Living Versus Visiting

Liking or disliking somewhere is rather dependent on your intention for being there.  I know many people that have visited Buenos Aires for a short time and absolutely loved it and I know some who have come and really not liked it.  I've come to appreciate both sides of the coin.  It's easy to interpret life as sheer bliss when you know you are returning to the comforts and familiarity of the place you call home.  This statement kinda puts holidays and travelling into clear perspective.  Are these experiences real?  Sure!  They are a snapshot, exposing flavour.  At the start of a stay anywhere you search and rave about the things you like, which become the things you luuuurve.  You notice and bemuse over the things you don't like or find annoying, which become the things you laugh at and write about in semi amusing blog entries.  At the start of this adventure I saw a very funny side to BAs bothersome bits.  

The length of my experience here has always been quite uncertain and therefore sometimes I'm overly conscious of a nagging worry that I might have to endure the pains of this city for periods that don't bare thinking.  

You can visit Buenos Aires with your head in the clouds:

Your gob will be full of delectable ice cream, the flavours of which have been chosen from around 80 ranging from Lemon Choctastic to Cherry Bombastic.  Your quarter kilo tub seemed like the best value for money and lets face it anything less seems like a waste of time.  

21 Chocolate Flavours

The Helado delight washes down a steak (cut of your choice) that was cooked to perfection jugoso (juicy and bloody) by a sweaty Porteno guarding a parrilla that's cooked over a million cows in its lifetime.  Your sights are etched with the cities varied architect delights laying on a wall of crisp blue sky.  Your ears receive sweet tango songs oozing from various florest stands.  The bustle of the city will give you a rush as some blue shirt coffee kid rushes past you in a busy microcentre calle (street), with a tray full of cortados (coffee).  Here I have managed to photograph this kid and the 'out of place' event.

Out of Place Coffee Kid

You buy cheap Mendoza wine from your local convenience store because you don't want to break your budget, alas, your search for a dud wine in Argentina is failing miserably.  

You are never without anything to do gratis or not.  The city is like an activity nest.

San Telmo Street Art

You can attempt to live in BA with your head in a hot noisy ambient balloon:

Despite an effort to guard your health and watch what you eat, your weight and blood pressure will rise in response to ingesting hidden sugars and salts the Argentine food industry deem necessary for many of their processed foods.  A mild effort to avoid these foods becomes a somewhat larger effort, often leading to failure.  Innocent products like bread and juice will have a sweetened taste to them because Argentines need it SWEETER!  If it ain't azucar it's some other sweetner.  

A good day on the subte!

You'll walk down a calle following a rain shower and step on an unstable paving stone that see-saws and gives your clean outfit a splatted mud effect.  Busy looking back you skid on a dog turd that was perfectly central on the side walk.  You descend into the subte (underground) and the temperature raises about 10 degrees.  At a seemingly non-rush-hour time you board a carriage and have to position your head within millimetres of someones' armpit, for the entire length of your journey.  The fast pace of the microcentre hits you like a whack in the face.  Individual commuters insist that their journey is more important than anyone elses.  Shivalry is out and the revving of autos and motos is in. Pedestrians and vehicles vie for 'right of way'.  You attempt to inhale and exhale to wash away the stress but instead take a big gulp of collectivo (bus) fumes.  Desperate for some nature you travel to one of the cities parques, which always has a eye and an ear intact with the sound and sight of the ambient traffic.  Zoning out is near impossible with the variety of hooting sounds:  whistle hoots from collectivos, sirens from ambulences and general horns from... well... general autos.

Check out the 'moto' continuing forward despite the pedestrians having the right of way.

And so, on Christmas Day I left Buenos Aires in search of peace.  An overnight sleeper bus delivered me, on Boxing day, to San Carlos De Bariloche, a large town on the tip of Patagonia and the Andes.  I'd forgotten what peace smelt and sounded like and then was reminded when the peace I had re discovered was interrupted by a dog barking at 5 o clock in the morning.  No more atmospheric 'auto' hums, just a dog wanting some attention.  It's all relative to where you are but I'll never forget los ruidos de Buenos Aires!

A new home with a view
Parque Carihue, Lago Nahuel Huapi, San Carlos De Bariloche
A hop, skip and a jump away

Not far from the truth at all! ...for beginners at least : )

Not far from the truth at all! ...for beginners at least : )

Tango & Chocolate

Escuela Argnetina De Tango is at the top of a shopping centre, under a ballet school and there are always different art exhibitions displayed as I walk through the industrial space next to my class.  It's wonderful - I go for a class and get to see some art when I leave...  I saw this the other day and it made me smile : )

'Comme Il Faut' - QUITE!

This week I ventured to 'Comme Il Faut', the most famous and well known brand of tango shoes, for ladies.  I'd heard so much about 'the experience' that I would have at their premises and actually went for 'the experience' rather than with an intention to buy.  I knew full well that my feet were more 'ugly big sister' than 'Cinderella' to slip easily into, what I believe to be, some of the narrower shoes that are on offer to Tangueras.   

Most people follow the tourist trail when they arrive in a new city and this is what exposes them to different parts of the city.  As I knew that my stay would be a long one I decided to visit tourist spots gradually and instead, for the initial part of my stay, I would dive into the tango scene with full speed ahead - a lady on a mission!  One of my first intentions was to purchase a pair of tango shoes!  I knew full well that I would be purchasing more than one pair while here so it was important to find the designs that suited my feet best.  In London I mentioned to a fellow tanguera that I was fed up with my shoes.  She told me very sternly: 

"As soon as you get there you buy shoes!  The first thing you do after you drop off your luggage is find the shoe shops and GO BUY SHOES!"

So I was told!  

When I arrived here Winter and Spring were vying for attention and a lot of my September days were spent under a hefty umbrella, fighting off the stiff winds.  Despite this, I made an effort to trench around the tango shoe shop trail in search for the perfect match!  Many stores are located downtown, with a few dotted around other barrios in the city. 

Comme Il Faut's premises are in Recoleta, one of the more 'well-to-do' barrios in the City.  Between Libertad y Talcahuano, on Arenales is a very nice looking apartment block - another apartment block! Prior to Comme Il Faut I'd visited two other apartment block stores/warehouses with very little idea of what to expect.  Another tourist friend commented on my being brave in an unknown city, venturing into unknown apartments!  I didn't really think twice about it.  Especially as the guidebooks and listings direct you to these places.  

I must have visited about 10 to 15 stores by now and fell in love when I walked into GRETA FLORA in Palermo...  But more about that later! 

Comme Il Faut had a feeling of wealth about it as soon as you walked through their very tall iron gates.  You walk up some steps to reach a sign next to a black door and that's it - YOU'VE ARRIVED!  

Entering Comme Il Faut's premises feels rather like stepping up in the social/wealth ladder.  Coming from the dirty streets into this luxurious setting is a real treat and I was soon to discover that it was rather like a sweet shop for ladies!

The room was pink and purple.  Past the till was a square section that was clearly where we were headed.  Deep black thick carpet lay underneath velvet and gold regal couches with an ENORMOUS mirror against one wall that was framed with a thick gold....  There were 1950's style shoe boxes around the room and around six shoe models on display.  On the opposite wall to the mirror hung an enormous print of the back of a ladies shoe.  As I looked that way I noticed lots of other cute shoe kitsch bits.  Their telephone was a baby pink stiletto.  The toe was the part that you speak into and the heel was for the ear piece.  There was a card holder with a stiletto at the bottom.  On the right wall was a framed display of media cuttings and collection shots giving a glimpse into the success story that is 'Comme Il Faut'.  

A shop assistant approached me and I told her what size I was and what type of shoe / colour I'd be interested in seeing.  The idea was to give her as much information as possible so that she could go into the store cupboard and bring out your 'dream shoe'!  I was very flexible with what they brought out as I knew that their shoes weren't going to fit me well - or so I'd thought...

So, no shoes on display, this is the process...  You don't know what you are going to get.  I imagine it's rather like Christmas for a child!  Except the child doesn't have to pay for the present if he/she likes and wants to keep it.

And so here they came... Boxes and boxes and boxes and boxes.  There were shiny ones, glitter ones, ones with big bows, ones with cuffs on the back, loud prints, understated chic classics.  I tried on, I mean I squeezed on, pair after pair.  Even though the foot didn't feel great, 'God' they looked good on and made my legs look bloody fantastic!  The effect a stiletto has on your lower leg is really remarkable!  Especially 8cm and up.  That angle of plantar flexion together with the muscle definition created in the calf just screams 'SEX'!

And then the lady brought out a pair of shoes that immediately said 'I'm pretty but you won't be able to dance in me'.  They had a thin strap black toe with multicolour floral design.  The heel was around 8/8.5 cm and was 'sex red' painted leather.  To finish off the shoe there was a very VERY thin metallic red leather strap.  In short - no ankle support but bloody BLOODY stunning!  They also felt remarkably comfortable.

Surrounded by boxes I smiled at the shop assistants and indicated that none of them were right for me.  I was curious though about their non dancing shoe collection as I'd heard that the designer makes shoes for non tango dancers too.  On enquiring an assistant explained to me that there was no such thing...

"If you place your foot well you can wear these shoes anywhere...  South American women are very poor and they could never afford more than one pair of shoes..."  

The shoes are designed with the ethos that a woman wears one pair of shoes to dine in and then takes herself to a milonga in the same pair, after dinner.  Hmmm - I wasn't so sure as I'd heard different things from cobblers in London.

At this point I noticed that the other assistant had taken all the shoes back into the store cupboard, apart from one pair - the red and black ones!  They lay on my left and I wondered if the assistant saw my gaze of infatuation and decided to leave them there to tempt me.  Either way, the shoes were sitting their screaming 'BUY ME', 'BUY ME', BUUUUUUUUUUUUUY MEEEEEEEEEE!  


Now that I was armed with the knowledge that I could wear them for occasions other than dancing I was having a serious Carrie Bradshaw moment!

...I was strong!  There was NO WAY I was gonna walk out of Comme Il Faut with a pair of shoes that I couldn't dance in.  Especially as I have a huge intention to buy as many dance shoes as possible while here.  I want my pesos to be well spent.  I left empty handed but know I will return to this fun shop of shoe candy.

Comme Il Faut is French for 'The Way it Should be' and I can't think of a more appropriate sentiment to owe to this experience.


Ladies, I don't care if you dance or not - Go to Comme Il Faut if you ever hit BA, for 'the experience'!

Staying in on a Sunday night

Such a lovely little weekly event to have the option of attending with no need to commit!  On Sunday I went to an address that had been given to me by some tangueros at Tango Cool, Villa Malcolm (a Friday night milonga I'm growing to like lots!)  I was told that it was someones apartment and they '...have a class and eat and dance' - it all sounded  interesting and different.  The people I was chatting to were also fun, so I made a plan to go...

The apartment was on Bolivar in San Telmo and it was beautiful!  The stone black and white floor to the right was clear of the furniture that had been pushed to the side.  There were two couples dancing, one was a friend of mine.  It was a large space for dancing, large for someones apartment at least - around 4 x 10 metres.  The lighting was soft and relaxing with a honey orange glow and the music coming from the basic sound system was lovely.  I imagined what it must be like to be a tourist walking in San Telmo, hearing the music spill onto the street from the balcony above.  Who'd have thought I'd be in the apartment where the sound was resinating from!  

To the left of the same room was the open plan kitchen with a table in the centre.  Around four people were sat chatting.  Most of the company did not speak English which gave me a great opportunity to practise my Spanish in a relaxed natural environment.  

Prior to my arrival the owner of the apartment, Bettina, gave a tango class which has a fee attached.  She does this every week.  If you arrive after the class it's just a 'free for all' friendly occasion.

As I looked around the room I noticed that the apartment was, indeed, one of the nicest I'd been in, in Buenos Aires.  There were a multitude of sculptures in the room - different sizes, styles and materials.  I noticed a few naked figures, some very 'risque' work, a couple of jugs on a mantlepiece caught my eye.  The handles were nude ladies posing, there were some very sweet looking other pieces that I wouldn't know how to describe so check out the pictures!  

My favourite thing was a paper mache lamp that had been painted to resemble two large tango dancers.  It was so lovely and when Bettina told me she had made all the sculptures I begged her to teach me how to make a paper mache lamp for myself.

I put my shoes on and danced around the room...  There were breaks between dancing but  no real tandas or codigos to respect - just easy going dancing and socialising.

More people arrived and the energy in the room became even happier and chattier!  I was so pleased to be around such a friendly tango bunch as there's lots of exclusivity out there.  Slowly I am finding my way and once you've found the settings that suit you, the tango experience in BA becomes much more bearable - actually blissful!

Later on food was ordered and wine was drunk.  I really couldn't believe how lovely this environment was and the only incentive for the owner (other than the class earnings beforehand) was the joy of hosting somewhere for people to dance and socialise.  It really has inspired me to re think my carpet obsession.  If I ever own I'd like to recreate this same sort of setting once a week / month for local friendly tangueros to swan in at their own leisure!

I called it a night there at 1am but ended up scurrying off to another tango club at 3am which was a rather average experience in comparison.

I intend to return every week to Bolivar and have promised to make cheesecake for the group soon!

Dancing with a Contrabajor

Milongueros, if you get the opportunity to dance with a musician, do it!  The other night I was fortunate to dance with one.  Luigi is an Italian who has lived in Buenos Aires for 4 years or so.  He took up dancing tango for the purpose of understanding the music better so that he could improve himself as a musician - he plays the contrabajor (double bass) in a tango band in Buenos Aires.

I spoke to Luigi about the difference between dancing with someone that can really indulge in the musicality of a tune.  It's so different dancing to the beat and then dancing to the individual instruments!  His dancing and the moves that he shared with me were all pretty standard but his understanding of the music was what made our dances come alive.  

When you dance a tango most leaders lead by dancing to the beat which is the underlying bass of the track being played.  Many leaders play or allow their follower to play with the music, respecting its breaks and tempo changes.  Very few leaders have the essence of musicality running through their veins.  Those that do have the ability to follow individual rhythms within a tango, individual instruments producing different sounds and moods.  Musicians have this ability.  They have an ear for the conversation that the instruments are having with each other.  It seems to be almost like a sixth sense.  

I remember not too long ago at The Dome in London, a teaching pair had a disagreement in front of their crowded class.  One said, 

'...of course you won't be able to pick up musicality straight away but once you have heard many of the tango songs you will get to know the music and you will be able to dance with better musicality'.  

The other then interrupted and said,

'no, I don't agree, you don't need to know the music or what you are dancing to'.  

I personally think that the the former is more true, especially if I'm talking about myself, but I have a feeling that the latter is true for a very gifted few.

And then it's not just about having musicality and understanding, it's about allowing your follower time to play with the music.  Those that dance will understand this but for those that don't, tango is a conversation.  The man doesn't just tell the woman to do something and she does it.  The man tells the woman something and she responds.  Sometimes the woman keeps things simple and sometimes things get more complicated (much like normal conversation between a man and a woman I suppose!)

Luigi and I had very nice conversations on the dance floor.  As well as being a nice person with good musicality he is very happy to listen to the woman, unlike some men who just want to control the conversation for an entire song.

I'm looking forward to our next dance : )  

Buenos Aires are you trying to kill me!?

They are everywhere!

How proud one feels when they resist the temptation of the sweet stodge aromas that fall onto the sidewalks in Buenos Aires, from the Panaderias (Bakeries).



In my opinion the pastries here are better than the French do them!  Oooooooooooh the debate that will follow!  Seriously, they are a force to be reckoned with and a problematic 50 pence, if you are converting your pesos to pounds, which I did at the start of my stay.  It's easy to say, I'll have that one and that one................            

and that one and that one.  It's also easy to say, I'll have that one, pay, leave, eat that pastry on the street, stroll into another panaderia a mere block a way, drop in and buy another one!  A friend of mine told me she walked an entire quad of a block the other day and popped into 4 panaderias!  I reassured her that she wasn't alone and I too can act this compulsive sometimes - we then went on to confirm by comparison that we were both 'normal', rather than 'compulsive' :D  

Fortunately I think it's just a novelty obsession as my consumption has gone down since I got here and I now only have a few pastry binge days as opposed to everyday being pastry binge day!

There's so much choice in the Panaderias just go get what takes your fancy, I very much doubt there is a dud buy.  My favourites is the one with the yellow custardy cream - Ahhhhhhhhhh, heaven!   

Unusual gym medical check ups: bikini line inspections!

The other day when I joined a sports club, I was so excited I was having heart palpitations!   Normally I'm all about a balanced lifestyle but as I'm new to the city I just went hell for leather and spent 5 weeks stuffing myself on Buenos Aires' finest stodge (pastries!)  After 5 weeks of mucho stodgo and nada nadar my body has been feeling, well, stodgo!

The search for a 'drop in' swimming pool has not been easy.  I think I must be labelled as 'the girl who just wants to swim (for crying out loud)' or 'the girl who is obsessed with finding a swimming pool'.  I have been asking everyone since I arrived, where? where? where?

In the end, I had to join a Club Deportivo (Sports club) for access and since my first couple of swims I have realised the worth of this investment - for my sanity.  There's nothing like being in a different medium all together when you live in this hectic a city!  

For someone that's unsure of the length of their stay and just wants to pay monthly without a hefty registration fee, Megalton seems like a good option.  There are four different price plans and the more you pay the more gyms you have access to around the city.  The higher the price plan the more branches you have access to and the nicer the gyms.

I went for the rock bottom price plan knowing that all I would need was a 25 metre pool to get my fix.

After much research I understood that you can't use a gym / swimming pool in Buenos Aires without having a medical check up first.  I've also heard that this is quite common in Latin America.  

While in London, they get you to fill in and sign a yes/no form, here it's a little more thorough.

So, I've registered...  I get escorted to the changing rooms where, in an adjoining room a doctor sits.  The doctor doesn't look like a doctor, just an argentine bloke with a white doctors shirt on.  The room looks more like a cleaners cupboard than a room that someone should be based in for work.  It's small with no windows and sandwiched between the male and female changing rooms and the swimming pool - a nice healthy environment!  The lighting in the room is the type you'd expect to find in a garage.  


I sat down and quickly established that he spoke absolutely no English - great!  So he gives me a form to fill in with all the yes/no questions - in Spanish.  I pretty much know that my answers are 'no' on forms like this in English so, I shrug my shoulders and circle the 'no's'.  On the back of the form is a large chunk of text that looks pretty official (also in Spanish), followed by a section for you to sign.  I laughed and signed my life away!  Right, 'can I swim now?' I thought.

The argentine bloke then uses hand and arm gestures to indicate that I need to take off my t-shirt so I do.  So, I'm in a room with no chaperone or windows with an argentinian bloke taking my clothes off.  He then gestures for me to lie down on the broken leather plinth.

He then patted several parts of my body with alcohol.  As he did this I kept thinking to myself, these are very random areas - There didn't seem to be a pattern left to right.  I was quite confused about what he was checking and thought, why don't you just check my blood pressure and heart rate and be done with it - I could see he had the appropriate  equipment in the room to do this.  

When I walked in the room originally I saw a set of wires and wooden balls sprawled on the plinth and thought nothing of it, except that it was a rather ancient 1930's looking piece of equipment.  I didn't actually think that it was a diagnostic piece of equipment.  Lying there he began to attach this 'thing' to me, clipping it to several parts of my body.  Around my ankles, under my bra, on one arm, around one knee.  I looked up at him and actually thought for a moment this was it, you are the last person I'm ever going to look at!  They sign people up for the lowest price plan and think 'let's electrocute the tight bastards!'

He flicked a switch and a machine started clicking and printing out a reading - phew, i was still alive!  I asked him 'normales?' and he said 'no' with a straight face.  I think this was his way of telling a joke as I passed my medical.  He then did a couple of more familiar tests on me and that was it!

Two days later I met my friend Lia who had joined the same gym chain on a higher price plan.  We exchanged stories about the medical and I realised how likely I had got off.  It turns out she had to do all sorts of bizarre things like, spread her toes, show part of her bikini line and flick her hair upside down.  These checks meant that at one point she was actually in the room with her argentine guy (SORRY, sorry, I mean 'Doctor') trousers down, top off and bent over.  I'm not sure why paying a higher price plan means that you get a more thorough medical!

Anyway, the security of knowing I am highly unlikely to catch athletes foot, crabs or lice has made me a happy member!  : )  

Diagonal Walkers!

It's laughable as well as annoying but street walkers seem to meander to the left or the right here and can rarely find a line that they are happy with.  Now, you might say that they are gearing up to turn right or left but no no no!  They aren't, they aren't! They are just walking in one direction and decide that they want to walk diagonal for a bit or the whole length of their straight journey!  

Now, you might say that they meander because they are responding to an oncoming straight walker that they have spotted or a meanderer that's meandering into their line of walking.  Well, you could be right!  It might just be one huge fucked up vicious circular system of people that meander in diagonal lines.  If I brush past a 'diagonal walker' who's crossed my path I occasionally mutter to myself, LOUDLY, in English 'walk in a fucking straight line'.  I especially do this if they are swinging a lit cigarette!

Finding myself in Buenos Aires

Like my Dad, I love maps and always have since I realised that I am good at reading them.  I also have a good awareness of direction most of the time.

On my first day in Buenos Aires I bought a Guia T de Bolsillo (a pocket size guide to the city).  I opened it up and was wide-eyed very quickly.    The whole point of maps is to make orientation and navigation easier for people and I wasn't sure if this little booklet was gonna do the trick :S  

The Guia T de Bolsillo is so compact that it made the city look so small to me.  The city does feel small to me (compared to London) but not that small.  Since purchasing it I've had a look inside the full size Guia T and to my surprise it's also very compact.  

Despite my Guia T looking all battered and bent, I've actually learnt to love it and therefore I will personalise it and start referring to 'it' as 'him'.  The reason he looks as he does is that we spend a lot of time hand in hand, sometimes I fold him and put him in my pocket or the side of my rucksack, for quick reference.  The pages I use more frequently are fringing at the edges and one is about to tear off completely - must buy sellotape tomorrow!  It wouldn't be a hardship to purchase a new one as they are only 11 pesos.  I have heard from others that it costs less, but I think the street vender just puts a price on it depending on whether you look like a local or a traveller - Hmmm!  Anyway, you end up marking your GT with familiar spots and frequently visited places so I'd like to keep hold of this one for as long as I can.

The city is mainly in blocks and most calles (streets) run a pretty large length and width of the city.  You communicate your whereabouts with people by giving them your coordinates, according to your nearest street corners.  I lived on Paraguay y Borges for the first month, for example.  I actually lived on Borges but as the streets are so long here you narrow it down for people.  

I say long, Paraguay runs past about four or five barrios (towns).  The same can be said for many of the roads here.  Oh and when I say Paraguay, I do mean the street.  Streets here are often named after other countries, cities or important people, dates or words.  There's Chile, El Salvador, Estados Unidos, Av. Eva Peron, Av. Julio A Roca, Av. Independencia, Ave. 25 de Mayo to name but a few.

The cute compactness of the GT makes it seem like you can zip around the city easily and that there's little need to take collectivos (buses) but you would be wrong to assume such a thing.  The blocks are actually quite big and unless you like walking or you have lots of time in your day, fathoming out the collectivo system is a must!  

Oh and when I say, 'like walking'  please know that the side walks here at quite small and seem even smaller when you hit the microcentre where its very congested with people and diagonal walkers (see September 2010 entry).  You do have some pedestrianised streets like Florida and Reconquista.  If you want to zip pick Reconquista over Florida as Florida is more of a shopping street so people browse at shopping pace.  Reconquista is more 'I'm on a mission' pace.

The GT dedicates one page to a map and its opposite page has squares with numbers in them.  These squares correspond with the buses you can get within the map coordinate on the opposite page.  So basically you just look at where you are going and look at where you are and find a bus number that matches.  Easy, innit?  It's like the game!  SNAP!  :D  Except it ain't that easy.  Keep in mind that the blocks are BIG and finding where to catch your bus from within that block coordinate is a challenge.  But I have risen to this challenge more times than I can remember over the last 4 weeks.  I'm really proud of myself as the GT only helps to a point and you really have to do a lot of work yourself.  

I'm not sure how many bus routes there are in BA but the numbers run from 1 to 749.  There aren't 749 buses as there are some missing numbers but there are certainly a lot of freakin' buses!  They are everywhere and owned by different companies and seem to run for 24 hours which is just great.  People told me the taxis were cheap here but I just love the fact that you can take a bus for 1.25pesos (20p), which is cheap even if you are earning pesos.  The subte and overground train are even less, 1.10pesos and 1pesos respectively.  For me taxis (regardless of where you are in the world) are for; if you really feel lazy, feel like treating yourself, want a guaranteed seat, feel you are in an unsafe neighbourhood and don't want to spend time walking or waiting at a bus stop, if you just can't work out where the hell you are or if you are on holiday and don't want to try and figure out the public transport routes and systems.  Otherwise I'd say save your pesos and don't rely on taxis while here, get your bus cap on!  They are quick, cheap and plentiful!  Yes, at times four of them come at one time!

The city is predominantly urban so be wary of smiling at the site of green on your GT and journeying to the area only to find that it's private grounds owned by the polo federation or something.  Saying that, I took a bus yesterday (130) from Belgrano into the microcentre and passed a large expanse of green and lakes.  I'm over the moon to know that I'm living close to something ruralish in character and will be journeying down there soon to explore!

Tango in Education

Some of you know that prior to me coming to Buenos Aires I worked in Sport Development, in London. It's an industry that seeks to raise participation opportunities while, at the same time, increasing the profile of certain sport and dance activities.

I was very excited this morning to come across an article in one of Buenos Aires' free tango magazines, La Milonga Argentina.  The article was about a group that formed in 2009 to try and get tango into primary and secondary level education in Buenos Aires within the subjects of History, Literature and Dance.  

As you can imagine, I'm thrilled to see a movement like this in action with people embracing their culture and trying to build a legacy for the future (blah blah blah, talking like Seb Coe now!)  However, I am sparing a thought for those poor little ones with 2 left feet, not the latinos mind - aren't they ALL meant to have rhythm?

I'm thinking of those kids that are in receipt of the 'I can't dance' gene and 'I can't learn how to dance' gene (probably because they have one parent of another nationality).  

Setting this aside, I think it's a wonderful thing.  All this worldwide sports / dance development - the kids just don't realise how lucky they are these days!  Does a comment like that make me sound old? ; )

The Tango at Schools project is in the process of collecting signatures for the Tango dance in Schools bill.  Suerte to them all indeed!

Alfa-fucking-jores! Yeah Baby!

You WILL die and when you reach heaven this will be the sweet treat that god greets you with!

In my view you won't try anything quite as fine and as intensely satisfying as an Alfajor! 

This sickly sweet wrapped treat is available in abundance around Buenos Aires and in its basic form is two large cookies that have been sandwiched together with a generous portion of dulce de leche (which deserves a whole other blog entry itself!)  The dulce de leche contributes to the cookies becoming more cake-like in texture, making it easy to slither down your throat!  This sweet sandwich is then coated in chocolate and voila!  It's quite simply AMAZING!

Someone the other day told me that their Uncle, prior to their visit, had told them to stay away from Alfajores (pronounced alpha-whore-ez, but roll the 'r' a little).  Make no mistake, this is good advice as after your first one, you may become hooked and the effect might be the expense of a new wardrobe to suit your new larger waistline.

Lets set aside the negatives and imagine we do all have built in 'control yourself' buttons : )

There are sooooooo many different brands that alfajores are a category of food in themselves...  Chocolate bars, biscuits, crisps, alfajores...  I've not worked my way through them all and doubt I will.  Many people said to me that the Havana brand is a classic must to try, so I did.  Havana is a chocolate shop with chains around BA.  You can sit in and have a drink and a sweet treat.  It's a more sophisticated way of eating an Alfa' but I'm not sure if they are more superior to other brands.  They all taste bloody good to me.  

I also don't feel very sophisticated when eating an alfajor- I feel more ashamed!  Ha ha!

Like I said, you have your uniform classic, but there are others that aren't coated in chocolate, ones where the dulce is dipped in desiccated coconut, the alfa' is coated in a thin meringue, the dulce is chocolate flavoured, the dulce is coffee flavoured, there's an extra layer of dulce and an extra cookie.  Do you see where I'm going here?

Anyway, yesterday was my last pack of six.... er, I mean my last one!  ; )

   

A Traditional Milonga Experience!

My first experience at a traditional milonga was last weekend and it was not planned.  The milonga I chose was Cachirulo: Norma y Hector at Plaza Bohemia, Maipu 444.  At the doorway I passed a lady smoker in very fancy heels and a 1950’s style polkadot dress, she looked completely out of place on this central downtown street but I knew that beyond the doorway I would find more women dressed to impress.  As I climbed the stairs to the actual entrance I reminded myself that I didn’t plan this evening out and therefore wasn’t myself, dressed to impress.  I wore a pair of white tight cut off pants and a fuscia pink plunging vest top and on top of that I wore a big hairy cardigan – attractive!

At the top of the stairs I asked the lady the cost and whether I could have a sneak peak before entering.  Once we’d both battled with the language barrier I came to understand that ‘no pay, no entrance’.  I could hear the music and feel the ambience!  I could even see specs of dancing when the breeze from the street fluttered the velvet curtain, that was between me and the milonga.

I decided, why not and paid the Senora for the key to the sacred world of Plaza Bohemia!  I was told to wait for the tanda to end before entering.  The tanda is a set of dances that the DJ or orchestra plays before a break in the dance, it normally consists of 3-5 tracks and was 5 in this case.  It didn’t take long and when I did enter people were clearing the dance floor and returning to their seats.  I looked to my left and noticed that a rather large Porteno with a mustach was looking at me with a huge grin on his face.  I looked down the line of circular tables and noticed that a few of the men were looking at me but then turned to look across the room at the other female dancers who were prepping and cabecceoing for the next tanda.  


At this point a female host approached me and looked at my ticket.  She then escorted me to a seat and table on the far side of the room.  The seat was sandwiched between two women who had been seated earlier.  I was very bemused by this treatment as I really wasn't expecting anything quite so formal - I just acted 'all cool' as if I knew what was going on.  I later found out that where the hostess seats you, you stay!  Some people book tables in order to get good seats – these are normally at spots in the room where everyone can see you and therefore there is greater cabecceo opportunity!  i.e. more chance of catching the eye of the dance partners you want to dance with!

I sat and watched the room perform and turn.  The dancing was a very high standard with musicality to be admired and clever footwork from both the ladies and the men.  The music stayed within the traditional category of tango with some milonga and even one or two rock n roll or salsa tandas.

Fortunately I was sat next to a lovely Mexican lady called Lorena - who speaks English.  Lorena was a blessing that evening, and basically offered me a tutorial in the traditional milonga codigos (rules), highlighting the cabecceo specifically.

The Cabecceo was how I would get to dance.  There seemed to be no such thing as a verbal invitation at this milonga which made me feel like a fish out of water.  In England when I wasn’t getting verbal dancing invitations from men, I would invite men myself.  These were forbidden grounds at this milonga.  I needed to sharpen up on the correct technique to obtain a dance or else my seat was going to get very warm indeed!

Lorena put it straight.  If you want to dance with a guy, just stare at them.  If they catch your gaze and look away, that means they aren’t interested.  If they don’t catch your gaze, keeping staring.  I thought, this is going to be incredibly difficult for me as I have always had an issue with eye contact and the opposite sex!  Lorena went on – If you don’t want to dance with someone, e.g. you’ve seen them dancing and don’t fancy a strut then DON’T look at them.  At this point I start looking at all the men I don’t want to dance with, like a child that is told not to stare at people or... you know when someone says to you ‘don’t look now but so and so just walked in the room’ and then you look!  Fool!

Anyway, whilst I was having my fit of uncertainty I decided to look at Lorena or the dances on the dance floor.  She said that when a guy wants to dance with you his gaze will have more conviction and will be accompanied by a nod, to which you should reply with a nod if you want to dance with him.  He will then walk to your table, keeping eye contact, and offer his hand for you to take.   And voila! 

On the dancefloor you dance the tanda.  If a guy asks you to dance mid tanda or at the end of a tanda you will only dance, with him, what remains of that tanda.  I think it might be a tactic by some men so that they can suss out your dancing in one tune and decipher whether they want to ask you to dance later or not.

When the tanda is over most men will escort you back to you seat and really experienced men will end the dance at your seat – skillful!  You are then seated and cabecceoing begins again!


The experience really tested my confidence.  It's not really my scene and I won't be attending traditionals regularly as I just find it all quite serious and nerve wracking which isn't why I dance tango.  Saying all that, I'm glad I went!