milonga and mataderos

Yet another weekend summary... Friday I had another of my tango classes, then traveled north to Belgrano to hang out with my friend Hanna (and eat ice cream, of course). It's getting fairly cold now, so we meant to go shopping for boots or jackets but never made it out of the cafe. Saturday morning I had another soccer game, and we lost terribly (5-1!) to UBA, the big public university. They were actually pretty good, but we played horribly and with some ridiculous errors from the goalie, the lack of any sort of midfield, and people's complete inability to trap a ball, we were down pretty fast. One funny thing of the morning...about 5 minutes before kickoff I took out my prewrap to make a headband and all the Argentine girls were just so fascinated. I ended up making about 10 of them because everyone wanted one and wanted to know how to put it on, where to buy the stuff, etc. I wish I would have had my camera, because basically the whole team had on my yellow prewrap, and then carefully took it off to save after! I rushed back from the game for my last tango class Saturday afternoon, and finally got up the nerve to wear my heels. For dinner we hesitantly went to this kind of sketchy looking, smaller parilla, but it ended up being delicious and cheap, as we've found many hole in the wall places are. We had huge portions of salad, french fries, chorizo, steak, flan, and wine, all for $12 dollars each. Saturday night our whole tango class went out to a milonga to practice what we'd learned. We met up at 11 at Salon Canning in Palermo, a traditional tango place where locals go to dance. The atmosphere honestly wasn't quite what I was expecting, but it was super fun. It reminded me of a wedding or prom or something, with tables set up all around a small dance floor, big mirrors, and a bar in the corner. Per tradition, they played sets of four tangos, followed by a short "cortina" of non-tango music in which people find a new partner, go get a drink, etc. The cortina was always some goofy 80s song from the U.S., so I thought it ruined the mood a bit. There is actually a lot of complicated tango etiquette, so as beginners we were all a little nervous. Our instructors told us to stay toward the middle of the floor and let the advanced couples circle around the outside, but we still managed to have quite a few collisions. There were some really really good dancers there, and we all enjoyed just sitting around watching cute old people. I danced with the guys in the class, and then two random old men asked me to dance. One of them, who was about 60, was actually an American, but told me he lives in Tokyo and Bangkok. He was super good, and apparently was there with some contingent of world class Japanese tango dancers for a competition. He told me that I was good at one thing: not anticipating and trying to lead but rather waiting for the man to direct me. I guess that's a compliment in dancing...? I didn't get home till about 3 AM, and then stayed up finishing The Motorcyle Diaries so no one else could tell me they couldn't believe I went to South America without watching it!

This morning I slept in late, then took somewhat of an adventure out to this huge fair way out in the outskirts of Capital Federal that Kyle had heard about. It was about a 45 minute bus ride, but still only cost 30 cents! The Feria de Mataderos was definitely the biggest, least touristy, and best fair I've been to here. We strolled around for about 3 hours, looking at all the artisan booths and food. Our program always warned us not to eat food off the street or from vendors, but we couldn't resist--food was the only thing all 3 of us bought. We had typical northern Argentina fare for lunch--locro (a kind of corn/meat stew) and tamales. We also got some fruit and cotton candy!, and I bought organic, artesanal cheese and homemade dulce de leche to take home. There was live, traditional music, and a bunch of people dancing. There were also a lot of people out giving speeches and handing out literature for some big labor coalition/party. I guess it's a much more working-class area, and we also noticed there were a lot more indigenous-looking people there. I guess I should eventually start buying souvenirs and such at some of these fairs, but I keep thinking I have so much time left and also everything is so dirt cheap (even really nice, hand made jewelry, leather, etc.) that I'm afraid if I buy one thing I won't be able to stop.

I just can't get over how friendly the (adults) here are, in general. At the fair, vendors just want to chat with you, people scoot over to offer you space at their picnic table, and everyone seems to want to have a conversation. Yesterday when I was walking home from somewhere this younger woman asked me what direction a street was. She was going the wrong direction entirely, and it happened to be my cross street, so I was very proud of myself for being able to tell her exactly how many blocks it was back in the other direction. We started walking together, and she told me she's from Patagonia but in BA for graduate school. Then I told her what I'm doing here, etc. When we got to my apartment we kissed goodbye and then she kind of spontaneously told me to wait, she'd give me her email address. So we exchanged email addresses (and names haha) and she told me to let her know if I ever had any questions or was in Patagonia or w/e. A long time ago another college girl randomly gave me her number on the bus. Also the other day in customs picking up my package I asked this young woman (in Spanish) if she would help me listen for my number because I couldn't understand what they were calling out over the loudspeaker. She then asks me if I'm from the U.S. in perfect English. Turns out she's a Spanish major from Michigan but has been living in BA for 2 or 3 years after college doing mission work with her church in a women's prison. We ended up talking for a long time and she gave me her contact information and the name of the church she goes to here and all the service times and everything. I guess this is the coolest thing about being here--just meeting random people from everywhere, seeing all the connections, and realizing what a small world it is. In the beginning I was really hoping to make all these Argentine "friends," but I've come to see the challenges in that. But in some ways, brief encounters, conversations, and acquaintances can be just as rewarding.

Well, I am going to go start another movie to distract myself from the fact that I have 3 hours until dinner. I have to admit I did absolutely ZERO schoolwork this weekend. Nothing. It is terrifying. And amazing. I have literally no grades yet in any class. I just hope I will actually be able to survive the last month when everything hits me at once and I have to write 2 10 page papers in a week...