The sidewalks are shrinking!!!!

Haha, Friday was a warm day here, and as I walked to my tango class I realized the sidewalks were more crowded than before. The sidewalks seemed to have shrunk. The sidewalks haven't literally shrunk but because it is getting warmer, restaurants put more tables outside for people to eat at. Its really nice to be able to sit outside and enjoy the warmth. Most of the restaurants here were built for warm days and eating outside so I cant wait until we have some consistent warmth here.

Speaking of tango classes, I finished my last one yesterday. I can officially dance like a like a five year old when it comes to tango!! At the end of class yesterday, our instructors invited us to a tango club where we could dance in public. Being one of only two guys in the class I felt like I had to go because the girls would have to dance with pros and I couldnt let that happen, plus I sort of wanted to check out the tango spot. We went to a spot off Scalabrini Ortiz (a street) and paid 12 pesos to get in, not too bad. Unfortunately for you guys I forgot my camera so I have no pix but Ill try my best to describe the room.

It was a huge square room, with the wooden dance floor in the middle and tables surrounding the dance floor. The DJ plays 3-4 tango songs then plays a random salsa or pop song in between as sort of a break. There is nobody on the dance floor as the next segment of tango begins. Once a few seconds of the tango begins every one who came with someone gets up to go dance if they want to. Now the most intriguing thing for me was what the single's did to find someone to dance with. While sitting you begin to stare at who you want do dance with, once you get the person to look back at you the male nods with his head and they both get up and meet on the dance floor then dance. When I saw a guy do this I was amazed at him, every break he had someone different he danced with and it was the coolest thing just to watch him just look around, give a nod and get up and dance. The age group of the people there was around mid-thirties and up. I didnt see that many young people there and we stayed until 2 but from what my host mom was saying is that the tango is something you learn and develop over time.

Now for my experience dancing. The middle of the dance floor is for beginners and the outside is for the more experienced. When I first danced I went to the outside because I didnt know that the outside was for advanced tangoers (if thats a word) and there were less people. I didnt have to worry about bumping into people. I felt like everyone was looking at me and at first it was very intimidating to dance in front of people that have been tangoing for years. But as the night went on I became more comfortable with dancing and ended up having a lot of fun with the 3 moves I know :) Im going to definitely go to more tango spots to continue to practice and depending on how much it costs, I might continue with the class to learn a couple more moves.