Girls afternoon out

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the afternoon milonga at Club Español, with the lovely Miss Tango. What a gorgeous place. All sparkly and shiny and elegant. I’ve only been to milongas in the company of Mi Amor, so it was nice to go with a girl and be available to dance with other men. See, if you go with your sweetheart to a milonga here, and sit with him, and are obviously with him, the men won’t invite you to dance, out of respect… it’s one of the codes here. So it was girls day out yesterday, and what fun we had. We shared some champagne and had some good conversation and people-watching. I enjoyed the dancing too - the guys were just nice people who like dancing Tango, nothing more, nothing less.

This was also my first opportunity to utilize the cabeceo here in Buenos Aires, which was fun. I discreetly scanned the room, and an older man in a red shirt made eye contact with me. Once eye contact was established, he sort of nodded his head in the direction of the dance floor (to invite me to dance). I, the Princess of Perugia, nodded (in what I hope was an elegant and graceful way) as though to say, “Why yes, I’d love to.” I didn’t want to look desperate so I made sure I had channeled my inner Sophia Loren for this occasion. He rose and walked toward me. When he was close enough, I stood up and waited for him. (Sophia Loren would never get up and walk towards the man. Then again, I don’t think Sophia Loren dances Tango, but that’s alright. I still channeled her.) I enjoyed that.

I enjoyed that when I wasn’t in the mood to dance, all I had to do was not look around or look men in the eye. Men here do not approach the woman at the table to ask her to dance - unless she’s a good friend who won’t turn them down. The cabeceo is wonderful because it empowers the woman, in my opinion, to be more selective of who she dances with, and it prevents the man from experiencing rejection, which can be embarrassing.

One man did come up to me and asked me to dance. Right in my face. I smiled and politely said, “No, gracias.” I wasn’t in the mood to dance, and I didn’t really want to accept an invitation like that - I hate being put on the spot unexpectedly. And, in Buenos Aires, everyone - I mean EVERYONE - is watching everything you do. I wasn’t about to violate any codes just yet, for fear of being placed in Tango Purgatory next time. He proceeded to ask other women who were not so nice - they simply ignored him. I felt kind of bad for him. (So fellows, when you come to Buenos Aires, please practice the cabeceo. You will feel much better about yourself at the end of the night.)

Another man I’d never seen appeared out of the blue, as in from behind me, and said, right in my face, “I really want to dance with you but I can’t for two more hours because I’m working. But then we can dance.” I stared blankly and bit my tongue to prevent myself from saying “Who the heck are you and where did you come from, and do I care?” I was surprised that someone would just approach me from the side and surprise me like that. Creepy. Eventually I realized he was working as a “taxi dancer” - basically, a woman had paid him to attend the milonga with her and dance with her for a few hours. Now I really didn’t want to dance with him - it would have felt just… impolite and sort of tacky.

Later on, I had accepted (via the cabeceo) an invitation to dance and was rising form my chair as the inviting man reached me - when all of a sudden, Mr. Taxi Dancer appeared FROM BEHIND ME again and said, “I can dance now.” I looked at him and said, “Well I’m sorry, I can’t. I’m about to dance with this man right here.” I was amused at how arrogant some people can be. It’s just not polite to approach a woman like that at a milonga - and it’s really not polite to act like she’s just dying to dance with you. If you want to dance with me, get my attention in a polite, respectful manner.

In any event, I had a great time, some fun tandas with nice people, and I got to know Holly a bit better! After the milonga, went to dinner with a group of friends. Guess what we ate. Yeah, steak. And fries. And salad composed of… yep, you guessed it. Lettuce, tomato and onion. This seems to be the standard fare around here. And while I’d love to see more vegetables (under “Vegetables” in the menu last night, I saw that BUTTER was one of the items), I don’t think you can find more fabulous beef anywhere else - the Argentines have it. Grass-fed and delicious.

I do have a spooky story to share about the apartment we’d picked here, and you should see it in a few days at the most.