on Buenos Aires (II)

Somehow the trip to BsAs rendered me mute. It's been almost 6 months now and I'm still wondering why. I don't know. Everything I've lived there is still very much alive in my mind, yet I find it very difficult to write it down.

Perhaps it's sheer simplicity is overwhelming. Maybe the common people doing remarkable simple yet fantastic things it's what stroke me. Cultural clash? Maybe, though we're not so far apart. There I've experienced a sense of normality that I'm still searching for here, back home.
When I said to the people living in Buenos Aires that I loved the city and I could live there whithout any second thoughts the general reply was "It's funny how we want to leave Argentina and you foreigners want to stay". Well, I'll try to explain. Byass, of course.

I did not grow up in a western European country. I was only 10 when the communist regime came to an end and I don't remember much of that period. We, as a nation, were aiming West. Yet all I recall is the "transitional" time from communism to democracy. A time of social struggle, political mayhem (more or less subtle) and somewhat economical growth. One could state we're now on the right track. We're part of EU, NATO and everything is going by the book from a very large point of view. We're building a consumerist nation, and now we can buy the Pepsi can from any corner of the street, the same Pepsi can our parents could only see at the foreigner tourists or could only buy in duty-free shops.

The sense of value has been twisted and perverted. What I shall write next is purely subjective and prone to various kinds of critique - feel free.

.... to be continued....

Pica Pica

I didn't get the chance to shoot this but someone else obviously had:
Javier Rodriguez y Andrea Misse en Parakultural
Its funny how on video everything seems much slower. Live it was a craze...

on Buenos Aires (I)

The mecca of tango. The city of tango. The people of tango. The fascinating city. The nation who came up with the ideea. A too short experience. A too long longing to come.

The first day there I thought I was home. I had this peculiar feeling that everybody I know is actually living next door. Friends, family, they were all naturally supposed to be just a few blocks away, yet I was an ecuator and an ocean apart from them. One understands circumstances through one's own experiences, true. However this city has an universality of it's own. The good, the bad, the ugly an the ever beautiful all come together here. It's a city of all people and I suppose that's how tango was born. The elements are all here. This place and everything in it, It is tango.

Wherever you go whatever you do everything is in the air. You can feel the mood of every esquina at any given hour of the day. And after a while you know the streets, you don't need a map, it's all so commonly there. Like home. Like a lover whom you've grown to know by heart yet you never get bored, you never want to leave nor forget.

to be continued...

Tan Piola

Hello again, back home (cold, gray winter). I don't feel like posting on Buenos Aires yet, but I will soon. Meanwhile:

Tan Piola y cajetilla - Sarmiento 1272 - Buenos Aires

Here are some videos from the opening night.
Osvaldo y Coca and... Does anymobdy know who are those two?*

*And Patricia y Matteo , thanks TP

Buenos Aires

It´s unbelievable. It feels so familiar...
More soon.

Far,far,away

Distance for tango: roughly 7700 mi or 12300 km in a straight line
Departure: 29th of December
I still can't believe it. I'm going to Buenos Aires for a month!
The only thing that worries me is that a month passes so quickly.
Big grin on my face :)

Any tips?