Comme il faut

This shop is so exclusive. They do not post pictures of their shoes on their website. They have limited quantity of shoes for each design. Some designs are available only in certain sizes. They have new designs come in everyday (which is how suckers like me end up buying shoes each time we go there). And they are actually comfortable, in spite of the high heels. Sorry guys, this store is for women only.

Some photos of my Comme il faut Tango shoes, so you can see what the fuss is all about.

Last tango in Argentina

How much can I cram in my last 24 hrs in Buenos Aires to savor every bit of my experience there? Well - the best bet was to focus on the two things I love the most - Tango and Shopping. I started with Tango on Friday afternoon. Actually managing to wake up early enough to make the noon class at Confiteria Ideal. The class was hosted by Diego and Zoraida. It was more a practica (a practice session) rather than a formal class. You dance, if you need help, you ask the teachers. At one point, when I was taking a break and sitting, Diego came up to me and told me that he saw me dancing at the Milonga in Ideal a few days back and that I danced well, so what did I feel I need help working on. It caught me off guard, as I have had previous teachers in group classes show me figures and steps. Still, I took this opportunity to gather up things that I am need work on - Like my posture (I tense my shoulders at time), or boleos in the air (I can't relax my leg enough). He danced with me for a few minutes and then asked me why I suddenly stress in the midst of a dance… and I started saying .."well, I am trying to think …" and he cut me off before I could complete my sentence and said "That’s it - You are thinking. You should not think." And then he went on to show me that the only way I can move at any time in Tango is to walk back, or step forward, or to the side, or pivot and to the side - that is all. So with just 4 possible options for me, there is no need to think. Interesting way to put it. I have heard the "Do not anticipate" line before, and this was along those lines. I now need to work on just feeling the lead, not mentally interpret the lead. I practiced some more and then I got hungry.

I found a Pizzeria mentioned in my guide book. A very humble non-touristy restaurant with a lot of local flavor and character. It's called El Cuartito. I had two of my Argentine favorite - Queso y Cebolla Empanada & a a slice of Fugazetta (A white pizza with sour cream and Onions). I also tried Farina, a chickpea pancake which reminds me of something my mom makes. Suitably stuffed - I was now on to my next stop - Comme il faut. I wanted a neutral color dance shoes that would go with most dresses. I had seen one pair I had liked before and wanted to stop by and pick it up. Ingrid met me there as she had to pick up her shoes that she had bought and given for having suede soles put on the shoes. I went to just pick one pair, but while there, I saw another girl try on this bright black, yellow pick suede sandals with gold heels (yes, I know it sounds gaudy, but its not) I fell in love with those shoes and even though the heel was not as high as I wanted, I bought that too. I justified the purchase by thinking that these will be fabulous with a dressy pair of jeans and can pep up any outfit. So now, in all I have five pairs of dancing shoes from Buenos Aires, not counting the two that I already have at home. With eight pairs of dancing shoes, I now just need more Milongas to go to. I was not the only victim - Ingrid who was there to pick up her two shoes ended up buying two more. Bumped into Zeynep there too, who confided that so far in 10 days she has bought 12 pairs of shoes. It makes me feel less guilty now of my own indulgence.

That evening, Ingrid, Zeynep and I went to the theater for a Tango show at the Cambalache festival. After the show there was a Milonga. We stayed for about an hour at the Milonga but it was not that great. A lot of people, but very few were dancing. Considering it was to be my last milonga for this trip, I wanted to dance. We went to Salon Canning for the Parkutural Milonga instead. I got my hearts desire of dancing. Non stop for two hours until I my feet hurt so much. Towards the end, I avoided eye contact with people as I wanted to sit for a while, but that was not to be. Men came up to me asked me if I wanted to dance, and of course I still haven't mastered the art of saying no I am tired - so I danced some more. Finally when I could feel my feet dragging on the floor I knew its time for me to go home. I reached home at 4am.

Saturday, my last day in the city, I spent by going to Recoleta to the Artesan Market. I had some pesos left over and wanted to use them up. And I sure did that - all the way down to my last peso. Not a wise decision, as by afternoon when I got back to the casa, I was hungry and I walked around the neighborhood and realized that none of them accept credit cards. I guess I could have gone to an ATM, but did not want to for just 10 pesos ($3). Instead I went back home, had some fruits and cookies and coffee.

Maria met me a couple of hours before I was to leave and later Ingrid and Zeynep joined me for my final farewell… We sat, talked and joked about our funny tango moments and before I knew it, my shuttle was there to pick me up. (Picture: With Maria)

At the airport, I walked around aimlessly. Like Vegas and Amsterdam have slot machines at the airport for you spend your last few minutes gambling, I was longing that the Buenos Aires airport has a Milonga for a last tango before I get on the flight. Of course that was not meant to be… (But it would be a good idea, right?). While standing in line waiting to board, there was a young American teenager talking in a stereotypical “ugly American” high pitched whiney voice about how she could not stand the Subte (subways) in the city and how Buenos Aires was just so crowded and dirty and had dog poop everywhere etc etc… I felt sorry for her that she was unable to see past those layers into the depths of what this city has to offer. You really do not need to be a tango lover to fall in love with this city. It’s the people, the food, the music, the language the history all intertwined which makes this place so special. I turned on my ipod to my Tango music and drowned out the whiney voice and savored my last few minutes in Buenos Aires.

Getting high on a Tango overdose

My first milonga by myself was actually a lot of fun. It was called Maldita (damned) Milonga - (Which I found out later is named after a song which the orchestra who hosts that Milonga plays) I arrived there at 8:30pm as I was told thats when they have a group lesson pre milonga however I was the only person there (other than the musicians and the hosts). The lesson started at 9pm, and till then I chatted and befriended Adan, the bass player in the Orchestra. The lesson started with the very basics (majority of the people who showed up were complete beginners). After 20 min of warm up the group was divided into beginners and intermediates. The class was all about Giros (turns). After one hour of practicing giros I was getting dizzy (estoy Mariada.... I learned to say that in spanish). I danced with Adan who could not and does not dance, with Guillermo, who was almost a beginner. They were both from Buenos Aires (one of them a tango musician at that) and still do not dance Tango - Apparently the tango population is not too big here - especially with the younger people.

Talking about younger people, this Milonga had only 3 men with white hair.. meaning it was mostly a young crowd. (Which is why Maria recommended me to go here - and she was right). Even though I was by myself, I did not feel alone. I was seated with a French woman who talked to me about her travels to India. And then I danced some. My first dance (the most critical as thats where the other men judge you) felt good. I was reaffirmed in that I got asked to dance the next tanda by another guy who I had seen dancing before and was a good dancer - He told me that he saw me dance and that I dance Muy Lindo (which I think means beautiful). Unfortunately for him, my dance with him was not too good. Nor was the next two ones. They were not bad - but I could feel that I did not dance well. I do not understand why is it that I am able to connect and dance well with some people yet with others, however good dancers they may be, I am just not able to dance well. I tense and stiffen up at times. I have been told many times to relax. Still, I was able to dance some more. I stayed till the end (2:30am) and Adan was nice enough to drop me back home (as I was worried about getting a Taxi in that - san telmo- neighborhood at that time).

Today... i had three group lessons. One was Tango Nuevo at Escuela DNI which was a good class. In the evening I had another one with Sergio and his partner and there was just one other person in the class, so it was pretty much a private class for me. I enjoyed the class immensely, as I got to dance for 2 hours practicing and improving my dance. Sergio said that for 4mths, I dance quite good and that I must have an excellent teacher to have taught me as well. Incidentally this is the 4th person to have said that and I do agree - Louie has been a great teacher - everything I have learned from him, I hear in all the classes here - His style is as authentic as any Porteno. Infact a few days back at a Milonga, one of my dance partners asked me if my teacher was Argentine. Who would have thought I would get to find a Tango teacher in Little Rock - let alone an excellent one at that. My next class was with Puchu, a really good dancer who I had seen perform at a local show. It was a good class, however only drawback was the class was in Spanish so I missed all that he said, just watched his feet and movements instead. In this class, a woman actually hated me .. (Ingrid said she must have been jealous).. I was standing closest to Puchu so every time he demonstrated a step, he danced with me.. the woman said in Spanish that I am a terrible dancer and that I do not have the right posture and steps and that he should dance with someone more experienced like herself to demonstrate the figures... poor Puchu was put in a spot so he danced with each of the women.

At the end of the class, I was talking to Maria and Susanna about wanting to learn Chacarera (a folk dance) and Susanna got Puchu to show me and Ingrid how to dance it. I love Chacarera. It is a flirtatious dance where the man tries to woo the woman and the woman is all coy and towards the middle of the song she flirts back and in the end they are together. The music is so catchy and the dance fun a lot of fun. Unfortunately I sucked at it. I am no good at being flirtatious and coy. Later Puchu told me that I may not be good at Chacarera but I am very good at Tango and that if I keep on dancing, in one year I too would be able to perform. I don't know if he said that to make me feel nice after the other woman's nasty comment - but it worked - I have been in high spirits.

Below is a video of people dancing Chacarera at La Ideal



The good mood lingered through the night when Ingrid and I went to a Milonga at Club Gricel. We were not there for too long. I had 3 dances and my last one in particular was very good. On that high note we left Gricel and came back to the casa. Now, just one more night of Milonga in Buenos Aires left.... sob!

No longer a tourist - now feeling at home in Buenos Aires

I am amazed how much Buenos Aires reminds me of Bombay. The buildings, the streets, the senseless traffic, crowds of people walking down the street, crowds on the subway, the weather, the humidity, the rains... yes.. all have a feel of Bombay ... And if I have to compare it to a European city, I would pick an Eastern European city like Bucharest. Here, like Bombay and Bucahrest, you have the old buildings blended in with new construction, the buildings not necessarily well maintained but each of them tells a story of its past if only you stopped to appreciate it. Ironically, I am not the only person who feels that way. Yesterday at a Milonga, I danced with a man, who between songs I learned was from Romania and he told me how Buenos Aires reminded him of Bucharest too.

These last few days I have been very interested in learning about real estate in Buenos Aires. First it was my friend Paula who plated a seed when she said to find an aprtment so that we all can come back and stay here whenever we want. Then I read about how economical it is to buy apartments here and that many Europeans and buyimg apartments as an investment. Someone mentioned that I can buy a 1 bedroom apartment for $60,000. Not bad - if i had that kind of spare cash. Still, I can dream. I talked to Elizabeth about it once, and the next day she told me how her friends Beatrice and Cyrill found an apartment for me. (they have friends in town who are architects). I loved the way she described the apartment. "... your apartment is in an old building which has been renovated... your apartment is on the 3rd floor... your apartment has a balcony..." I loved the way she said "your" she sure knew how to feed my dreams.

This week, I am not taking any private lessons.... instead, I have been going to a few group lessons. On Monday, I went to DNI Estudio where they had a class for Tango Nuevo. I found that a little difficult to get used to, as the styling is quite different than the salon Tango that I am used to dancing. Still it was good practice... also gave me some more elements that I can add to my dance. That evening, we went to Al Aranque (Picture 1) for an early evening Milonga. All older men there (by older I mean men in their 70's and 80's) - Come to think of it, it has been rare occasions that I have danced with young people. Most of those have been at night Milongas. Later at midnight, I went to Salon Canning (Paracultural Milonga). It was half full at that time, but by 1:30am it was packed. I got to dance for 2 hours non-stop... which was great as people were asking me to dance.- I think it was because of my hip new Tango sandals :-) .. After a couple of hours, my feet were sore. I knew I am tired, when suddenly dancing felt more painful than fun. By now, I have learned to call it quits when the going is good. I left Zeynep there as she wanted to dance some more and took a cab home.

Tuesday, I went with Elizabeth to a few shoe shops.. (By now I have been to almost all possible Tango shoe stores). I bought myself a pair of practice shoes (flat - no heels). I thought that would make dancing less painful if I dance for a few hours in flats... (but I later found out I was wrong - Its not the heels that were the problem apparently, it is dancing and leaning on my "Metatarso"(the balls of my feet). I have not been dancing too long, so suddenly 4-8 hrs of dancing a day is a lot. I am told, I will soon get used to it. I used my new practice shoes at my next group class - At La Ideal. I wanted to take Eduardo Saucedo's class, but after I got there, I was told that he will not be in. Instead the class was hosted by a Gustavio. He was good, but he thought extremely basic level steps. (Most of the people at the class were complete beginners). I did not get to learn much, instead I helped the complete novices by being their partner. Later Zeyneb told me, I should have left if I was not getting to learn from the class - "time is precious here" she said - if its not good, go someplace else, or go to a cafe and enjoy instead. True, considering I have only 4 more days left. That evening, I went to El Aranque again with Maria and Ingrid. We all danced for a couple of hours and then got home by 9:30.

That evening, we had a farewell dinner for Elizabeth. She leaves on Thursday. We ordered Empanada's, made salad at home, and had champagne and wine. It was a fun evening - just a small group of us - Maria, Elizabeth, Beatrice, Cyrill, Ingrid and I. After dinner, I planned to go to La Cathedral for a Milonga at midnight - however it started raining heavily and we cancelled our plans. Instead, I went to bed early. (Picture 2: Ingrid, me, Elizabeth, Cyrill, Beatrice and Maria)

Today I spent all day at the Palermo Viejo neighborhood with Zeyneb. Palermo Viejo is an ultra chic area, with nice cafes and upscale stores. I ogled at many (non-tango) shoes, and beautiful designer clothes. I bought myself some scarves (including an orange one to go with my tango shoes). I went to a store called Seco which only sold rain gear - it sounds boring, but was actually a fun store. I found myself a nice jacket on sale - i needed an all weather jacket, and this was perfect. After shopping, we went to a cafe for salad and coffee & juice. (Picture 3: Zeynep at the Cafe)

Now, I am back at home - The evening is still young. I plan to go to a Milonga by myself (have never been to one alone). Its called Maldita Milonga. Maria recommended I go to this one (younger crowd, plus they have a group lesson at 8pm which she thought I may like). Later at night, I will be joining Carina at the "queer" milonga. More on that later, as I have yet to figure out what that would be like.

A tourist in Buenos Aires

I had an abnormal day today – 24 hours passed with no dancing. Yet, I had a wonderful time. Today being Sunday, there are no Tango lessons at any place and I have no private classes scheduled. In a way it is good as it forces me to be a normal tourist in the city. My agenda was to go to Recoleta (see the famous cemetery where Eva Peron is buried - Picture 1) and then on to San Telmo to the Sunday market.

At Recoleta, they have a handicrafts Artisan market every Sunday and on holidays. I was expecting it to be similar to the one at San Telmo, but this one was a lot better. Nicer handicrafts, and I think cheaper prices. I spent three hours browsing through all the stores and wishing I could buy most of the things I saw – paintings, photos, handmade jewelry, woolen ponchos, crochet tops, mate are just some of the things I longed for. I had to curb my instinct to buy everything I liked – I am way too familiar with my impulse buying habit – It looks great, I get caught up in the moment, buy things and then never use it, or can find something better and cheaper elsewhere. I did get a few pieces of casual jewelry and a beautiful & unique fruit basket for my mother who loves that kind of stuff. (Picture 1: Zeynep and Dave at the Market)

After shopping, I went to the cemetery. It was like nothing I have seen before. There are no tombstones like I was expecting, rather they have small house like structures for families and or individual bodies. Some of them being so ornate. It was quite remarkable.

I did not expect to spend as much time as I did in Ricoleta. It was already 6pm – 6 hrs in Ricoleta later – I was tired. I came back to the casa to freshen up, then went to San Telmo. By the time I arrived there, the market had almost ended, but there were a lot of street artists playing music and dancing. I wanted to go to the Milonga Del Indio at the square at Defensa and Carlos Calvo – I wasn’t quite sure what to expect – a Milonga or a street performance. It turned out to be a performance of a couple of Tango dancers. They were good, but I have seen better at the tango lessons I have taken and at some of the Milongas.

Next stop was dinner. My friend Dave leaves tomorrow for Cordoba and I won’t see him again, so had a farewell dinner. We craved spicy food, so I suggested this Indian restaurant I saw in my guide book called Bangalore (at Humboldt 1416). I thought it would be a hole in the wall place with good food, but I was surprised by how nice it was. It was far better (in terms of ambience and quality of food) than most Indian Restaurants that I have been to in the US. The meal with a bottle of wine was less than $20 per person. I liked the place so much, I think I will go back – maybe take Luis (my tango teacher) and/or Daniela (from the Casa) to lunch as they are both vegetarians too and I think would enjoy this food.

After dinner, I was itching to dance. I had not been to a night Milonga in a couple of days, and had not danced for over 24hrs – so I did go to a Milonga. We went to El Beso (apparently it is “the” place to go to on Sunday nights). We got there at 12:30am, and it was packed. Excellent dancers, a joy to watch them. I danced a few tandas – enough to satisfy my craving to dance. I watched others dance and noticed that not one girl on the dance floor wore closed toe shoes…. All wore beautiful strappy high heeled sandals. I was the only one with the classic closed toe shoes, and suddenly felt so old-fashioned in them. Still, old fashioned or not, they are by far the most comfortable to wear while dancing.

After being content with my little bit of dancing and watching others dance, I was ready to leave for home. Another fabulous day spent in Buenos Aires.

What a wonderful day!

I woke up bright and early at 9am. I was a woman on a mission. I had errands to run and classes to go to. My first stop was a tailor. I had a dress that I bought in the US and needed to have it altered. Next stop – exchange some money. I am down to my last 100 pesos and need more fuel for my shopping, classes and Milongas. I am amazed what a difference there was in the exchange rates out here and in the US. I exchanged $500 in the US at an exchange rate of 2.89. Here the exchange rate of Pesos to the dollar was 3.43. That is one more pair of tango shoes I could have bought. Next time, I will know better.

From there, I took the bus to Arenales Street to Comme il faut. Yes again. I wanted to see their new stock of shoes – they have new styles coming in everyday. These shoes are so amazingly beautiful – it took me forever to decide on what I want. I finally decided on a simple Orange and Black Sandals. Too bad for the men – they only have women’s shoes.

I took a taxi home and realized I was famished. I went to a local restaurant with Federico – It was good food and so darn cheap. In less than $10 we both had Raviolis each and a juice and milkshake. It was definitely not touristy and geared to the locals primarily.

After lunch, I had my third lesson with Luis. I tried on my new 5-inch stilettos for the first time, and found it quite comfortable to dance with. Today Luis and I danced some more and he made suggestions and comments on improving as we danced, but on the whole, he seemed quite happy with my dancing. That was good.

An hour later, was my lesson with Carina and Carlos. I was a little nervous of taking this class only because I am so self conscious when it comes to my dancing – especially in front of someone who is so spectacularly good. But then, they are teachers and they are there to help me. I started with dancing with Carlos with Carina watching to gauge my level .. I was extremely flattered and thrilled when; at the end of the dance they both looked at each other, surprised, and said that was really good. However to get me down to earth, they also said that most people dance well enough on slow tango songs so they put on a faster paced tango and had me dance with Carlos again. Sure enough, this time I goofed up a couple of times. It wasn’t that bad, but enough to let all my weaknesses show. And Carlos was not going easy on me either. We did planeos, ganchos, enganches (I think I even assaulted him in his calves with my pointy heel while doing an enganche the men at Little Rock better watch out when I wear my new shoes for dancing when I see them next). The giros (turns) were done in double time – three consecutive times. And I almost felt dizzy. He sure knew how to work me out. But in 10 min, I had both Carina and Carlos size me up pretty accurately and give me invaluable feedback.

I learned three main things from them in this lesson. The first and the most important being the tango walk. I have learned this so many times with so many different teachers since I have been here, but Carina’s style is the one I liked best. My tango walk was well, just a walk. Nice but ok. Her walk on the other hand will make people sit up and notice. It was cat like, stealthy movements. Instead of walking from waist down, I learned to walk from hips down. When walking forward to bend my hips very slightly, as if I am sitting down, and then extend one leg.. and continue. I was told that I need to concentrate on walking on a straight line (there should be no light between the legs (from your hips to the knees)- as Carina said, pretend that there is a magnet and it sticks your thighs together. I need to keep practicing to get that perfect, because the next thing I worked on was the sandwich position. When I did it, I had the foot that my weight was on, extended… had I walked correctly, that leg would have been slight bent at the knee…. It made so much of a difference in aesthetics. The third thing I learned to improve was my embrace and my posture waist up. I have a tendency to tense up and scrunch my shoulders which looks terrible. I have to learn to loosen up and relax my embrace. All these are suggestions which won’t work overnight, and instead are things I need to work at and improve. I thought this was the best lesson I have had so far. I loved them both. Carina impressed me a lot. She is so petite and frail to look at, yet when she dances, she was so much energy and strength. Carlos was a little rough on the edges, but a very very good dancer and an excellent lead.

After the lesson, Carina said that today is a tango festival. One of the streets (Avenue de Mayo) was shut down and there, they had stages put up and had live bands playing – plus one could dance tango on the streets. She invited me to go with her and her friends which I accepted.

Later on my way home, I strolled down the street to buy some pants to practice Tango in. Zeynep had bought some for $7 and I wanted to find that shop. I finally found it and bought a couple of pants. By the time I got home, the group from the house had already left for the milonga at Bien Porteno for tonight. I could have followed them, but considering I was to meet Carina in two hours, I decided to stay home and rest a bit.

At 9pm, I went to Carina’s apartment. She had a guest Charlie, a girl from South Africa staying with her who joined us. We took the bus to Avenue de Mayo and then walked around enjoying the music and watching the performances (Pictures 1 and 2). I did not dance at the streets – I had to leave early as Maria was having a live orchestra play at the casa tonight too, and I wanted to get back to be able to catch at least some part of that concert.





I took a cab home and did catch the last 30 min of the concert. I am glad I did, as it was indeed fabulous. The singer, a young 26 year old, had such an amazing voice. At the end of the concert, Maria invited Jesus (the singer - picture 3 - at the left) to sit with us and introduced us (Elizabeth and Me) as reporters from France and India respectively who wanted to interview him. We played along and asked him all kinds of questions. He believed us and so did the rest of the band (who got quite jealous that we were interviewing only the singer). It was fun. Poor kid still believes we are reporters – I guess I am to an extent that I am writing about him on my blog.



The concert ended at 12:30pm, and I really wanted to go dancing to a milonga tonight, but did not know how to reach the others who were already out (at the street fair) so instead I will be making this another early night. Tomorrow, is Sunday – no classes and no shopping. My plans are to go to Recoletta and then San Telmo again to enjoy my last Sunday in the city.

La Boca and a Milonga

Today, I feel rested. Louie, I took your advice of going to bed early so I will feel energized for dancing the next day. I woke up early (ok, at 9:30am.. but that is early by my standards here) and headed over to La Boca – an Italian neighborhood - (named because of its location at the mouth – boca – of the river Riachuelo and was the main port in the earlier days). It was here that the Italian immigrants first landed and made their home.

The area of El Caminito (Picture 1) is supposedly the birth place of Tango. It is said, Tango was invented in the brothels of La Boca. I enjoyed being a tourist for the day … clicking pictures happily of the cheery, colorful houses and street side performers dancing tango and some bands playing the Bandoneon (the soul behind the music of Tango- Picture 2). I ate lunch at La Perla, (a former brothel turned café - Picture 3) and soaked in the music, the bustling of the people around me. All in all a fun day of sightseeing and souvenir shopping. (more pictures of La Boca at the end)

This evening at 6pm I went with Maria, Nora, Zeynep, Elizabeth and Ingrid to a Milonga at Ideal. Unlike the last time, today was a good evening – a lot of dancers, and most of them locals. Also this time, I did not slip and fall. Instead, I think I danced my best so far. I barely sat through maybe two tandas – and danced the rest – for two hours. The last four tandas I danced were very good – And I am not just saying it, the Portenos themselves said that to me. Each of them told me “muy bien” at the end of each song. And that I dance very well. This was before I told them that I am a “principiante” (a beginner). I felt their leads well, and did ochos, ocho cortaro, ganchos, enganche, boleos, and other figures that I had not done before – Yes, I faltered at a couple of steps but between my partners and I, we covered it pretty well. I think the positive feedback kept making me dance better and better.

We left around 9:00pm and headed back to the Casa. Zeynep was planning on going to Villa Malcom again tonight and I told her I would join her. But now that I am at home, and back to reality – I realize I have two classes tomorrow afternoon… one with Luis and another with Carina and Carlos and I want to be alert and rested for the classes. I know if I go out at 11pm, I will not be back until 4 or 5pm and that is not a good idea. So now it is 11:30pm and I am getting ready to call it a night. After all, tomorrow is another day.

Has it been a week already?

I can’t believe how time just flew by – I now only have another week left in Buenos Aires. So far my trip has been just wonderful.

After getting off on a whirlwind start with lessons and Milonga’s, I finally slowed down a little bit. Partly because I was tired and partly because I got a cold due to getting wet in the rain, and the weather change here the last few days.

On Tuesday, I had nothing scheduled that morning so I had the luxury to wake up late. In the afternoon, I went to La Ideal for a lesson by Eduardo Saucedo. All – Louie, Paula, Armando and Pat told me not to miss this lesson, and they were right – It was really good. I got to learn some new styling and figures, plus get to practice a bit.

After the lessons, I made my way to Comme il faut finally. The shop definitely lived up to its name. I was surprised that they did not have any shoes on display. Instead the sales staff just asked for you size and they brought out shoe after shoe for you to try on. After trying some 30 pairs, each one spectacularly gorgeous… I settled on one. Yes, only one – if I had my way, I’d get them all, but I don’t dance as much to justify it. I still have other places to visit so I may buy more shoes elsewhere too…

That evening, I finally met Maria Tango, albeit briefly. I was getting ready to go to the Milonga at Porteno y Bailarena with the guests at the house and Nora (Maria’s friend). The milonga was fabulous. Again, I got to dance a lot – I was very happy. It was a late night again. I was home at 3:45am – and tired.

The next day I had lessons scheduled with Andrea. I wanted her to teach me some adornments and embellishments a woman can add to the dance. After taking the class though, I realized I still have to get my basics more solid before I add these adornments. I was not able to pick them up as fast. I know I need to take it slow and that it has only been four months that I have been dancing, but going to the milongas and seeing other women dance so beautifully with such style and grace and sensuality, I wish to emulate them as much as I can. But I can’t – At least not yet.

Later, I went with Federico to a man who makes hand made customized tango shoes. I had seen his work before as Paula had gotten three pairs made by him while she was here and I know he was good. After spending an hour at his shop I finally decided on a design and colors for my shoe – It is going to be black and silver, with a silver 8cm heel. I hope it turns out well, as the design was kind of intricate. Well, I will know soon.

Besides my class and getting my shoes ordered, I did nothing else. I stayed at home, rested, socialized with the other guests staying at the house. At 7pm, I had a group lesson (which turned out to be a private lesson as I was the only one present) with a young couple Carlos and Carlita. They were teaching for the first time at the casa, and I liked their style and dancing. With two people, I could dance with Carlos and Carlita could comment and help me improve on my steps. It was good. They will take lessons every Wednesday evening – I liked them and will take the lesson again next week.

Later at night, Maria had arranged for a BBQ at the house – a welcome party for all of us. The party was fun – Good food, company and conversations. Maria had invited her friends Nora, Susanna and Luis as well. When I told Susanna I was Luigi’s (that’s what Louis, my teacher is fondly known as here in BA) student, she said that she is in love with him :) Both Maria and Susanna had wonderful things to say about him. I am not surprised – he is indeed a wonderful person. (Pic ture 1: from left to right Luis Argentina), Zeynep (Turkey), Michelle & Ann (Canada), Elizabeth (France), Federico, Maria, Susanna (Argentina), Beatrice (France), Ingrid (Austria), Nora (Argentina), Dietr (Germany) - Quite the United Nations)

That day, surprise surprise – I did not go to a Milonga. I went to bed after the BBQ and got my much needed rest. I woke up the next day feeling fresh and full of energy to start dancing again.

My day started with a lesson from Luis – My second one so far with him. I like him – he is a good teacher. (Picture 2: With Luis) Really focuses on the techniques. Today I learned some styling with ochos and general feedback and comments on improving various aspects of my dancing. After the lesson – I decided to finally do some sightseeing.

Equipped with my map and guide book, I headed to the city center. I took the Subte (the subway) and went to Plaza de Mayo. (Picture 3: Casa Rosara - Argentina's equivalent to the white house). The subte was extremely crowded. It reminded me of traveling in the local trains of Bombay during peak hours. It was just the same feeling. In general, a lot about this city reminds me of Bombay. The buildings, the streets, the crazy driving, the black and yellow taxis… I don’t need to feel homesick – this really feels like home. I spent a few hours at the city center, walking around, enjoying the sights, the people and the weather.

This evening, I again went with the group from the house with maria to a Milonga called Chique (at San Jose 224). This was more traditional and had a lot less tourists than some of the other places I have visited. Primarily Portenos in this place. (Picture 4: Me, Ingrid, Zeynep, Maria, Susanna and Elizabeth at Chique)

A funny story Maria said later – A lot of (married) men come to the Milongas by themselves (typically when their wives are working) and do not tell their wives about it. On Saturday, it is typically a couples night and these same men will come with their wives to the Milonga and pretend they do not know the other women (even though they have danced with them every other day of the week).

After Chique, a few of us went to Villa Malcom. There was a lesson on Tango Nuevo. The lesson was really fantastic. Again, I learned a lot more adornments – I really need to now practice all of this to make sure I remember it all when I go back home. After the class, I stayed for the Milonga for a little bit. Tonight’s milonga was hosted by a group called Soho Tango and it was a very classy ambience they set up – with candles and torches and red table cloths – a world of a difference from the college cafeteria look I had seen at the same place a few days back. Nevertheless, the dancing on both of the nights was spectacular. Tonight, I am calling it a night quite early. I left the place at 12:30pm – yes that is early by Buenos Aires standards. I have to wake up early tomorrow – I am going to be the tourist in the morning and go to La Boca – the area where tango originated.

Another day of dancing….

My days are all running together. I am losing track of time, and just living by the moment. Today, I danced some more. I met Miguel, my German friend and went to Bien Porteño for a Practica. I have been told by Louie, Paula and Armando that I have to take lessons from Raffael (who teaches at Bien Porteño I assume). I expected the practica to include class, but after getting there and seeing we were the only people there, I realized that the 11am to 4pm was just general dancing for whoever that wanted to use the dance floor and practice, I later found out that the classes are at 4pm. Oh well, I have to go back again. In anycase, Miguel and I practiced for an hour. Our next stop was El Beso, where there was a class on Milonga.

The class was interesting. I have danced the Milonga (Milonga can be a place where people dance or as in this case, is also the name of a style of dance) but have no idea of the technique. Typically, I just follow the lead. At the end of this class, I realized that I am not good at learning figures and steps. If I learn the steps I try too hard to remember it, and in the end anticipating the next move when I am dancing and just mess it all up. In any case, it was good practice.

After the class, I went shoe shopping again. I went to a store called Neo Tango and another one called Tango Lieke. I liked a couple of shoes at Neo Tango, but at 380 pesos for a pair, I decided to wait till I go to Comme il Faut and check out their selection first.

I reached home around 5:00 pm and stayed at the house all evening. I spoke with Carina Mele, a beautiful dancer (http://www.carlosycarina.com.ar/) who Louie (my teacher) speaks so highly of. I have scheduled a class with her and Carlos for Saturday afternoon. As I told her, I need some more time to practice dancing before I meet them as I’d be nervous dancing with them as I am still so new. She sounded really nice and friendly. I like her already.

This evening there is a group from the Casa going to Club Gricel for a Milonga. I did not find out about this until 5pm so I had already made plans with Miguel and Dave to go to another Milonga. We were the late birds and left at 11pm to go to Villa Malcolm. The Milonga at Villa Malcolm was so far the most different than any place I have visited. A very young crowd, very casual atmosphere. It almost felt like I was in a college campus and people were practicing dancing. None of the traditional Milonga rules seemed to apply (like the way people sat and how they got asked to dance). I don’t know how it worked here. No one asked me to dance, I guess because I was with two guys, they did not ask. (People sometimes assume if you are with a friend of the opposite sex, you are a couple and would not dance with others). In any case, it was wonderful watching the others dance. This was more Tango Nuevo, being danced in open embrace, which I haven’t seen so far with the other Milongas I visited. I wonder if my friends visited this place when they were here two weeks ago. I know Armando would have loved it, with all the pretty young girls there :-)

This Milonga ended at 1pm. Since we had barely been there two hours, we decided to go to another one. Salon Canning. (Picture 1)It is rated very highly. This one has a more elegant atmosphere. It has a fair share of young people. At 1:30 am, it was very crowded. We had no table to sit, so we had to dance till we managed to get a table after an hour. The dance floor was very crowded too. Small steps was all one could take here when dancing, but still there the odd few people trying out fancy boleos, ang ganchos (a flicking your foot above the ground) With the 5inch stilettos these girls were wearing, it was very dangerous for the others on the dance floor. I have already been stepped on with that beautiful but brutal weapon a couple of times. Whatever happened to the etiquettes I have heard so much about?

We lost track of time, and were there till 4:30am. I am not a night-bird, but that seems to be all I am doing so far. I do not have any lessons today until 3:30pm, so I know I can sleep in. Time to go to bed now and rest my tired feet.

The good, the bad, and the ugly

Today, I had nothing tango-related planned. I was scheduled to go to Recoletta with the group staying here and then from there head to San Telmo for their Sunday market on my own, or meet Dave there. I woke up at 10am and it had been raining so I was told the Recoletta trip was cancelled. Instead, I scheduled to meet Dave in 30 min. at the Tango house to go to the market. I waited for two hours and was certain he could not locate the place, but I had no way of reaching him to find. He had a cell phone but I did not. The house-phone can only be used for landline phones. So I learned the hard way that a calling card would have been helpful. I did manage to improvise – I found a headset with mic at the office so used that and skype to track Dave down – He had the wrong address Venezuela 221 (close to San Telmo) instead of 2211. So we decided to just meet at the market. I took a taxi to Venezuela y Defensa cross-section where the market began. (typical rides in a taxi is 10-12 pesos – approx $3-$4)

The market was bustling – surprising busy for a cloudy – rainy day (It is an open air market). Thankfully even though it was cloudy it did not rain. I bought some paraphernalia – people watched and just enjoyed being out. I had been warned to not impulse buy in this market. Walking down the street you may find something better and/or cheaper so wait and look around before you make your purchases. Later, ate a late lunch at Todo Mundo in the same neighborhood. Window shopped some more and then for the first time on this trip – took the subway home. I reached the casa at 9:30pm and made plans to go to a milonga at 11pm. So far – a good day. (Photo: A streetside puppet show. I love how the man and his puppet are dressed in the same clothes)

Sundays seem to be a slow night at Milongas – typically mellow and mostly couples who come together to the Milongas. One thing I forgot to mention… Typically in a Milonga, the women sit on one side of the room, the men are seated on the opposite side – that way they can scan the room and make eye contact to invite the women for a dance. As a woman, if I go to a Milonga with a man, I can be seated with the man but if I do, chances are I won’t be asked for a dance. So even couples who are traveling together but want to dance with other people should sit separately. Now, I have sat with Miguel at the Milonga yesterday but still we danced with other people… so it can be done.

Tonight, Federico recommended La Ideal’s Milonga. I was to meet Dietr, another German guest Maria was hosting, and I invited Dave too. At Ideal, there were just two couples dancing while others (some 50-70 people) watched. At first I thought it was a show, but soon figured it was the milonga and most people sitting were tourists not dancers. It had not even been 5 min since I arrived and I got asked to dance. I did not want to – With only two couples (good dancers at that) I did not wish to draw attention to myself. But I could not say no. So I danced. It was nice – not good but nothing spectacular. I thought the floor was way too slippery. After the tanda was over everyone clapped. (Which they did at the end of each dance – something not generally done at Milongas unless you are watching a performance – and this was not a performance), I went back to my seat slightly flushed an embarrassed by the dance (still had no idea what true embarrassment was going to be).. the night suddenly promised to get worse.

I got asked to dance the next tanda by the same gentleman. I guess I should take it as a compliment that he liked dancing with me and is asking me again – but the realist in me knew that there were just 4-5 dancers in that room. Again, I did not want to dance (remember, avoid dancing with the same man for consecutive tandas) but could not find a polite way of looking away or saying no, so I danced again. Then I danced with a man with really bad breath, and wobbly legs (the wobbly legs could be because of the slippery floors) still, it was not fun. Not even 15 min later, the first person I danced with asked me to dance the third time.. this time I tried hard not to look up, but he walked right up to me and asked me – He was a Porteño – he should no better than that and I on the other hand need to learn to say no. I did not say no, and I danced again. It was not that he was a bad dancer, but it just felt uncomfortable dancing with him. I was hoping Dave would join us at the Milonga, otherwise I would be stuck dancing with these two men all night. Bad. Very bad. Oh, and by the way – the worst was yet to come.

My next dance was with a local who I had danced with the earlier evening at Bien Porteño. He was a good dancer but spoke no English – and by now you know of my phobia and theory. I danced with him. On the second song of the tanda he was trying out a new step with me and I was not sure of what he was leading me to do. I told him No Se, No entiende .. but the man insisted to show me how to do this – in the middle of the dance floor of a non-crowded Milonga with 50 other people watching and taking pictures. If that wasn’t embarrassing enough, with the step he was trying to have me step to his side and lean on him sideways (or atleast that’s what I think he was trying to do.) I told him no, its ok, trying to get him to move on, but he said something in Spanish and pulled me to his side and leaned, I was on one foot … and did I say the floor was slippery? … yes, um… it was … and I slipped and fell flat on my back with this falling down beside me too. Yes – Talk about embarrassment with a capital E!! We stood up, and we continued to dance. I figured he felt sorry or embarrassed to, and I did not want to insult him by walking away, so I continued dancing the next couple of songs with him to complete the tanda. For all you know, I may now be on you tube if some tourist managed to capture that.

Dave did come after all. I danced with him pretty much the rest on the evening. By then the crowd was dying and with hardly anyone around, I could practice Milongas and Tango with him. He is a very good dancer (he was on cloud nine as he had been told by a local woman who danced with him that he danced like a Porteño) and was ultra patient with dancing with me and teaching me.

After the place shut down (at 2:00am) we went and had coffee. I found out that he is an artist. A photographer no less. Check out his website at http://tangoexpressions.com.au/ and send him an email if you like his work. I loved the pictures. He has a fresh way of expressing the many moods of Tango.

Now I am at the Casa and it is 3:30pm. I am still wired up with the coffee.. need to get some sleep now though.