Thursday....

It's been a rush of a couple of days....
We have been dancing and have been kind of slowing down. On Tuesday night we went to Practica X.
http://www.practicax.blogspot.com/
We were kind of slow to get started there. We stopped by a cafe nearby the practica and took our time getting there! We saw a really nice performance by a couple called: Christian and Virginia. Very clean and flawless.
OH -- before that - rommel, sean, lu, frank and myself - we went to see a performance at El Cubo of Melina Brufman and Claudio Gonzalez.
http://www.practicax.blogspot.com/
http://www.2xtango.com/?p=613
I thought it was quite lovely - well done - the dancing was fierce. The images were totally interesting and very compelling. Again - i find it hard to help create the throughline and the transitions within a performance that combines tango and some contemporary dance. But i enjoyed this....
Then we met up with everyone else and it took us awhile to get to Practica X!

AND Before that we had class with Ramiro. He did a lovely class for us - working on molinetes and nice tight space figures. The class went by fast. His partner could not make the class so I helped out... that's always hard - wondering if someone is actually "ok" with how you are assisting them! But - oh well - i know the group has lots to work on - if they want it!

Wednesday was a "free day". I think most of the group went to La Boca and i had fun trying to find a bank that would give me US $. It seems like every trip there's a different process something new with the whole banking thing... what a nightmare! The teachers want to be paid in US $ - and the places we stay want US $. THAT's A TON OF US$ to be carrying around and it's annoying. There has to be a better process! So - last year i could find banks that coughed up US$ from the ATM machines. This year it appears that they say the will but they don't. SO now i'm taking out pesos and changing them to pesos - what a nightmare - between my own bank's limits and then the time spent to do this - ugh... has really been a bit of a pain in the ass for me!!!

So the group celebrated Lu's 73rd bday with a cake and some wine last night. So terrific. I took a very long and much needed nap!!!

We returned to El Beso for dancing - that went well i think - we were there 1 week ago and i think that it was interesting for them to see their own progress!

So today we had a class with Milena all on technique and tonite we're off to Nino Bien - and i think some of the group is down for the count... we'll see...
They have worked so hard and i'm really happy for their progress in tango - we'll see how tango settles into their body and into their lives - if at all!

quickie...

We're 1/2 way through and still going strong.
Yesterday we had rain and now it feels like fall.

Yesterday was Monday and an official holiday - some of us took it pretty easy - sleeping and vegging waiting for another fantastic group meal. I ended up choosing a place in San Telmo to have some pretty traditional foods and changed the itinerary a bit. We ate an historical building- built in 1700's - Tasca de los Cuchilleros
http://www.antiguatasca.com.ar/
The group shared some Locro - a soup cooked for several days with meat and corn and chick peas and very filling and made only for this holiday. We had churros y chocolate (yummy!) and a few miscellaneous foods - ie: i had a salad and some veggies and then there was a steak "al caballo" shared amongst a few of the group. (with fried egg on it!).

Then we walked in the rain home (a few of us anyway!) and hung out until we went next door to another milonga - how cool are we - living next door to a milonga?!!
So the milonga - called La Bendita Milonga - has live music from a young tango orchestra called "El Afronte". It was a great pick for where we all are at this point - needing some rest but still needing to continue with our tango immersion. EVERYONE enjoyed the live music and the casual atmosphere of the milonga - I was / am so glad about this...
There are so many pictures and i've already started to upload them all to google picasa - will share that site when i have it!!! more soon....

sunday....sunday...sunday...

What did we do yesterday anyway?
Ah yes, we went to Recoleta - the famous cemetary is there and a fun artisan fair /crafts fair is there. And then the gang all met at La Biela (have i already told you this?) and then we all crawled home however we wanted to and THEN we got ready to go out... so we went to Cachirulo - another rather traditional milonga and then a small group of us went to La Viruta and then we came home late or is it early?
I think there was a mixed review on this milonga... it was very crowded. I may have been super tired - but something about that space has never been fun for me.... I did not enjoy the milonga when i went there a year ago and last nite - i don't know - the vibe is just off for me... I was crashed into a few too many people. Anyway - it was fun shoe watching and clothing watching! some of the girls i think were anxious as well - anxious to leave! So a small group of us went to La Viruta at around 2am: Ryan, Rommel, Katie, Taryn, Olga, Frank. They played a couple of tandas of swing and salsa so some of our group got down and boogied again!!!
So we people watched and watched the chaos. The crowd is so strange there and i think for the most part it was agreed that the dancing level was so mixed and so chaotic that they could appreciate the other milongas we have been to thus far!! Taryn - hated it right away - her observations were very clear and opinionated, in a positive way!!!! others remarked that it was a very pick-up, party atmosphere...
We came home around 4am or so...


















Today
We took awhile to get motivated as a group. And because I'm a lax "mama hen" we slowly started to migrate to Plaza Dorrego here in San Telmo around 2:30pm! So everyone was free to wander around San Telmo amongst the shops, and antiques and artisans, and street performers as they wished.... A small group of us ended up at an arabic restaurant - interesting to have hummus in Argentina! some of the food was good and some not so good but it was interesting!

Now I've been reworking our schedule for the week as others are resting and some are taking some privates with Isaac here at the house.

Tonite we will head to another rather traditional milonga. Tomorrow is a holiday as it is Independence Day! I think i want to gear the day around walking around and "milonga-ing" or "milongueando" near home.

Later On - in tango ville!!!!

Back again - we had a nice warm day in Recoleta! We did some shopping and then went to the famous La Biela for a snack! and for coffeeeeeeee!

I want to go back and talk about last nite...
so the latest on shoe shopping! - not all of us have bought shoes! That's the first news! HMM - i won't tell who it is yet - we'll see if they find what they like! I think we are up to about 18 shoes TOTAL for the group - this is not a lot... we'll see what happens by the end of the tour and we'll do the annual shoe photo!

The early milonga last nite started at 7pm. That was after a class with our other assistant, Jose Luis - it was a good class - a long one with translating involved - we worked hard on our walking and connection.
I mentioned I couldn't believe how crowded the milonga got - it was a mix of ages but mostly "older" people. I mentioned we had a lecherous milonguero and well, there is no excuse for bad manners and bad behavior - Isaac explained it pretty well - we have to remember that we come as "tourists" exploring the dance as an art form and for a lot of these older milongueros it's a "nightclub" for them - even a "pickup" scene for them. I too think it's also about being a follower/female who is clear in her intentions and never second guesses her gut. Intention, I refer to - the idea of "this is a dance with boundaries that i create that are comfortable for me". We sometimes for get that just 'cuz this dance may give us or fill other voids for us that some of the real life rules still apply - if it doesn't feel good in real life, it won't necessarily feel good on the dance floor either. This is a loaded topic on which i have much to say - not justifying the behavior and can leave someone feeling very, well, violated or uncomfortable at least. But this fits into my philosophy - which tango has helped me to realize that I DO believe that we all take part in our lives. And maybe it's already a "female" question to ask but I ask - what did I do? or how can i avoid that behavior from my end in the future. So.... with that said - i think we had a good time in the end and helped to exorcise that experience as much as we could..... In between a couple of the tandas (a tanda is a set of music) there was a set of salsa music which people enjoyed and another a little later of possibly rock and roll? anyway - Cynthia and Frank enjoyed a good boogie!

We left this milonga around 10:30pm ish for our group dinner at my favorite restaurant LA GRAN TABERNA!!!!
We sat and had a leisurely marathon meal!!! I love that restaurant and I love how well they always take care of us. So we enjoyed appetizers, wine, meals of beef, veggies, canelones, paella, salmon.... i think everyone was full and happy - we enjoyed some panqueque de manzana al rhum and finished it off with cafe's and their homemade lemoncello.....
It was probably 2am when we left!!!!
What a wonderful day full of experiences and lots of learning.. I am really proud of everyone - they are all doing amazing and learning so much!

ANOTHER DAY IN TANGO-VILLE

I think it's Saturday!

Yesterday we went to a few more shoe stores with the girls: Neotango, Tango Leike and we also went to the DNI store to see about getting some tango pants and clothes. None of the girls ended up getting anything but I did some cute clothing shopping:)

Then we had class with Jose Luis - our Argentine assistant. I showed up late but he had already started working on the students' connection and their walk. This was great. We spent 2 hours with him and then got ready to go to an early milonga (same place as the nite before but whole different crowd). It got really crowded for a 7pm milonga. I was surprised.

The crowd was alittle older for the most part but it got packed! We had a nice time.... we had 1 little incident with an old lecherous milonguero preying on 1 of our beautiful students on the dance floor. This I think happens on ocassion and usually only once... The assistants were gracious and kind and the group offered great support. I believe she felt well supported. I feel like I could comment more on this and this might be necessary but I think the group is dying to head out to Recoleta: to the cemetary and to the Feria.

I will put up more pictures on the milonga last nite and our FABULOUS dinner at La Gran Taberna when I return.

I think we're all a little sleep deprived but we're lookin' happy and the weather has been so mild - it's perfect for us arizonans!

What day is IT?

It's Thursday!!!

We had a great nite last nite and a very long day today. The weather is super mild - warm for us! AND HUMID!!! Our hair and our skin are glowing!

Last nite had empanadas and wine and tarta de manzana with the group and then we went to El Beso. It was a total dive into the deep end of milonga-immersion. We sat the group separately - girls together and boys together. The assistants were there and it was so wonderful to see Jose Luis and Isaac and to meet Analia. Everyone danced and got their feet wet. I think it went well. I was happy for the first nite experience.


Today we got up early - we went to change some money at my favorite exchange place at Corrientes y Florida. We then took separate ways - girls with me and boys with Rommel. Off to SHOE SHOPPING!
The girlies had a 12:00 appointment at Comme Il Faut. Their shoes are currently priced at 380 pesos if you pay cash. (divided by 3.73 - which was our fabulous exchanged rate today) So these shoes are hanging at just above $100. I have to admit there were actually 4 pairs that i liked. This was a change for me! Cynthia, MariaLaura, Taryn and myself - all bought shoes there today. THEN we headed to Flabella where we had much success!!! Lu was super happy with 4 pairs of shoes, Cynthia bought 2 pairs, Olga bought a lovely pair AND MariaLaura bought 2 pairs! These shoes were about 250 pesos. And so i now have a couple of new Flabellas as well! The T design is back and I'm so happy about it! AND such great colors.... such an exciting time for shoe shopping!!! DON'T worry my dear friends I'll post a picture of all of our lovely purchases - just like last year!!!!
The boys - well - they didn't have as much luck it seems. They went to TangoBrujo and Fabio and Neotango. It seems like the girls want to hit Neotango tomorrow - and I need a new pair of sneakers. LOVE SHOE SHOPPING!!!
I couldn't believe how expensive Darco's shoes were - i didn't check but I think one of the girls said they were even more expensive than Comme Il Faut - scarey - remember those were the ones that fell apart the first milonga that one of the last year's ladies went to. So we'll see what else the shoe goddesses bring!

Then the girls stopped off for a rest after all that stressful shopping!!! We had cafe's con crema, cafe's con leche, chocolatiado, and teas!
(i don't know why this blog does not let me put the pictures farther down! - they all clog up at the beginning of the blog... hmm - )

THEN we got back to the Posada and had a lesson with Isaac - Jose Luis came and Isaac spoke about tango etiquette and premilonga issues, etc.. Then we worked on simple things for the milonga floor. It was great! So tonite we will head to Nino Bien and i'm looking forward to that. We leave in 1 hour!!

THEY'VE ARRIVED - all of them!

Yesterday Katie and Ryan arrived!

It was a long day of last minute details to organize and a visit with HEATHER!
I knew Heather from my NYC days and now she's living in BA with her Australian boyfriend, Mark. She and I haven't chatted since before their trip to China. She is now pregnant and due in 6 weeks. I was happy to bring her a bag of clothes from her dad. So they came to the house to meet Rommel and I for tea!! We had a fabulous Chinese tea - whose name escapes me - begins with a "p". It was so nice to visit with her and eat her yummy muffins and have tea. They had great stories to tell and she looks so fabulous! We plan to get together again after the tour.

Katie, Ryan, Rommel and I went for a stroll and ended up at Flabella! We got Ms. Katie a couple pairs of cute comfortable shoes and I put a pair on reserve as well!!!!

At around 8pm we met up with BRAIDY! One of my ASU students who is doing a study abroad here in Belgrano.
She is so cute and having a great time here!
We went for a stroll in San Telmo and went for pizza. I had a salad and Faina - YUMMY!

Here's Ryan and Katie too!


We also went to a milonga last night - i crashed for a couple of hours and we went to Salon Canning. We left at 12:00 midnite and stayed until about 2:30am or so - It was a pretty mellow nite - not so many people - but we were able to see some beautiful follower's perform. The evening was called "poker de las reinas".
It included performances by Melina Brufman, Sabina Masso, Ariadna Naveira, and Marian Dragone. It seemed that the favorite performance was by Ariadna - and i would have to agree. She was gorgeous and brilliant - she was pretty well matched energetically to her partner. It's interesting to see how important it is for the leader to be a similar energy level to his follower or to be clear in his intention to the music and to his partner. All these followers were beautiful and powerful in their own rites....

So today the rest of the gang arrived and most are napping right now - which is what i'd like to be doing soon - i will go eat with katie, ryan, and rommel.
We have a meeting at 8pm with empanadas and vino tonite and then off to a milonga tonite..

Looking forward to all of this!

Weather is Mild - all is well

After yummy food, a walk, and sleeping until about 1pm I had a great day. I ran some errands, the exchange rate is at a steady 3.71 for every $1.00. I found the exchange house that use - it's on Corrientes and Florida.
The weather is mild - such a nice change from the AZ heat!
We got a little tour of the Posada where we are staying - it's a house from the year 1860. The ceilings are super high. The bed in our room is really comfortable and although I hear some street noise it is not as noisy as school bells and children at play (this is from last year's event!).

Last night I had my comfort food of milanesa de pollo and pure de papa. And I also had a portion of "acelga con ajo" - YUMMY! AND a quilmes beer. AH complete!

Today I did dive in with a sandiwich de miga of aceituna, huevo y jamon! so good!!

I am getting together with Isaac tonite - i'm so excited to work on 'final' details of the itinerary. I am looking forward to seeing him.

My phone rental arrives at 7:30pm AND well, what else... i might go to a milonga....

I hope to connect with Heather (i have her baby clothes!) And Braidy...

Katie and Ryan arrive tomorrow morning - this will be great to have them here a day early.

Day 1 = part 2

Malas Aires pictures!

Why is it that every time i do these blogs it's like relearning a language!!! Ok - i want to post some of the other pictures from our arrival!

So while i try to figure out how to do these blogs again.... i am enjoying relaxing and my nap that i took!
The posada that we're staying at is really cute! It's in a very old house but it has high ceilings and a ton of character!
In walking around San Telmo we went to visit Marcelo - who is our "picture" connection for some of the older tango orchestras! All the musicians and dancers and empanada makers are alive and well in san telmo!

Tonite - i am thinking milanesa de pollo con pure de papa - my traditional comfort food when i come here!!

Tomorrow Rommel and I have a big day of details and hopefully getting together with Isaac and/or jose luis. It will be great to see them again!

PRE TOUR SET UP!

WE HAVE ARRIVED!















After a pretty smooth day of travel - and of course the flight is still long - we made it to Buenos Aires. Or i think it is now renamed to Malos Aires!

I couldn't believe my ears when as we were landing it was announced that we would need to wear a mask to exit the plane and fill out a very long medical form informing where we had been the last 14 days and if we were sick - or showed any signs of coughing, headache, nausea, etc. That was a first. But what an amazing way to continue to provoke fear in people. We were told that we would need to wear the mask until we exited the terminal - well soon we found out that it was literally once we were in the terminal before immigration we could take off the mask. We were all video taped as we entered the terminal into immigration line.



Remind you I have just come off of grading 80+ students with very little sleep so my first day down here is usually a little slow paced. But somehow once we got to our new home for the next 14 days (or so) we ended up doing alot of things!! We are in San Telmo which is a fun neighborhood to walk around in. We settled in and walked to my favorite restaurant "Origen" - yeah! it's still there. (The bar on the corner of Calvo and (?) is not longer there - which is also the place where Jose Luis used to teach.) - So we went to Origen and i had a salad and Rommel had a sandwich. Then, because it is Sunday we walked in the Plaza which is filled with tourists for the fair. Very Cool!