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Cancelled. Cancelled. Cancelled.

That’s the word of January so far!

Two weeks ago my tango teacher cancelled my lesson and our weekly visit to the milonga because he had a cough. He said he was pretty sure it was just the air conditioning at the milonga, but was isolating and getting tested just in case. He tested negative, but decided to take the rest of the week off because, as he said, a cough these days is anti-social!

My tango buddy, Lina, had her booster shot a week past on Thursday. I had dinner with her that night and she was fine. Next day, she became really sick and was laid low for days, feeling really terrible. She didn’t go to the hospital as she assumed it was just a reaction to the shot. But by Friday she couldn’t take it any more and a friend who lives nearby took her to hospital. Not a reaction to the shot — Covid! I think maybe it was starting just before she got the jab, so of course another hit of the virus through the shot probably made it twice as bad. Anyway, she is feeling much better now that she’s had some treatment, and now it’s a matter of waiting it out. So this week I’m on my own at the milonga.

Last Friday I started a course in Fileteado Porteño, the traditional art of Buenos Aires. This Friday, guess what—cancelled because the teacher had had direct contact with someone with Covid.

Some of us had tickets for a concert at the Kirchner Centre on Friday night by a well known tango singer. On the morning of the show, we received an email from the CCK saying the show had been cancelled because the star had come down with Covid.

On top of all that, we’ve also been having a horrendous heatwave all last week, with temperatures regularly in the high thirties and occasionally into the 40s. Not fun. We had some rain overnight and it did feel a bit easier on my walk this morning, but we still need a lot of rain. The forecast says we’ll get a lot of it this week, so we all have our fingers crossed that’s true!

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Argentine Folkloric Music — and Just a Touch of Tango!

On Friday night I went with a few friends to an intimate little venue in San Telmo called Pista Urbana. Our friend Vivi, whom I’ve showcased before, was a guest performer, but the program was really Argentine folkloric music. While tango is endemic to Buenos Aires and also found in the other major cities, this is the music of the rest of Argentina. I first heard it when I went to Salta and Jujuy in the north, and fell in love with it then.

There are several different dances associated with the music, and the one you’ll catch glimpses of here is called chacarera. I remember taking a class in chacarera at my tango class in Toronto, and the teacher at the time said I was the only one who got it! I’m toying with the idea of taking some lessons here, but I have so much else going on I don’t know when I will find the time.

The second video is where the tango comes in! The leader of the group, in his introduction, said that he was also a tango singer, so at the end of the show we encouraged him to sing tango. I noticed the man at the next table was joining in the encouragement, so on a whim I asked him if he danced tango. When he said he did, I asked if he’d like to dance now, to which he replied, “Of course!” So we did!

I want to mention a milonga insider fact here. A dance at the milonga is called a tanda, and it consisists of three or four songs which you dance with the same partner. The reason for that is nobody expects much from the first song, especially with a stranger, as it takes time to begin to connect and understand the other person’s tango language. That being said, as Carlos and I met ten seconds before going on the floor, I thought we did not too badly! He did say he would come to Sueño Porteño on Wednesday so we could dance properly, so I’m looking forward to that.

If you missed the recent post where I danced with my new tango teacher, you can see it here.

Vivi took this picture of almost everyone in the room, and I did a quick shot of my dinner—quite delicious falafel!

A good time was had by all
Yummy falafel and a nice salad went down well—with some Malbec of course!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy our evening at Pista Urbana through these two videos.

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I’m Addicted to This Art Form!

A few days ago I stumbled upon an art form online that I had never seen before. It’s called neurographia, or neurographic art, and it was invented in 2014 by a Russian psychologist called Pavel Piskarev as a method of reducing stress and figuring out problems. The idea is that you concentrate on the problem while drawing freeform lines, and then, through a couple of steps, transform them into something beautiful.

This is my first attempt. Since then I’ve been spending way too much time playing with it. I believe it may be helping a little with the issue I decided to focus on, but I have to say I’m really more interested in the art form itself.

It’s so much fun that I’m having a few friends over to my place soon for a “neurographia night”, which I’m sure will be lots of fun.

This enthusiasm on my part may well burn itself out as fast as it came on, but in the meantime I’ll post any of the pieces I do that I particularly like.

This has come at the same time as I’ve been trying out Posca markers, an amazing acrylic ink pen/marker from Japan. They are very expensive, so I’m being a bit careful how I use them, but I’ll certainly be working them into my neurographic projects as well as the water colours I’m currently using.

By the way, if you are interested in trying neurographia (and you don’t need any artistic talent at all) there are many YouTube videos that will show you how. If you do try it, please let me know in the comments!

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Wearable Art!

Although I’ll take a taxi if it’s raining, I usually go to the milonga on the bus. Since tango clothes can look a bit over-the-top outside the milonga, I always strive to cover them until I get there.

Some time ago, I saw a woman wearing a full length kimono with a design all over the back, and I was inspired to do something like that as a tango clothes cover-up. I thought about embroidery, but it’s not something I enjoy doing. Since I was in painting mode at that time, I decided that was the way to go.

I went to Once (pronounced ohnsay), which is the garment and fabric district of Buenos Aires—and always a fun visit—and bought some black material. I had neither a pattern nor a sewing machine, so I used another kimono as the pattern and stitched the pieces together with a needle and thread. Sound very tedious, and it was, but I did it during the lockdown while watching YouTube videos.

I wanted something vibrant and bright for the design, so I did the kind of colourful doodle I’ve been doing in my spare time since I was a child, using fabric paint. I finally finished the whole thing a couple of weeks ago and it’s just the thing for its purpose. I have to say I’ve also had some nice compliments about it.

I decided you might enjoy seeing it, so last night I got Lina to take some photos as we were leaving the milonga. Starting at the back, where most of the design is, and moving around to the front, which has just enough to keep it from being blank. What do you think?

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The Hilton is Onto Us!

The spot where we erect our picnic table every New Year’s Eve is right next to the Hilton Hotel, so when we need to go to the bathroom, we just avail ourselves of the Hilton’s facilities. When I’m in a city and need to go, that’s what I always do. After all, big hotels have lots of people passing through, and they never ask who you are or why you are there. The public areas are, well, public. So we always treat the Hilton’s public washroom as our own.

At least we used to. This year, probably because of Covid although I’m not sure about that, things had changed. Someone told us they wouldn’t let us do it this year, but Venetia and I decided to give it our best shot, even if we had to perpetrate a con to make it work.

We walked through the revolving doors, and immediately a man in a dark suit and bow tie was in front of us. The conversation was in Spanish, of course, but this is the gist.

“Good evening, ladies. Happy New Year. Do you have a reservation?”

“Same to you. No, we don’t have a reservation, but we are meeting a friend here.”

“I’m sorry but you can’t come in unless you are a guest.”

“But our friend is a guest.”

“What is you friend’s name?”

“Rodrigo Vespucci.” Don’t ask—I don’t know where it came from either but that’s what popped into my head.

“Rodrigo Vespucci?”

“Yes.”

“One moment, please. I will check the register.”

So he went off to check the register—and Venetia and I went to the bathroom. Mission accomplished!

But when we came out, I could see him hovering a few yards away. We were passing the bar, which was very busy.

“Look as if we’re looking for somebody.”

We both craned our necks looking for an imaginary Rodrigo in the bar, but the man was clearly not fooled. As he spoke, he was slowly edging us towards the door.

“Unfortunately we have no Rodrigo Vespucci registered with the hotel. I’m sorry but you’ll have to leave.”

Venetia, looking as if she’d suddenly had a realization, said in English,

“Maybe it was a different hotel.”

“Maybe.”

The guy was definitely not buying any of this, but at least he didn’t throw us out on our ear.

“I’m sorry to have troubled you,” I said, “Happy New Year.”

“Happy New Year to you too — goodnight.”

We’ll have to have a different plan for next year, as I don’t think we could get away with this twice. Especially not with Rodrigo Vespucci!”

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Heatwave!

It usually is pretty hot at this time of year, but this week has felt hotter than usual. So much so that nobody has felt much like going out.

Last night I had planned to go with Venetia and Lina to the rooftop bar of a posh hotel near here, but it was just too darn hot to get dressed! I stayed home and cranked up the air conditioning instead. Too hot even to sit on the balcony.

When I got up this morning at 7 am, it was already 26 degrees, and it’s supposed to go up to 34 by this afternoon.

The plan is in place for our usual New Year’s Eve celebrations tomorrow — picnic in Puerto Madero down by the river. There may be fewer people there because of the rise in Covid numbers, but it is outdoors after all and most people here have been vaccinated at least twice, some with boosters. So I think we will go ahead with it. I hope so, as it’s one of the traditional Buenos Aires activities I always enjoy.

My friend Lina and I have taken this week away from tango, again because of the numbers. But I don’t think we’ll extend that to next week. We are both double-vaccinated. As of January 1, we will have to present our Covid Pass to get into the milongas — so far I haven’t been able to get it to work on my phone! Today I’m going to go up to the vaccination centre and see if they can help me, or give me an alternative way to show the pass.

What a world!

 

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Last Sketch of the Year

It’s Boxing Day, and it’s a hot one — I know, I still think it’s weird! I went out this morning to sketch before it got too hot or too busy.

Plaza Vicente Lopez is five minutes from my place, and it’s where I go every morning for breakfast. I’m working on the idea of sketching streetscapes instead of isolated buildings, and I’ve had my eye on this corner for a few days. I think I got the perspective right, so I’m quite pleased.

As it turned out, this was the last page in my sketchbook, so I’ll start 2022 with a brand new one — exciting!

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Merry Christmas

I’ve always been used to celebrating Christmas Day, but here in Argentina the festivities are on Christmas Eve. It’s called La Noche Buena or the good night — which always strikes me as an appropriate name for the night that Christ was born.

In any case, I’m taking this opportunity to wish you Merry Christmas, however you are celebrating it — or even if you’re not! I’m thinking of you and sending good wishes — may it be whatever you most want it to be.

Abrazos.

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Casa Bolivar, San Telmo

This weekend was “Open House” in Buenos Aires, when you can tour places that are not usually open to the public. Venetia and I signed up for this place on the Saturday. To tell the truth, I haven’t had time to look up its history yet, but it was a very calming place. We think they are making it into some sort of artist place, but not sure. Anyway, here are a few photos.