Saturday 4 July 2009
Mi Mar del Plata
I went to the inauguration of a new milonga, Mi Mar del Plata, at el Juveníl, on Corrientes 4534. This is where La Maria Practica para Mujeres takes place, only the práctica is upstairs and the milonga is in a larger hall, on the ground floor, with stairs leading to an ample gallery on the mezzanine, where it is possible to sit at tables, watch the dancers on the floor below or even dance, although the space in the gallery is long and thin. Downstairs, alongside the main dance floor, there is a bar and just a handful of tables. The floor was not as smooth as the dancers, but all the beautiful people were there and I think it got off to a great start.
The Night of the Living Dead
No práctica for me today. DNI has closed its doors for the moment, on account of the swine flu. I see on facebook that some other classes and prácticas next week are also being cancelled. Buenos Aires will be soon be filled with tango dancers walking the streets with their arms outstretched, like the zombies in The Night of the Living Dead, in search of an abrazo.
The streets and subtes are filled with people wearing face-masks. There have been 55 deaths and I offer my condolences to those bereaved. There have also been 2,409 confirmed cases of infection with the H1N1 virus, known over here as la gripe A. Paranoia is rife and is every bit as infectious as the flu. You can’t get to a handbasin for the queues of guilty people wanting to wash their hands. The soap industry must be booming. And there are so many people scrubbing their hands with alcohol wipes that all the pharmacies have sold out. You can’t imagine how embarrassing it is to find yourself sneezing at a milonga. I think I might stay in tonight. Curl up on the sofa in front of our giant screen with a nice DVD. Not as much fun as dancing, but at least I'll have clean hands, eh?
This pandemic is a big deal. Schools across the country have been closed and in Buenos Aires, universities, as well. Pregnant women have been told they can take two weeks off work to avoid contracting the virus. I read that some fast food places have been closed down for not respecting the recommended distance between tables, whilst down the road others have been permitted to remain open for business. You could be forgiven for thinking municipalities were in competition with each other to see which one could close down the greatest number of establishments. However, today, the minister of health announced that protocols for coping with the emergency would be unified. I imagine these cover closures, social distancing and the distribution of anti-viral drugs. I am anxious about whether and how all this might affect air travel, however. I’m supposed to be flying back in six weeks and I don’t want to have to lose my ticket in the event of being caught blowing my nose at the airport.
The streets and subtes are filled with people wearing face-masks. There have been 55 deaths and I offer my condolences to those bereaved. There have also been 2,409 confirmed cases of infection with the H1N1 virus, known over here as la gripe A. Paranoia is rife and is every bit as infectious as the flu. You can’t get to a handbasin for the queues of guilty people wanting to wash their hands. The soap industry must be booming. And there are so many people scrubbing their hands with alcohol wipes that all the pharmacies have sold out. You can’t imagine how embarrassing it is to find yourself sneezing at a milonga. I think I might stay in tonight. Curl up on the sofa in front of our giant screen with a nice DVD. Not as much fun as dancing, but at least I'll have clean hands, eh?
This pandemic is a big deal. Schools across the country have been closed and in Buenos Aires, universities, as well. Pregnant women have been told they can take two weeks off work to avoid contracting the virus. I read that some fast food places have been closed down for not respecting the recommended distance between tables, whilst down the road others have been permitted to remain open for business. You could be forgiven for thinking municipalities were in competition with each other to see which one could close down the greatest number of establishments. However, today, the minister of health announced that protocols for coping with the emergency would be unified. I imagine these cover closures, social distancing and the distribution of anti-viral drugs. I am anxious about whether and how all this might affect air travel, however. I’m supposed to be flying back in six weeks and I don’t want to have to lose my ticket in the event of being caught blowing my nose at the airport.
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