Argentine birthdays, Hip Hop round II, Tango
Shannon got in and within about 2 hours we headed over to Las Cañitas for my cousin's birthday. He just turned 21- so old!
Here's a picture of the family, they are soo darling. They loved her- she chatted with the younger crowd there, i chatted with all the Argentine adults. It was totally fun. Here's a picture of them, they are the coolest family. Only Maria Jose is missing, but she is still in Punta. Hopefully they'll finish her über modern home there soon and I'll head over there again because she and Carlos are going to have their wedding coincide with the house completion.
Friday night after Juan's b-day Shannon and I headed to a club about 3 blocks from my house with Barbara and one of her friends. Its that same hip hop club that I went to early on. I saw Pablo again- cool as always.
So I finally enrolled in an art class that I think I will really enjoy!!!!!!!! Mike visited a gallery here called Belleza y Felicidad and must've put his name on a mailing list. He forwarded me an email he received and it just happened to be about a drawing class. Lovely coincidence. So, despite the constant and necessary companionship of tissue paper, I went there yesterday and found it to be exactly what I wanted. Yay! Very relaxed atmosphere as you can see by the lawn chairs ;)
Sunday night we went to a real tango place!!!
Correction, tango and swing dancing. Sure - doesn't make sense to you and I but the locals are used to it. 20 mins tango, 20 minutes swing. I actually danced with 3 fellows. Get ready for a Goldilocks feeling....The first fellow was a bit of a novice, so he was good to re-introduce me to the steps. The second fellow had been dancing for two years and could lead a bit more. The last was an older and very very sweaty but friendly gentleman who basically made it look like I had been dancing for a while. Naturally there were missteps, but it was great. Shannon and I had a fantastic time just watching the dancers. We nicknamed a good dozen. We had two favorites: #1) Talent Scout. Tall, fantastic build, dressed very well, maybe 30 years old, and always had a very passionate look. We called him Talent Scout because he would dance with a woman, then go to the sides and watch for a while, scope out a new partner and ask her dance. Turns out his father owns a tango school - oh and he was also in some kind of tango final, so he's good. Here's a picture of him dancing...notice the drama ;)
Then there was #2) Cheekbones - maybe 25 with flawless bone structure and a tremendous smile - also a great dancer. Sadly we couldn't snag a picture of him.
Next day - coffee at my favorite coffee shop. Shannon had a submarino - the kind of hot chocolate made by dunking pieces of actual chocolate into hot milk. A much denser version than our good old Swiss Miss powdered chocolatey goodness in boiling water and mysterious rock-hard marshmellows. Good colors in this one. Blue table, red hair, green trees, orange orange juice, golden yellow "medialunas".
We walked to San Telmo and went past General Belgrano's resting place. Above the tomb is a serious collection of statues. Here was one that reminded us of talent scout because of his pained expression and, cough cough, statuesque-ness - hehehe....
Another statue - interesting how artists loved to represent countries and virtues as women, but when it came to actual life women weren't always valued in the same way. In any case - an angel holding a sword. Really beautiful.
By the way, Belgrano lead many many victorious battles and at the age of 50 he died of dropsy, very poor and practically forgotten by the national government that he had served. It was only later that Argentina gave him a second thought, "Oh riiiiiiiiiight - soooooo sorry - here quick, make some monuments." Everyone who wants to be recognized for their achievements once dead and buried say "I".......
Here's a picture of the family, they are soo darling. They loved her- she chatted with the younger crowd there, i chatted with all the Argentine adults. It was totally fun. Here's a picture of them, they are the coolest family. Only Maria Jose is missing, but she is still in Punta. Hopefully they'll finish her über modern home there soon and I'll head over there again because she and Carlos are going to have their wedding coincide with the house completion.
Friday night after Juan's b-day Shannon and I headed to a club about 3 blocks from my house with Barbara and one of her friends. Its that same hip hop club that I went to early on. I saw Pablo again- cool as always.
So I finally enrolled in an art class that I think I will really enjoy!!!!!!!! Mike visited a gallery here called Belleza y Felicidad and must've put his name on a mailing list. He forwarded me an email he received and it just happened to be about a drawing class. Lovely coincidence. So, despite the constant and necessary companionship of tissue paper, I went there yesterday and found it to be exactly what I wanted. Yay! Very relaxed atmosphere as you can see by the lawn chairs ;)
Sunday night we went to a real tango place!!!
Correction, tango and swing dancing. Sure - doesn't make sense to you and I but the locals are used to it. 20 mins tango, 20 minutes swing. I actually danced with 3 fellows. Get ready for a Goldilocks feeling....The first fellow was a bit of a novice, so he was good to re-introduce me to the steps. The second fellow had been dancing for two years and could lead a bit more. The last was an older and very very sweaty but friendly gentleman who basically made it look like I had been dancing for a while. Naturally there were missteps, but it was great. Shannon and I had a fantastic time just watching the dancers. We nicknamed a good dozen. We had two favorites: #1) Talent Scout. Tall, fantastic build, dressed very well, maybe 30 years old, and always had a very passionate look. We called him Talent Scout because he would dance with a woman, then go to the sides and watch for a while, scope out a new partner and ask her dance. Turns out his father owns a tango school - oh and he was also in some kind of tango final, so he's good. Here's a picture of him dancing...notice the drama ;)
Then there was #2) Cheekbones - maybe 25 with flawless bone structure and a tremendous smile - also a great dancer. Sadly we couldn't snag a picture of him.
Next day - coffee at my favorite coffee shop. Shannon had a submarino - the kind of hot chocolate made by dunking pieces of actual chocolate into hot milk. A much denser version than our good old Swiss Miss powdered chocolatey goodness in boiling water and mysterious rock-hard marshmellows. Good colors in this one. Blue table, red hair, green trees, orange orange juice, golden yellow "medialunas".
We walked to San Telmo and went past General Belgrano's resting place. Above the tomb is a serious collection of statues. Here was one that reminded us of talent scout because of his pained expression and, cough cough, statuesque-ness - hehehe....
Another statue - interesting how artists loved to represent countries and virtues as women, but when it came to actual life women weren't always valued in the same way. In any case - an angel holding a sword. Really beautiful.
By the way, Belgrano lead many many victorious battles and at the age of 50 he died of dropsy, very poor and practically forgotten by the national government that he had served. It was only later that Argentina gave him a second thought, "Oh riiiiiiiiiight - soooooo sorry - here quick, make some monuments." Everyone who wants to be recognized for their achievements once dead and buried say "I".......
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