Moving, houseguests, and tango

Tulip moved out Friday night. Charlotte arrived in the middle of the move. Boxes filled the living room and dust floated through the apartment. Charlotte was gracious, offering to help. She had just arrived from Hong Kong to stay for the week and had fallen asleep during her facial. I told her she should rest. Once everything was out of the room, I put sheets on the bed and told Charlotte to make herself at home. Back in the living room, I noticed that Tulip had left a pair of shoes under the bookshelf.

Saturday morning Charlotte had left before I woke up, and I spent the morning cleaning the apartment. I had apologized to her the night before; I had thought Tulip would have finished her move before she arrived, and had hoped to have had the time to clean properly before her arrival. Charlotte assured me it was no problem. I ran errands and then left to meet friends in Central Park, where we took advantage of the afternoon warmth to row boats in the pond.

That afternoon, we went to Chelsea market for the regular afternoon tango sessions. I stood aside and watched. I fell into conversation with a man who had recently returned from Argentina. He had spent 10 days there dancing. He said he took 15 hours of private lessons, and spent every evening at a milonga. He told me I should go. He had taken 2 years of lessons before then, but Argentina changed his dance completely. He told me that if I went, I wouldn't have to take lessons in New York for at least six months for everything that you learn. I said I was considering it and that I was in the process of planning out my next six months of travel and work.

Sunday night found me at the South Street Seaport, again at a tango event. It was the first Sunday evening at the pier and, though it was cold, a number of people made their way around the boardwalk, dancing at the edge of the river. I had joked to a friend that I was just about ready to start buying instructional videos to learn more faster. She said it seemed as though I was on the verge of joining the cult. Posted by eku at May 8, 2006 10:03 AM