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.

PERRI, author of a must read, RIVER TANGO

Watch for this book!!! This will be published around the end of October. If you like to kayak or if you don't like to kayak......if you like the tango or if you don't like the tango, Perri has captured a dramatic river run that captures the essence of both kayak and tango and ties them together in a fictional version of his 2 loves.
Remember, it's RIVER TANGO by Perri Iezonni.

Packing

Our idea, now that we own the "santuario" in BA, was to travel with 2 backpacks- loaded with tango shoes, AND to avoid the luggage ordeal at EZE. How nice to dream of hopping off the plane and zipping through without the baggage stop. Last week I started adding a FEW things to the pile on the spare bed. A few things? This looks like a mountain: Maybe a printer? 6 jars of peanut butter, a FEW extra clothes and on and on. Mike saw it today for the first time and quickly closed, more like slammed, the door and shook his head. Well, I said, we'll sort through it all and leave most behind. The pile on the bed is bigger than the apartment and the pile on the bed is just starting to grow. It will take the 9 weeks to unpack it all.

The HEAT is ON

Sunday after Sunday the dancers arrive at our tent. Last night- 20 and by 7:30 Mike and I cranked up the gas heater by the house. A run down of the evening. Matt and Sue were the last to arrive after a party. Sue danced with Rudy and worked on her walking. Rudy? All the way from the Hudson Valley to teach a short lesson to our group and I think to dance with 2 women who never arrived. Jeri and Dick, Mike A. TANGO.
Jim and Jennifer, who travels back to her acting career in NYC today. Jennifer showed Cathie and me some pole dance moves form her classes, but no pole is coming to the tent.
Walter has the walk. Mimi and Terry moved in close embrace-Argentines? Terry wonders why I won't throw in a swing or salsa. Joe and Mary Ethel are back with the famous pie. David ate, but needs a partner. Dan- his usual solo on the floor.
Lenore and John who loved the vegan cheese though he was eating the wrong one.
Summer is coming to a close. Me? More tired this year than last. Mike ? More tired this year than last, but we keep it going for the love of the dance.