Notes from Tango Town Cont'd

La Universidad de Buenos Aires
My new school is beyond description (funny how that phrase is invariably followed by a description...) the building is an old cigarette factory, and sometimes you think it never changed over - there are ashtrays in all the hallways and EVERYONE smokes. It's definitely not the most modern or well-maintained building, but that's ok because the innumerable posters cover the peeling paint. I have never seen a campus so politically active. Everywhere you turn there are signs and posters for the Workers Party or the Evita Party or "Say No to Paying the Foreign Debt" (a hot topic in politics right now). The walls are literally covered floor to ceiling in every room, and the first floor is devoted to tables for each of the political parties to hand out literature. It is so ACTIVE! There's stuff going on in every corner and everywhere you look is another sign to join in a protest or come to a party...The student body is also entertaining. I have never seen so many hippies in one place in my life.
Dreads, long skirts, bicycles in the city, long, loose hair (on guys and girls), baggy cotton pants - it's all there. I feel positively preppy here.

Monedas (change)
At home, everybody hates change. You know, having it jingling in your pocket, weighing you down? Life is better with bills. Not so here. 1 peso pieces are worth their weight in gold and 50 ct pieces aren't far behind. The reason? There's a huge change shortage in the country, and buses will take nothing but change. So everyone is continually buying cheap candy to make change. It facilitates a thriving culture of kiosks - small stores that sell snacks and candy - on literally every corner, and makes one develop a very conniving business strategy ("if I buy something that's 2.50 with a 5$, I'll only get 50 cts, but if I give him 4$, he'll HAVE to give me a 1 peso piece!") I get a little thrill every time someone hands me change - hooray! another bus fare!

Medialunas
The preferred breakfast in BA is "Cafe con Medialunas" - a pastry derived from the croissant but subtly different. They're smaller, for one, and often skinny and very curved, more like a waning crescent moon than the half moon they're named after. The thicker ones look more like croissants, but are very sweet and generally smaller. And porteños (people from BA) say that nothing in the world tastes exactly like a medialuna, which I guess is a good reason to stay here - sipping coffee and watching this beautiful city go about its day.

Child Culture
the other day I saw a father and his young son walking down the street, and as I passed, the boy cried, "don't step on the cracks, papa!" so his father dutifully obeyed. Some things never change, no matter where you go in the world...

Tango Shoes
I spent the last 2 weeks on an intensive hunt for tango shoes. There are many little stores to buy from, all of whom make the shoes by hand and have their own distinct style. My favorite store was Comme Il Faut, the established queen of tango shoe stores, so much so that they never show more than a thumbnail of their shoes on the website for fear that someone will steal their designs. They make new designs daily, and they say you can tell when exactly a woman visited BA by which Comme Il Faut shoes she has on. When you ring the bell at the almost-unmarked door, the ladies of the store let you in and sit you down on a velvet sofa in what could be someone's sitting room, there is so little evidence of it being a shoe store. They then proceed to bring out boxes and boxes of shoes for you to try on. They say that the women only bring out the best shoes for the customers they really like, so I was a little nervous going in. But we got along well and they were very chatty and laughed when I asked for any and all blue shoes they had "we could have known that - it's obvious you like blue!" The shoes were gorgeous, and I felt gorgeous in them, but, after days of looking in every store I could find, I ended up buying shoes slightly more stable (3" instead of 4" stiletto), more my style, and 2/3 the price. Now I have shoes, I'm ready to dance the night away in as many tango bars as I can find - which is quite a few. Wish me luck!