11 - El Once

As so often in this city I set out to Once for a very pragmatic reason.   After seven weeks in the limiting very same clothes - I am fed up - I have been fed up for a while and due to my new (shopping) principles - less is more -  but also the limited variety for a woman my height and size in Latin America buying new clothes has been a true challenge.

So I learn there is barrio Once which means 11 and curiously enough it is the 11th entry to my blog.
It is supposed to be THE place for fabric,  accessories and clothes shopping.  Exploring the map I learn that first of all - even if many would argue that - "Once" is not a barrio - the quarter is really Balvanera and Once has been defined to be the area between Avenida Callao, Av Belgrano, Av Cordoba and maybe Billinghurst for those of you who are familiar with Buenos Aires or who want to look at a map.

http://moda.infobae.com/guia-de-compras-del-barrio-de-once/



It has been named after the train station in its heart  "Once de Septiembre".  The name September 11 in this case goes back to 1852 when the city of Buenos Aires separated from the rest of Argentina.    From what I know this lasted about 10 years and I have to research history before I share more.   In the heart of Once we find also Plaza Miserere and strolling around it I think the area around train stations attracts somehow the same type of commerce and people all over the world.  Just like ports and harbors do.   And I do enjoy the colorful mix of nationalities from several continents and the professions from all "walks of life".

The range colliding here is expressed when a traditionally clothed Rabbie removes a whole bunch of "call me stickers" the many hookers in this area had just placed on the newsstands, lamppost and signage.   I remember what I read about modern slavery when I prepared for my stay in Argentina and that this is a reality larger in numbers than ever not only in Argentina.   And we are in 2012.  When I first heard about human trafficking and modern slavery I was shocked and became aware of my urge to know more and write about this just as the era of the Missing - the Disappeared and for both topics so Argentine I feel it is still too soon.   For today on the lighter and inspirational side my latest discovery in BsAs.

Again I can walk there ... some of the recommendations say to start at Plaza Miserere so I follow that and I am catapulted into the depth of what first seems the deeply Latin part of Buenos Aires.  Street vendors will sell you any good you can imagine - from beautiful Peruvian handcraft (you have to look though) to super cheap mass produced "who needs it" articles made in China offered mainly by Asians or Black people .  In between a family from Ecuador will steam mussels basically operating "a kitchen" on the floor.   I was chicken and did not try.  Or smart and stayed healthy. Who knows.

What makes this Argentine apart from Mate and Yerba everywhere is the sheer abundance of patterns in the fabrics  - patterns that I cannot describe as they do not resemble anything I know - you might find floral with polka dots or tribal with floral and color combinations I did not know could work together.  So I spot something and it attracts me and as I look closer it confuses me as it blends and does not seem to blend at the same time.   An odd sensation of "slightly offness" - off what I think and I am reminded of integrating the seemingly contradicting.   Maybe it is the current state or degree of Argentina national identification that is reflected in their patterns.

It had rained again,  the sun is intense and stingy the air hot and humid,  I can feel that invisible film on my skin and teeth that I make it up to be black and tarry and I crave a bottle of cool water and a shower yet the place of course draws me in and I cannot resist to explore more which at the end of the day will have turned out to be 5 hours spent in Once.  Incredible how much I love getting lost in BsAs.  Europe is suffering from a cold wave I saw on the news.   I try to think of the sound that your boots make when crushing new snow to cool myself at least mentally.

The sounds,  energy,  smells are all that of a developing country here and for the first time in this city I have to really look to detect the elsewhere abundant traces of that Bohemian European charme that you encounter in other barrios of Buenos Aires.  This is a completely new face to it.   What I also detect in Once is the  Jewish community.   Quite a few Rabbis in the street and that is a new observation for me amongst the oval shaped faces native faces of Peru with their beautiful almond eyes,  the Corean white skinned people and for the first time an awareness of darker or black people.   Then I find some synagogues and in speaking with people I learn hat Argentina has the 5th largest Jewish community in the world - many Jews have moved away from Once though due to a car bomb aimed at the AIMA (Associacion Mutal Israelita y Argentina)  that left 86 killed and 300 injured - thank you to Marta who clarified what started the shift in demographics in Once.    Diversity - it makes quarters vibrant,  cities vibrant most famous for it New York,  London and to me Buenos Aires and though nature's child at heart this is why I tolerate the harshness of living in big cities from time to time to fill up on it.

Vibrance.  Now that my gaze has become accustomed to everything that is immediately to the left and right of me and I resist the captivating energy of all of that and discover second and third row and my perception widens even though it is still warm skin caressing skin crowded.   Aha - there are indeed those shops more holes in the wall where I am now - full of clothes and fabric.   There is so much also in the next levels - I have a challenge trying to take it in and I feel like standing still to really look yet the moving energy of the river of people I am in will not allow that - so I go with the flow.  Retailers will shop here as well as Porteños,  visitors and tourists.    I enter one of the accessory stores on my never ending quest for "my abanico" (fan/Fächer) this I desperately need to cool me down during the dance breaks at the Milongas.  Sticking to my new principles of not just any the search has taken some time now  "¿Hola que tal - un beso - se vende abanicos?"

In one of theses stores that would mainly be frequented by women I meet Jorge.   Jorge is on the lookout for a gift for one of his various girlfriends as I learn later.  He must be in his mid 60ies and to my surprise I find him charming as hell.   What ever he has left that resembles hair on his head is long and was dyed in a mix between orange and blond,  I would not call him attractive or handsome yet he has a warmth about him that makes me listen as he stops me in one of the aisles with the sentence "And the stars do love me otherwise they would not have sent you angelic creature my way"  I cannot help but smile "The day will be great from this moment on" he continues and I keep checking my vocabulary in my head to make sure I hear correctly and understand the Castellano and what this Porteño is saying to me.   Before I know it he grabs my hand and we connect on a different level - it feels as if he looks straight into me - his eyes are amber and welcoming completely without that feared greed and then he speaks about purity and authentic power he apparently sees in me.  I take it in - I am not surprised - this type of encounter and conversation is in daily order here.

And he would be honored if I had dinner with him tonight,  of course.  Only if we tango afterwards I hear myself say - generously giving him a warm heartfelt smile as we both know this is about this moment and highly unlikely to happen and the moment and the sheer sweetness and thought of possibility is too entertaining not to be in it and so I play along.   I already have it down the Argentine way of softening and sweetening life coquetando in this very special way that seems to be a mix of Italian,  French,  Spanish,  Jewish and Latin and something undefinable - a way of connecting whenever possible.  Argentine.  Cariñoso.  Why I love being here.

Gracefully do I accept Jorges phone number and promise "to think about calling" him.   Then I imagine this scene at home and wonder what I can do to bring some of the magic with me to my cool   heady nation and people.  And all is well as I know I do not have to do anything I will just bring it with me.  Then here it comes again that pang of clear knowing and awareness - not before long I will be back.    I have a sense of sweet sadness - I have barely arrived and I already know Buenos Aires is not a place I will turn my back to very easily like London where I could not wait to leave or San Diego where I felt tired of the same same same.   I have lived in many places around the world and Buenos Aires I will carry in my heart and soul and the Tango in every cell of my body - forever.

Christian at Meir&Group todas las telas para la moda, el teatro e el espectaculo

So I venture back to Pueyrredon and Lavalle and I am taken back to my childhood in an instant.
Coming from a family where women designed and made their own clothes or sold fabric and clothes for a living -  like my grandmother these sights are all too familiar.  Stores upon stores of the most colorful "telas" fabric and everything else you need for design.  "Entra por favor" says Christian and drags me into one of the shops.   Its clothes designer wonderland.  Buttons, zippers,  adornments,  feathers,  pearls. I think of my Mum and Grammy and my original family I was born into and how all of this has always been around me and what a treasure I used to have at my fingertips never fully appreciating it right then and there in front of my nose.

And in this moment I make a decision - I will design and make at least some my own clothes from now on as I used to in younger years.   My heart starts beating I am really excited about this and then I feel inspired to create a line of Tango Wear - as there is clearly a lack of beautiful Tango wear especially for the younger generation - lucky for all of us there is a growing community of dancers - there has to be a demand and with my contacts to artists and designers.... I already have this network and it fits into my CTI leadership quest as one piece in the "Return to our Senses series" and and and ... what an inspiring place.

I find myself on Calle Paso in the 500 block and my body calms down,  fewer people,  less noise, different world.   Finally here they are some of the designer stores and the evidence why Buenos Aires is so deserving of that Design Award they won in 2010.  I browse a little encounter the same challenge as always - too short - too small.   I finally make a purchase.  A skirt,  cheerful, very colorful - thinking of my sister and her comment "is really all you wear black or white?"  when she opened my closet in London - basically yes if I can help it.  My skirt is super light,  cotton,  perfect for this heat and any garden party in Europe - after paying I look closer at the label - designed in Argentina it says and also - made in India.   I should have looked first.   Like the shrimps they catch along the Coast of Denmark which are then shipped to Algeria to be peeled only to be shipped again to be eaten at a German dinner table - or the fact that we import apples in winter from LatAm as this is cheaper than storage cost for home grown apples - brave new globalized world I think and how can all this everything everywhere at anytime available (but not for all of us) possibly be sustained or is it simply the manifestation of everybody's dreams and longing?

Abanico:  Un abanico es un instrumento y un complemento de moda que fue inventado y fabricado para que de forma manual pudiese mover aire y facilitar la refrigeración cuando se está en un ambiente caluroso, principalmente si es un local cerrado donde no haya corriente natural de aire.

As I walk back from Once to my place I think of completing the work that is overdue for Leadership in March and how rich an experience and inspiration this excursion to Once has been for me.   Having let go completely of the abanico search - it comes my way.   In corner of my eye I spot "my abanico" it sits waiting for me in the window display of a pharmacy and seems to be their decoration.  I walk in and ask if they would sell it to me - claro que si - no problem and for less than 5 Euros it is mine.  "It will come to you" is the title of one of my favorite poems by Honora Spicer.   I leave the store moved - again: Argentina continues to bring out my tears this time around - tears of joy.  Buenos Aries "my heartplace city" - where it has been easy for me to bring all my pieces together.   Quite a few pieces I have now clearly let go,  only deliberately chosen ones are new,   I left room for what needs to still arrive into my life and will keep that space,   some pieces have always been with me and some are coming back.  Or am I returning to them?  Which brings me to "Volver" (to return) but that has been so rich an experience and is still cooking inside of me that "Volver" will have an entry of its own... soon... very soon.