Porque Buenos Aires...
In my head I have been thinking and dreaming about Argentina for quite some time. I remember being taught the basic step probably about ten years ago by the teachers at the Carleton University Social Dancing Society. I wanted to take tango classes in Ottawa, but never had much luck finding a partner to sign up. On one of my Paris trips while in France I went to Milonga with this guy from Montreal at my hostel. I mostly sat and watched people dance around a tiny attic dance floor. There was a man there that carried a photo of Carlos Gardel in his wallet and tried to explain the history of the dance to me. I also remember watching dancers in a lantern lit park one night in the French city of Lille. Then the night before I finished the Camino I was with a hospitalero from Argentina and he led me through a short tango. I was delighted in Regina to finally find lessons that I could attend. Then last Christmas I made my way to Milongas in Paris and Madrid and now last Sunday I was with the small Saskatoon group dancing at Riverlanding. So though I did buy the plane ticket last week, leave for BA in the morning, and don't really know anyone there, the idea has been growing inside of me for quite a while.

An older gentleman from the Milonga in Madrid confessed to me that tango was his religion and at the same time advised me to wait to go to Buenos Aires, so as not to be disappointed. A dance teacher named Marcela wrote me in an e-mail this week that as a beginner it will be quite exciting because I still have lots to learn. I am looking forward to doing a couple of classes with her. She is the good friend and teacher of the instructor Ravi Khalsa who has given a number of workshops in Regina and Saskatoon. I am also intrigued by my accomodations which not only offer a bed and breakfast, but daily tango lessons as well. The part that worries me right now is the almost 17 hour flight and over 24 hours of traveling.

Just before I decided I remembered the quote from the movie 'Strictly Ballroom' that says a life lived in fear is a life half lived.