KATIA "Y-E-E-E-E-S"

Katia, my first voice coach/teacher, speaks little English, but this matters not because I'm singing tango songs in the original language, I learn form listening to her voice.
Hers is a clear one, like a bell hitting the right note every time. When she says the word "yes"- telling me I'm on key and doing the exercises correctly- I stop my note and listen. Her word "YES" is  also a kind of music. The "YES" extends over more than one syllable and intones differently on each one. On top of that she uses a different caring emotion on each syllable. The I-Touch has a little microphone and I record her playing and singing, "Malena". This hauting tango I imitate and practice every day until the next Saturday comes around. This day I jump on the bus to cross the widest Avenue in the world, exercise my neck, sing  scales, breathe, breathe, breathe and wait to hear the musical "YES".

The GUIA of GUIAS "T" BUS ROUTES

You buy it for 6 pesos.
You get a few, or more than a few maps of Buenos Aires- these are FREE.
Then the work begins.
You sharpen your 2.5  pencil for the tedious work.
     Find your starting street in the front.
     Locate the grid where you will start
     Find your destination street in the front
     Locate the grid where you will arrive
Now the fun begins
(Since there are 749 bus routes and an estimated 16,000 buses running every day, all you have to do is find and trace the street names to and from??????)
     An example might be the #132 bus which runs right up Avenida Cordoba and west. The stop is 1/2 block from our door. When we walked out tonight and crossed Cordoba there were 7, yes 7, # 132's in a row. We could see     all coming up Cordoba past the shopping mall.
     Anyway, after you're sure of the route you get on the bus- HANG ON- drop in the coins and your off to? The reason for the ? is that the first 3 trips we made on the bus this November didn't follow the routes in the guide. Close, but not exactly where we thought.
     Finally comes the dreaded stop. The driver never checks to see that you are completely and safely on the ground as he guns it up the road dodging traffic where you often see 4 or 5 vehicles and motorcyles in 3 lanes- that is if you are lucky enough to be standing when you make that last step down. 
The only bonus of the bus ride is the time it gives me to practice my balance- it's no wonder the portenos can dance the tango.
Just another day of surprises in Buenos Aires.


  

QUESTION for ALBERTO

What if you get stuck with us for weeks in February. What if you have to teach us while you are sitting down or resting? You were my inspiration for a stainless and huge paella pan that cost more than we've spent in our first 2 weeks in BA - minus the tango shoes.
Love,
Karen and MIke

MOLINETES and PEANUT BUTTER

The 2 things on my mind early this morning.
Molinetes- After 1 1/2 hours yesterday, Cecilia working with my right shoulder I GET IT! If you can picture a cruzada and a molinete clockwise- for the woman: front, side, back, side and on and on. Yesterday I was able to correct a 5 year bad habit. The right shoulder opens to the BACK in forward and side step. The left shoulder opens to the back in the next 2 steps.
Why am I writing this when it won't make any sense to anyone? It's changed my dancing and I've unlearned another bad habit.

Peanut Butter- You just can't buy it here. We found a health food store- a dietetica- in Abasto and trekked there before our lesson at Carlos Copello's dance school. The jar said Peanut Butter, but Mike said we should by the Pasta de Mani, but as usual, I didn't listen. After one taste of what they call Peanut Butter we have to trek back on Thursday for the other version without the added SUGAR and hydrogenated oil.
What a pleasure to wake up with the simple minded thoughts about molinetes and peanut butter!

Almost 2 Weeks HERE?

How can the time have gotten away from us. When I think of the average vacation time for working people, maybe 2 or 3 weeks, and then back to the grind for 50 more- oh no.
Mike and I start to really unwind after 10 days and then settle into a relaxed, sort of hypnotic state. Do very little.
Today was a volcada lesson- the teacher broke it down into manageable tiny parts; when to push with the big toe, when to lift with a little forward motion. Next he added the circular motion and the sublte stepping and body rotation.
NEVER have I liked a volcada until today. Learning to keep the free leg FREE has been hard for me for years. Finally it feels detached - a pendulum? Now I am not TRYING to produce the motion.
As Hugo Daniel says, "Tango is like life. Some steps forward, some back and many to the side." My greatest wish today is that Alberto Paz will read this and smile.