Our friend Peter is coming this morning for despedida, a goodbye time set for onces, morning tea. Although he is a Scotsman and I do have scones on the table, I will try to persuade him to drink mate with me. You don't really know a Porteno unless you drink mate with him or her. It's the same with the Argentine kiss and the tango.
The kiss starts with a running leap for the cheekbone. You try not to knock anyone over. Men kiss men, women kiss women, and men and women kiss. Everyone kisses! We were surprised when the graduate student assigned to pick-up Tom lunged for his cheek. Now we've gotten good at it.
The tango is a passionate but serious, unsmiling dance performed with lips touching but no kissing. The tango developed as a dance men on the pampas, but now the woman takes the lead with great strides forward. Women seem to press forward with life and politics. They have elected two women presidents here already so they are not very impressed with our prospects of a woman president.
Besos y todos!
No comments:
Post a Comment