Aug 24
Again woke up late (3pm) since I went out dancing with my host sister. Boy, was that an experience. I would call it more like a very interesting cultural lesson. First off, people of all ages go to the argentine version of a club (yes natalie. i did go "clubbin'" ha). We got there at 1.30 and didn’t end up inside until 2am…and it was almost empty. By the time we left 5 am things were picking up. The men here are a bit more aggressive than the typical American man. And the typical reaction to this persistence is also different. One girl in our group (we were celebrating her friends birthday), was approached by a guy while we were dancing in a circle. He proceeded to whisper in her ear, rub her back, grab her hand, ect. Watching this take place, my immediate reaction was to take his hands off her and say something assertive about how she is not interested. This was not her reaction…she just inched away and was a lot less confrontational. This may also be an overall cultural theme, physical touch is more accepted or common. As an American, the typical greeting is not a kiss, and physical contact is reserved for family, friends or loved ones. Here it is for everyone. The beso (kiss on the cheek) is the typical greeting. I am still getting used to this one. But better get used to it fast, since it is considered rude not to kiss while meeting someone or saying goodbye. Anyways, this way of asking people to dance is not really considered that invasive here (compared to my view). It might also have to do with the machismoism. I will finish by saying that it was a surely an interesting experience.
Today I ventured to a southern part of the city to take a tango class. I got off the subway and was actually a bit worried. I didn’t see any foreigners, and it didn’t appear to be a very nice part of Buenos Aires. I found my way to the community center and waited around a bit. The class began and I relearned the basico, (the basic step) and practiced. It was fun, but the boy girl ratio was not in my favor. I left after I got a couple dances in, and ventured back quickly since it was now dark.
I did some grocery shopping: 1 pack of cookies, 100 grams of salami and 100 grams of cheese, ½ a kilo of mate and 2 alfajores (typical argentine dessert dulce de leche cookie sandwich). All of which cost me 15 pesos (or roughly 5 dollars). Yum. I got a lesson on mate and how to drink it and clean it and prepare it, and then I got to drink out of my gourd. Yum. I had myself a nice snack of mate and cookies and watched a bit of tv with my host dad. I tried out my phone card and got a well needed chat in. Ate dinner, chatted with my host sisters and played a tetris tournament. Now I should be trying to make a dent in my huge stack of reading but I am writing this blog instead. Off to do the reading.