You gotta take the bad with the good…

Upon reading a very interesting article by TangoCherie about the dark side of Tango, I of course got to thinking about not only the subject of Tango and it’s darker aspects, but also about how I write this blog.

I write occasionally for a website dedicated to teaching Americans the Mediterranean diet. Before I moved to Italy, the Dr. who runs the website asked me if I would contribute - in blog form - to their site and talk about my food experiences in Umbria. I wrote plenty, as it’s hard not to when you live in the green heart of Italy. Eventually, though, I found myself writing from Buenos Aires. I didn’t write as much about the food, but I did write about the cafe culture.

In one paragraph I described the feeling in the air in Buenos Aires as >the way your skin feels after you’ve quickly ripped a bandage off – that sense of relief, of - “thank God we’re past that” -, accompanied by the lingering memory of recent pain.>

Someone - who had never been there - wrote to me, saying that she didn’t like my description, and that it certainly didn’t make her want to visit Buenos Aires because it didn’t make it sound nice. Well good then, maybe she shouldn’t go.

I thought for a bit about editing my writing but decided against it. I decided that I can’t lie and I can’t pretend that it’s all Disneyland. I don’t write a blog with the intention of “promoting” tourism to a city. I write a blog so that I can write my own observations and opinions. I observed the “ripped-off bandage” feeling for a minute in Buenos Aires, so that’s what I wrote. I saw so much brightness and beauty as well, but hey - no city is without it’s sadness or its history. And there is nothing wrong with acknowledging that. You don’t have to like everything (I didn’t), but it’s good to acknowledge it and accept it as part of reality.

Anyway. How does this relate to my blog writing? Well, ever since I found out that people in my home town are reading my blog, I’ve had a hard time writing in it. I’ve felt the urge to justify everything I say, and balance it to make everybody happy, so as not to offend anyone. How very Seattle of me. I do my best not to, of course, but it’s tough. The thing is, I can’t please everyone. So what if they think I’m a cranky traditionalist when it comes to Tango. I am who I am, and this is my blog. I don’t dance for them, so I can’t blog for them either.

My friend ‘Campi’ in Perugia once said to me, “Tina, tu mi raccomando di essere te stessa.” He was saying Tina, you gotta be yourself. And it’s true. Devo essere me stessa.