Tango Night!

On the way to tango night we saw first hand the poverty issues in Argentina. We were eating our dinner while waiting for the train when 3 young children asked us for our food. It was so sad because they were children and they had no other option. I wanted to help but in the moment I was so shocked that I couldn’t even think of what to do. Afterwards I deeply regretted not giving them my food. It wasn’t even that I was hungry or anything like that, I just literally had froze in surprise. It made it really hard for me to enjoy the rest of the night because that moment and my decision at that moment disappointed me and the situation made me so mad because children shouldn’t have to do that and there was nothing we could do then and there to help the system rather than just provide a few more calories. Eventually I tried to put it aside to think about at a later time and try to enjoy the evening they had prepared for us. We learned that tango lyrics are really depressing and that tango music is not very popular among teens. We also learned that the footwork is crazy and you have to be so flexible to look good when dancing tango. The night started out with a dance lesson in which the instructor made fun of us for our clumsiness and we were paired with old men that danced inches away from our faces and gave us advice for what we were doing wrong. Oh man that took some stepping outside of my comfort zone. Not only do I never dance in public but I hate being close to people! The dance lesson was fun once I let down my guard a little bit. Then we took our seats and watched as older couples came in and danced the night away. It was so cute! They danced with random people, as well as the people they came with. There were elaborate outfits and dancing shoes that I probably couldn’t even stand in! They don’t even step on their heals when they dance, they’re always on their toes and leaning forward! It was so cool to watch and I couldn’t wait until later in the trip when we would get to see a choreographed performance.