Tango around B.A.
Paul and I spent a little over a week in the Paris of South America, Buenos Aires. It was an amazing time as well as completely exhausting. People in BA have an opposite schedule from us, and it takes a little practice getting used to it. Come way down south with us to do a little tango, salsa, and funk in one of the best cities in South America.
The photos and stories from Buenos Aires are just a sampling of what the town has to offer. In our whirlwind week we hit many of the tourist spots, but also got a feel of what it is like to live in such a cultural and thriving town. The first noticeable thing for Paul and I was the heat and humidity. For such a southern city, Buenos Aires is surprisingly hot in the summer. That is probably one of the reasons for all the outdoor cafes, ice cream establishments, and various unique watering holes. Stroll anywhere in town at any time of day and you will find people sitting outside, sipping a coffee, having a snack and discussing the news of the day.
B.A. is a great town to walk and explore. The metro and subway systems are very efficient and affordable, and the city has numerous pedestrians streets with interesting stores, restaurants and attractions. Paul and I stumbled upon one of the best street acts I have ever seen on Florida street. It was one of those fake statue characters, where someone dresses up and holds a position as if frozen in stone or some other material. This particular man dressed as a GI Joe character, complete with gun, plastic green outfit, and full body paint. He even stood on top of a speaker which looped military drum marches.
Paul and I also had a wild time at our hostel, hostel Clan. Now, for those of you not aware of what staying in a hostel is like, it is very similar to a college dorm, except even more intimate. You usually sleep in bunkbeds with 6 – 10 beds per room. All your gear and other items are jammed into every available corner and space, and people are constatnly coming in and out of the room. Bathrooms are shared, in some cases there is a girls and guys restroom,in others the restrooms are coed, which I definitely can’t complain about. There are usually large common areas, in the case of the hostel clan, a large TV room, bar, barbecue and outdoor patio, and other community rooms. So, essentially, you could never complain about not having someone to do something with. I spent my birthday and superbowl hanging out with a whole group from the hostel. They even bought me a pseudo birthday cake (see picture). The whole atmosphere is kept lively by a very knowledgable staff that set up different events for the patrons. Things like football matches, barbecues, and visits around town. Definitely a great way to get the inside track to a city.
By far, the most interesting thing about Buenos Aires was the nightlife. Not that Paul and I had not gone out quite a bit in the other countries, but we were completely blown away by how late everything got started and how long the festivities lasted. Here is a common B.A. evening scenario. 8pm – Nap or chill time for several hours. 11pm – start talking about dinner and where a good spot is located. 12pm – gather the troops and head out to dinner. (be aware that families run at this same schedule as well. We would routinely see entire families with small children out past midnight for dinner) 12:30am – Arrive at restaurant and order food and drinks. 1:30 am – get the consensus on what evening location is the best. 2:00am – arrive at happening bar or club, sometimes waiting in a line to get in if the place is popular. 2:30 am – start partying with friends at the club. Some drinks some dancing, etc. 7am – the party is still going strong at the club, everybody is dancing, they are still serving drinks, but OMG the sun is rising. 7:30 am – Take out mandatory party sunglasses and shield eyes from the morning rays. 9:00 am – the tourists can’t take more of this usually heading home at this time, but the locals often keep partying at private after parties until noon or later. Incredible.
And that is your average night out in B.A. Truly surreal.
Another favorite activity of everyones and a must when in B.A. is to learn to dance. The home of the tango will not dissapoint. Eight of us decided to head down to a local school one day and take an hour course on the art of the sensual dance. The basic steps of the tango are actully not that difficult, the hard part comes when the teacher explained to us that the Tango actually does not have any set steps. The men are free to lead the women in any direction they please. Most people who dance or have attempted to, know this is an unbelievable difficult thing to do. The tango dancers stand close together, with both partners dancing upright and straight legged, a very casual natural step, but one that is nearly imposible when someone else is on your hip. Its a beautiful dance to watch and in time I’m sure a great one to learn, for now though, I think I’ll defer to the experts.
We also tried our hand at the other well known South American dance, the Salsa. All of us in the group had at least a basic understanding of the salsa, so we decided to go to the place where all the locals hit the dance floor. La Salsera. This is definitely a hidden gem of the town. It has a great atmosphere, almost all locals, fantastic sound system and a large dancefloor. Best of all, everybody here dances and they are all excellent. We discovered that they also have classes there earlier in the evening. We decided to try one of the intermedeate classes out the following nights. Hmmm, we definitely overestimated our dancing skill. The class was exciting, energetic, and way over our heads. There was a rapid warmup session and then all the females (35 of them) lined up as the men switched off down the line every 3 practive moves. This made things incredibly hard for the novices, especially those that didn’t speak spanish well, namely me. I told every lady before stepping on her toes, “Perdon, necisto mucho ayuda y practica.” Most were understanding, but I was definitely the worst partner of all the men in the room. Eventually, we were relieved to join a beginner class the next hour, which I think would qualify as advanced in the US. Overall, we learned a little more, or maybe I just seemed to get better the more I drank. Hopefully I can continue my salsa education in the states. So ladies, watch out for me crashing my way through a dance floor near you.