Salsa? In Buenos Aires?

I made it my mission during the last two weeks or so to find a salsa club and to also find someone who would be willing to go with me. First and foremost, I still don't know a ton of people, and it's hard to organize something when you know people from different walks of live all over the city. Everyone has their own plans every weekend. Argentinians are not known for dancing salsa, and they mostly do not get it, so I put my faith in an Ecuadorian who once lived here for advice.

I was told a couple of places to check out, but ultimately went to a club called Cuba Mia in San Telmo. I met up with a friend of a friend who I had been trying to meet with since I got here, and her boyfriend came as well. It was a bit pricey to get in--$30 ARG, which included a drink, but there were few other options at that point. A live salsa band from Cuba was playing and it was pretty packed. Along the walls were Halloween decorations and the staff were handing out little costumes. Sebastian, the boyfriend, commented how odd it was that we were in a Cuban bar listening to salsa music while they were celebrating an American holiday. He had a point.

The bar got pretty packed and we all wound up dancing for a while. It turns out the bar was packed with Venezuelans, Cubans, and Colombians, so I wasn't the only one who knew how to dance. In fact, I probably looked like a shmuck compared to them, but in terms of the Argentinians, I was turning some heads. I wound up dancing with a couple of women for most of the night who guessed that I was 35 or 36, which they said was a compliment. I'm not entirely sold on that one.

It felt good to be dancing salsa again. I am not great at it, but I learned to enjoy it in Ecuador and it can really be fun if you just go with it. Sitting in the bar, listening to those familiar beats, it all made me think of Ecuador and for a moment felt like I was back there. Of course, Cuba Mia would have been one of the nicer clubs you could go to, and so expensive that only the richest people in town would go, thus changing the element a bit. I was kind of hoping for something more hole in the wally, but what can you do. There are other salsa clubs out there, and I'm starting to hear about more and more of them.

It's been raining hard all day with on and off thunderstorms, and should continue through Monday. But for now anyway, I have plans to go to another salsa club tonight. Azucar is pretty well known, though gets sort of a negative image too. I'm interested in checking it out and seeing how it ranks with the others, especially since I was told about it by an Ecuadorian. So maybe I'll find an even better club to write about soon.