taste nothing like the ones we are used to in the U.S. The grapes have this rich, fragrant, complex taste that reminds me of the best grapes I had as a child in the China. The peaches are so juicy and sweet that I have to close my eyes when I bite into them.

Even the yogurt is absolutely phenomenal, and nothing like anything we have in the U.S. I remember the yogurts in Europe -- especially France and Greece, but even in the UK and Germany, which are not known for culinary delights -- being so much tastier than the ones in the U.S. But here in BsAs, I have absolutely fallen in love with this one brand of yogurt, that I literally savor every tiny little molecule of. I take this tiny spoon, so as to make the experience last as long as possible, and scrape it ever so lightly across the surface of this little cup of yogurt, and I close my eyes and touch it to my tongue and just let it melt and take in the flavor. It is out of this world, really! Activia with fiber, that's my favorite. We even have it in the U.S., the same brand, but it's a completely different product. It's strange that they can be the same brand and have utterly different tastes and textures. I want to take this yogurt back to the U.S. and grow my own colony in my own milk, except I don't think I'd ever be able to find milk in the U.S. like what they have here. Oh, right, the milk. I don't normally drink much milk, instead preferring soy milk. In fact, I have been somewhat averse to milk since a little child, as my family always forced me to drink milk everyday while I was growing up. Even now, my mom asks me if I am drinking milk in the mornings when we talk on the phone. :P Well, she would be delighted to know that here in BsAs, I drink milk several times a day, I simply pour myself a cup and warm it up in the microwave and drink it with a wide smile on my face. And when I go to cafes and ask for tea con leche, I polish off the tea first, and then drink the foamy warmy milk afterwards as a dessert drink of a sort. :)

Ahh, another thing that I have really fallen in love with is Argentine butter. I used to eat toasted bread with marmite and olive oil spread/butter in London when I lived there, and that made a fine combination. In the U.S., I could not find any spread/butter I liked so I also stopped eating marmite. Here in BsAs, I bought some random butter on the first day and nearly forgot about it. Then one day, I took it out to spread on some bread, and I was stunned! Wow, really?! This is butter?! It is sooooooo delicious. I remember I came home from milonga late one night and felt this craving for bread and better, and I sat down at 6 AM and polished off half a loaf of bread with just butter, and would have eaten more if there was more bread. I even tried eating butter just on its own when I found myself with no more bread, but decided that it was just a tad too rich after all. :P I want to bring this butter back to the U.S. I don't know how. I think customs would confiscate it, and even if they don't find it, it would probably melt in my suitcase. Well, I'm going to try anyway, it's soooo good, I just can't find it anywhere in the U.S.!

Something else I have fallen in love with is mate cocido (boiled mate in a teabag) with milk and a touch of sugar. Yes, it's a triple blasphemy: teabag instead of loose leaves, sugar instead of straight, and milk (a la inglaterra, mas o menos)! I got used to drinking tea with milk in England, and then started drinking jasmine green tea with milk after I had hot green bubble tea in California (adding milk to green tea is pretty blasphemous in Chinese culture in general; bubble tea is a Taiwanese/Hong Kong invention). One day I was in a cafe and in the menu it said: cafe, te, mate cocido $6 (con leche $9). Until I saw that menu item, I never thought of adding milk to mate. I tried it that day, and it was fabulous! Today, I tried it again in a different cafe, after getting a surprised stare from the waiter. Afterwards, I went to the nearest supermarket and bought three boxes of 50 mate tea bags each. I am looking forward to lots of mate cocido con leche back home -- no more nasty coffee (which I can't drink) when I need to pull an all-nighter, I look forward to smoothing over those late-night paper/grant-writing sessions with some lovely mate infusion. :)

Of course there are also the steak, the prosciutto, the chorizo, the wine, and this creamy white cheese that goes very well with a jello-y dessert made of sweet potato (the savory creaminess and the creamy sweetness complement each other fabulously; as one American friend put it, it's like a gorgeous kiss, no, two layered delicious kisses that you have to savor in your mouth with your eyes closed). I could write about them all night with endless enthusiasm.

Well, all this talking about food and drinks just made me want to run to the kitchen and prepare myself something, and perhaps gave my readers the same urge, too! Now you all understand why I've been gaining weight here in BsAs. I tell myself that when I go back, I will not get to experience any of this amazing foods anymore, so I should make the most of it now and not hold back. Right? Right?!

Something's wrong...

2009-12-26T00:48:00.000-08:00

Something's wrong.

I took a break from tango the last three days. The first two because I woke up feeling incredibly tired and the sense of fatigue stayed with me all day. In part because I thought perhaps the fatigue heralded flu-like illness (which I already caught three times earlier this year, including on my last trip to BsAs, which plagued me for a good 14 days out of the 20 I was here) and I thought I better let myself rest, and in part because I knew I would not be dancing well and enjoying tango anyway. The third day was Christmas eve, there were not many milongas open, and most tangueros had plans to attend parties -- I myself went to a house party and enjoyed meeting people from all over the world and having non-tango conversations.

Today, therefore, was the first time I went to a milonga in more than three days. I had eagerly looked forward to it -- the mysterious fatigue was gone, several friends said they were going, I missed my favorite leaders... But when I got there, and started dancing, it felt all wrong with the first leader! Then it felt all wrong again with a second leader! Then a third! Then a fourth! I was horrified. I couldn't get into the music, I couldn't get into the connection, I couldn't get into the movement, I couldn't get into the dancing. At 3 AM, 1.5 hour from the end of milonga (never mind the later milonga at La Viruta that I normally go to on Friday nights), I changed my shoes and left in disgust, and with a deep sense of unease.

I've talked to people who told me that they were undergoing or had undergone periods of burn-out with tango, where they didn't feel like dancing for days, weeks, months, or even years. It always puzzled me. Yes, sometimes, I go to milongas and then none of the songs make me feel like dancing, even the ones that I normally like, especially when I had been dancing everyday for a while. But I have never felt really "burned out"... until tonight, that is. Is this what burn-out feels like?! I took a three-day break, and I still couldn't find any enjoyment in the dancing. What makes it even more puzzling is that I really danced well and enjoyed myself at the last few milongas I went to before the three-day break; there was no hint that something would suddenly go awry.

Now, admittedly, I have never danced as many days consecutively as I did this time, which was ten days. Last time in BsAs, I got very sick, and had to take many days off. If this is burn-out, what and how long is it going to take for me to find my tango mojo again?? I am more than a little horrified. I was just on the verge of making plans to go to a few tango festivals in the new year, and now I'm suddenly feeling like maybe that's not such a good idea!

Well, I sincerely hope that this was just a one-off bad night! Maybe it was the floor, maybe it was the onda, maybe it was my shoes... I am looking forward to getting my tango mojo back!

Todo en Espanol

2009-12-22T23:22:00.001-08:00

One side effect of surfing the web from Argentina is that many websites automatically detect the country of origin, and give me a Spanish interface, like blogger.com, for instance . :) Some airlines also do this. If one's not too versed in the language of a country, it could take a while to figure out how to change the interface back to English. With one site, I never managed at all, it seems to not only change the language to Spanish, which I can handle, but in fact maintain separate accounts and databases for different countries, so I cannot log into my account at all!

For me, there seems be a magical threshold of ten days of immersion -- after which I seem to suddenly gain a whole level of fluency in Castellano. Not that I can understand everything that is said, or is even said to me, but this constant feeling of perplexity and incomprehension is gone. I feel more comfortable and confident, and start to be able to hold entire conversations with natives (okay, alcohol helps with this, too). This ten-day threshold does not seem to depend on my level of fluency in the language. It took ten days on my last trip, too, when I knew much less Spanish vocabulary and grammar than I do now. I wonder if I were to stay here longer-term, whether I would hit another magical threshold at some point, and then suddenly feel like I can entirely be myself again, in the sense that I can hold "normal" social discourse that is representative of how I normally think and interact with people. Right now, my social discourse and my social persona are both constrained by what I can understand and express. I will definitely work harder at practicing conversational Spanish when I get back to San Diego this time!

I am a night owl by nature, and the Argentine lifestyle really suits me. I realized at 10:30 PM tonight that I lost the only pen that I brought to BsAs (yikes) and I could not do any work unless I got a pen. I walked out onto the street, wondering where I could procure a pen at this late hour (I vaguely thought of darting into a restaurant or bar and stealing a pen near their cash register). But three blocks from my house, I found a corner store that was still open and doing brisk business selling miscellaneous items, including pens. I love the night-shifted Argentine schedule. :)

I am really enjoying myself on this trip. I only wish I could stay here longer, say 3 months instead of 18 days! I am building a fine collection of excellent leaders to dance with at milongas, and wonderful chicos y chicas to hang out with both inside and outside milongas. My Spanish is progressing happily, and I am gradually getting to know my neighborhood (Almagro) better. Today was the first day that I did not go dancing at all (hence I have the time to blog :) ), as I felt a certain fatigue when I woke up that potentially heralded a bad cold/flu coming my way. I already fell extremely sick three times in the last six months, I definitely don't want to get sick again! So today has just been a lot of hot fluid, bed rest, and web surfing. Hopefully tomorrow I will be back to 100% again!

It makes me sad that many people are leaving one by one, it seems every day there is some kind of a farewell. People are going back to their home countries for Christmas, or back to their families in the provinces or other cities in Argentina. New people should be arriving as well, since it's now peak season for Americans to take vacations, but I have met very few American tangueros on vacation here for just the winter holidays. I think maybe this is reflecting on the economic situation in the U.S. There are Americans here who are living here indefinitely (scraping by a living or just living off of their savings; if you are really careful with your expenses, you can probably get by with under $800 a month; and if you always cook and take the bus, and go to mainly cheap and free milongas, and take only group lessons, then you might be able to get by with $600). It's actually incredible how many foreigners there are here who seem to be without steady employment nor any long-term career plans. They love tango, they go out to dance every night, they dream of maybe one day making a living off of tango. In the meantime, they are not worrying about the distant future, they just want to enjoy life one night at a time, one dance at a time. It's a very interesting lifestyle/onda.

I am learning so much about tango technique down here on this trip. I took a series of intensive private classes at DNI my first week here, and since then I've been trying to digest and incorporate and consolidate everything I was being taught. I feel like every BsAs trip takes my dancing to the next level, it's a great feeling. For next time, though, whenever that might be, I think I will try a different school/teacher. I really liked DNI, they have taught me *so* much, and it was good to have one consistent set of instructions (from 5 different teachers, but all the same school of thought), one consistent way of thinking, in order to really understand and internalize tango in this particular way. But there are many aspects to tango, many different styles, and many different ways of thinking about it, feeling it, teaching it. I think next time I will be ready to add something else to my dancing.

I have now gotten feedback from a couple of different leaders (from the U.S.) on the two different sets of following techniques that I can enact. One, which I call "American", is what I remember myself mainly using before my first trip to Argentina, and the other, which I call "Argentine", is how I have been learning to dance since then. The key difference is the use of hips. On the whole, leaders feel that the "Argentine" technique is more dynamic, exciting, musical, but at least one leader has noted that "American" technique has a "yummier" embrace. Right now, I am still trying to perfect the "Argentine" technique that I have been learning. Once that is properly internalized and stored away in my muscle memory, I want to work on fusing the best of the two worlds: exploiting the dynamism and stability of the Argentine technique while retaining the intimacy and tenderness of the American embrace. I have never danced with Cecilia Garcia, so I don't know what it feels like as a leader, but watching her, it definitely looks like it is possible to fuse those two seemingly orthogonal concepts!

Hips, hips, hips

2009-12-17T22:28:00.000-08:00

Besides dancing all night every night, I have been taking privates every day at DNI. Well, half of them are privates, and half are "practicas", but I get very similar sort of feedback from both, and the prices seem similar too, so I'm not sure there are really big differences between the two. We have been working a lot on weight shifting, posture, pivoting, and hips, hips, hips. And more hips. ;) It seems there's always more to it whenever I think I've got it. Still working on my boleos after all this time, there's always still room for improvement.

I have now heard various people say they don't like DNI's "style" of dancing. Personally, I find the DNI teaching method to be extremely helpful with technique. I am not there to learn any particular style, style is something you develop yourself as a dancer. I am there to learn the technique, and they have an excellent way of thinking and explaining things, that make the dance much more connected, dynamic, grounded, nuanced, and open to new possibilities. Even leaders who profess a certain indifference to DNI really appreciate the way I am dancing, which is incorporating gradually all that technique from DNI.

BsAs, v2

2009-12-15T23:52:00.000-08:00

The benefit of having a layover is that you get an extra chance to meet an interesting person. In my case, I met two very interesting people on the two plane rides that got me to Buenos Aires. On the first flight to Houston, I sat next to an English composition professor from one of San Diego's local colleges, who breeds and trains border collie shepherd dogs, and who also maintains a large flock of sheep herself for training her own and other people's border collies. Among other things, she has written a book on border collies and is busy planning a second. As soon as she retires, she plans to buy a big ranch up in Montana and devote herself full-time to her sheep and dogs. Besides being a fascinating conversation partner, she also made my day by initially mistaking me to be of the age of her college freshmen students. Yeah, 19! I get mistaken for being in my early 20's all the time, but in the teen's it hasn't happened for a while. Back in 2004 and 2005, I got mistaken for being under 16 twice (once in England and once in New Jersey). And lest you think this is because I'm ethnically Chinese and white people can't tell Chinese people's age, I visited China back in 1997 as a college sophomore, and one of my dad's old friends mistook me for being in elementary school (12 at most, he thought :P).

On my second flight from Houston to BsAs, I sat next to a software engineering who just quit his latest unpleasant gig, and is going down to the Patagonia region of Argentina for a two-month vacation (his third long vacation in that region in a row -- he even owns a car down there to get himself around). His passion is fly-fishing, and apparently Patagonia and New Zealand have the best fly-fishing in the world. I asked him to explain to me why he finds fly-fishing so exciting... I must admit, I still don't quite understand the thrill of it. But hey, different people are passionate about different things. I, and most of my friends, are obviously into tango, but here I just met two individuals who are passionate about border collies and fly-fishing every bit as much as we are about tango.

When I landed in BsAs, I remembered just why I wanted to come back to this place. Over the intervening time I had forgotten just what drew me back, but once I set my foot in the city, I remembered. It's the buildings, the trees, the shops, the people, the onda. And yes, of course, there is tango, too! But it is the whole life in the city, not only tango, that holds this magnetic attraction for me. Everyone here seems to be complaining all the time about the city, the portenos, and yet people find they cannot leave and end up settling down here.

The first one or two milongas I went to were awful. They were both big events, where people only seemed to want to dance with people they already know and like dancing with. Many of the people I met from my last trip have already left the city, and those who remain are not dancing as much. It's almost like starting anew again. I still managed to find a couple of great dances in the first few days, but by now, the fifth night, I am really starting to feel the groove again -- collecting a set of favorite leaders. I still have 12 nights left. I was thinking about going down to Patagonia for a few days, but I think I might not after all, if tango continues to go well.

Tonight, after the late-night milonga at La Viruta, a new tango friend introduced me to a pastry shop with fresh medialunas (Argentine croissants). In fact, the shop is not open yet at 5 in the morning, but you can informally order from the pastry chefs through this high window in the kitchen, and they come around through a backdoor a few minutes later to deliver hot and freshly baked goodies to you! I had three delicious medialunas after the milonga today, and can't wait to go back there again after the next milonga at La Viruta (which could well be tomorrow!).

I love Buenos Aires. The only thing I don't like about it is the air pollution. The older buses emit plumes of black air when they start and go. But besides the air quality, I really enjoy every aspect of life here. I love the shared house where I'm staying. I can cook myself and my friends nice meals. I get to chat with my housemates and their friends about all different sorts of things. I get to practice Spanish with those housemates who don't speak English. I just wish that I could stay here longer! 18 days are too short!

The secrets to being a better follower

2009-10-06T14:35:00.000-07:00

Since working on the various aspects of tango technique after my privates at DNI, I have gotten some feedback from various tangueros, all positive (well, I guess there is a selection bias, as leaders are not likely to volunteer negative comments... :P ). These range from "lighter", "more relaxed", "better musicality", "more balanced", "better connection", "more passion", "something of the Buenos Aires onda", to "wow!" I am amused, because I have not specifically worked on any of those things. I have worked on pure technique, at a very biomechanical level. Better technique has perhaps resulted in all those surface, observable qualities. But had I tried to work specifically on those superficial aspects individually, I would probably get them all wrong! In fact, I had tried to work on those things before, and gotten frustrated. What I learned from DNI were things I had never even heard of from anyone else (though I suspect Villa Urquiza teach similar techniques, but I have never taken a class from anyone from that school of dancing). So today I want to share with everyone the major technical elements that I have been working on, inspired by my privates at DNI, and which I believe that really make a difference.

Hips
I mentioned hips before, but let me be more specific about this. The most important thing about hips is to have what DNI calls the "basic hip", the one connected to the leg that has your weight on, to be exactly over that foot -- not for a brief instant as you pass through your axis as you're walking on the street (so that your weight is shared between your legs the majority of the time), but for as long as possible. That means getting that hip in the right place as soon as it is time to transfer weight, and keep it there until the next transfer of weight. This will make you more balanced, more ready to follow anything the leader wants, and feel lighter to your leader. Related to this, you should have your "free hip", the one without weight on it, outside your axis. Your axis is not your whole body, not both of your legs or both hips, but rather one line through your standing leg, basic hip, and your chest. The free hip should always be ready to pivot around that axis. This makes your boleos bigger, more connected, all the pivoting smoother and more balanced, and again make you feel lighter to the leader in a rotational sense.

Another important thing about hips is that your "basic hip" should always be away from your leader, while your chest should be toward your leader. This means different things in different positions and movements, as your body's orientation relative to the leader can constantly change (face to face, sideways, front to back, off-axis), especially in more open embraces. Related to this is that you should really pay attention to your abdominal muscles. When they are relaxed, your core is weak and your axis is "broken" at the waist. When they are contracted, your core is strong and you move more like a "rigid body" as in physics, but it doesn't feel "rigid" literally to the leader, just light and connected. If it's too hard to think about contracting specific abdominal muscles, then as a heuristic, you could think about sucking in your abdominal muscls so that the part of your tummy closest to your leader is as far away as possible (so in a frontal position, it's like "sucking your tummy toward your back", but of course it's in a slightly different direction as your orientation relative to the leader changes). One helpful thing to think about it is that your body should trace two circles around the leader (actually not the whole leader, but the axis of your leader, so try to pay close attention to where his axis is at all times), a smaller one with your chest, and a larger one with your "basic hip". This makes you feel more connected to the leader, while giving your "free hip" the possibility of rotating quite freely. This is also what makes Villa Urquiza style of dancing so sensual and beautiful. It is definitely related to the idea of your "basic hip" (and only your basic hip) being exactly on the axis, but in addition it makes dancing in closer embrace feel more connected while freeing your hips to do whatever beautiful figures or embellishments. But in fact, even in more open embrace, the same concept makes the movement more sensual, connected, balanced, beautiful, though it is harder to discern visually (while the "leaning" and the hips being away from the leader are visually very extreme and obvious in Villa Urquiza close-embrace style). Beautiful, balanced shared-axis turns and colgadas are just the more exaggerated and visually stunning examples of applications of these hip techniques.

Dana Frigoli, Cecilia Garcia, and Geraldine Rojas are all excellent examples of these hip techniques, though they range drastically in terms of style and openness of embrace in their typical dancing.

ETA: It would not be fair to exclude Eugenia Parilla from the list. She has extraordinary hip movements as well.

Back, shoulders, arms, hands, fingers, pinkies
Broken down, there seem to be a lot of different things to think about. But there are two main concepts. One is that your back, shoulders, arms, and hands are extensions of the smaller circle (the one involving the chest mentioned above) that you trace around the axis of your leader. And so they have to do whatever they have to do (contract certain muscles, extend others) to maintain that circle as you dance through different movements and relative orientations. That means leaving your chest muscles not completely open and relaxed, bending your elbows so that they don't flop out, closing your hands and finger tips in such a way that complete the circle, etc.

The second concept is really a special case of the first, but since it is so important, it deserves a separate mention. And that is how your right hand (and fingers, down to the pinky fingertip) should be connected to your arm, and through your shoulder, to the right side of your ribs, and from there, to your chest and your back. This is really important as the leaders can use that side of the embrace to lead many figures in tango, especially in salon and nuevo, but also improve the connection in milonguero style, and they need to feel that that side of your body is completely engaged, so that they have direct access to your body, so to speak, as they do on the close side of the embrace -- where they are physically much closer to your axis, your chest, your back, etc. You need to engage the open side so that to the leader they should feel like they have just as much leverage on that side as on the other. I think this aspect is relatively neglected in tango teaching in the U.S. Whereas in Buenos Aires, it was emphasized to me not just at DNI, but also by other excellent dancers and teachers like Cecilia Garcia and Mariana Dragone.

Heels
The first point of contact when you take a step, and the last point of contact when you move away from a foot, should always be the heel. If you just concentrate on this basic element, you will find your knees bending naturally when you should (e.g. walking forward), feel more balanced and grounded and allowing your "basic hip" to stay on axis the maximal amount of time. Your leader will feel like you're more connected. And you will also have more control over the size and quality of your steps, so that you can leverage this control to express more musicality.

Breathing
This is hard to do in practice, especially if leaders are not aware of the concept. But in general the idea is that you should breath together with your leader, in particular breathing out when you are releasing energy as in a rotational boleo, breathing in when you want to create upward energy, as in a linear boleo, and holding your breath when you want to sustain horizontal motion (corridas in linear motion, colgadas in rotational motion). If you're both using the concept, then you can together have very fine control in terms of creating, accelerating, and stopping both linear and rotational motion as a couple, changing direction of motion, creating different figures of boleos, volcadas, and colgadas together. And yes, it facilitates any kind of lift or jump as well.

Okay, those are the technical insights that I personally feel I have gleaned from my time in Buenos Aires. I welcome all of your comments, feedback, and questions! :)

Housing in Buenos Aires

2009-10-04T21:55:00.000-07:00

Since I have sunk hours and hours of research into budget housing options in BsAs, both for my last trip and the coming one in December, I thought that I would share with everyone what I found.

Hotels:
If you want a regular hotel, hotels.com and expedia.com have ample options, expect to pay $50-90/night for a decent 3-star hotel in any desirable area, more in the high season (Nov-Feb).

Hostels:
www.hostelworld.com has quite a comprehensive listing of hostels throughout the world, including BsAs. This includes independent hostels as well as HI ones. Most of them have dorm rooms (for 2, 4, 6, 8, or even more in a room!), but some also have private rooms, even private rooms with bath. For my last trip, I stayed in one, Hostel Soho (Palermo), that was $18/night for an ensuite single, with free wireless, TV in room, breakfast, and friendly/helpful staff. It was also in Palermo Soho, 1-5 blocks walk to any of the best milongas. I got to meet people from all over the world (New Zealand, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Chile, Uruguay, U.S., and Argentina), and also got to learn/practice Castellano with the staff. One draw-back: no kitchen use, though you can borrow their fridge & microwave.

Room share:
Craigslist has ample listings of rooms in shared houses, with students/professionals/artists/musicians. Term of lease ranges. Expect to pay $300-450/month for a room in Palermo, a little less in nearby Almagro or Villa Crespo. Besides individual listings, several roommate services also post periodic ads on Craigslist, e.g. baflatmate.com, nohomelessargentina.com .
There are also several "tango houses" in BsAs, where rooms have varying rates by the day, week, or month; these cater especially to tango travelers, so you can expect to meet like-minded international dancers, but beware your social life will likely revolve around tango. On average, expect to pay $100-200/week for a room (with or without bathroom), depending on location, size, AC or not, number of people in the room, and the owner's whim. I personally chose the tango house option for December ($144/wk queen bed with private bath, AC, internet, common kitchen, and tango practice room).

Apartments:
There are dozens of new apartments listed on Craigslist for Palermo everyday. Most of these are exorbitantly expensive, as agencies have discovered that American and European tourists are willing to shell out big bucks for nice-looking apts/flats in Palermo -- many of these are also owned by Americans/Europeans, who leave them to the agencies to manage. These units can go anywhere from $650-1200/month, or $350-700/week. Very occasionally, you get an owner advertising directly on Craigslist; these are usually more modest in size & decoration, but totally adequate, and they go for $550-900/month, or $250-500/week. Options in neighbor Almagro and Villa Crespo are 5-15% cheaper, but also many fewer in choice.

If you can read and, even better, correspond in Spanish, you have many more (and cheaper) options than Craigslist. A quick google search will bring up quite a few centralized listings of temporary apt rentals. Among my favorites are www.argenprop.com, www.enbuenosaires.com.ar, www.mercadolibre.com.ar, www.pamplatina.com/wp
Here, you can find studio units and small 1Br's in Palermo, Almagro, and Villa Crespo for $450-800/month, $200-400/week. Note that only about 5-10% of all my email queries got any reply at all. They all have numbers as well, so if you are confident enough to hold a phone conversation in Spanish, then that's probably your best bet for a fast answer.

The best option for temporary housing is if you know someone from the tango world that can rent out their apt to you. Obviously if you don't know anyone there then this is moot, but if you do know some people, whether they are Argentine or not, definitely ask them if they know anyone who have rooms/apts to rent out. Many people travel frequently, and here you not only have the best rates but also the best bet for smooth financial transactions. If you are really lucky, you might be able to find a studio for $400/month. But you are doing well if you find anything for less than $600 a month, or $250 a week.

Well, if you are staying longer term (at least three months), then you have many more and better options for housing. All those Argentine housing websites also have longer-term rentals, and here you can get great deals, 1300-2000 pesos/month, or $340-520/month. They ask for financial guarantees, which are difficult to produce for foreigners, but you can always pay them the whole sum up front! I haven't heard of anyone refusing that yet. ;)

Buena suarte! Good luck!

Hips

2009-09-21T00:43:00.000-07:00

I meant to use this blog to document my adventures in Bs.As., but as the trip continues to have ramifications rippling through my life, I will continue to document these additional happenings.

I am more excited about tango than I have been in a long time. Thanks to the wonderful dances and inspiring dancers in Bs.As., and especially to DNI, who gave me so much food for thought. Tango feels like a completely different dance to me right now. In particular, the use of hips. After my lessons at DNI, I realized what all my favorite followers, Dana Frigoli, Geraldine Rojas, and Cecilia Garcia, have in common is their hips. They have very different styles, but it is the same underlying use of hips that make them outstanding dancers. I had tried to use my hips before, but I never understood exactly the mechanics of how it works for tango (I had learned to use my hips for Latin ballroom and salsa) until my classes at DNI. Somewhat counter-intuitively, the use of hips actually frees up the free hip tremendously and allows beautiful pivoting, boleos, and embellishments.

In addition to hips, I'm also working on connection, especially on my right side. DNI made me realize that I had danced with my right side completely disengaged before. After the first serious night of dancing with an emphasis on this right side, though, I find myself with a very sore right shoulder and arm. I don't know if I tried too hard, or if this side had just been so much in disuse for so long, that all the muscles have atrophied. :P

I'm also working on using my heels more, for walking forwards and back, and also for pivoting.

Tango feels a totally new dance to me right now, with whole new unexplored dimensions. Dancing with many of the leaders that I used to dance with before Bs.As. now feels like a totally different experience, too. Often better. Richer, more interesting. I cannot wait to go back to a milonga and try out a little more! :)

Day 19 in Bs.As.

2009-09-16T23:11:00.000-07:00

My last day in Buenos Aires was short and hectic. As soon as I jumped out of bed, I had to pack up all my belongings. Three weeks of leisurely living, plus many souvenirs, meant that packing took a while, with much time spent on stuffing everything into my two suitcases. And in the meantime, I had way over-stayed the typical check-out time of 11 AM. But the staff were very nice and put no extra pressure on me -- I did ask the previous evening whether I can check out late (4 hours late!).

Then I had to run off to my private classes at DNI, to which I was once again late. :( I worked so hard at these classes, and I really tried to listen as carefully as possible, and gave my very best. But it was impossible to remember everything they said -- about my shoulders, my elbows, my hands, my fingers (down to the pinkie tip!), my chest, my hips, my knees, my heels, even my breathing! I concentrated the hardest on the hips and the chest, which were the hardest, and even though I could get neither right, I was totally forgetting about everything else! Argh! And with so much to think about, and a totally different way to approach dancing, I've been finding it impossible to just walk, or pivot, or shift weight while dancing! It's like I forgot how to move, having seen the error of my old ways and not yet fully enlightened to the new way. It was terribly confusing and frustrating to dance at the milongas, as I am sure it was for the leaders too. There were leaders that I could dance really well with before, and now suddenly nothing was working right anymore. I was exploring so much with ways of moving, that no one dance was like any other. The lessons totally upended my old way of dancing, and it will take time before things settle down again. I do believe, though, that one day, if I should be able to absorb and consolidate everything that I was supposed to have learned in the classes in Bs.As., that I will become a much, much better dancer, rising to a whole different level.

After the lessons, I rushed back to the hostel to finish stuffing a last few items into the suitcases, grab a bite to eat, and order a taxi. Amidst all the rush, I had no time to stop and think about this being my last day. But it did occur to me, as I rushed around the city, that the air pollution here is terrible. After running around outside all day, I feel this dirty dryness in my throat, like I've smoked a pack of cigarette (not that I smoke, but I can imagine what it's like having danced close-embraced with a few chain-smokers, eeewww indeed). Also, Buenos Aires drivers are pretty wild. Cars weave in and out of lanes on the wider avenues without warning, and there are no clear lanes at all on the smaller streets. At least they don't drive on the sidewalk as they do in China! And they also (mostly) stop for red lights and (sometimes) give pedestrians the right of way upon turning, unlike in China.

Finally, with everything in place, I was ready to go. I bid the hostel staff goodbye and set off for the airport. As the taxi started to pull away from the hostel, I felt a wave of sadness overcome me. Can it be, after 3 weeks of ill health and bad weather, many days a haze of restless exhaustion, and nights of cough-interrupted insomnia, that I have, nevertheless, fallen in love with Buenos Aires, this roughly hewn jewel of a city? Perhaps the effectively shortened experience of my stay, concentrated on a few precious days of external and internal wellness, accentuated the delight of those delightful moments, and made me hunger for much more. Or perhaps it is because I have actually discovered some personal connections, both inside and outside tango, that have turned a foreign sojurn from what is usually a solitary experience into a shared sense of community. Whatever it is, I am feeling much buoyed by the prospect of returning again for Christmas break, to the sweltering heat and humidity that is Buenos Aires' summer. I cannot wait!

Day 18 in Buenoes Aires

2009-09-15T01:24:00.000-07:00

I am quickly running out of time to do everything I wanted to do in Buenos Aires. Today, I went to the Jardin Japones in north Palermo. It's a beautiful little garden, with a cultural center in the back including a sushi restaurant, and a nursery behind that sold bon sai and other potted plants that you can take home. It had to be a very quick walk, though, as I was late for my DNI private class with Cristian. I thought we would be half an hour behind schedule as everything else had been in Argentina, including my last lesson, but no, it turns out that I was expected on the dot. Oops! I will have the remaining half tomorrow, along with my practice with Maxi. It was a good class, I managed to understand and absorb a little bit more than the first lesson with Dana (being awake helped!), but it is such a different way of thinking about movement, that I feel like it is nearly impossible to do anything now, whether walking, pivoting, or even shifting weight! I am in that no-man's land, stuck between not being able to realize the new way of moving and yet unable to return to the old ways. It is like Eve after the apple, not yet having attained full enlightenment and yet past the age of innocence. :P

The style of movement taught at DNI, and epitomized by Dana & Pablo's dancing, is empowering, dynamic, liberating, and innovative, yet also deeply rooted in the foundations of tango. The latter may not be obvious at first, but after my lessons I am beginning to understand the Villa Urquiza style of dancing, how the women are able to lean so much and yet embellish and pivot so beautifully. See, for instance, the elegant Geraldine Rojas. The DNI dancers might have a different way of explaining it, and even a different way of utilizing the basics to create movement phrases, but the fundamental techniques are the same.

I am going through a rather serious bout of growing pains right now, but I have no doubt that once I internalize all the lessons, I will become a much better dancer in the end. I danced with quite a few old milongueros at Salon Canning tonight, and the dance felt completely different than it used to. I cannot wait for the dust to settle, and see what kind of a dancer that I become.

On a rather different note, I just want to say that I love the architecture of Buenos Aires. There are so many beautiful buildings. The grand art deco and baroque buildings in El Centro remind me of Mayfair in London or Champs Elysee in Paris. Then there are the random historical buildings sprinkled throughout the city that would not look out of place in the 5eme arrodissement in Paris. This really blows out of water the typical excuse for justifying American cities lacking heritage and character: that the U.S. is a new world country that has been built only very recently. How to explain the city of Buenos Aires, then, which is younger than NYC and SF, yet feels as rich in heritage and character as any European capital?

Adios, Buenos Aires! Hasta la proxima vez! I have no doubt that I will return again soon, and hopefully next time with better weather and health. Besos.

Day 17 in BsAs

2009-09-14T01:20:00.000-07:00

I slept well last night, and managed to get up before 4 and enjoy a bit of a beautiful sunny day out. I finally made it down to the antique market at San Telmo. It was interesting walking through it, but I rather enjoyed the creative artisan arts & crafts more, which lined Independencia all the way from Plaza Dorrego up to El Centro. Luckily I brought only 200 pesos with me, and I didn't find a bank until the end of the walk, otherwise surely I would have spent more. I bought beautiful jewelry and a very beautiful little mate vessel with bombilla. It's a beautiful piece of art. I probably spent way too much on a necklace (80 pesos), even though I managed to bargain down 10 pesos. The rose-colored pendant stone with white streaks, called rodocrosita (rhodochrosite in English), is the national stone of Argentina. It is supposed to be somewhat rare, so maybe I was not terribly, terribly over-charged. At the milonga later tonight, a porteno remarked, ahh, rodocrosita, the national stone of Argentina. I was like, oh, you know! He said, yes, I only found out when I went to a touristy market. ;)

Besides arts and crafts, the very long pedestrianized Independencia, and the nearby Florida, also had many street performances. I saw no fewer than 4 orchestras (3 tango, 1 jazz), three sets of singers with accompaniment, three sets of tango dancers, and a special show at a community center that was very professionally done. I wish my Spanish was better, because the show played a lot with words and lyrics. The singing and music-making (mainly tango) were phenomenal, the dancing not so much, but the dancing obviously wasn't a main focus of the show. I enjoyed my walk very much indeed.

In the evening, after a little siesta, I went to Loca milonga, followed by La Viruta. They were both wonderful. I danced with all my favorite leaders, the floor was better than usual, my body felt great. Well, it was a little strange, because the private with Dana really changed the way that I think about the dance, about my body. My brain and my body are both very confused -- I know I am not quite doing what Dana was telling me to do, and yet I can no longer go back to the old way of dancing either. Ai-ya-ya!

In any case, it was such a joy to be able to dance while healthy and well-rested. I think it was only the second such night since I arrived. And tomorrow is my last night... This trip was far too short!

Day 16 in BsAs

2009-09-13T01:42:00.000-07:00

Que estupida! Anoche (en realidad esta manana) no podria dormir hasta 11 en la manana, y despues mi clase privada con Dana Frigoli estaba una catastrofe. Claro! Que cansada estaba yo! Y por que no podria dormir? Listo? Porque estaba nervosa que no podria dormir bien y iba a tener una mala clase! Tan estupida, no?!

And this always happens. Whenever it's really important that I'm well rested for something, the more I care about it, the less I am able to sleep. Sometimes I think deep down I have a bit of OCD, which flares up in critical moments. *sigh*

I was so tired, I wanted to cry during the lesson. I could barely stand never mind dance well. Needless to say, I did not go to a milonga tonight. I knew there would not be any fun at all no matter whom I danced with. Well, I have two more lessons at DNI on Monday & Tuesday, the last right before I take off for the airport, but with two other teachers. Hopefully they will go better!

As my time is winding down here, I am also running out of time to do some touristic sight-seeing. Hopefully I will feel well and the weather will be kind the next three days...

Day 15 in BsAs

2009-09-12T03:17:00.001-07:00

The end of my stay is fast approaching, I am very sad!

Villa Malcolm was not too busy tonight, and Canning was shockingly empty. Apparently the number of dancers steadily decreases in September and October, and doesn't peak again until December, at the start of the summer. It must be a sad experience for those who live here too, like seeing guests at your wonderful party leaving one by one, only much more drawn out...

Tomorrow I have a private with Dana. Better get to bed now!

Day 14 in BsAs

2009-09-10T23:27:00.001-07:00

Naoko was an angel today, making me a yummy dinner that reminded of what mommy made me when I was sick as a kid: rice porridge and chicken soup. :) Thank you so much, Naoko!

I didn't plan to dance tonight, but Diego sent me a text saying he was going to Club Chalmers. This being possibly my last chance to see Diego before leaving BsAs, I went anyway. Thursday at Chalmers is a new milonga, the young couples (3) hosting it are wonderful, I hope it becomes a successful venture! It was nice to have so much space to dance, a real luxury in BsAs. But they *have* to do something about the floor there. It is more appropriate for rollerskating than dancing, seriously.

Day 13 in BsAs

2009-09-10T00:51:00.001-07:00

The temperature keeps on dropping by the day, and my body is fighting off the bug, whatever it is, veeeeeeery slowly. I felt slightly better today, not really completely well, but I got so sick of staying at home and doing absolutely nothing when I'm on vacation in this exciting city, that I decided to head out anyway.

First stop was Marcelo Gutierrez (El Chino) and Mariana Dragone's class, which was awesome. I wish I had discovered it last week! Then it was followed by the practica/milonga at Tangolab. It was a rather low turn-out, perhaps more than a few dancers have been deterred by the cold and illness. It seemed like everyone was sick or at least knew plenty of people who were sick. My cough is now a lot better, and I didn't think I was infectious anymore, but I had such muscle ache and fatigue, that I couldn't really dance well or enjoy it...

I don't have too many insightful observations to make today. I just want to emphasize that the glottal stop I mentioned the other day, in place of an audible "s", is very important. At a practical level, without the glottal stop, "no' vemos" (see you later) can be understood as "no vemos" (we don't see). At a more social level, even if there is no ambiguity by skipping the glottal stop, Argentines would immediately pinpoint the speaker as an uneducated riff-raff (so I have been told). The same is true if all s's in speech are swallowed indiscriminately. So if you cannot reliably produce the glottal stop, or do not know for sure which s's are audible and which not, then it is best to pronounce them all. In the worst case, you would just sound like a Bolivian or an ignorant tourist. :)

Day 12 in BsAs

2009-09-07T22:42:00.001-07:00

So much for feeling better, I woke up this morning with the tell-tale muscle ache and wheezing cough, and I knew it would be a long day (and night) of nursing sickness again. *sigh*

But I did get to practice and learn more Spanish today, and I want to clarify/rectify some of the comments I made earlier about Castellano Argentino.

Firstly, "tu" conjugation is never used in Argentina. If someone tells you "eres linda", they are treating you like a tourist who may not know "voseo" (and probably trying to flatter you!). Normally they would've said "sos linda." :) And they love the word "lindo/a", which means something like lovely/pretty/cute. I've heard it being used to refer to a milonga, a dance, a person, a place, an ambiance, a dress, a song, you name it. But "te" is used as both direct and indirect objects, so for example "como te llamas?" -- but "vos" is used for object of preposition, such as "hablo con vos."

Secondly, I misspoke about irregular vos conjugations. Of course "ir" has a vos form and it is simply "vas", as in "a donde vas?" -- and it is irregular. Another irregular verb is "vos sos" for "ser". And I believe everything else is regular. Apparently all other conjugated forms of "vos" are identical to "tu", except for "ir" in the affirmative imperative -- it is "anda" (accent over last a) as opposed to "ve."

Thirdly, I don't know who writes all these English articles about "voseo" in Spanish-speaking countries, but I have it from (two) Uruguayans and two Chileans that "voseo" is not used in their respective countries, despite what Wikipedia and other articles claim. The Uruguayans are adamant, the Chileans say they use "tu" but conjugate it differently (linguists apparently consider their conjugation more like "vos", but they themselves consider it as a variation of "tu" conjugation).

Here is an interesting informal piece that discusses the various peculiarities of Castellano Rioplatense. It begins to explain a little the seemingly arbitrary silencing of "s." I was confused for a good while, wondering why I was hearing "s" sometimes pronounced and sometimes silent even in the same word. For example, I've heard both "no' vemo' de'pues" (see you afterwards/later) and "no' vemos" (see you), as well as "no' vemo' de'pue' mi trabajo" (see you after work), where ' denotes a silent "s." In other words, the last "s" in "vemos" and "despues" are both sometimes silent and sometimes pronounced. This seeming inconsistency confused me to no end, and it seemed that whatever pronunciation I guessed in any particular circumstance was always wrong! Well, now I begin to see that whether an "s" is pronounced doesn't depend on the word, it depends on the subsequent word/syllable! If a syllable-ending "s" is followed by another consonant in rapid speech, then it is silent. And this is also why "s" at the end of words is often pronounced (but not always), and a syllable-ending "s" preceding another word starting with a vowel is not silent (so for example, "dos horas" but "do' pesos"). Again, Castellano Riplotense is rather like French in this detail.

I have also noticed, along with the author of that informal piece, that the "s" in "misma" is not silent, which bothered me a little. But I think the reason is because this "s" is not aspirated, it sounds like "z" as in "zoo" (so this also refutes the informal piece's claim that there are no "buzzing" sounds in Spanish).

Now, the confusing thing (as though it's not confusing enough already) is that the silent "s" isn't actually really silent. I have read in numerous places that the silent "s" in Castellano Rioplatense is like "h" in English, but that is not quite right. To me, it sounds more like a glottal stop, which we also have in American English, such as in "Clinton" or "button", which have really "bastardized" pronunciations compared to British English, if you think about it. We basically pronounce them like "Clin'n" and "bu'n", omitting the o's completely, and replacing the "t" or "tt" with the glottal stop, which sounds like neither "t" nor "d" and in fact has hardly any audible sound at all, but rather consists of a complete stopping of breath, and the interruption of the sounds that come before and after. It becomes more obvious if you say the words slower. If it's hard to imagine that "estas bien" (it's fine) can be pronounced "e'ta'bien" with the same glottal stops, another good example in English is "uh-oh" -- really emphasize it and say it slowly, and you will see how you completely stop the passage of air between "uh" and "oh", and don't simply draw out the "uh" into a long "uhhhhhhhhhh" (then you sound like either a kid or a foreigner :)). There is that special silence created by the glottal stop, which is what Castellano also seems to also have in place of the silent s's.

A couple other oddities of pronunciation are "d" and "b." "d" as in "el dia" sounds like "th" in English, as in "they" ("t" sounds more like "d" in English than "t", especially as in contexts preceded by "s", such as in "stay"; it's like a "t" without aspiration, but not as "hard"-sounding as the English "d". Try contrasting "stout" and "doubt", for example). That really surprised me when I first found out. So Argentines, unlike many other foreigners who learn English as adults, should have no trouble pronouncing words like "that" and "though" and "therefore." "b" is another hard one ("p" is pronounced more like "b" than "p" in English, but not quite as hard as "b", so for example contrast "spar" and "bar"). "b" sounds like an especially harsh English "b", but there's something else going on, like a "wh" in front or something. I really cannot even make the sound. But in conversation, if you really emphasize the "b" by covering all of your lower lip (and maybe a little more) with your upper lip, even if you don't quite get the sound right, that should be sufficient. As those of us who study language/psychology/neuroscience know, linguistic communication is a combination of visual and auditory cues, and the McGurk Effect should easily prevail in these circumstances.

Argentines are a very interesting mix of Castilian politeness and Latino machismo. They don't bother with stuffy "usted", but they are quite polite and litter their speech with plenty of "buen' dia'", "buena' noches", "por favor", "permiso", "perdon", etc.

This mix of politeness and gruffiness goes beyond linguistic oddities, too. One day I was riding a bus (colectivo), and while the bus was going straight at an intersection, a van in the left lane tried to turn right, right in front of the bus. That was a really close call, involving a lot of screeching tires and cursing (luckily both escaped with nary a scratch). I was stunned to see that the van driver got out of his vehicle, stood in the middle of the intersection, and started yelling and cursing at the bus driver, as though it was the bus's fault! In the meantime, all four directions of traffic had been stopped, and the van driver simply carried on. When I relayed the story to my Argentine friends later, they said uh, this is very typical of Portenos. In this instance, I was very much reminded of Italian temperament, or perhaps certain Spaniards too (as in Almodovar's movies and also the woman played by Penelope Cruz in Vicky Christina Barcelona, Woody Allen's latest masterpiece).

Later in the same day, I was trying to catch a bus home at rush hour, and I stared in disbelief at the neat, long, single-file line (queue) at the bus stop. Somehow witnessing that earlier near-accident and subsequent theatrics rendered me incapable of comprehending how Portenos could line up so neatly for buses (and there were lines as such at almost every street corner). I mean, I have never seen such neat lines in the U.S. or anywhere else aside from the U.K., where their favorite national past-time is The Queque (they happily camp out for Wimbledon, for the Prom, for Harry Potter premieres, often in a drizzle too; at the last Wimbledon, Brits were camping out more than 48 hours in advance to get tickets for Andy Murray's matches, and thousands more were taking a day off from work to queue up just for the grounds tickets, which entitled them to watch the match on a big TV atop of a hill outside the stadium, I kid you not!). How can this Italian machismo and British politeness jive together in one society?!

Ahh! I forgot there is another group of people who happily queue (and berate violators loudly and insistently): Germans and other nationals of German origin. "Beim Rot stehen, Beim Gruen gehen", as every mother with child in tow (and others without) is compelled to cry out when witnessing the transgression of crossing on red (never mind jay-walking or queue-jumping!). So maybe this willingness to queque up is actually inherited from Germanic immigrants, the third largest source of Argentine immigration after Spain and Italy.

And one more comment about Argentine machismo. Well, I have heard of all kinds of stories before coming, but here I'll relay a bit of my personal impressions. In casual social interactions, Argentine men are very polite and attentive, and often quite flattering: they open doors for you, they let you walk first onto a bus or onto the dance floor, they walk on the side of the street closest to traffic and dirt, they compliment your clothing, they compliment you profusedly and repeatedly after every dance, especially the older portenos. Random men greet you and compliment you on the street (sometimes under their breath, which can freak me out a little in the dark when I don't at first notice them). Occasionally, they might seem a little insistent, but in general they don't come across as harmful or dangerous. But, on the other hand, they really want certain things their own way, and they really have a patriarchical mentality: they will take loving care of their women, but they have to make all the big decisions. This cabaceo business is not simply a cultural relic, it really is in contemporary use to preserve Portenos' fragile ego. How could they possibly countenance the public refutation of their authority to make decisions?! It is bad enough just between man and woman, never mind in front of other men and women! This naturally blends into the rest of Argentine culture outside strictly tango. If you decisively reject a porteno's invitation to "un cafe" after a milonga, it might take him a while to nurse his bruised ego; it will take some time before he can even bear to look at you again, never mind asking you to dance. Or if you do take them up on the offer of a drink, well don't worry about fixing a time or place, he will have it all planned out, just be ready to enjoy a good night out (and don't try to alter his plans). I find this sort of machismo both a little amusing and frustrating, having spent my formative years in communized China ("Women hold up half the sky") and anti-machismo U.S. and Britain. Despite all the talk of French, Spanish, Italian, and other Latinos' machismo, I never felt it to such extent, with the exception of Turks. My apologies in advance to my Turkish friends, but it is unfortunately true :) -- there is a reason why you like tango so much, and feel so much at home in Buenos Aires. Although it is not only the machismo, it is also the passion and drama (but I'll save that for another entry).

Well, this blog entry has gotten rather long. ;) I guess this is what happens when you are trapped at home by illness and bad weather in a foreign country, and availed of fast internet access. Buena' noches.

Day 11 in BsAs

2009-09-07T01:12:00.001-07:00

I was really laid low by my cold or flu or whatever it was, hence the lack of action in my blog the last couple of days. Today was the best that I've felt all week, I don't know whether due to the first good night's sleep last night, the tamiflu that I just started taking, or my body finally fighting off the bugs. Despite the pesky cough that refuses to go away, I am feeling much stronger than before. The quality of my dancing is totally different, too; it almost feels like a different dance (much more subtle and intimate, I want to say sublime).

It is going to start sounding trite, but La Viruta was wonderful, and the night was too short! And yes, I discovered a new leader with whom I have a great connection. :)

Tonight involved a good deal of milonga-hopping. I began at La Glorietta, a free out-door milonga in a tile-floored pavilion in the Plaza Barrancas park in Belgrano (Bus 55 goes there directly from Palermo). It had a great atmosphere, much like South Street Seaport in NYC, or the salmon bake milonga at Seattle Magic, but it was *really* crowded. Some people love this milonga, but to me the space, the floor, and floorcraft are all very important. I simply cannot enjoy dancing if I'm bumping into people all the time.

Then it was Loca, at a very elegant and hip bar in Palermo Soho, but the tile floor there is *very* slippery. For me, it was so hard to dance on that floor, I nearly gave up and left early. I wish I did, but instead I waited until the end and then walked over to La Viruta. I was astounded: the floor at La Viruta had been swept earlier today, so it was not nearly as slippery as usual. Unfortunately, there were some spills around the edges of the floor, which made it very sticky. :P Why is a decent floor so hard to come by?! Buenos Aires is the mecca of tango, you would've thought that they would take the floor more seriously!

I think three milongas in one night might have been a record for me so far. But honestly, it was a lot of fun, time flew by, and I don't even feel tired. :)

I can't wait to come back to Buenos Aires again knowing more Spanish. I think it will be a totally different (and much better) experience. I'm starting to find the courage to strike up conversations with taxi drivers and portenos tangueros, but invariable there comes a point when I can no longer follow the conversation and have to say "No entiendo, hablas ingles?", a guaranteed conversation stopper. :( Or I just nod my head and pretend that I understand, and pray that I haven't unintentionally communicated something awful! Oops.

I mentioned some peculiarities of Argentine Spanish (Castellano) before, but I forgot to mention the biggest surprise for me, which is "vos". After practicing conjugating "tu" (for classmates) and "usted" (for teachers) in high school for 4 years (the little that I still remember), I arrived here to find that neither is used here! Instead they use "vos", originally a second person plural form that is more polite than "tu", but also used in situations of familiarity. It is completely obsolete in Spain, as well as Mexico and Puerto Rico, the three versions of Spanish that North Americans and Europeans may be most familiar with. But it is still alive and well in many countries, and in fact is used almost exclusively in conversation, media, and literature in the Rio de la Plata region including Buenos Aires and Montevideo (Uruguay). The present indicative conjugation of vos is quite easy, for all verbs it is just a matter of replacing the last r with an s and stressing the last syllable (e.g. "vos tenes", with accent over last "e", for "tener"). The only irregular verb is ir, which has no vos form; instead people say "andas" (with accent on the last "a"). But unfortunately present indicative isn't always sufficient, I'm always flummoxed whenever I need the preterite, imperfect, simple conditional, future, or subjunctive. Then what is really confusing is that sometimes Portenos use the "tu" conjugation anyway, like "eres" instead of "sos", in the present indicative; and almost always in the subjunctive form. It also doesn't help that vos conjugations change the stress compared to most other conjugations, plus the s's are often (but not always) silent, making the pronunciation a nightmare. The complications go on and on. I kid you not!

On a completely different topic, I've been walking around window-shopping in Palermo a couple of times so far. The weekend "flea market" is really unique as it is really a market of high quality, innovative, original designer items. Really beautiful clothing, bags, jewelry, handicraft of various sorts, nothing like the markets I have seen anywhere else except for a few small artisan markets in the U.S. (e.g. Laguna Beach in CA, Lambertville/New Hope in NJ). But I have bought very few things, because they are actually rather expensive ($80 pesos for earrings, $300 pesos for a dress). I simply cannot understand how Argentines can afford to buy any of these things at all (remember they make $1300-1500 pesos a month, and I'm not talking about menial jobs)! Are they only selling to deep-pocketed tourists?! Where and how do Argentines buy what they need? I have heard a few people say that they go away to "la provincia" (the provinces, outside the capital) to buy certain things, but even so! Another thing to note that a one-bedroom apartment in Palermo costs $1400 pesos a month, about the same as one month's paycheck, so it's not only clothing and accessories that are expensive. I am very impressed with the resilience of Portenos, and especially impressed with how stylish and proud they carry themselves despite all their hardships.

Day 9 in BsAs

2009-09-03T23:56:00.001-07:00

In tango, occasionally you find a leader with whom you have almost surreal chemistry. You seem perfectly in tune from somewhere deep down, and every step becomes a communion between man and woman, dancers and music. You are stunned by the connection you have together, as you create music, even art, with every step. You know you have been dancing together far too long, and there are others waiting for you, but you can't stop yourself, otra, otra, otra... I had been lucky to have had experienced this a few times before BsAs,

But in Buenos Aires, it seems everyday I have been blessed with this divine experience, interestingly enough with a different leader each time. That special feeling somehow rarely recreates itself more than once with the same person. Maybe it's the music, the floor, the ambiance, the shoes, the dancers... It's a mysterious process.

I stayed until the end of La Viruta once again (4), and the night felt far too short!

Day 8 in BsAs

2009-09-03T02:53:00.000-07:00

Coming home from Practica X last night (which looked great, but I danced very little as I was very tired, sleep-deprived, and still feeling under the weather), a thought flashed across my mind as it has many other tangueros/as: I'm going to extend my stay in Argentina! It means canceling my trip to China, and returning to San Diego on Sep. 15 as originally planned, but from BsAs instead. There happened to be one day in this whole month on American Airline's flight calendar that would allow an exchange using the same number of miles (only 20K), and it was the day that I wanted! And there weren't even fees, I can't believe my luck! This has got to be fate! (So I tell myself.) Today, as I arrived at a milonga, I found out that another tanguero from Spain has also just done the same, now staying even later than me. If I didn't love my job so much, I would be worried that BsAs would ensnare me as it has countless others: first extending a stay, then a little longer, then a return-trip, and finally a permanent move! The up side of this for all of you is that now I will have a much longer blog. :)

I enjoyed both Tangolab and La Viruta today, even though I only stayed in each for about an hour (since I am staying 12 days longer, I feel like I should take a more measured approach). I meet more good leaders every day, and I am making girl friends among the expats who have been so helpful to me.

Today, I want to share some tips with those of you contemplating a trip to Buenos Aires, especially if you are a woman traveling alone like yours truly.

Floor and Shoes:
-- the floors at some of the milongas are very slippery, either because of the surface itself (Tangolab, Loca), or because the floor is very dusty (at La Viruta, apparently they don't sweep daily), you may want to invest in a rubber add-on sole, suede is often not enough
-- there is a white powder they sometimes spread on slippery floors that actually make it *stickier* (I had been afraid to step on it thinking it would make it worse), a good leader will make sure to lead you into that area periodically to help you stay in control, but it's very effective so be careful, you may find yourself really stuck to the floor!
-- always bring at least two pairs of shoes, as the slipperiness may change according to humidity, temperature or cleanliness (!)

Social Aspect of Milongas:
-- dancers here do most of the socializing at the start of each song (a minute can pass before there is any dancing) and not as much at the tables, partly out of tradition, and partly because chatting at the tables signals unavailability for dancing
-- arriving at a milonga and sitting at a table with one guy decreases the chance of your being asked; preferably sit with girls or a group or even alone
-- greet all your acquaintances at the beginning and end of milongas, and all their friends too, now is the time for you to expand your social circle; leaders, especially good ones, would rarely ask a stranger that they've never met; this type of "promiscuous" kiss-on-the-cheek-say-your-name greeting is very widely practiced, so take advantage of it!
-- speaking English with someone at a table attracts expats, especially those desperate for dances, to you like moths to a lamp; so learn some Spanish fast if you don't know enough to chit chat in it!
-- I learned it the hard way: cabaceo here is practiced asymmetrically (hold gaze, then the leader will initiate a nod/wink/blink) unlike in the U.S. (hold gaze, then either leader or follower can initiate nod/wink/blink)

Money & Safety:
-- Palermo soho and el centro seem like pretty safe neighborhoods (no dodgy characters wandering about and pretty good lighting throughout), even walking home late at night, much better than say San Telmo and La Boca (!), where tourists are especially targeted.
-- Petty crime like pickpocketing is extremely common even in the better neighborhoods. Do not ever leave your bag unattended, even in restaurants (take turns to go to the bathroom) and in tango classes (keep an eye on it); take just enough cash for the night out, leave credit cards, ID's, and, if possible, wallet home. I carry my little bit of cash in my pocket or somewhere equally hidden. Water costs $5-6 pesos and beer $15-20 pesos, and the last hour or two of late milongas are often free. Lock up your goods in a safe if you are staying at an hotel, and in a locker if you are at a hostel (*very* important)
-- Hoard your change and small bills ($20 pesos and under), the change is crucial for the buses (coins only, though changes are given), and the small bills are good for milonga entry and drinks, as sometimes they refuse to change $100 bills that you get out of the cash machine
-- Counterfeiting is very common, pick up a brochure from the tourism office to learn to how to spot a fake bill yourself

Men:
-- Beware of men at late milongas asking you to have "un cafe" with "a group of friends". Alarm bells should have gone off if you think about it, who drinks cafe in the whee hours just before going to bed? I luckily had warning from girl friends who knew better, but I've been told that the men try to go home with you and especially target single women who seem vulnerable and may be eager to make friends, and that they would actually negotiate: can I be your boyfriend, if not then how about a lover, and if not, then how about just tonight, etc. Don't feel pressured to say yes, they will probably dance with you again anyway, and if not, would you want to?
-- Beware of men asking to share a taxi with you at the end of the milonga. They are aggressive about jumping into your taxi uninvited, and then they would get off at *your* home and try to follow you in. And even if you manage to deter them, now they know where you live, ergh!
-- Try to get a place in Palermo Soho if you plan to go to the late night milongas like La Viruta, because you will really appreciate the short (and relatively safe) walk home, and there's no opportunity for men to jump into your taxis unbidden! I also often see police cars patrolling the area late at night.

Sep. 1: Day 7 in BsAs

2009-09-01T14:46:00.000-07:00

Have I really been here for 7 days?! It's very hard to believe. Time flew by so fast!

Today I bought a "modern" mate thermos in the supermarket. It's too complicated to carry around a set of thermos, mate, and bombilla while traveling. This one has an all-in-one set-up, and to a novice mate drinker like myself, it seems to work well enough.

Argentine Spanish has an interesting mix of Italian and French influences. The intonation has the unmistakable sing-songy feel of Italian, the pronounciation is rather reminiscent of French. They seem to swallow almost all of the s's at the end of syllables, with some consistent exceptions (and I haven't figured out the rule for these). For example, yesterday, someone said to me something that sounded like "novemodepues". It turned out to be "nos vemos despues", and they use it like "hasta luego" in Mexico. One can imagine that perhaps it was through a similar process that French also lost so many of their end consonants in speech. Portenos also pronounce both "ll" and "y" like "j" in French. Today, someone said to me, "eta *j*uviando", as in "esta lluviando." They also say "yo se" very much like "je sais" in French. In fact, sometimes I get confused and say "je sais" and then feel like finishing the sentence in French. :)

My cold is a little better, but I slept very poorly last night, there was constant banging at the house next door, as they are doing some serious renovations inside. *sigh* It seems that no matter which of my three beds I move to, the banging follows me through the thin walls. Unfortunately, their work hours seem to coincide with my sleeping hours: 8 - 16. :P

Aug. 31: day 6 in Buenos Aires

2009-09-01T00:29:00.001-07:00

"And on Monday, she rested."

It had been unseasonably warm, hot even, all week, but today, it rained a little and the temperature plummeted, suddenly tank tops and mini skirts disappeared to be replaced by scarves and winter coats, and those tourists caught unawares were left freezing and sneezing. That would include yours most truly, as I coughed my way through the windy, wet day, and decided that for once I should forgo dancing and go to bed early (like before 5 AM!). I did make it back to Neo Tango in the afternoon, and paid in cash the two pairs of lovely shoes they saved for me, plus a pair of sexy "pantalones" with slits ($100 pesos).

The streets of Buenos Aires were totally empty today after 11 PM. I met up with a local porteno to visit Puerto Madero, the beautifully renovated old trading port of Buenos Aires, where giant cranes lifting goods from ships to warehouses and back still stand dockside as historical relics. Old ships with their canons (to fend off those pesky pirates of the high seas) have permanently docked to double as museums. The magnificent Puenta de la Mujer, an elegant pedestrian bridge in the shape of a harp, connects the two sides of the water. The entire Puerto was *totally* deserted, we had all of it to ourselves.

The weather forecast threatens more rain tomorrow, which I hope will subside before the afternoon, as I plan to visit Jardin Japonese and Jardin Zoologico. Wouldn't be much fun in the freezing rain or wind. And in any case, I will be more prepared for the weather tomorrow! First thing I will buy in the morning will be a thermos and a set of Yerba Mate. I think I've grown addicted to the bitter stuff, and I can't wait to have my own thermos to carry around like those old men of Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile.

Aug. 30: day 5 in BsAs

2009-08-31T01:01:00.000-07:00

Wow, another amazing day! I got up bright and early at 2 PM, chowed down the last of my fruits and tomatoes, and set off to Plaza Serrano to do some Sunday shopping. That was definitely the place to be, as the stores were swarming with women old and young. But then I realized I wouldn't be able to actually buy anything, the store attendants were overwhelmed and the fitting room lines were loooooooong. Better come back on a work day. But I did stop by some stalls in the center of Plaza Serrano and bought a beautiful necklace that I was probably overcharged for -- I haven't quite found the courage to bargain just yet. Oh, and I stopped by the ice cream place that Damian took us to last night -- I think the dulce de leche there just might become a daily addiction!

For dinner, I met up with Sammy and Nora at Bar Uriarte, just down the street from my hostel. We ordered a great deal of food (Argentine portions are huuuuuuuge, expect *lots* of meat), and this restaurant is absolutely world-class. Just phenomenal. Everything is a work of art, and tastes so delicious... I'm amazed at what huge quantities of fatty meat I'm consuming in Argentina, and somehow I'm not getting sick at all (I know if I did this in the US, I'd be getting food poisoning twice over by now). But despite all the walking during the day and dancing at night, I think I'm gaining weight from all this wonderful food. Oops. :P

Well, this time I truly, utterly stuffed myself, as I hadn't eaten anything all day (again) and was absolutely famished beforehand. So I really needed a "siesta" afterwards (at 12 am!). And I would've perhaps slept all way to the morning and missed the milongas, if not for a mysterious, loud knock on the window or the door that woke me up. Maybe I dreamed it, or maybe it was not a knock but a bang in a neighbor's house, because certainly there was nobody outside. Well, that was fortuitous if strange, as I made it to Loca just before 2 AM, and caught two great tandas there before it finished.

Then we all ambled slowly over to La Viruta, where surprisingly it wasn't all that packed -- the norm on Sunday I was told. I had some wonderful dances there, including no less than three Italians, in addition to another Italian I love to dance with that couldn't make it tonight because he hurt his foot (too bad). I love me some Italianos! :)

A note on the music at La Viruta tonight: it was totally crazy (loca, loca, loca)! No tandas, and the music started being completely randomly intermixed later at night, traditional, nuevo, alternative, milonga, tango, all mixed up as though straight out of a blender. One milonga just stopped in the middle of the song, and when the music started again, it was a totally different tango! It was really strange and the leaders complained bitterly. I really don't know why anyone would do that, except to get rid of the dancers so that everyone can go home and sleep. :P

Today someone asked me if I often ask guys to dance. I hadn't realized that I was being a bit more aggressive than the typical woman here in Buenos Aires, but maybe I am. Some habits from the US are hard to break. Apparently in Europe women don't ask either, which I find odd. How come women are so little empowered in all these modern countries? Well, maybe I'm just lucky, or maybe I look so obviously non-Argentine, or maybe men are too shocked to refuse (or maybe I'm too sweet to say no to? ... a girl can dream), in any case, so far I've always had positive responses. Well, it's not like I do it all the time, and I never invite verbally, but to me it's so natural that I can't keep track of it, like doing high boleos when there's space and low boleos when there is not. When things work in an illogical way, I find it difficult to wrap my mind around. Well, I guess I'll figure out this Argentine tango culture sooner or later...

On a more positive note, I am starting to understand some Spanish. Maybe it's because I talked to mostly foreigners today who probably speak it more slowly and with a less strong accent like the Argentines' (really?), or maybe it's because my Spanish is actually getting better? Dare I dream? ;) I did study Spanish for four years in high school, and I was very good at reading and grammar -- just terrible at verbal communication, especially this crazy Argentine version!

Aug. 29: day 4 in BsAs

2009-08-30T15:59:00.001-07:00

I seem to get up later and later every day, and not only have I never made it to (the free) breakfast at the hostel, but I never even had a proper lunch. I bought some fruits and tomatos at a local store (an intimidating experience, with my poor spanish and ignorance of how things work here; but I did get a bag full of tasty oranges, bananas, and tomatos for only $5 pesos), and I have been eating them when I wake up.

After my make-shift "brunch", I went to DNI, far too late for Dana & Pablo's class, but in time for a bit of the practica. The gender ratio was horrendous, but I found a nice French guy who was fun to practice with. He said he's got a job in BsAs, and loves living there, he's never going to leave. ;) Then there was a performance by two couples, I think students of Dana & Pablo. When the first couple walked out, I was shocked -- the leader was the one I enjoyed dancing with the previous night at Villa Malcolm and asked if he would take the class with me. *laugh* He took it really well, never hinted that he was offended or anything. ;) Toward the end of the practica, there was another performance by another couple, who did two dances that looked like nothing I had ever seen before, the first lyrical and flowing with lots of gyrating movements, the second fast and staccato with lots of lifts and spins. Just phenomenal! Now who can ID these two dances for me?

For dinner, I met up with "the tango gang" at a Lebanese restaurant in Palermo Soho (near my hostel and also Damian's place). It was *delicious*! We only had hot and cold mezes, but we were all very happily full by the end. Then we were off to Sunderland, a traditional milonga in Villa Urquiza with a long and storied history. It was arranged in long tables, most occupied by large and boisterous families that seemed to contain everyone from grandparents to little children. One of the performances was by a very young teenage couple, who were absolutely amazing, especially the little boy. They reminded me of Andres and Geraldine at 14 and 11. Extremely talented. The boy already dances like he can teach all the teachers in the U.S. Wow!

Because I was warned that it's almost impossible to get dances with the locals at Sunderland, I didn't expect too much. And though we were way more girls than guys at our table, we did have Damian, Tiha, and Avik, who are all lovely to dance with, so how could I complain. But then we also had some Argentine visitors who came around our table, and I did get to dance with some of them. It helps to hang out with foreigners who already know some locals! Interestingly, after 3:30 or 4, I started succeeding in cabaceos with real portenos from other tables, and I danced with quite a few of them that way, and they all turned out super friendly and nice, like those at El Beso. The night got better and better, and every time I thought I would stop and go home, I got invited to another dance! So I found myself staying til the end of the milonga for the 4th time in a row (5 AM), and perhaps the best night out so far. At Sunderland, no less! :)

One partly-humorous and partly-embarrassing thing that happened at Sunderland was that at one point, at the height of some climactic moment in the musical phrasing, the guy I was dancing with led a boleo, and my foot went way up in the air (first time that night), and the leader got very nervous. He told me no, no, no, no, no, keep your foot down, they will hate me and cut off your leg! He was an organizer of a neuvo tango milonga in town, and apparently already got enough scorn his way, at a venue as traditional as Sunderland where they dance "the real tango", and didn't want to stir up any additional trouble. He said, "Rules are rules, I don't make them here; I respect this place." My heart was racing from a mixture of embarrassment and trepidation the rest of the tanda (not that I thought they were really going to cut off my leg, but I certainly didn't want a local tanguero and milonga organizer to be banned on account of my ignorance, or to have myself ostracized during my first week here either!). So that tanda didn't go so well, oops. :P But luckily he asked me to dance again later (no high boleos from me the rest of the night, don't worry), and then it was much better as we were both more relaxed probably.

Aug. 28: day 3 in BsAs

2009-08-30T15:48:00.001-07:00

By now I'm a pro at taking the bus and getting around the city, so I went shoe-shopping. First stop: Comme Il Faut, where I met up with Luiza. She seemed chummy with the owners (who offered her coffee), and I think she got me a discount on my shoes (US$100), thank you Luiza! I was a bit bummed that there was such a poor collection of shoes my size (4) and the heel height that I wanted (7mm). I ended up buying just one pair that wasn't even spectacular. But I figured I had to get at least one pair of Comme Il Faut, which now cost over $200 in the U.S.

Second stop: Neotango. There I found four gorgeous pairs my size and the right heel height (6.5 mm). They looked and felt great! I only had enough cash, both USD and pesos, to pay for two pairs, so I asked the other two to be saved for me until I could come again with more cash (360 pesos a pair, 30 pesos off for cash).

Then I had dinner with Sammy and Nora again at Cervantes, an Argentine restaurant close to Corrientes y Callao. More steak, and yum! I had pork chops this time, it was *tasty* but the portion was way too big (and I ate way too much)! Then I attended the closing party of Wikimania with Sammy & Nora for a bit, before I went on to my Friday night milonga adventures.

First up, Villa Malcolm. *lots* of young dancers, and some quite good. It wasn't easy to get a dance, but I did get a few, and the last leader I danced with was very good. I asked him if he was going to Pablo & Dana's class at DNI with me the next day, he said maybe, but he'll definitely be at the practica afterwards. After Villa Malcolm, everyone shuffled over to La Viruta, which is free after 3:30. Very crowded for a late night milonga, again not so easy to get dances, but with every milonga I was getting to know a few more leaders, some of whom were "keepers." Sammy came along at 4:30 AM, I was shocked to see him coming all the way out for a milonga this late, and he doesn't even dance!

Aug. 27: day 2 in BsAs

2009-08-30T15:31:00.001-07:00

I slept well and really needed it too, but got up too late for breakfast. I met up with Nora in the Cementerio de Recoleta in the afternoon, where we saw rows and rows of marvelous mausoleums of the rich and famous of Argentina. There was so much marble, and astonishing architecture. Many were large enough to be a small chapel or a house, with multiple stories, wow! We also sat in an outdoor cafe just on the other of the plaza from the cemetery, where I ordered mate that was much more than I bargained for (Nora, having suffered a few years of daily mate in Chile, wanted none of it). I couldn't even swallow the bitter drink without sugar, and normally I never have sweetened drinks (I drink tea without sugar, and no soda only sparking water). I was a little cold in the breeze, and so drank cups and cups of the stuff -- by the end, either the drink was so diluted, or I "acquired" a taste for it, because I felt like an expert and could see myself sipping mate every day. LOL. Then I was off to a technique class (DNI) taught by Dana, who told me to try some group lessons first before having a private. But unfortunately she was substituted by someone else that day, and I didn't feel like a got a whole lot out of the class. Maybe it was just my bad (read: non-existent) Spanish, as she only seemed to translate a small portion of what she said in Spanish. There, I ran into Ayano, who told me about Horacio Godoy and Cecilia Garcia's milonga and tango classes at La Viruta, a few blocks from my hostel. Wow! So we went to get some dinner together -- Bar Uriarte on my hostel's street -- an absolutely marvelous restaurant with "international cuisine", just phenomenal food and not even expensive. Maybe $50 pesos a person. Then we went to La Viruta and watched the end of the milonga class. The tango class started very late (one hour late!), and focused a lot on musicality. Godoy had us all work through different segments of a piece of music together, and using different ways to express the different types of music. We worked on a few bars of the music each time (over and over and over). Most students seem to have come with partners, Ayano and I went alone, and were lucky to find exactly two extra leaders.

Then we met up with some of our friends (Damian, Rebecca, Avik, ...) in Salon Canning, where Color Tango with their marvelous singer was playing live. The dancing was not especially good, but the venue is great, and the young singer with his deep, rich voice was a sight to behold, plus one of the violinists (a guest that night, I was told) was very good. The crowd was mainly tourists, who faded away after the orchestra stopped playing. But there was one crowd of young Argentine professionals in the opposite corner living up to their cliqueish/snooty reputation. The only leaders I was able to get dances with that night were foreigners (some really excellent, including a couple from Italy), but there weren't many, so even though I stayed until closing (5 am), I didn't get to dance too much. Too bad...

Aug. 26: first (groggy) day in Buenos Aires

2009-08-30T14:47:00.000-07:00

(I've been flirting around with the idea of blogging to document my adventures in Buenos Aires, but didn't get around to really doing it until today, Sunday Aug. 30; so the first few entries are back-dated.)

It's my first trip to Argentina, something I've been wanting to do for more than three years but never had the chance until now. With the help of Google Search and Google Map, I came to Baires relatively prepared: getting off the long flight (with two stop-overs), I knew the best deal for getting cash (in an ATM) and for transport into town (Manuel Tienda Leon, $40 pesos to their downtown terminal, plus $5 for free transfer to my hostel in Palermo).

My hostel, Hostel Soho (Palermo), is a bargain that I found on http://www.hostelworld.com, US$18/night for a single with private bathroom, TV and fan, wi-fi in rooms and ethernet-linked desktops in the lobby, free breakfast, and in Palermo Soho, a short walk to all the best practicas and milongas where the younger tango crowd hangs out. It turned out there's no sign outside; it just looked like a private residence (in fact, the managers, mother and son, live here, too), so I was a little confused. Apparently they do this for security, they prefer to get all their customers through the internet who make a deposit with credit card, less chance of letting seedy characters into the complex. Stories of clever thieves making off with tourists' cash and goods abound in hostels and hotels (even very expensive ones) in BsAs.

I already knew from web reviews that the hostel was renovated in 2006, quiet and well-maintained, and the staff is nice and helpful. But I was still totally impressed by the nice staff anyway, who have been exceedingly helpful with everything, from helping me to buy a sim card and load up on minutes, to offering me a free upgrade to a "bigger room." I was expecting a bigger room (the initial single was rather tiny), but what I actually found myself in was a 2-bedroom suite with three beds! Wow! I totally felt like goldilocks, I tried each bed until I found one that was most comfortable. :) I just can't give enough compliments to the helpfulness, patience, and kindness of the staff here. When my friends called on the first day, the receptionist told them I was probably sleeping and took a message. And since then, they've been careful not to wake me up to clean the rooms, without my asking. And they are always happy to give advice about buses, restaurants, anything you can think of. Plus they are not very busy in the off-season so they are happy to chat with you. On some of the days, I seem to be the only guest at the hostel -- they happily shoo away random passer-bys who want a room to make sure that they only get trustworthy customers. That means a quiet room for me, a whole courtyard in the back by myself, and all the staff's attention. :)

After I took a restful afternoon nap, I found my good friends Sammy and Nora, who are in BsAs for Wikimania, the traveling annual conference of devotees of Wikipedia. They are staying at Hotel Bauen, a historic hotel in El Centro. I had dinner with them at the hotel (Bife de chorizo, which is a cut of steak here), met some interesting Wikipedia people (from all over the world, but all share a recognizable geekiness befitting their devotion to Wikipedia). Then I was off to my first milonga, La Marshall, at Maipu 444. First thing I noticed, there was a surprising number of same-sex couples, especially man-to-man. In the U.S. milongas, there are often some same-sex couples too, but not such high percentages, and not so many men. Eventually I realized that it must be a gay milonga, and it was. There I saw my friends Diego (Arg) and Luiza (Brazil), and was also surprised to run into Ayano (SF). By total chance, Diego & Luiza, the two people I was expecting to see in BsAs, were sitting at the same table, as they are both friends with the woman who performed, they don't even know each other well! That was really an amazing coincidence. It was not the best milonga for ladies, since 80% of the men only dance with men, but it was definitely an interesting experience. I only danced with Diego there.

Then I went on to the next milonga at El Beso, which is a bit "traditional." It was smaller than I expected, but a beautiful bar inside and with generally beautiful lighting. I was surprised to run into a bunch of Americans there (Avik, Mayumi, Shiztu, David, Lampis), but otherwise most dancers seemed Argentine. I was nervous about doing the cabaceo, and sat around for an hour before I managed to catch anyone's attention. The first person I tried to do it with seemed to assent, but then sat down and looked away. I was just about to get up and so felt really stupid. I kinda preoccupied myself for a while, fiddling with my shoes, and when I looked up again when my ears stopped feeling red, I saw that the same guy was trying to invite me to dance. Boy, was I (pleasantly) surprised! I now think he was just sitting down to wait over the cortina, since the cortinas are long here. Anyway, he turned out to be very nice and we tried to chat in a mix of English and Espanol, and thereafter, it was very easy to get dances, I think I danced every tanda, and had the milonga gone on longer (past 4), there were more guys who seemed interested, too. They all danced milonguero style with tight turns and small steps, a style that I realized I hadn't danced much of for a year, since Robin Thomas days in NYC. I was pleasantly surprised how friendly all the portenos were at El Beso, and how all of them tried to talk to me in English when I said "no hablo espanol", and they also complimented me on my dancing. Very sweet. :) Most of them sounded like regulars who frequent El Beso every night.

Yay! My first milonga turned out to be a success after all, and I surprised myself how late I stayed up without sleeping a wink the previous night and very little the night before. And what a relief that the milongueros portenos didn't turn out to be too scary, and I ran into so many people here from the U.S. that I wasn't expecting to see!