The Windham Daily: An Epic Journal

Resolution

skylarwindham — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 02:12:50 +0000

Our official, professional, private tango instructor Vero, Nicki & Me.

I again apologize for my blog having come to a standstill. As things are wrapping up here in Argentina, I find myself extremely busy and unwilling to acknowledge the fact that life as I have known it for the past three months is almost over. Nicki and I have been taking more and more private tango classes, partly because our time is cutting short, but mostly because we’ve been getting so much out of them, and our teacher is soooo much fun. I feel very privileged to know Veronica personally, let alone be taught by her. Her pants are very typical of Argentine women (and some men) right now; they are very high fashion

Check out her pants.

I’ll be home in less than a week. So I am going to say that this is my last official blog from Argentina. It has been an amazing, unique experience, and I have met and made some great friends during my stay; and someone extra-special too. If any of you ever have the chance to come to Argentina, I highly recommend it. But don’t go to Buenos Aires, well… go to Buenos Aires, of course, but then come to Rosario, or San Nicolas, or Mendoza, or one of the smaller cities that aren’t so touristy. Life is much more peaceful here. You can’t get a coffee to go, in fact it’s very much frowned upon to walk down the street eating or drinking anything. And don’t drink straight from the bottle either; use a cup Go to a milonga. Go to a park and learn how to drink mate! Give everyone you meet a kiss on the cheek!

Gracias y Un Fuerte Abrazo!

Skylar W.

Patricia and Me

skylarwindham — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:33:22 +0000

Last night I went to las Chirusas, one of my favourite milongas, with one of my favourite tango instructors. I ended up dancing a set of tangos during the milonga with Patricia, my teacher. She seemed really surprised at the end of the set, because we hadn’t really danced before, so she didn’t know my abilities completely. Anyway, after we danced she hugged me and said “That was beautiful! Perfecto!” Which made me feel really good. Then she took me to her table and introduced me to her friends and I talked with them for a while and I danced with a bunch of different woman. When you go to a milonga, tangos are danced three at a time. You can begin during any of the three, but once you start, it is polite to finish the set with whomever you are dancing with. For some reason, the sets are of four at las Chirusas, and I know it sounds awful, but sometimes you start dancing with someone and they just don’t have that X factor at all and you think “Oh man, I don’t know if I can do another three songs”. But you do, because otherwise it’s really rude. But there are some women who dance very well, and those are the ones who know when to move and whose frame is so close that we lean on each other completely and we dance cheek to cheek. Those are the best tangos, when you’re so close, and you just feel the music and dance. After one set, the people on the floor parted, and a younger couple began to dance. I can honestly say that it was the most beautiful tango I have ever seen in any context in my life; they were a beautiful couple, their outfits, the music, and their chemistry. There was a moment when I thought about filming some of it, but I opted not to. Somehow moments like those are best left to just experiencing them; like it would almost detract from it all if I were to film it. Besides, it’s not like filming it or taking pictures is ever comparable to the real thing. I’m really gonna miss Argentina.

I'm gonna miss her! She was my first official Tango instructor.

Puerto Iguazu Tango

skylarwindham — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:20:40 +0000

I haven’t been in the mood to write lately; just been trying to accept the premature, yet inevitable, severance of a particular emotional bond I have made. On a lighter noter, Iguazu Falls was amazing. I have some great pictures, but I will have to put them up later. While we were in Puerto Iguazu, I went to a Tango bar with one of our teachers and three friends. There wasn’t a real milonga in that city, but there was this bar with a little dance floor outside and they did play tango music, so we had a good time. The woman to the right of me in the photo is Amalia, or Ama for short. She is a Spanish teacher here and she is the coolest person ever. She dances Tango nuevo, which is the modern form of the dance that is much more loose and allows the woman much more say. Ama is very vocal about not liking my private tango instructor, because I’m learning classic Argentine Tango, which to Ama is just too old school It cracks me up. But to each his own. Everyone here definitely has their own preference in regards to tango and mate. But all styles are compatible, so it just makes it more interesting when two different people dance.

Tango in Puerto Iguazu, Argentina

Colectividades

skylarwindham — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:41:51 +0000

Yesterday was the MOST amazing day yet. After classes, Nicki and I went to the Colectividades, which is a carnival/fair of sorts… without the rides anyway. There are tons of different booths from tons of different countries where you can try different food and see a bit of their country’s traditional dancing. I was kind of disappointed because China and Mexico weren’t represented. It was mostly Middle eastern countries. I was a little apprehensive about going because all the locals, ALL the locals, told us that it was dangerous and that people would ask for food when we bought it. Fortunately, this year the city had upped the security and built a fence around the festivities, and there were plenty of guys in police uniforms standing around. I say “guys in police uniforms” because the po po here is pretty janky. I mean, they really don’t evoke much confidence. at all. But anyway, it was fun. We decided to ditch out a little early and go to a milonga. I cannot express how much fun it is to be able to go to a milonga and dance tango with the locals; it’s like we’re inside Argentine culture, looking out, whereas the other kids in the group seem to be on the outside looking in. But I’m definitely obsessed. Before class, after class, in the street = tango.

Today we are leaving for Iguazu falls. I don’t have much time to go into details, but it supposedly puts Niagra to shame. It’s a twenty hour bus ride, one way. But it’s all good… “God’s in his Heaven – All’s right with the world!

El Capote

skylarwindham — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:11:27 +0000

Tiffany, Me, & Courtney

Today I woke up at 2:00. There was a giant cockroach in the shower. So of course I freaked out and closed the door and left a note for my host mom to take care of it Other than that, today was that eventful. I hung out with some friends from the group a little and tomorrow I have another private tango class.

Siberian Virtuosi

skylarwindham — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:40:03 +0000

The sound of my steps echoed against the enormous mirrored walls of the lobby as I paced back and forth waiting for her to descend. She was a little late, which I kind of expected, but I had snuck into the lobby just as someone else had left, and enough time had passed that I was beginning to question how I would be leaving that purgatory between the door of the elevator, and the one that opened to the street. (If I had, for whatever reason, gone in the wrong place) Luckily, before panic had actually set in, I saw the elevator on its way. Soon after, I saw a bunch of dreadlocks wrapped in a blue bandana, herself in a blue silk slip, and her feet in brown leather boots. She was wearing a jacket as well, which was for the better, because I might have been slightly disconcerted otherwise. Although her appearance was a bit unorthodox, she did look nice, and she was definitely Nicki; meaning that her outfit, coupled with her personality, was utterly endearing.

We walked and walked until we reached the theatre, where I then informed her of what we were about to see. She was very surprised, excited and appreciative. There was a host of people standing about waiting for the gate to open. As we looked around we noticed a table with champagne and she commented that it probably cost a “shit-ton”. It was then that I could not help but be reminded of Richard Gere and Julia Roberts when they went to see La Traviata.

This was taken as we were leaving. They told us that cameras weren't allowed.

We gave the man our tickets and were led to our seats. I hadn’t realized just how close our seats were, and I was again taken aback by the sheer grandeur of the theatre.

Beautiful Curves

It wasn’t long after being seated that people began to pour in and the balconies became full. Then it went dark, the stage lit up, and out walked Siberian Virtuosi, a string orchestra from Russia. Of course there are no words that could even begin to describe how amazing, how surreal, how clear and pure and precise and just… beautiful the music was; or how the musicians’ passion and commitment and dedication all emanated from the stage and covered each and every one of us. I think that if someone thinks they do not like classical music, they should rethink their thoughts, because they are most certainly under the wrong impression.

After the concert, we went to Señor Mings, a Japanese restaurant overlooking the Parana River. In doing research for dinner beforehand, I had found that there was a random cartoon zombie on the dessert menu of this particular restaurant, which I took as a sign that this was the place to go, because in the way that some people are obsessed with lighthouses, or pigs, or sunflowers, or unicorns; Nicki loves zombies. But anyway, the atmosphere of the restaurant was serene, and we had a very nice dinner there. After we were full of wine, sushi, and chocolate, it was about time to call it a night, especially considering that we had class at 9:00 in the morning. I was very relaxed and ready for bed, but somehow we had worked ourselves into an existential debate, and well, let’s just say we didn’t come to a satisfying conclusion. We agreed to disagree for the time being, and I took her home. All in all, it was a very relaxing, wonderfully pleasant night.

Dessert Zombie

However, as luck would have it, for the ride home I happened to get the most talkative taxi driver in the history of taxi drivers, who proceeded to tell me his life story, along with the life stories of virtually all of his family members. At this point I can barely keep my eyes open (I hadn’t had a chance to nap at all that day) and he keeps looking back at me for responses, and I don’t want to be rude, so I comply with a “You don’t say!” or “Really?” or any variations of the sort. Actually, I must say the guy was very nice, and sincere, and his stories were actually unique and interesting, but sometimes you just feel like telling them, “Just wake me up when we get there.”

El Tango

skylarwindham — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:39:05 +0000

Unbeknownst to us, Anna snuck this picture while Nicki and I were practicing at school between classes.

Así se baila el Tango

Trick or Treat… or not.

skylarwindham — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 06:51:44 +0000

Renita & Me. And no, I am not a stamp. Let me just say, if you don't give me your money, then I will tell everyone your dirty little secret.

So, yesterday was Halloween. They don’t celebrate it here, but a bunch of the students from the program were having their own little shindigs. I slept virtually all day, mostly because I didn’t want to be lucid enough to wallow in my angst. When I woke up, Graciela had prepared various bowls of ingredients for dinner, which I found interesting. There was a bowl of tuna. a bowl of peas. a bowl of lettuce. a bowl of rice. a bowl of olives. a bowl of tomatoes. and a bunch of spoons. She wasn’t eating because she had a birthday party to get to. She gave a me a slight guilt trip for not going out, even though I go out every night during the week. But still, I did need to get out and think about other things for a bit. Jeff, a guy from the program, invited everyone to some bar, with the condition that we wear a costume. Well, I had an hour to figure something out, and I had a hammock and some black clothes. After trying every play on words I could think of with “hammock” I gave up and started going through black. Black, black dog, black friday, no, blackmail, wait, that could work… So, I busted out the glue and scissors, and faster than a second-grader high on pop rocks during craft time, I whipped out a giant paper stamp, stuck it to my chest, and went on my way. When I first got to this bar, there appeared to be no one there, and the taxi driver didn’t want to leave me there because he said it wasn’t safe. I must say the majority of taxi drivers here are very considerate, decent gentlemen. So I met Morgan, Lacey & Wendy at Lacey’s house and we walked to the bar where we ran into other people from the group. About this time Renita texted me and invited me to Brittany’s party. I started to go into the bar with the other kids, but when I saw the strobe lights and drunkenness, I opted to turn around and try my luck at Brittany’s, after all, Brittany is usual pretty chill. I’ll skip ahead… So I’m in a taxi on my way to meet Renita at her house, where I’ve never been, but I don’t recognize the surrounding streets and it’s looking pretty desolate, and it’s been a while, so I’m starting to freak out a little bit – this particular taxi driver was a little sketch (shady). I was just waiting for him to threaten me, take my stuff, and punch me in the face. But luckily, all turned out well and I went in to Renitas and met her mom. Then Renita and I went together to Brittany’s party, which was at some friend of a friend of a friend’s house. By the time Renita and I got there, everyone was pretty trashed. It was a bunch of Rosarino boys and some American girls from the group. Cups and napkins and stuff everywhere – disgusting. I hate it. I know I hate it. But for some reason I keep being reminded. Renita and I stayed for an hour and then left. Oh, and nobody got my costume. They all thought I was a stamp. Idiots.

El Teatro Círculo

skylarwindham — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:23:04 +0000

I can’t remember whether or not I’ve already mentioned this, but on the way back from Buenos Aires, on the bus, Nicki told me that she loves classical music, especially strings, specifically violins. So, I looked at the schedule of the Teatro Circulo, and on November 4th, there is going to be a group called Siberian Virtuosi from Russia, and their ensemble consists solely of stringed instruments. So, I thought it would be cool to surprise her with that. I told her to keep the night of the 4th open. But, last week I discovered that this particular event is part of El Abono, o sea, an upper class group of individuals who pay a yearly fee for the privilege of having exclusive rights to certain shows. Monday, I went to the theatre to see if I could by tickets for it, but the man in the booth informed me that on Thursday (today) they would be selling whatever tickets were left over, or the ones that the members of El Abono didn’t want. So, I went there again today to see what kind of seats I could get, and their computers were down, so they couldn’t sell anything. I was really frustrated because the theatre is on the other side of town from school, and I was skipping class to get there, and there are only a few hours in the morning when you can buy tickets. However, despite the setback and frustration, I ended up running into Priscila from administration, who took a liking to me and decided to lock the door to the public, since the computers weren’t working anyway, and give me a brief tour of the theatre. We went up the stairs and she showed me the view from the balcony. The Rosario Symphony Orchestra was rehearsing. She then showed me some more and took me to the ground floor, directly in front of the orchestra, and told me to sit down and listen for as long as I wanted, and that if anyone bothered me, to tell them “Priscila said I could” and that if I needed anything, I could come find her. I was really surprised and so appreciative of her generosity. I did have class. And I feel like Soledad (my conversation professor) has been getting irked with me lately, but she had planned to show a war movie today, and I don’t need to watch young men kill each other, I find it bothersome, so I opted to stay. Of course I opted to stay. So there I was, by myself, in the middle of El Teatro Círculo, with my own private orchestral performance.

El Teatro Círculo

Ferrari

skylarwindham — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 03:54:30 +0000

Today was a horrible, no good, utterly terrible, bad day. I’d rather not discuss the reasons, so don’t ask. However, on Wednesday nights there is a milonga (tango bar) at El Olimpo,. Tonight there was live music, which is awesome, but what was more awesome, was a certain girl I danced with. Nicki and I usually dance with each other, but we do end up meeting different people sometimes. I had seen this girl help with the classes there before, but she appeared to be a student herself. Anyway, my point is that she was amazing. I have danced with a bunch of girls by now, and some professionals, but this was definitely unique. I think maybe that some people can just dance. period. I don’t know exactly what made it so different than other partners, I guess it was more… the gestalt of it, if you will. I want to compare her to a super nice car, although I know that kind of sounds like objectification, but her balance was perfect, and everything was so fluid and seamless, and I could be very subtle with my lead. Don’t get me wrong either, by no means at all am I a great Tango dancer (yet), I’m just super excited after having danced with one.

Home

skylarwindham — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:17:22 +0000

After two months here, it is rare to go through an entire day without somehow being reminded that the end of our stay is right around the corner. Some of us are counting the days, some are satisfied with the amount of time we will have spent, others have mixed feelings. We all know that it will be hard to say goodbye, but that’s expected. Of course I’m not ready to come back, but more than that, I want to stay here. It will be nice to see family and friends, and watch the waves, but beyond that, I don’t feel like home is there right now.

Aladdin

skylarwindham — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:11:21 +0000

I’m sitting in Grammar class right now. Today we’re watching Aladdin in Spanish. The teacher hasn’t arrived yet. I’m curious to see how I did on the midterm. Today is a good day because Nicki and my favourite milonga is open tonight. And before it is our class with our favourite tango instructor, Patricia, the fortune -teller. I’ll try to get a picture of her. I did not want to get out of bed today. And it seems that whenever I have one of these mornings when I’m tired, I just hate the way I look and I can’t find the right thing to where. But I’m here now. I can’t find my floss and It’s causing me major stress right now. I have to go. Chau Chau.

Milonga

skylarwindham — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 18:40:00 +0000

Brittany, Nicki, & Me

Nicki and Me Dancing

Prohibido

skylarwindham — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:16:43 +0000

So… Today Nicki got official, B.A., legit, straight up tango heels. After she and I went to to feed the kids at the Catholic school, we hurried back to the institute and climbed over the “prohibido” sign on the staircase that leads to the the terrace on the roof. This is where we had been practicing, unbeknownst to the staff at the site. We knew that we weren’t allowed up there, mostly because of the giant “prohibited” sign. However, we had heard that students from last semester were allowed up there, until they lost the privilege due to drinking and raucousness. So our thinking was that it would be fine, since we’re learning tango, and we’ve nowhere else to practice. Well, anyway, towards the end of our practice session, Fernanda came up the stairs and was not happy. Her reaction was a surprise to us, because she is the youngest of the staff members and is usually pretty cool about things, but I think maybe it was our blatant disregard for the sign that made her mad. We had sort of expected this, but sometimes, it is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. I spoke with Beba afterwards and everything was fine.

Other than that, nothing terribly exciting happened today. Mid-terms were today. I’m getting a little frustrated with the teachers. I don’t like homework. Never have. Teachers always seem to take it personally if I choose not to do a homework assignment. I have got an A+ on every test I’ve taken thus far here. But anyway… I feel like all of my midterms went well. But we’ll see how I did next week.

I’m sooo tired. I have gone out every night this week, so I think I’m gonna catch up on my sleep right now. Chau chau.

One of those days…

skylarwindham — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:41:46 +0000

So I guess I just woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. I stayed up way too late last night “studying” with Morgan and Lacey at La Vendetta. I had committed to assisting the English teacher at a that Catholic school on Mondays at 8:45. It is one of those things that you don’t mind once you’re there, but making yourself get up and go can be difficult. I ate breakfast for once with Graciela and Kyle, downed a cup of tea, and went on my way. I walked 6 blocks to the school, on Zeballo street. Rachel showed up unexpectedly to help out also. It was just her and I for the first hour, helping the English teacher with two students: Graciela and Rosalia, both over 50 years old. By the second hour, Ari had come with her own lesson plan for the younger students. Now, I don’t really have much room to criticize, seeing as how I didn’t make a lesson plan myself, but I’m going to anyway… Keep in mind the second class consists of about 5 students (on a good day), each around 19 years old, and for most of them, it is their first year learning English. Ari had brought a song for them, thinking that it would be fun for them to look at the lyrics and follow along. Now, songs are all well and good, but if you plan on using them to help someone learn a language, you must put more thought into how they are going to LEARN from it. She had chosen “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz, which has lyrics like “Until the cool done run out I’ll be givin’ it my bestest”. Need I say more? These are first year English students who are having a difficult time anyway! Also, the teacher informed me that the only girl, 16 years old, is pregnant, and she won’t be coming back. So you know I’m frustrated anyway, and so I sit down, because the teacher is basically tired herself so she lets Ari and Rachel go for it. And then Rachel decides that she is going to teach them the Present Future tense, which is when I kind of lost it and corrected her very sharply because there is no such thing as the Present Future tense! Excuse me, will you please come closer so I can punch you in the face? Not only was I embarrassed that they didn’t know what they were doing, but I was more irritated with them for being so… naive. Teaching is a huge responsibility. People are giving you their time and their trust, counting on you to help them better themselves by increasing their knowledge and understanding. You have a responsibility to have your shit together.

After that nightmare, I was talking to Rachel about that girl from school and how unfortunate it was that she’s not coming anymore because of her situation. She got all self-righteous on me and told me that a baby is a positive thing that will make that girl’s life better. Give me a freaking break. Yes, there is a silver lining to every cloud, but let’s get real. That girl had three things going for her: her health, her youth, and her education, and now, while it isn’t the end of the world, her opportunity is greatly diminished. That is the reality of it. And sure, we can be optimists and say that all is well, but then we’re just being ignorant. I seriously doubt Rachel would feel the same if she were to have a baby right now. And we need to at least acknowledge our feelings of discontent, sadness, or what have you, so that we may recognize the potential for improvement.

I had one class today, conversation, which was pretty uneventful. And afterwards I came home and took a 4 hour nap. I kind of wanted to go out for coffee but we have mid terms this week and everybody else is studying. So… I figured I’d share my frustrations with you

Chau chau.