The end in Buenos Aires
After all my sightseeing, I did some sightseeing in Buenos Aires and did a little more tango. I took a few more tango lessons and tried to dance at a milonga, but it was really hard for me to work up the nerve to dance with people. My dance suckiness was compounded by my language barrier, so I only danced with one or two people in both the milongas I went to.
But one of the dances was a joint dance, with music alternating between tango and rock. It turns out that the Argentine dance of "rock" is very similar to swing, though not pure east coast or lindy. (Their floors get so crowded it turns into a slot dance, which I found out only by breaking the customs and annoying people.) It was nice to dance a dance I was good at, but it was frustrating that people don't change dances every song there. Instead, many people keep a partner for the whole set, and I suspect some of them only dance with the one person they came with (!).
But the sightseeing in Buenos Aires was better than the dancing. I re-loved the architecture
and saw the crazy suspension bridge (with shape reportedly inspired by a tango lean/lunge sort of thing),
I saw the famous La Recoleta cemetery, in which this girl in red was posing for someone else, but looks just as good in my picture. This cemetery really is a tiny city for the dead inside the living city. There are streets and streets of tombs.
I liked the contrast of old and new that could be found in an old cemetery in the middle of a city.
This overgrown tomb statue was gorgeous.
I saw some gorgeous sunsets. They just get better clouds than we do in the Bay Area.
I saw some local wildlife, both native
and imported (adorably).
But one of the things that struck me most was the trees. In the city parks, there are some amazing, ancient, massive trees. They are just so spectacular.
And, just 'cause I took it, here's me in my fancy new capybara jacket.
But one of the dances was a joint dance, with music alternating between tango and rock. It turns out that the Argentine dance of "rock" is very similar to swing, though not pure east coast or lindy. (Their floors get so crowded it turns into a slot dance, which I found out only by breaking the customs and annoying people.) It was nice to dance a dance I was good at, but it was frustrating that people don't change dances every song there. Instead, many people keep a partner for the whole set, and I suspect some of them only dance with the one person they came with (!).
But the sightseeing in Buenos Aires was better than the dancing. I re-loved the architecture
and saw the crazy suspension bridge (with shape reportedly inspired by a tango lean/lunge sort of thing),
I saw the famous La Recoleta cemetery, in which this girl in red was posing for someone else, but looks just as good in my picture. This cemetery really is a tiny city for the dead inside the living city. There are streets and streets of tombs.
I liked the contrast of old and new that could be found in an old cemetery in the middle of a city.
This overgrown tomb statue was gorgeous.
I saw some gorgeous sunsets. They just get better clouds than we do in the Bay Area.
I saw some local wildlife, both native
and imported (adorably).
But one of the things that struck me most was the trees. In the city parks, there are some amazing, ancient, massive trees. They are just so spectacular.
And, just 'cause I took it, here's me in my fancy new capybara jacket.