Buenos Aires - Day 2

We woke up at 11:45am, not by choice anyway. Lesson at our apartment at 12pm. Maybe not the best of ideas. Note to self; Lack of sleep = Trouble walking and thinking at the same time. Especially not good for working on embellishments. Pivot with decoration... pivot without decoration... change direction. Again, walk... now with decoration in the front... then in the back, front, back... Heeeeeelp!!!! This was one of those times when I really didn't think very highly of my capacities, dancing or mental. My mind was spinning. Maestro was probably thinking, "What in the world did I get stuck with teaching??!" Although he was very reassuring and sweet..."Well, it happens, we all have these days, it's normal but it sinks in even without you knowing it." Yeaaah, right! Turns out Eva had the same experience. Well, now we know that in BsAs noon is early early morning for us.

While Eva was having her lesson, I ran across the street and got us cafe con leche y cuatro medialunas... para llevar! (Spanish rapidly improving!) This will hold us over until we get to Recoleta. We wandered about the market at Plaza Francia. Got a set of beautiful leather coasters. Only second day here and we are already shopping. Nice! In the middle of our stroll, we realized we needed more cash, as markets don't take credit cards, at least not yet. We were told there was an ATM right around the corner. Hmm, which corner?? We saw a security guy in front of the building. "Donde esta el cajero automatico?", said Eva (did I mention her Spanish was well above mine, and sounded so cute!). He didn't speak a word of English but spoke español muy rápido, which did not help at all - we were completely bewildered. He then decided to take matters into his own hands and this was the beginning of our being escorted throughout the neighbourhood to three ATMs; all non-working. Cajero Autmatico – no denero x 3. He patiently guarded us while we both tried inserting our bank cards into each machine. In the meantime, he began to make attempts to get Eva's number (duh, why else would he be walking around Recoleta escorting two foreigners to no end!). She played stupid and said, "No entiendo." But when he made it so clear that everyone in our surrounding got it, she finally said "No hay telephono, lo siento!", smiling widely at him. Anyway, the fourth ATM was our lucky charm (never rely on getting money from an ATM on a Sunday). We bid him goodbye and decided we were exhausted enough to sit down for a drink and a bite to eat.

We strolled into the first restaurant that looked appealing, actually a very cute place! What do you know, there is a happy hour in BsAs too! We decided on champagne and ordered a few appetizers. Delicioso! Mediterranean bruschetta, chicken kebab of some sort with peppers and a yummy sauce and fried cheesy potato things. We were tired, so the champagne kicked in pretty quickly. We started giggling and got progressively happier by the minute. This is when it was decided - champagne for the rest of the trip! We wanted to keep the bubbly mood going. Well, no problems there.

We hopped into a cab in an excellent mood - so relaxed, mellow, and smiling! The fact that we were far away from everything that had to do with our everyday lives, in a beautiful country where you could dance tango any time of the day, was sinking in and beginning to exhilarate us. There was a silent pact between us to enjoy this for all it was and to fully immerse ourselves in the moment. Everything else but now was becoming a blur. If I have to describe a perfect state of well-being, this was it! So since we were already all set with a sim card and could communicate with the world, on our way home we got a call from a Sebastian, one of the massage guys. We didn't remember at this point who was who anymore - was it the Sebastian with a massage table or the one without. I hear Eva picking up the phone: Hola, Sebastian! You are in front of the building? Now? Oh, we'll be right there!" How was it 18:30 pm already?? She hangs up the phone and I asked the only question on my mind at that minute, "Did he bring a table?" Ok, that started a new giggling fit and we could hardly breathe when we got out of the taxi. It was impossible to keep a straight face at the sight of him and for the next couple of hours for that matter.

OK... not as cute as his picture, but he was so sweet! Ingles no muy buen, so that made things even funnier. Try to explain to a masseuse how you like your massage with no language in common and post two glasses of afternoon champagne was just plain ludicrous! So Sebastian did have a table after all and he started setting up in the living room. He then turned to Eva, asked her something, motioning washing hands and washing arms. She looked at him amazed: "Do you want to shower?!". At the sound of that, I burst out laughing uncontrollably and ran into the kitchen not being able put any sort of remotely serious look on my face. The guy got utterly embarrassed and said something to the effect of "Well, if you want me to..." Turns out he was asking for the bathroom to wash his hands. All three of us just couldn't stop laughing from there on. Even well into Eva's massage, she was still giggling on the table while Sebastian kept repeating the word 'shower' and was trying to explain that misunderstandings happen a lot during first sessions. He also practiced Reiki and kept saying to Eva in broken English "Your head very strong, your heart very relaxed." She wasn't entirely sure what that meant. I was upstairs on the balcony having a cigarette while still not being able to stop laughing myself. It had been awhile since my stomach hurt from laughing. The massages were great nevertheless. They do wonders especially when you have to get ready for another marathon on your feet. Off for 2 hour nap before dinner and milonga.

Porteno Y Bailarin tonight. It turned out to be our favorite place. We were a bit nervous as this clearly wasn't a place like La Viruta - here the cabeceo seemed to be in full play. No sooner were we seated (after some back and forth with the guy in charge, he was so nice to us!), Eva was invited to dance. I followed, but didn't have great luck. I realized there are bad dancers in Argentina too! Thankfully, much fewer and farther between. I survived the first tanda and just when I thought no one will ever ask me to dance again, this old old man came and motioned me in the quieter back room. I followed while realizing that he was at least ninety, if not a hundred years old (I am quite serious). It was one of the most beautiful and authentic tandas I have ever had. He was tiny, much shorter than me, shaky, and even though his shirt was scuffed up at the collar edges, he was wearing a suit and a hat and looked very presentable! And, most importantly, so full of life! We must have made an interesting couple - people were looking at us and smiling. It was incredible! In the meantime Eva was dancing with a 6'4" Greek pilot and the tiny thing that she is, it looked like she was dancing with Daddy! She was reaching high for his shoulders and he was carrying her around like a feather. She asked him in between songs if he's ever had any trouble fitting into the cockpit. Perfectly reasonable question.

As the night progressed we got a much better table, closer to the dance floor. The table next to us was occupied by a big crowd - Javier Rodrigues, Andrea Misse, and a bunch of other people (among which there was, as Eva put it, a hot hot hot hot guy!) were celebrating Gabriel Misse's birthday. What are the chances of that happening! It was surreal. You go to a random milonga and get to hang out at the same place with some of the best dancers there are! Just like that. Then we saw Gabriel's birthday dance. All the girls in that big group danced tango like it was nothing. In their casual shoes and clothes, but my God, they looked like they were born dancing!

It was a good night, with great dancers. Towards the end we both danced with this gentleman from London. Interesting character. Architect, working out of Buenos Aires for two months out of the year. And dancing every night of course. Where do we sign up for that, I would like to know???
The three of us left together around 4:30 am and found a little place nearby where we sat down for a quick round of empanadas.

When we got home the birds were already out and about. Chirping away, kind of loud actually! I don't think I have known another place where you could hear the birds like that... How do you fall asleep with this going on?! It was something we would have had to get used to.