Mate? Yes! Dulce de leche? Yes! Spices? Yes! All from the cooperative running the stall
Solidarity Market (Bonpland 1660)
Tuesday started with a quick run to the Solidarity Market to get my favorite brand of mate. I also found goat dulce de leche, which my family prefers, and local honey. Wow! I didn’t know this market existed, but it’s been there for 18 years. I met Claudio, who sold me a natural indigo-dyed scarf. I found out he and his wife are SPINNERS! This is my alternate, non-tango world, se we chatted about spinning wheels, natural fibers and natural dyes. I promised to get back to bring my drop spindle.
Next, I trotted back to my neighborhood to begin settling in the three people who arrived in the morning. Two could not get into their BnBs yet, so we stowed luggage at my place, exchanged money and hit a cafe.
Cafe review: Kaldi (Nicaragua 4604)
Kaldi, situated around the corner from my BnB, because our meeting place for the group. The owner was super nice and appreciated all the business, providing a relaxed place for morning coffee and planning.
Kaldi has a variety of sweets as well as an imaginative coffee list. I had an affogato with ice cream in my espresso, a habit I acquired in Portland at Caffe Umbria. They even had one gluten-free option for a sweet. Ask Patrick about his new mate habit (also available at the cafe) when he gets home from Argentina!
Next, I took the bus over to Jose Garofalo’s art studio, and solidified plans for our upcoming parrilla on Sunday. One of his friends, a chef, is going to do the honors.
People divided up today for sightseeing. Some took the on-off doubledecker tour bus. Two opted for the bike ride I took two tours ago, and arrived back eight hours later. Between jet lag and bikes and sun, most folks chose to eat dinner and go to bed. I went to Lo de Celia with the two who remained upright.
Milonga review: El Maipu @ Lo de Celia (Humberto Primo, 1783)
Portland in the house! Maipu at Lo de Celia
I think the last time I went to Lo de Celia was in 1999 or 2000, when I saw Pupy Castello and Graciela Gonzalez dance, so it really was a joy to walk in and see that almost nothing had changed. We made reservations too late to sit in the traditional sides (men on two sides, women on the other two for cabeceo ease), so we sat on the corner of one of the men’s sides in a mixed group.
A few Portland dancers had scared my newbies, warning them that it was hard to get dances in Buenos Aires. Tell that to the empty chairs! Despite not having slept since landing in the morning, I don’t think Cat sat out more than one tanda. Similarly, Mel figured out the cabeceo for real (NOT the Portland cabeceo), and after that, danced whenever he wanted to. I could see the “click” as the understanding slid into place.
Contrary to Saturday, I was awake for this milonga. I danced with everyone I had danced with Saturday, and a bunch of new dancers. I even danced with one of the men I had seen Saturday slumped in his chair: he was more awake today too, cabeceo-ed me from across the dance floor, between weaving couples, and got over to my side of the room at the speed of a man half his age: nice to be recognized, even if he has called me “Sweetie” and other random names for over twenty years.