I guess they're not that bad after all

You know what, sometimes I'm just wrong. Not too often, but everyonce in a while I'm just completely off base. And I like to think that I'm man enough to admit when I'm wrong. And this time, I was completely wrong. I've made some unflattering remarks about the Germans (sorry again Patrick) and thought even worse, but it turns out some of them are quite decent.

See I'm staying in a hostel here in Buenos Aires which is run by this great guy named Paul. Paul isn't German, he's actually from Hollywood. He decided to flee the US about 6 years ago and settle down in Buenos Aires. I started to ask him why, but then I realized it was a silly question.

But Paul's ex-girlfriend is German. And apparently she's done some advertising for Paul back home so about half the clientele of the hostel right now are lovely German ladies. Well there is one German guy too, but he's pretty cool. And he bought me a beer so that makes him ok in my book. The other half are folks from the US, but not the typical annoying gringos I kept meeting in Brazil. These guys all speak pretty decent spanish and have cool travel stories to tell, so that makes them good people.

I was finally feeling somewhat better, this being my second full day in Buenos Aires and all. So when the group of hostelers decided we were going to hit the tango / salsa club tonight I was down. The nine of us hopped on a bus and headed out towards Palermo Viejo, where all the cool kids hang out at night.

The club was just getting going, and we were just in time to catch the first tango lesson. It's a great dance really, smooth and sensual, makes sense seeing as it was invented in the brothels of Buenos Aires. I was a little lost at first as usual, but by my third dance partner I had gotten the first series of steps down. No not quite Al Pacino from "Scent of a Woman" but I've got a couple months in Buenos Aires to go yet.

In between tango and salsa lessons we sat and chatted. Every conversation with an international cast of characters invariably turns to politics. And it was fascinating to hear the German perspective (well assuming the 5 samples I heard represents the collective German perspective).

"The problem with Germany is our welfare state is crippling our economy" I was told by Dan, the lone German male. "Unemployment is high and there really is no incentive to work hard." And oddly enough I found myself touting the benefits of socialized medicine, something I've never done before. Turns out folks from Deutschland are really quite reasonable when they're not trying to take over the world.

Somehow the conversation changed tracks towards "Nenne really wants to learn some salsa, why don't you teach her what you learned in Cuba" Yes the Germans really are delightful. And it doesn't hurt that when I'm on the same dance floor with them I feel much better about myself.