Delta Rio De La Plata y Tigre

http://www.welcomeargentina.com/tigre/delta-rio-de-la-plata.html

http://www.viatigre.com.ar/tigre/como-llegar/

I took this short trip actually several weeks ago and Buenos Aires and my various interests kept me from keeping my blog up to date...  in the spur of  a moment this minitrip to San Isidro and Tigre was booked when I had decided time to expand my radius around the city - at that point the excitement of the new had started to fade and given way to a little tiredness of having to learn and find everything by myself from scratch every day.  So booking a tour with the lovely Ibeth from Los Amigos seemed a good way to lean back from all that discovery and pioneering on my own.  And while I was at it I got so inspired in the travel agency chatting with the chicas about their country that I also booked trip I am on now.   Iguazu and Calafate.  But back to Tigre for this entry.  Our bus driver is a woman - una chica verdadera - and I love the radio station she had tuned into so I copy the frequency - 72.08 to find it at home (and I did and it has become my favorite!) then I spot the obligatory Mate on the floor of the van.   Argentinian people will carry their thermos and mate around wherever they go and the containers they have for that are most elaborate.

The rituals and behaviors displayed by Mate drinkers are to me those of smokers,  clearly.   It is a sworn in community - a tribe.  Mate often is shared,  groups of people huddle together,  there are Mate gathering places dedicated to enjoy that brew,  you are either a person who drinks Mate or who does not - "occasional" Mate drinkers are as few and far between as are occasional smokers.   As for the accessories and blends - it starts with the Mate "cup".   Belly or somewhat tulip shaped are the most common ones naturally as that is the shape of the "pumpkin" or "squash" - calabash - they are typically made of.  They are always covered in leather with a metal rim and some prefer a glass container inside.   Depending on who you speak with - their Mate cup/shape/style of course is the best.   Then the straw - bombilla - it can come with a spiral or a strainer type ending - and it is clearly not be used as spoon.  NEVER stir - the bombilla is needed to get the liquid out of the brew and you will out yourself as the worst Gringo if you stir.   The Mate cup is filled with the Yerba.

The yerba plant, Ilex paraguariensis, is a shrub or small tree growing up to 15 meters tall. The leaves are evergreen, 7–11 cm long and 3–5.5 cm wide, with a serrated margin. The flowers are small, greenish-white, with four petals. The fruit is a red drupe 4–6 mm in diameter. The leaves are often called Spanish: yerba or Portuguese: erva, both of which mean "herb." They contain caffeine and related compounds and are harvested commercially. 

typical Argentine accessories 

The cut is very crude in Argentina,  very smooth and and almost powdery in Brasil and Uruguay.   Again a variety of mixtures to chose from and depending on your personal taste you will go for one type or the other.  The Yerba reaches up to the rim of the Mate cup - hot water is poured over it - you wonder how the water will fit .... well,  it does.   That is basically it - listo.  Share.  Enjoy.  For really hot days or whenever you feel like it - there is also the cold version with fruit juice/water mixture - it is called Tereré.  Most Mate Lovers will haul their accessories around like the gentlemen in the picture.   It feels very inconvenient to me and they do not seem to mind.  In his case he owns an elaborate leather bag that will fit the thermos with the hot water,  the Yerba container and the Mate cup perfectly.   Ex-Pats from Argentina in the world are known to spread the word once somebody finds a store that sells Yerba.   The news is twittered,  texted and posted so the Mate lover can quench his thirst also abroad.   Mate got me carried away - yes,  if you have not guessed by now - I am one of them.  

Back to what I wanted to blog on today.  My trip to Tigre - Tigre, some 30 minutes North of Buenos Aires named after indigenous puma if it makes sense.   This town sits at the banks of he second largest river delta in the world.  This phenomenon we find just outside of Buenos Aires.  Immediately I am reminded of the Mississippi Delta and this is a different dimension.   I cannot keep track of all the rivers that form the Delta as our sweet guide makes such a point of stressing which of them are polluted and which ones are not - I frown - look at him in disbelief - it is all one Delta and water system, no?  But I opt to listen,  be kind and not so German.

The bus ride takes us first into greater Buenos Aires - a concept worth writing about another day - through Los Olivos - this is where the presidential residence is - Christina calls this huge mansion her home it expands along serval blocks - helicopters with take off and landing areas included.   What the Porteños think about the cost of their President going to work by helicopter when it is a 30 min car ride I want to know from our Argentine tour guide.   I get the look.   Clearly "kirchnerista"  meaning supporter of the current government of Christina de Kirchner - like a lot of things in this country you are either vehemently for or vehemently against it.  "Well, the safety of our president needs to come first" is the answer I get.   And are you saying your president does not fly to work?   Mmmhhh,   not sure actually ours just changed for reasons I used to attribute more to Latin America than to good old Germany.   I refrain from speaking about some Green Party members who have been known to go to work on roller blades as with streets and pavements in the condition of Buenos Aires this concept would be difficult to follow.

http://www.artesanos-sanisidro.com.ar/home.html

We reach San Isidro.    The arts and crafts market pulls me in and doors open - I am having a conversation with Suzanne a marvelous local artist whose pieces invite me to stay  I spent at least half an hour deep diving with her about why certain colors are associated with directions and elements and how important a role animals have played in all indigenous  people.   In her art she plays joyfully with color, direction and animals and I admire her courage to create pieces that will combine 3 elements not 4.  I realize I have a strong sense or more desire of completeness of systems,   full circle and I have been irritated by gaps or spaces - a piece that combines water,  earth and fire speaks to me and luckily I find one that holds air.  Complete.  The colors she uses are all natural and extracted from plants.   The vibrance is strong and it is obvious that these pieces were designed with loving attention and dedication.   They could be presents I think as for the xth time I feel that sting when I become aware I do not have my own walls to hang all the art acquired over the years.  Then I relax - 2012 is the year to decide on where my base should be, just get on with it and immediately the perfect drawing for my friend Jordi in Barcelona shows up - it is called "Power"  and wants to be in his new home to remind him of his big shift in his empowerment as a leader.


I continue through the Arts Fair and stop by the obligatory and famous church left behind by the Spaniards only to find this bizarre perspective.
As I walk in they are just finishing the Sunday service with the Argentine version of the Lord's Prayer.   Wherever I travel I attend a Service,  one of my travel rituals I have started many years ago.
We arrive in Tigre.   It is packed.  No wonder the weather is fabulous and this is one of the most popular recreational areas just outside of BsAs.   The boat we were supposed to take is broken so they are looking for another one for us.   Argentina.   Things do break down more frequently than I have been used to - solutions are provided much faster and in a much more creative way than I have been used to.    Shade, shade,  please give me shade.   While waiting we learn about the different water sports people indulge in when living in the Delta.   Tigre is famous for its rowing club.

We finally board the substitute boat and enter a different world.   I can clearly see why many artists live here.   The peacefulness and quiet of the place is very attractive and as I watch one little river house after the other go by from my boat perspective I dream myself onto one of the many islands and into a summer spent in the Delta surrounded by lovely and interesting neighbors my days of writing and winding down intercepted by asada invitations and the occasional visitor.  How do you organise yourself I wonder - well,  the answer passes us to the left on the river - life is on boats.   Iceream boat,  Pizza boat,  Supermarket boat.   They have a school on an island but obviously a school boat to bring the kids.   Of course they need gas stations to refuel all the boats in the Delta,  there is a Church,  a movie theatre and other gathering spots you expect in any community.   Going to see someone for coffee or your neighbor to borrow a cup of sugar involves waterways here....

supermarket - supply boat in the Delta

 It is a small community only a couple of thousand people live here on a permanent basis.   For the rest these are their summer houses or weekend residences.   There is no such thing as building restrictions other than those of nature so you can see the all styles and sizes.   

gas station in the Delta 

Almost all of them have nicely kept grounds and gardens around them and that separate little gazebo right at the water where you keep your boat and were you sit to drink Mate, of course.  The color of the water comes from the river bed sediments.   It takes some getting used to other than that this is all VERY inviting.  Some homes are for rent.   I am dreaming - how long would the daily commute to Buenos Aires really be...

riverbank gazebo and boat slip - each house has one...

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.

Buenos Aires, lenguaje, letras y libro

.....how could I possibly not have known this before I arrived?   In 2011 Buenos Aires was rewarded the book capital award - capital munidal del libro - by the UNESCO and living here it is really hard not to see why.   Bookstores of all kinds at each corner,  lists and lists of literary cafes.    In the foto you can see the one where I bought El Aleph by Jorge Luis Borges - one of the most important Argentine writers, essayists and poets born in Buenos Aires - yes in Spanish as I like to challenge myself.  (really?) His work is a an amazing mixture of tale and dreamlike fantasy and no I have not progressed very much with this book as its layers are deep and my Spanish not yet.  Today in class at VOS the cultural center here in Buenos Aires I learnt that this style is called Realismo Magico - it is extremely important to LatAm because it is the first literary style that was created here and that is being exported quite successfully while in the past all other styles were imported from Europe.   I am proud to announce that I made it through my first tale ba Julio Cortaza equally important as Borges.
"No se culpe a nadie".   I really wanted to give up - this was very challenging to read in Spanish but Pancho our teacher and my classmates would not let me.

my favorite bookstore

at the Cafe Tortoni 

The most famous among the many many literary cafes in Buenos Aires is of course El Tortoni 
http://www.cafetortoni.com.ar/
another time machine you can step into in this city.   So many places to still go and explore,  to have coffee and read or write or just feeling inspired in this special energy.  My favorite bookshop it is 15 steps away from my apartment it never fails to amaze me how they find anything in there within seconds of my asking.    I always think of my Mum when I am inside...  Incredibly also I discovered only a few weeks ago I live near he National Library which is heaven inside and such an interesting building historically as it was the residence for some "governments" in Buenos Aires at some point.   http://www.bn.gov.ar/faq.    

And then I made the newspaper.   A little over a month in the country and I am being interviewed while in class at VOS on Lunfardo of course,  a sort of dialect or secret language of the Tango.   So when I came to the office on Monday Maria Gabriela says - estas en el diario!! - you made the newspaper - of course this is not just any newspaper La Nacion is what you read in BsAs when you take pride in your education - so here is the article in La Nacion.   (More on the war between the government and media another time - winds of change here) Mind you I am not that anxious to learn Lunfardo as they cite me quite liberally - as this feels like another deep world of complexity I could easily get lost in....so Tango has its own language.  Of course here is my link between my love for dancing and my love for words.  Of course Tango has its own words.   So this week I need to buy yet another dictionary and yes I am learning a fifth language - Lunfardo.  Jose Maria the CFO of Telmark spoke to me about this language when we first met and since our discussion was in Spanish I thought maybe I misunderstood - no, no Tango has its own language.  Claro.

My bario has one more particularity I want to mention and that is I live in medical headquarters.   This is somewhat puzzling to me - at first I only noticed the dermatologists who seem to reside on the Recoleta side of Avenida Santa Fe - walking to my Tango Studio however I discovered really via the bookstores that Dentists cluster on the other side of Ave Santa Fe only to find all major hospitals and university faculties only steps from my home.    So the energy of the healing profession has been all around me.  Another little fact that is curious - Buenos Aires has more shrinks than New York and I am not a bit surprised by that fact either.   Bario Freud - this is also what some have  called  my neighborhood.   I cannot help but smile at the sheer concentration of all that is important and available to me at this stage in my life.  So is this true - it is always all there in abundance and we just notice it more clearly as we heighten our awareness?  Buenos Aires is just what the doctor ordered for me - books,  writers,  journalism,  a potential and people connecting job.   I live in this enormously interesting city,  in summer, light and sun without end, Tango,  calm attitude,  peace of mind,  courage curiosity AND time to indulge in it all.   Any doctor would be pleased with the progress I have been making here.

Buenos Aires - where else would I want to be writing a book....

Comme Il Faut

Just in case you did not know (like me) this is the place for THE most beautiful Tango shoes in Buenos Aires.    So 4 lessons and a handful of Milongas - some of them just sitting and watching - into this amazing world of Tango, Kristin,  passionate and gifted Tanguera from Bergen,  Norway who arrived here a week ago invites me to come along to this magic shoe place.

http://www.commeilfaut.com.ar/historia.php

The salon is in Recoleta.  A first hint.
You go into a backyard that looks like a part of Paris.  The second hint.
It takes attention to find the entry and sign.   Third hint.
You ring the bell and are greeted with attitude and a raised eyebrow.   Si?
By now you get the picture - this is serious Tango shoe business and not just for anybody.   Pero no.

Shoes are nowhere in sight but several sofas and mirrors.   We are being sat on one of the posh sofas with the speed of light - not a second to breathe or take in the salon.  Immediately being asked for color, style and material desired.   Out come boxes upon boxes of the most exquisite,  elegant,  extravagant, shiny,  sexy, seductive, feminine Tango shoes.  No doubt this is THE SHOE PLACE.
I am reminded of the scene in Pretty Woman where the gorgeous Julia Roberts shops on Rodeo Drive (the shop where Richard Gere and his credit cards come along only that in our case Richard could unfortunately not make it)  It has some 40 degrees outside -  health warning is still orange - our feet are huge as they are swollen from the humidity all the walking the shop manager rolls her eyes slightly how can you come so late in the day we are about to close and it is imposible to try shoes in this weather "my Darling" - and we just have to try on these shoes....

A pair of black, white striped, signature tango shoes with a golden heel call my name - very high - and  they do not fit 100%.   My spine is screaming when I walk in them - yet dancing and walking in heels are two different kettle of fish.  The design is stunning.   Impossible to wear for me now as this pair signals every serious dancer:  experienced, self confident bailarina.  Well, not quite yet.  Of course it is possible to have them tailor made and fitted exactly to my feet ... I have a week to think before I go back to Comme Il Faut.   The shoes change weekly - Saturdays.  The salon is in walking distance of my place.  What great practicing ground for my newly designed principles around making all choices in my life from a new level of consciousness.  VERY tempting.  VERY good.

Of course it is strictly forbidden to take pictures inside of Comme Il Faut.  Of course I took one and kept it.   Kristin is in a world of her own.   The amount of information she spills out onto the salon floor around soles, suede pads,  extra padding,  additional holes in the straps, shapes, widening,  enhancing legs, steps,  heels blending into the dance floor,  color matching skintones, outfits,  what type of Tango and Milonga requires what type of shoe -  it feels like an explosion - she clearly is in her element.   Beautiful to watch her joy over the perfect pair she finds.   

I find myself  happy just to share the experience and this feeling of complete certainty.  No.  Not my pair today. Completely holding my own even in ever luring shoe paradise.  Freedom.  Joy. 

Kristin in love....

yes - very very very hot.....

After Comme If Faut we head out to Palermo to pay a visit to Greta Flora - what a different experience - they have maybe 3 pairs my size - and the style is very different to CIF.   We discover the clip on flowers - great idea - you turn a basic black Tango learning shoe into a fun expressive one by clipping on leather flowers - perfect.  Immediately makes every shoe look like a Greta Flora design.  Clever.  I get a pair of clip ons - in Tango red - of course.  Kristin explains that really serious and good dancers often wear the most worn shoes - you can tell by the location of the traces of wear and tear if the shoes belong to a good dancer.   So of course I have to examine this and - indeed apparently I keep my ankles close together quite nicely - clear wear and tear in the right spot!

Actually this light hearted fun experience I so needed after a horrible night in Palermo at the Club Villa Malcom experiencing true embarrassment on the dance floor on Friday.   What did I do that after two really nicely danced,  intuitively managed Tangos (oh that works well he says) ouf of the blue my partner feels he now he will  turn into a teacher and needs to explain things to me.   Why? What signals did I send to elicit that from him?   I did not ask for this.   No thank you - I do have a very good and lovely teacher whom I trust - I am here to enjoy myself.   Of course now the magic is gone I am out of my body and into my head.   Now it feels heavy instead of light.  To top it all he now says - all the Germans do have problem with being too much in their head - where he is from is unclear - he most certainly is not Argentine I notice I do not care enough to ask.

I can feel my irritation turning into intolerance with my next partner and I decide to focus all my energy on this is the last dance with this partner.   Cortina.  (musical break between two tandas or rounds of Tango) Thank you universe.   The bad breath (garlic and onion) offends me - why not use a mint if you know you will be physically so close to somebody and I am thinking of what I can say in a self honoring non offending way next time I run into the phenomenon of bad breath in Tango.   Then I decide this was the first and last experience of that kind.   That should do it.   The next partner clearly has no feeling for rhythm and music.  Worse than lecturing and smell.   Way worse for me.   True - so true I only have few steps in comparison to what is out there in Tango AND my body cringes when music and movement are disconnected so completely.   And no this was not a style.  My body cannot tolerate it.  So - all this is also out there in the Tango world.  It certainly clarified what I will not tolerate.   So I embrace it as sharpening my focus on whom to pick to dance with.  Good.

Still it took me a while to work through this I felt quite frustrated and thought maybe I just do not go  to Milongas for a while.   The good dancers will not ask me and I cannot expect them to really as they are there to have a great dancing experience on their own level themselves.   Dancing with beginners I am afraid I will pick up dancing that will be very hard to correct later on.   So,  how does one progress then - I know I want the miles under my soles to improve.   More classes as long as I still live in the cradle of Tango and Practicas and doing the homework.   Good plan.   No more Milonga until I have more technique - but then it is not about technique only... and Milongas can be so much fun and I can learn from watching and just absorbing it and ....

So I am back at the Pavilion in Glorieta at the Milonga on Saturday night I cannot help it.   And in Kristin I have a new friend who is a Tango crazy so of course we go.  For a while I keep my flip flops on to signal "no dancing with this chica tonight"  there are some who would even dance barefoot so I am asked anyway.  The shoes are not always a clear sign.  A very strong looking man in his forties invites me to dance and I sense ok he is the right one to get back on the floor - I put on my shoes in the speed of light and off we go.  Its ok.

I ask the universe to dance with empowered, experienced and sweet partners and I get asked by 5 different dancers I am not choosing yet.  This is the next level of learning.   So I go in with the intention to simply surrender and enjoy the perfect summer night and all the Tango has to offer and tonight I just want to be held for a while and this feels so lovely - I assume my partners will make me look beautiful according do where I am on my skill level and most of them do and this works well.   I am just happy.  As we are also close to the bario chino there is a Chinese fair and all sorts of distraction around the Pavilion tonight - while dancing I do not even notice it.   Cuando bailas,  bailas.   When you dance you dance.

Then Emilio asks me to dance.  At first I am taken aback - a challenge - Emilio must be in his 70s his face tells so many stories - bright, alert eyes smile at me knowingly - the surprise comes when he holds me in a very close embrace as his energy feels like that of a very young man.   He loves the Tango clearly - then I sense his tremor - he has Parkinsons his hand moves uncontrollably along my back.

I am aware of my insecurity - how do I read his lead with this hand shaking so much I will not know what he wants me to dance.  What to do with this?  My back however stays really soft and somehow I do not mind this on a physical level.   I am surprised.  Then I breathe and remember all I know in my heart and just ease into the dance - it moves me emotionally - the sheer humanness of this moment and I tear up a little inspired by this man's humble courage.

All the shiny shoes and the fun glitz and glamour of the morning fade out at the other side of the Tango rainbow compared to this experience.   Tu pasas muy lindo con la musica he says and indeed Emilio and I dance a whole tanda together and he is the best dancing partner I have all night.   Que maravilloso.  Be courageous and open,  lean in to the unknown trusting it will be just fine and exactly what is needed in each moment while I hold my own, eyes closed, and we just dance and enjoy ourselves.   Ah - back in Tango heaven.   Of course,  I might have those shoes fitted at Comme Il Faut next Saturday.  And why not.  It is about range.

Kristin and I chill and chat for a while after the Milonga and it finally starts to rain.   I am completely happy and filled up when I get out of the taxi in Avenida Santa Fe and there she is - teenage Mum,  deep black rings under her eyes,  carrying her baby through the rain,  the bare feet black with dirt,  begging - when I spot her she runs after two men almost screaming at them to please help her.   I have a challenging time managing my cringing body and heart as I witness her in her despair.  I hand her what I have left which tonight is a not even the equivalent of a Euro and receive the sweetest blessing for happiness in my life in Spanish.

Argentina keeps moving me to tears in exactly those moments when I feel I could not be happier.
I ponder a little on arcs,  this day and at what point happiness and sadness meet and what the quality of that space has brought to me lately.

on dedicating time to what I love doing .....

I am back at school.

http://www.vosbuenosaires.com/es/contacto/

At VOS language school and cultural center for the Spanish language - and "vos" is of course the lovely way Argentine people address each other.   The school was recommended to me by a friend of a friend ..... gracias a Pedro Rubio y Roxane!!!  These days I just love asking for help and following recommendations it has never ever failed me - it leads me exactly to where I need to be in my life.
And so of course the lady who runs the school Magdalena happes to be very good friends with Mercedes who  works for  Alejandrina the Director of the Telefonica Foundation in Buenos Aires.  Connecting people - it is a Latin way of being.  I love it.  Me encanta. Perfecto.

So as planned two years ago,  I made it my reality -  the next couple of years in my life would be dedicated to exploring what I always wanted to explore and expand and learn - leaving behind tactical and strategic planning and thinking - just following my heart.  No more will this be good for my career,  is this pragmatic etc - no - I dedicated these years to joyfully learn what I always wanted to learn.  Explore my desire to engage deeply with people via Coaching,  (re)discover Contemporary Art,  explore my deep love for creative writing, speak a third language fluently ideally Spanish,  learn to dance the Tango and yes - live in a Latin country for a while.

I get to combine it all and one area benefits from the other while I work 3 days a week for this incredible company Telefonica in a setting where I can apply all of my skills and all I learn now,  deepening our relationship with our Buenos Aires based partner Telmark.   Really looking back on what I envisioned 2012 to be I could not be happier with the arrangement.  It has been so much joy and learning working with the Argentine colleagues here and as I learn more about this country and nation their history, my admiration keeps growing.   In my generation in most European countries - we do not know what crisis means.   My generation and the ones following can learn from this mentality here and as I wrote in an earlier entry,   the level of maturity of the next generation is astonishing.  Most Argentines carry a European and an Argentine passport and there has been a new awareness in younger people - some now for the first time consciously opt to be Argentine.  

At VOS I get to learn with an international group of people and it goes way beyond the language of course -  the topics we discuss are wide spread.  I love the change of perspectives and looking at the world through the eyes of my Brazilian fellow student or my Argentine teacher.   The first movie  watched during movie night they put on optionally after class was Esperando en Mesisas  by Daniel Burman starring Daniel Hendler an Argentine movie that captures the years of the economic crisis perfectly.

Who would have thought that 10 years later Spaniards would come to Argentina to work,  when in 2001 a whole wave of Argentinians moved to Spain fleeing the dire situation in their own country.  Just a decade and things have been reversed.   An amazing turnaround.   Now 46% of young people are unemployed in Spain - I have no idea of how many that might be in Greece.   The new lost generations.   The Brazilian girl explains to me she will be a lawyer and she studies in Sao Paulo and in order to be admitted to the exams she will have to be fluent in 3 (!) languages this is not counting her native tongue Portugese.   I look at her in amazement what a powerhouse she and so many in her generation will be. This continent equals potential.   I truly enjoyed Esperando en Mesias - have a look....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiHjMQ_0qCw



In class we started with a rather tough subject - Argentina 1975 - 1983 - "el proceso de la reorganizacion nacional" - really a military Junta took over like in so many Latin American countries at the time. I doubt it is really clear how many people the nation lost then.

Each Thursday in front of la Casa Rosada,  the City Hall on the Plaza de Mayo you can still speak with the abuelas (grandmothers) who gather there to demonstrate - they are wearing white headbands reminding the world of that period.   Pancho our teacher distributed this essay about this topic - the essay is meant to test our level of comprehension -  I did quite ok language wise and not so well emotionally - after reading the essay I had tears in my eyes it touched me and of course recalled current experiences in my life that happened over the last two years.  A reoccurring theme so close to me these days - people whom I love dying or dropping out of my life without a trace.

I know of a piece of Photography Art by an Argentine photograher Gustavo Germano collected family pictures of various families who lost members during this period in time - he then took pictures in the present at the same place with the same background displaying the remaining family members only.
When I had first read it it was engrained in my memory immediately - it is a very moving piece so brutally showing the gap left behind by a lost human life and it is strangely healing at the same time to see it so clearly.

http://www.zeit.de/wissen/2010-08/fs-verschwunden-2

Ending for today on a lighter note.  Dear reader of my blog - for you to get the full picture.   Today we had some 40 degrees and it has been super humid.   I try to breathe so slowly that the hot air will not hurt inside of my nose so much.   Even the locals faint and I have now definitely run out of ways to cool me down so I am just hot.   Period.   Hot.  Somewhere I read the Mate would help .... well it is an acquired taste... It just started raining finally - now I am experiencing my first thunder storm in Buenos Aires and it feels heavenly.

eine Nacht im El Beso

El Beso - Der Kuss

http://www.tango-club.com/elbeso

Prima,  denke ich,  ist ja auch in meinem Barrio also Stadtviertel  und er steht im ultimate guide for Tango Lovers to Buenos Aires,  den mir Leni dagelassen hat und den wir beide als reisendes Weitergabebuch für jeweilige Neuankömmlinge deklariert haben.

El Beso - klingt doch einladend,  auch da kann ich ja hinlaufen,   also wie alle hier die Tangoschuhe in das dafür angefertigte Beutelchen,   flache Laufschuhe und den neuen Tangorock an und losgezogen.  Dreimal vorbeigelaufen,  am Eingang,  weil so unscheinbar, vor allem im Vergleich zu den touristischeren Orten - das hätte mir doch schon ein Hinweis sein können....

Geht doch - denke ich mir während der vor der Milonga stattfindenden Tanzstunde,   Javier meint er kann nicht glauben,  dass ich erst angefangen habe und so bleibe ich ganz mutig zur Milonga.  Die Stunden kosted umgerechnet 5,50  mit Milonga 7,30  Euro.  Also zücke ich die 10 Pesos mehr und denke toll meine ersten Milonga in meinem barrio.  

Das war ernüchternd gestern.   Mit den Milongas,  die ich bislang besucht hatte,   hatte diese wenig zu tun.   Hier tanzen weitestgehend Porteños y Porteñas und solche die ihm verfallen sind, dem Tango.   Wow.   Allein das Zeremoniell, bis man einen Platz zugewiesen bekommt.   Zweite Reihe auf der rechten Seite,  was soll das denn,  denke ich mir,   wie so nicht in der ersten.  

Nadine,   eine Tanzexpertin und begnadete Tänzerin zu der ich gesetzt werde,  man gibt hier acht auf die Frauen und setzt sie so,  dass sich sich nicht unangenehm fühlen,  schon mal wunderbar.    
Also Nadine,  meint, wir stehen in der Gunst schau mal gegenüber, wer alles in Reihe drei und vier im Dunkeln sitzt.   Mein weißes Oberteil ist der totale Fehlgriff,  auf keinen gar keinen Fall ist das die Farbe für Tango.   Das ultraviolette Licht macht die Sache nicht angenehmer.  

Aha denke ich mir,  auch die falschen Schuhe,  unter 8cm super Bleistift Stilettos geht hier nichts.  Solche Schuhe habe ich noch nie besessen und es ist fraglich ob ich das jeh werde.... Die Damen sind alle wunderbar angezogen - schöne Kleider oder Röcke,   super gepflegt ebenso wie die Herren.  Es gefällt mir gut.   Hat einfach Stil und Klasse.  Nadine sitzt wie eine Sphinx im asymetrischen kleinen Schwarzen mit Mohnblumen lacht mich an und sagt auf Deutsch,  du kommst mir so bekannt vor ich habe vor einem Jahr meinen 50sten in Nürnberg gefeiert -bei der xxx Tango Nacht, warst du auch da?
Ich glaube es nicht - nein ich denke nicht.   Da brech ich alle Zelte ab zur unmöglichsten Zeit in meinem Leben,  reise nach Buenos Aires und Tango gibt es überall.   Sie lebt eigentlich in Seattle und ist zu einem Tanzseminar hier,   na ja dann schaust du eben mal eine Nacht lang zu...  und ganz schön mutig von dir dich hierher zu trauen.   Mmmhhh.  

Ich schaue den Paaren zu und weiß,  dass sie recht hat.   In der ersten Reihe sitzen nur Stammgäste,    sie kommen zu jeder Milonga,   seit Jahren,  oft seit Jahrzehnten.    3-5 Stunden Tango 3 bis 4 Mal die Woche seit Jahren oder Jahrzehnten.    Das Niveau ist hoch hier tanzt eine Klasse für sich,  einige Paare sehen aus wie aus einem Hollywood Film  - das müssen einige von den Legenden sein.   Die Tango Legenden haben hier Pseudonyme, Künstlernamen.   Sie heissen El Indio,  El Chino usw.  angeblich sagt man beim Tangotanzen auch nie seinen richtigen Nachnamen.  

Mir bleibt echt die Luft weg.   Es ist traumhaft schön nur dazusitzen und zu sehen zu dürfen.    Demut.
Demut und noch mal Demut.    Sie gleiten übers Parkett hier und doch nicht hier,  die Schrittfolgen sind nie nachvollziehbar,  wie sie das alles im Moment zu erfinden scheinen ist mir nach wie vor ein totales Rätsel.    Mein Tanzpartner aus der Stunde vor der Milonga unterhält sich mit seinem Nachbarn ich bin in Hörweite ...hat ein schönes musikalische Gespür und ist weich zu führen aber sie hat keinerlei Erfahrung.  Stimmt - ich werde nicht aufgefordert.

Ich überlege zu gehen,  weil das schon schwer fällt,  wenn ich doch so gerne tanzen würde,  gar nicht weiß wie und sich hier keiner mit einer Anfängerin auf der Tanzfläche sehen läßt,   das geht hier einfach nicht.  Dann zögere ich es noch eine Weile hinaus.    Nadine erklärt mir was zu vermeiden ist z.B.  auf keinen Fall tanzt man zwei Runden mit dem gleichen Partner,  das bedeutet das Einverständnis zum anschliessenden Geschlechtsverkehr.  Das Auffordern geht so -  3 Sekunden anstarren,  wenn der andere nicht wegsieht und irgendwas macht in der Mimik -  was bin ich mir nicht sicher und man weiß es einfach irgendwie - nickt man ummerklich und schon kommt er herübergelaufen der Tanzpartner doch  manchmal gibt es lustige Verwechslungen,  dann stehen drei Damen gleichzeitig auf.  

Es ist offensichtlich mit viel Peinlichkeit verbunden für die meisten Frauen - als Neuling sehe ich das entspannter,  das hoffe ich mir beizubehalten.   Ausserdem was fällt mir ein aufzustehen,  bis der wirklich vor mir steht,  ohne Brille im Halbdunkel sehe ich sowieso so schlecht.  Die Tanzenden sind jeden Alters und Herkunft - Tango ist für alle.   Das gefällt mir sehr gut.  

Aus welcher Stadt in Italien bist du?  Fragt mich die Dame auf der anderen Seite neben mir - sie hat einen wunderschönen Fächer dabei (sehr klug) und lüftelt für uns beide,  ach so Alemania,  sie war gerade in Weimar auf einem Tango Festival.   Ich lache, in Weimar auf einem Tango Festival,  na dann,  dass die Finnen und die Japaner auch Tango verrückt sind hatte ich schon gelesen und Weimar ist neu - und mein Akzent hat sich also von undefinierbar,  über spanisch zu italienisch entwickelt.   Wie schön.  

Auch die Veranstaltung selbst,  wer die Organisatoren der Milonga sind, die Entscheidung wer wann wo platziert wird , welche Stücke gewählt werden,  all das hat eine Bedeutung und gibt den Eingeweihten Hinweise....

Nach der fünften Runden kann ich es dann aber nicht mehr aushalten -  eine Oma mit Gipsarm kommt herein und ich denke,   das glaub ich jetzt aber dann doch nicht - oh doch,   sie schlüpft in goldene mindestens 10 cm Super Stilettos mit einem Hauch von Riemchen,  das war erst der Anfang,  sofort kommt einer der Top Tänzer jung und gut aussehend und fordert sie auf.   Omi gleitet wie eine Gazelle unbeschreibliche Figuren tanzend in den Armen des Adonis an mir vorbei.   Mir sind Lenis Worte im Ohr - bei uns sitzen sie im Altersheim und vegetieren dahin,  hier tanzen sie Tango.  

Ich habe jetzt vollkommene Klarheit - this is not your league (yet),  führ heute reicht es -  ich packe meine Tasche und gehe.   Dezent in einer dunklen Ecke wechsle ich die Schuhe,  nie am Tanzboden,  hab ich gelernt.   Ja ausser du bist Stammgast,  Omi, hast Gipsarm und bist begnadet im Tango. Dann darfst du alles.

Tranquila,  Amor,  tranquila.    Das wird noch etwas dauern, bis ich im El Beso tanze...

on my way to Malba and more

http://www.malba.org.ar/web/home.php

It is a must see for each Art lover.   Contemporary Art Lover.   Incredibly so they opened this Museum ten years ago at the outbreak of this country's most horrible economic crisis that left more than 60% of all Argentines below the poverty line.  Amazing.  So on this splendid December 31st 2011 my daytime programme was to see the exhibition of Carlos Cruz Diez - color in space and time.  

 Gorgeous work and applied all over the world in music halls,  on zebra crossings,  as fences etc - I love it when Art gets integrated into every day life into seemingly unimportant situations or events to enrich,  inspire and deepen our experiences.   When it is all around us,  when we live with it.   And this exhibit was an experience.  His wall pieces are a an experience as you walk along them altering your pace and perspective you can emerse yourself in the changing patterns and colors.   A little difficult do describe - I guess you have to do it and be there...  the only thing I wondered was why not more people walked backwards along the walls or ran and jumped -  like I did - such a child in me - such a girl.
His Art really comes alive by moving the body in different directions and speed along it.
Food for my soul.   Gorgeous.  How happy this made me.

In the section of Latin American Art I found the cross over between writing,  letters,  paper and Art.   The attentive reader of my blog knows paper and writing,  the letters and the word have been in my focus lately - I still am not sure where it will take me and I was moved to tears by a piece called PQBD by Mira Schendel and the ovo novelo by Augusto Luis Browne de Campos.   These days Art moves me that deeply - I "get" it with every cell of my body.    

Lilian Porters Wrinkle from 1968 was my link back to Buenos Aires and its special relationship with paper.   What a curious day.

Liliana Porter "Wrinkle" 1968 - YouTube
► 1:43► 1:43

On my way to the Malba - quite a few blocks too many really to walk in this blistering heat and thanks to my Nikes,  sunblock on my sensitive skin and that ever with me bottle of water - I made it.   Walking down the Paseo de Recoleta you pass the sweet stalls of the market of course - recommendable and then  BsAs television studios.  

This Billboard made me  pause and ponder.  This very sensual looking woman hosts a show called - time to think.   And so I thought.  First what a contradiction.   Such alluring contrast.  Ah, how much European women can learn about integration - combining femininity or sensuality with brain power.  
Oh - you cannot take her seriously dolled up like this - really? - Argentine men seem to do exactly that.    This country has its gender roles down at least that is what I can see so far.   Men are men - women are women everything is possible for both.  A woman runs the country.  Does she polarise wide parts of the population - of course she does.   Someone once said to me this is possible only because of the strong Italian influence - more than 40% have Italian roots - the matriarchy - it is a country run by "La Mama" - That is way to one dimensional and easy for me,  especially since I think all the other equally as strong influences give Argentina this unique very special flair.   The government- La Presidencia - runs an ad here in their quest to build national pride and identification.    It goes like this:  Argentina - un pais con buena gente -  a country "with good people"  - and I wish them well with their endeavor to slowly but surely built a national identity that is grown up with severed cords from Mama Europe.  Argentina can very much hold its own as I was allowed to experience exactly that today in the most inspiring conversations with the generation that graduated from university during the economic breakdown.   I ran a coaching session with a few of their young leaders.  Wow - what a mature,  wise,  grown up and elastic group of talent this is!   Watch out Europe and other parts of the world for that matter -  LatAm is coming of age.