Plan B

Stay one step ahead: always have a plan B. I am learning. I don't think this is being cynical or skeptical. Being Buddhist, worry is slander: but there's no harm in being practical about achieving peace of mind. As the Arab saying goes, Trust in God, but tie up your camel first.

I have been a little too glib, a little too smug and I've been caught out a couple of times. For instance, I have gone out to a milonga with just enough to pay my entrance and buy a small round, then on the way back, I have waited for the carefully researched collectivo, having made a note of the best one to take, only to find I had to wait in the freezing dawn for one hour because it didn't show and I hadn't enough money with me for a taxi. I now know to take my bus guide with me everywhere, so I can figure out an alternative route if necessary and to take taxi money just in case.

It's worth keeping your ears open for good accommodation even if you have already got somewhere wonderful to stay. You just never know when circumstances might change and it's no fun suddenly finding you have nowhere to live.

As for men, sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more, guapos, hermosos, lindos are everywhere in BsAs and they are all waiting for you. Devote yourself to one, by all means, but there is no harm in having a Plan B. I haven't seen anything of the demon dancer for over a week, but ColinFirthButSexier is present and correct and standing by ready to take my breath away as are twenty other chicos. It hasn't required much effort to generate a tidal wave of desire across Buenos Aires. Porteños are extremely friendly: many of the men I've danced with have said things like “I like you. I would like to spend time with you. I want to know you better. When shall we meet again?” This is definitely not London. My favourite anecdote is about an old virtuoso I danced tango nuevo with, at La Viruta around 2.00 a.m. After a tanda, (and the tandas are very long there,) he looked me in the eye and said “I'm going to bed, now.” I was slightly alarmed and thinking, why is he telling me this. Then he said, “I'm telling you this because I am seventy-two years old and I have two grandchildren and it is now my bedtime.”