Best Night Ever

Last night, our program director, Debora, took us to a tango show and dinner at a beautiful theater called Tango Porteno. The night started with a 45 minute tango lesson in a large ballroom. I had taken a short lesson earlier this week at a Milonga, or dance hall, with my internship director, Natalia, and hadn't failed horribly so I was excited to practice my new skills.

Well, the steps the tango teachers taught us were not exactly the ones I learned previously so unfortunately I didn't have the upper hand I thought I had. My dance partners were also inexperienced non-Argentinians as well so I couldn't just follow their lead as I did at the Milonga. The first partner I had seemed to have two left feet which didn't compliment my unfamiliarity with the new steps. But thankfully during the second round my new partner had better rhythm and we did pretty well if I do say so myself. The lesson was a lot of fun, and we got certificates at the end!! Afterwards we headed downstairs into the theater where dinner and the performance would be.

When I tell you that food was the best meal I've had in Argentina...

We had a few options for each part of a three course meal. I chose veal empanadas as the appetizer, steak and mashed potatoes for the entree, and a trio sampler of flan, dulce de leche ice cream, and a cheese tart for dessert. Everything was AMAZING. The empanadas were heavenly, the steak was cooked to perfection, and there are no words to adequately describe how good the dessert was.

After thoroughly enjoying our meal over conversation and laughter about our experience in Argentina, the tango show began.

To be honest, before coming to Argentina I thought tango was one of the more boring Latin dances. But if actually learning it didn't fully change my mind, watching professionals dance tango while singing and portraying as much emotion as humanly possible definitely did. The women were in beautiful, sparkling costumes as they swirled across the stage with their partners, telling an action packed love story through tango. At some points it felt like I was watching acrobats with all the seemingly impossible flips and twists the pairs did while maintaining their passionate facial expressions.

As the show came to an end, I found myself wanting more. Much similar to how I feel about my time in Argentina as I prepare to leave in a few days. Through my ups and downs here, this city has enchanted me, and I'm so grateful to have had this experience.