French Tango Dancing Seamen.

I thought that title might catch your attention.

So I went to "El Beso" for my Monday night Tango class ... I normally don't stay for the Practica as they charge an additional $7 pesos which I think is bogus, thus I typically protest by leaving directly after class however tonight I had to stay.

There was this one guy from France who I swear looked like a tall, better-bodied Leonardo DiCaprio (in the good years, before he turned dowdy and slightly unfortunate looking) He and his "companion" who may or may not have been his girlfriend and reminded me of across between Winona Ryder and Skeletor are here in Buenos Aires studying Tango for a month.

He asked me to dance the very first Tanda and he's so tall we sort of floated around the pista with these huge Fred Astaire strides... heavenly... like flying. So when the first song ended we chatted our obligatory 10 seconds before embracing again for the second song and I asked him in slow English "what do you do in France, for work?" at which point he smiled that dazzling smile, looked at me with those light eyes and gave his one word reply...

"Seaman" ...

Um. Seriously? ... Ah the list of potential responses... It took every ounce of mental willpower I could muster to not simply reply "Yes, Please" :)

instead - I got a puzzled look on my face, turned bright red and said "¿Que?" at which point he replied "Marinero"...

"Oh!!!" I exclaimed (since apparently I suddenly only spoke Spanish)
"A Sea-MAN - you work on a boat, in the sea!!!"

Um. Yeah. It wasn't my greatest moment.

So that Tanda ended (for those of you non Tango dancers a Tanda is a "set" of Tango songs that typically - unless you're rude or really have to pee - is shared completely with the person who originally asked you to dance for that particular set)

My next dance was with this older guy, maybe late 40's - greying a bit, physically fit. Wow. This guy was fantastic. His musicality - the way he soaked up every little bit of the music- the way he breathed me in with his embrace - he made me dance like an ANGEL. My only complaint; he sometimes made these almost sexual little grunting noises as he lead me into pasos (not intentional and not a pick up) I could tell it was just his way of connecting with the rhythm.

Kind of hilarious. And slightly awkward. I hope I dance with him again.

This older black guy from Cameroon took me out on a couple of Tandas - he was a pretty decent leader. What was hilarious was his mixture of French, Spanish, and English.

I couldn't understand a word he was saying but he thought he was making perfect sense. Priceless.

Finally there was the "All-in-black-i-take-my-tango-dancing-very-seriously" short Latino man. He had no rhythm. Like... None. It was as though he was hearing different music from the rest of us - towards the end of our Tanda (which was pretty much torturous) he said to me "Yea, women have mentioned that I don't hit all the marks with the rhythm, what do you think?"

Ummm. gee. let me think. how best to respond in this situation. I simply zipped my lips, put an uncomfortable grin on my face, and violently shook my head up and down.

Poor guy.

All in all ... it was a fantastic Tango evening, I only feel slightly guilty about my impending night of dreaming about my French Tango Dancing Seaman.

Ah, who am I kidding, I don't feel guilty at all.

Buenas Noches from Buenos Aires.

Un Abrazo...
TJ

Sometimes my Spanish acts like a woman...

There are days when it feels beautiful, authentic, clever and bold... then there are days when it feels clumsy, timid, difficult and refuses to show up for the occasion - whether that be an in-depth conversation about life's intricacies, or small talk with a friendly taxista.

There is no doubt in my mind that I have definitely arrived somewhere close the point of fluency that I always dreamed of as a little girl... took me 17 years to get here, but it happened. Even after all this time, however, I still find my mind hitting the wall at certain moments. Even as I write this I find my little overworked mind simultaneously translating the thoughts into Spanish. There is a lunfardo (Argentine slang) word - "kilombo" - it means something along the lines of "a chaotic mess." It originated in the 1800's when a slew of immigrants found themselves here in the capital of Buenos Aires and were ushered into camp like areas called "kilombos" - a madhouse of various people, languages and cultures.

MY MIND IS A TOTAL KILOMBO.

The point I'm arriving at slowly but surely... The past few days despite all of the fantastic things that have been happening for me in this extraordinary city, I have been feeling oddly enough and for the first time ... like a foreigner.

Perhaps it's the fact that I've never been away from my family this long or that I spent so many years prior to this in serious relationships where I always had a someone to share my life with. Now. In my new life, I am totally and utterly accountable to me and only me. And as I navigate my way through my new life in this new city with new friends and new involvements it sometimes feels really solitary.

With that being said my "down" days are few and far between - and almost always hormonally triggered - hooray for being a girl. When I take a step back and good look at my current situation I am happy indeed. I work a lot, what with my three jobs, various freelance gigs and the recording of the album - but I play A LOT to stay balanced. The best part about being a free-agent. I can eat pizza and drink red wine four days in a row if I want to. I can go dancing every night of the week and take the bus home if I want to... alone... or accompanied for that matter. I can meet my friends for drinks and live jazz in fabulous little locales and leave half way through the set when it gets too "experimental"... Furthermore, it's the first time in my life where I'm living undoubtedly in the moment and I can honestly say that it is the best place I've ever found myself to be.

I got cast in a film and the whole experience was wicked cool. Being the only North American on the set with Argentine, Bolivian and Chilean filmmakers - I had this constant feeling of "wow, I don't know how this came to be but it is completely perfect"

My role was very small and my biggest line of text was said mid sex-scene so I doubt it will be noted at all, however, the experience of seeing how complex movie-making is was eye-opening to say the least. The lightening, attention to detail, equipment, preparation all for a 20 second scene. It's intense. I have a whole new-found respect for the cinema world.






Real Joy.
As for the album, today we finished laying down the pre-production tracks on the last two songs. We now have 16 songs laid out and from that group we will choose 11 for the album. The next step of the process will be to replace any programmed tracks with live instrument tracks, then eventually move on to mixing and mastering. In other news, my band and I will be performing our first show here in the capital in December and once we have a solid set - more shows to come after the first of the year. I will most definitely be posting videos and photos.

Sending you all love and hoping that life is keeping you on your toes in ever-changing, challenging, surprising and fantastic ways.

Un abrazo,
TJ