Last night I spent a lovely couple of hours on the patio of La Biela with Las Chicas — a few of my great women friends in Buenos Aires. It’s interesting that other than Venetia and me, none of us knew one another just a couple of months ago.

Behind my left shoulder is Annie, on vacation from New York City. She found us at an InterNations event on her first evening here and immediately became part of the group. She had a tango lesson with Alejandro yesterday, and helped persuade me to go to the milonga tonight.

In front of her is Lina, a new friend who was introduced to me by Alejandro as she is also his student. She is from Arizona and, like me, she has been coming here on and off for years and has just recently moved here permanently. She’ll be at the milonga too.

Behind her left shoulder is Venetia. She and I have been friends for several years now, and she actually came to visit me in Canada last year. She is originally from England but lived in the U.S. for many years and has been in Buenos Aires now for about five years. She doesn’t dance tango, but we do go to a lot of concerts and other events together — she always has a finger on the pulse of what’s going on.

In front of her is Sally, a great woman from Ireland who has lived here for many years. I met her through a mutual friend and have been in her company a few times since then. Not only is she lots of fun, but she has a degree in South American Studies, so she is very knowledgeable about Argentina’s history and politics, which makes for fascinating conversation. Last night she gave me a copy of her book Tango, the Truth — look forward to reading it soon.

So now you know at least a few of my friends!