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| Merry Christmas! Parts of Canada received natural Cristal Christmas Ornaments... |
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| Whilst almost all of Argentina is still in slow bake mode. The heat wave continues unabated, Christmas Eve with 37 degrees and Christmas Day predicted 38 degrees centigrade. Every spot of shade offers a smidgen of relief. Portenos - people of Buenos Aires - who are able to take a mini vacation piled into any available transport and headed for the beaches of Mar Del Plata to bake in the sun and take a dip into the brackish Atlantic. |
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| Tango goes on, albeit one searches out the air conditioned milongas - the others, like Confiteria Ideal and Al Arranque - are slowly losing their clientele for the summer, as nobody can face more than one tango without dissolving into a puddle of perspiration. Here we are at Boedo Tango, where under the organization of Julia Pugliese, tango aficionados still gather and dance the night away on three different pistas, and a whole line up of large alcoves - room enough for more than 300 people gathering to indulge in their passion. Yours truly, no exception, standing 4th from the right, wearing black floor length pants... |
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| Whoever is left behind in the oven of Buenos Aires city centre takes advantage of the fountains... |
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| Downtown traffic- the last few days a transit nightmare comprised of heat, melting pavement, street closures, non functioning traffic lights, no traffic cops, and more cars and shoppers than usual, and the regular never ending stream of collectivos (transit buses) - today is almost non existent. The few people downtown revert to their usual i-phone absorbed jay walking without a probability of being run down by a speeding motorcyclist or unstoppable driver. |
So one is prepared for Noche Buena, Christmas Eve...more or less a family affair with dinner and drinks, at least until midnight, when the population kicks into its customary nocturnal gear again. Salon Canning starts its Gala Christmas Eve Milonga (dance) at five minutes to midnight. Does not have much similarity with Midnight Mass.
I am invited to join at a special table reserved for 'Sueno Porteno, the Boedo dancers. Not sure, though, whether I last that long. Julia Pugliese, who organized this for some of her usual Boedo milonga guests, suggested: just take along siesta beforehand....there is no concept of Mission Impossible in this city.
Boede Tango, just a normal tango. Everybody up and dancing quietly. When a set of three tangos is over, the floor empties out to the sound of the 'cortina' a non tango tune that signals the end of a set of dances with the same partner, and opens time for invitations via 'cabeceo' - nod - for the next set.
Here is Blanca, who is by now 89 years, and dances Tango since she was 15. She is at Boedo Tango every Sunday (if not on the other days of the week as well) and dances with elegance and style. Widowed, no children, she danced more years than she spent working. Fatigue seems to be strange concept to her, she starts dancing at 6 p.m. and does not stop until the last Cumparsita signals the end of the evening at 2 a.m. in the morning. She does not lack dance partners either, not only because she knows everyone, but she dances gracefully in all the Tango rythms, be it Tango, Valse or Milonga.
So, if my knee holds up, there should be a few more years on "La Pista de Baille' for me.
