Tango originated here in Buenos Aires. The city remains very proud of their tango tradition, though unfortunately, it has become very comodified. Going to watch tango has become something that tourists do, most locals no longer go to enjoy them. So unfortunately, instead of going to see people dance tango, you need to go see a "Tango Espactaculo". So it's not really what tango was like, it's more like what "the idea of tango" is like...it's like going to a tango themed adult theme park. Our cousins here, Tino and Susana and their family, very generously bought Jonathan and I a night in a hotel, dinner, and a Tango show. We were excited to spend a nice little romantic night alone and take in the Tango show.
So earlier that afternoon, we headed off in the train to the city to check into our hotel. I've written about what it's like to be in the train here in an earlier blog, but just to reiterate...it's horrible. But more specifically, when people ask you for money on the train, they don't just ask for money, they walk around passing something out (astrology books, stickers, temporary tattoos, prayer cards, etc). Generally, they will hand you whatever they are passing out or if you don't specifically say no to them, they will put it in your lap. Once they finish handing out their stack of whatever, they do another lap and collect all of the items. At this point, a person could choose to keep what they've just been given and in exchange give them money, or they could just give the person money. Whenever I see people coming around, handing stuff out, I can't help but think about all the people that had already touched this stuff. It freaks me out. So I have quickly learned the universal signal for no, a combination of a hand wave and indirect eye contact. I usually avoid being handed stuff. Every once and a while I wont be paying attention and I'll get something placed in my lap, but usually I'm pretty good at avoiding it. Anyways, on our way to the city to check into the hotel, I saw a girl coming around out of the corner of my eye. When she came around to give me a slip of paper with a prayer on it, I quickly did the "no thank you signal", but she ignored me. Not only did she put her paper in my lap, but she also leaned in and gave me a big, wet, kiss on the cheek. EEEKKK!! Jonathan, standing in front of me, looked down at me laughing, knowing exactly what I was thinking. Trying not to be an ugly American and freak out and wipe my kiss off my cheek, I sat there in the train, trying to pretend I had an itch on my face, strategically wiping my cheek against my shoulder, all the while Jonathan laughed at me. EW!
Note: Please don't think I'm a bad person for not giving people money on the train. I am actually very thoughtful with how I give my money to others and choose not to support people begging on the train for money.
So after I finished emotionally coping with that crisis of hygiene, we arrived in the city and checked into our hotel. It was a really nice hotel - I got to watch Dawson's Creek in bed while Jonathan finished looking at fantasy baseball stuff (note: this is what happens when you get old and married). :) We went for a nice walk in the city and then headed back to the hotel to catch the tourist shuttle to the restaurant/tango show. We had a really nice dinner and then headed into the tango show. All of the tourists were super pumped to be there...taking their pictures in front of inanimate objects inside the building. So before the tango show starts, this projector screen comes down onto the stage and gives a history of tango, the neighborhood we were in, and the tango club (people took pictures of the screen, no joke). The short movie finished. The excitement in the room was tangible. You could smell it. As the projector screen was finishing being pulled up into the ceiling, Jonathan says to me...these people would clap at anything right now; they're dying to clap. He then instructs me to begin clapping to see if everyone would follow in suit. I laughed and said no. He continued to try to convince me to start clapping, but I said no. About 30 seconds after the film ended and before anything else happened (well after the time where if you were going to clap, it would have happened), Jonathan starts clapping. I don't think I've ever seen him clap with such vigor and excitement for anything in his life ever before. And within a millisecond the entire room breaks out in applause!! We laughed hysterically. The show was really nice and the dancers were really talented. I liked to watch the accordion players (at one point, there were three of them on stage!). We had a really great time that night and will certainly never forget our first tango show together (although, Jonathan maintains that Spanish flamenco is way better :).
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