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.