There are so many occasions when odd things happen that we expats simply shrug and say, “Ah well, it’s Buenos Aires.” It’s said with love and a smile, of course, because it’s the quirky things that make this such a special city. In the past two days, two things brought that response from me.

Roberto

At Sueño Porteño with Lina and Anneliese

Last night I went to the milonga with my friend Lina, and an Australian woman she had met up with recently. Anneliese doesn’t dance, but she did want to see tango. Not the “tourist tango” you see in the big shows, which isn’t really tango at all, but she wanted to see the real thing. So Lina and I took her to the milonga. We all thoroughly enjoyed it, and champagne and picadas at Lina’s place afterwards was a nice finishing touch.

But I digress. This is about Roberto.

I met Roberto at the same milonga last year. I’m not exaggerating when I say he has to be pushing ninety, but he’s there, dancing almost every dance. Not very energetically it has to be said, but dancing nonetheless — I hope I can still dance at his age. A few weeks ago I noticed that I hadn’t seen him at the milonga for quite some time, and given his age, I admit I did wonder if he had died. Well, he hasn’t.

Last night he not only asked me to dance, but he propositioned me! He said he would show me a good time if I went to Quilmes (a nearby town) with him next weekend. We would dance tango on Saturday and Sunday nights, and I could stay at his house so that we could “get to know each other better”. He told me to bring my pyjamas! I played the old “My Spanish is not very good” card, and made sure I didn’t catch his eye for any more dances. Ah yes, Buenos Aires!

To Try or Not to Try?

Again I was with Lina this afternoon, checking out the shopping in a barrio called Flores, which I had never visited  before. It was at the end of the subway line, an adventure for me all by itself as I only go on the subway with people who know where they are going. We had a nice lunch in a Korean restaurant and then prowled the shops.

We both found something we liked in the same shop. Mine was a very full tunic-length dress I wanted to wear with leggings, with those nice “cold shoulders” that I like so much. I asked to try it on, and the girl pointed out the two prices on the ticket. One was labelled Mayor, and was 477 pesos. the other said Menor, and was 755 pesos. I’m quite used to two prices on things here, but usually it means the higher one is for payment by card, and the lower one cash, but this was different. When I inquired, I was told that if I took the dress without trying it on, I would pay 477 pesos, but if I wanted to try it on, it would cost 755 pesos. Almost 300 pesos to try it on! I took a chance, and when I got it home it fitted perfectly. And 477 pesos is Cdn. $10.59, so it wasn’t much of a risk!

When the guy explained the numbers, we looked at each other with a shrug, and said, “Buenos Aires!”

I just love my life here!