Walking the streets at night in Buenos Aires, you feel the past. You feel the hurt and pain as you take each step on its cobblestone streets. She holds so much history and so many secrets. Her people are strong and passionate. In the distance, you hear the playing of music that takes you back to a different moment in time. A time when the Tango was danced in the streets! A time when the Tango was to be lived, breathed, eaten, and spewed out again. It is a dance of passion, close and even closer embrace. It is strong and sensual, and filled with pain and beauty. You can see it in the face of those who choose to pick up the pen and write its story. With each step that is taken, the path unfolds to a walk, and in the end the Tango has no beginning nor end. To put it quite simply, it begins and ends with a walk.
I have come to the realization that I have been dancing the Tango and the Tango has been dancing with me. Not in the literal sense of course, but I did set out on a walk, I took my first step and it has led me to this moment in time. The Tango is life and life is the Tango. If I have learned anything from the dance it is this; to stop thinking, feel and be present in this moment. Listen to the music and let it guide you to where you need to go. Though life is not always filled with music to guide your path, it is a walk that you have to feel and ultimately not think about or dwell upon for too long. To dance the Tango you need to let go of all thoughts, all of your expectations on where you are supposed to be, and let your partner and the music be your guide. You cannot dance this dance alone. It takes two to feel its rhythm, to walk its walk. One leader and one follower, that is. This dance is not one of submission, however, you are laying out your life, walking this way and that, sometimes in a game of push and pull, until you meet with the perfect amount of pressure to allow you both to walk together in fluidity and grace.
My time is coming to an end here in Buenos Aires. I am once again saddened by what I have to leave behind. Traveling has its good and its bad, and the bad is always saying goodbye. It has been an on going theme these past three months. Meeting new people and sharing time together and then always having it come to an end. It leaves me with a sense of loss. I feel so comfortable in South America. Sometimes I feel it is more like home than home is. I am not sure what it is about this continent, but I am completely content here. I am happy. I do not know if it is because in reality nothing is permanent and I have no obligations but just to experience as much as I can, or if it is that I have found my home?
Che Guevara said, “What do we leave behind when we cross each frontier? Each moment seems split in two; melancholy for what was left behind and the excitement of entering a new land.” Leaving this place and my friends once again, breaks my heart. People that I have met, and know will probably never see again, saddens me. But to look forward to what is to come, excites me and guides me to take that step towards my next adventure. It is a walk after all, this business of traveling, much like the Tango. It has no beginning nor end, it simply begins and ends with a walk. You just have to stop thinking, trust and feel that the music will lead you to your next step. After all, the Tango waits for you…
If you are in Buenos Aires and have the inkling to dance the Tango please go see Lucia and Gerry. They will teach you the walk that is Tango. They are wonderful people and marvelous instructors! Visit them here at http://luciaygerrytango.wordpress.com/ and don’t hesitate to stay for the Milonga they hold every Tuesday. It is fantastic! http://flordemilonga.wordpress.com/
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