Tango Lesson

Last night after a very intense nap, I made my way over to Corrientes and Callao to meet Marcelo for my tango lesson.

It was a beautiful evening. I noticed that the shops are now advertising spring fashions, the manequins have changed clothes from dark blues, blacks and greys, to beige for the men and bright colors for the women. It seems like it is getting dark later, and last night there was a nearly full moon while the sky was still light. I regretted not having my camera with me.

I started walking down Santa Fe, which I don't normally do because it gets so crowded with pedestrians. Sure enough, as I started out, I encountered several couples who had their arms wrapped around each other.

You have to understand that the sidewalks in Buenos Aires are death traps. Apparently, upkeep of the sidewalks is not the responsibility of the city. Even if that were the case, they might not be in any better condition. Most sidewalks are made of tiles, either big or small, and many sidewalks have loose tiles, holes, things sticking up out of them, dog shit, etc. And then there are the obstacles, newspaper stands, kiosks, flower beds, low hanging branches. All of this makes what would otherwise be a wide sidewalk, sometimes very narrow. So when you are walking down the street and you have somewhere to go, it can be very annoying to find two people joined together that make a human wall in front of you. Couples who are joined together arm in arm, tend to walk slow. And often they are both smoking. So it's not a place I want to get stuck behind. Add to that the people coming from behind who will often bump into you, or cut in front of you, and walking on a semi-crowded sidewalk can be torture.

At one point I passed through a very narrow space because there was a newsstand on the left. A family was coming out of a shop and a man was standing right in the center of this small, narrow space, just standing there. Not moving. Apparently waiting for someone. Sometimes I feel like a salmon swimming upstream.

Unable to take any more, I turned off Santa Fe and found myself on a nearly deserted street. There was very little traffic compared to during the week and with the fading light, the full moon, the warming air and the reflection of the setting sun on the buildings, it was a beautiful walk.

I ended up arriving early so I went to La Continental and had a few slices of pizza and an orange Fanta.

The building where Marcelo rents the studio for my lesson is a grand old building right on the corner of Callao and Corrientes. Corrientes is a busy street with lots of theaters. It is the theater district. Normally I don't like walking down Corrientes because it can also be very busy. It ends at the Obelisk which is where all of the protests and celebrations take place. That is why when I am in that part of town I see or hear so many protests.

Anyway, after my pizza I walked around a little more and enjoyed walking down Corrientes a bit and feeling the excitement of that part of town.

My lesson was good. I am definitely getting better. We are still working on basic steps and Marcelo is a stickler for details. If I am not in time with the music, he stops me and tells me to pay attention to the music. If I miss a step, he stops me and tells me what I did wrong. Sometimes it can be very frustrating, but I actually don't mind it that much. I just let him correct me knowing that sometimes I get it right and sometimes I miss a step and that is what learning is all about. I do wish he would let some things go a little more than he does because often I know what I did wrong and don't need to be corrected so much.

We have started to add this turn into my repoitoire. I like it. It has been a little challenging for me to get it because it involves a quick step and then a pivot on one foot that produces the turn. When Marcelo is leading and we do the turn, it is so much fun. I am still lacking the confidence in the step, to really be able to lead it well, but I was beginning to get it last night in the middle of all of the correction.

I am really happy about the progress I am making as a leader, and also as a follower. I've been so afraid to lead because I never had the confidence in the steps or in my ability. But the things I have been learning here have really helped me. I've learned how to be a more forceful leader, which ends up making it really clear for the follower. Marcelo especially emphasizes using my right arm to mark the steps, turns, stops, etc., so that the follower can feel where I want him/her to go. The two classes I am taking on Monday also emphasize this. I know that by the time I return to SF in January, all of this instruction is really going to help me. Then it will be up to me to start taking classes there and making sure I continue to practice as much as I can.

On my way home I texted Hernan to see if he wanted to go to San Telmo today for the gay tango class. He said he couldn't. He then texted me and told me he is moving to his mother's house for 3 weeks. He has someone renting his apartment in San Telmo and was staying with a friend in Belgrano. He said his life is complicated. I guess it means I am not going to be seeing a lot of him in the next three weeks. That's ok. I think I need to stop depending on him as my only friend here and need to start getting out there and meeting other people. Hernan is fun to hang out with, but he's a little bit too "artistic" for me. I love listening to Spanish rock and pop, but when he comes over he puts on this weird electronic stuff that is very "alternative" and not always nice to listen to (some of it is ok). He only goes to movies that are avant garde, so he is not a good person to go to the movies with (I have still not been to a movie in Argentina). I think I need to make friends with someone who is a little more normal - who has a job (and money), who can introduce me to some other ways that I can practice my Spanish, like normal TV shows, movies, music, etc., and whose life is not so complicated. I still like Hernan as a friend, but his frienship is obviously very limited.

So today I am going to go to San Telmo on my own. It's a big step, but since I've been there once and know what to expect, it's not such a big deal. I'm looking forward to walking around San Telmo and Plaza de Mayo and taking some photos. It looks like a beautiful day and I think it will be nice to be outside for a bit.