Juanita's got a squeezebox, Paco Never sleeps at night!

4-8-08
Buenos Aires, Spain

Spanish school started for me the other day - quite fun and rewarding. Spanish always seemed extraneous in school - a bit ridiculous considering that more than half the population in my hometown speaks Spanish and Mexico is about 200 miles from there as well. I think my failure to see the practicality/necessity of learning another language had to do with the kids I was surrounded with - why learn another language when we've got everything right here in the big, bad USA?
The school here in BA is a hodgepodge of nationalities - japanese, french, few americans, canadians, and germans. There are many germans. I'm not sure what it is about this nation that breeds travelers. You can go to any known destination on this planet that offers some rewarding experience and find a German there sometimes with a camper.
My class was made up of myself and two Germans Jergen and Julia. Julia left because she was too advanced, so now it is just Jergen and I. Most of our 4-hour class entails the teacher rattling off spanish while Jergen and I apprehensively nod our heads. I think this is known as the "immersion technique" or "spanish water-boarding," not sure though.
The class is especially difficult for Jergen because the teachers speak english when they're not rapid-firing spanish at us. So Jergen must translate Spanish to English to German. I try to help by falling back on my second best of communication - body language. With raised eyebrows and spastic arms I master the babel of the world. German - Easy. Chinese - not a problem. Latin -who said it was dead?
I saw a woman have her purse ripped form her arms at an sidewalk cafe yesterday. It was very crowded and the thief simply ran by and snatched it. A man at an adjacent table immediately sprang into action and chased the thief - but no luck. Everyone seemed shocked- I thought the "lonely planet" said this was common here!
I've really got to stop looking at this book for anything more than places to sleep or locations of museums.
Julia and I went to see the district known as "La Boca" - the art district. It has colorfully painted houses, artisans selling crafts, and one street where travelers can get sucked into an orgy of tango, beer, and poor musicianship. There are open cafes with fully dressed, dancing tango couples accompanied by guitarists, squeezebox players, and some of the worst singers I've heard this side of the equator. Maybe it was an off-day.
I bumped into my first Americans in La Boca. A group of about 15, twenty-something, FRAT BOYS. WOW! What the hell were they doing here and how did I find them? They were being stalked by the tango-hawkers. A female dancer grabbed one of the Delta Gamma Rays, popped a fedora on his head, and assumed the classic tango pose with him. This set off a frenzy of picture taking from the fellow Bros.
I couldn't get away fast enough.

Mother H

P.S. The bus system rocks my world here- you can ride anywhere in town for $.30.

P.P.S. Check out the photos here - http://www.travellerspoint.com/photos/gallery/users/Sabrosa684/