It´s good to be here

I came to Buenos Aires knowing that I needed a little more structure in my life than just hanging out at the beach everyday and drinking fresh mango juice. And I found exactly that, just a little bit more structure.

Being enrolled in school actually gives me something to do. A specific place to be at, at a specific time. And in the evenings I´ve taken to heading to Palermo Viejo (one of the cool hip parts of town) to this club called La Virtuda. It´s a great spot, mostly for tango dancing but they also do swing and salsa. The great thing about this club is it´s a super relaxed atmosphere and they have free dance lessons. And seeing as I am in dire need of help this works out perfectly. Plus it´s quite cheap, which is actually true of just about everything in Argentina.

When I was staying at the hostel I met Joanna, a fellow burnt-out software engineer from the Bay Area (although originally from Poland). And she´s also quite an excellent ballroom dancer. Joanna is in Buenos Aires specifically to learn the tango and it didn´t take too long before she had me hooked. So last night we met up at the usual spot and danced the night away. Her new friend Anna who´s from NYC (although originally from Sweden) and Kevin, who´s from the UK (although originally from the UK), came along as well.

I´ve come to the conclusion that Argentineans are absolutely mad. The clubs here are completely deserted until about midnight. And then people keep piling in until about 2 in the morning. And the clubs just keep going until everyone leaves, which is usually when the sun is rising, just in time to get a quick bite to eat before heading to work in the morning. I don´t understand how they do it night after night, it must be all that matte they drink.

The beginners salsa and tango lessons at La Virtuda were packed! And when I say packed, I mean it was literally impossible to take 3 steps in any direction without running into someone. It´s been like that every night I´ve been there. But everyone is friendly and no toes were broken so it´s all good. But the strange thing about it was it was almost all locals taking these lessons.

The thought of Cubans taking salsa lessons or Brazilians taking samba lessons is laughable. Yes they have dance classes in those countries but they are strictly for the tourist. But it turns out the Argentineans just can´t dance. Not all of them of course, but compared to the rest of this continent they ain´t got no rhythm. I even found myself having to help a couple Argentinean girls with the steps, and that absolutely is not a testament to my abilities but rather an explanation of how incredibly bad some of these girls are. Of course others glide across the dance floor as if they were floating.

Maybe that´s what they mean when they call themselves the "Europeans of South America" It could simply be a refernce to their inability to understand the concept of left-foot, right-foot. And it could also explain why the rest of South America mocks them endlessly. There is a lot of German blood flowing through the viens of these Argentineans after all, and (...dammit, I forgot, I`m supposed to stop making fun of the Germans!)

Before the night really got going the group of us decided we just couldn´t keep up with the Argentinean party spirit anymore. I haven´t been to bed before 2 in the morning in about a week and it turns out my body is just not happy with this. But the thing is, time flies when you´re dancing. Joanna tought me a couple new tango steps and I practiced my dipping technique with Anna which is really hard because she´s super tall. And before we knew it, it was 2 in the morning. The club was still filling up, but we were done. We all made plans to meet up tomorrow at the same spot. This is what I call structure!