Day 2 continued……….
So, you know the old adage about the best laid plans, right? I head back to the house and go across the street for some food. The restaurant has five small tables inside and no menu. What they have cooked for the day IS the menu! I¨ should take a moment to say that very, very few people here speak English. I kind of love that!! I hate it when people assume that other countries should speak our language and I try to be very cognizant of the idea that I am a guest in their country, so I nod and smile and go with the flow. 🙂 This, of course, gets extra interesting when you are ordering food! I ask for food and drink and sit down looking out of the window. The elderly woman brings me a hot soup with spinich and avocado and I am happy. THEN she brings me a huge plate of food , rice, beans, salad and a seriously unidentifiable piece of meat that has a huge bone in it! Well, I know better than to eat the salad…..that whole ¨no eating raw fruits, veggies or street food in a strange country¨thing. And I knew that I was not going to get along with that piece of meat. So, I enjoyed the rice and beans and moved the rest of it around so that I would not hurt her feelings. She finished by bringing me a grilled piece of pineapple.
Full to the brim, I head off to enjoy a nice long nap. I am out like a light when, at 8:00 there is a knock on my door. It is Njål and he says, “I am going to Tango…want to come?¨
Sigh…….
I have a serious problem here. First of all, I have a stead fast rule, especially when traveling in foreign countries. Never, ever say no to a new experience. But face it folks, I have serious body issues!! And I do NOT know how to dance! And the Tango, for crying out loud! I don’t know much about South America, but I am pretty sure that I will not be allowed to sit quietly and watch. No good could come of this. You see my problem.
Sigh………
Yes, of course I want to go.
We jump in a cab and he explains that a very famous Tango dancer from Colombia is visiting and is giving lessons at a persons house. We pull up to an apartment and pick up a fun, older couple that Njål met on the internet and start winding our way up to the very North part of the city. We arrive at a building and the man explains that we enter on street level and then take an elevator down 8 flights. We descend through a modern, gorgeous building in a wire cage of an elevator, and step out into a gorgeous apartment that has a wall of windows looking out over the city. Wow.
There are about 15 people there, all friendly and attractive, mingling and chatting. Every person introduces themselves to me, kissing me on the cheek. I feel welcome already. And it looks like I will be able to sit and watch. Yay me!!! 🙂 Everyone begins changing their shoes and the instructor, John, calls them together. The lights are lowered, impossibly rich music starts playing, and couples start dancing. I sit completely mesmerized. The Tango community here is actually quite small and these people all know each other. Njål was lucky to get an invitation to this and I feel really lucky to be along. The passion these people have for this dance is evident in every single step. A young man with long, dark hair walks over to my chair and with a smile, hands me a glass of hot, spiced wine. I sit back and Iet the music wash over me for the better part of an hour. Wow…..just, wow.
Later in the evening, everyone takes a break for food and wine and I take out money to pay the instructor. The dancers are all paying $20 apiece to learn from him, and even though I am not dancing, I felt like it was the very least I could do. The gift of this evening was worth so much more. As everyone began to dance again, I settled back in my chair for more. I looked up, however, and Njål was standing in front of me with his hand stretched out. He said, ¨Please¨.
Sigh………..
My stomach knotted up and I told him again that I was a terrible dancer. He just pulled me in and off we went. So this is what people mean when they say that it is so much easier to dance with a good leader. For some reason, I trust him. So I do my best to not embarrass him and we Tango away. All is good until the teacher steps in and re-starts class. I thought we were on to the ‘anyone can dance’ portion of the evening!! Now I am involved and no one will let me sit down. This is bad!! This is the equivalent of a first-time violin student being asked to sit in an ASO rehearsal. I swallow the butterflies in my stomach as Njål translates the teachers instructions. We are all to free-style our way through the group dancing with each other. Oy Vay.
I should mention that this is Argentinean Tango, not ballroom Tango. It is much more subtle and refined than ballroom. Also, in Argentinean Tango, everyone dances with everyone. Men with women, women with women, men with men. It does not matter and everyone puts all of their hearts into it, regardless of who they are dancing with. Men all learn from the beginning to lead as well as follow, so they are comfortable doing both. As we begin dancing, I have my first truly funny moment. Have you seen Dirty Dancing? Remember the very first party Baby goes to where out of the blue Patrick Swayze dances up to her, grabs her and dances for a while before just dancing off, leaving her alone in the middle of the floor? I had a true Dirty Dancing moment when the instructor came up and grabbed me, giving me a few swirls around the room. When he danced off, I was so relieved!! He is beautiful, and amazing and nice as can be and all of that….but he scares the MESS out of me!!! 🙂
The next few exercises involve taking turns with your partner, one of you leading the other around the dance while the other has their eyes closed. I looked at Njål and said, “soooooo not going to happen!¨. He just simply said ¨Please¨.
Oh man oh man oh man…..
You know that whole ´trust game´ thing you do where you let people lead you around? Not me. EVER. Between my fear of falling, lack of grace, and, in this particular situation, complete lack of know how, there is just no way I am doing this.
There is also no way I can say no to that ´please´.
So we Tango on. When it comes to closing my eyes, I just do it. I trust him. Don’t ask me why. We swirl around and from time to time I feel the breeze of another couple passing, or the hair of another woman brushing against my arm. I know that I am coming so close to colliding with these people but Njål never lets me.
As they move to the final, and truly too advanced for me, dances of the night, I sit back down. Midnight has long come and gone. The clouds have obscured the lights of the city and rain is softly falling against the window. The music has become achingly soft and the fire in the corner has burned down to embers.
I sip my wine and choke back tears.
Really, one person shouldn’t be this lucky.
Buenos Noches.
Anna