el que no llora no mama

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I got quite a bad cold this weekend (yes I know, too much running through the city and partying), thus I haven't done much since Sunday except for watching the ballet (magnifico), studying the preterito de subjuntivo, and going to the tango classes. I've seen many things that were on my list, but I still need to go to the Evita museum, walk around in the puerto madero, dance tango en la plaza dorrego, and watch 'dracula', an Argentinian musical.

Today we discussed the tango 'cambalache' at school. This song from the 1930's contains the sentence 'el que no llora no mama y el que no afana es un gil' (literally: the one that doesn't cry doesn't get breastfed and the one that doesn't steal is a dope). I think - and so does my teacher, that at least the first part still represents the attitude of several Argentinians (porteños?). Contradictory comments from Argentinians are welcome!

In general the Argentinians are very friendly, helpful, and warm people, but some men (still) represent very authentically the macho argentino and there are some very arrogant porteñas (mainly). The people in Buenos Aires like to dress well and every detail fits with their style, but sometimes they exaggerate (yes, one can put too much make-up, and no, mini-skirts and fishnet stockings don't look elegant when they're worn by 60 years olds, and yes, you can wear too many fake expensive-looking clothes and bags). But the most interesting thing are the school uniforms: some look like lab coats and others consist of very short mini skirts, especially in the north and in Punta Arenas (yes, girls were walking around in mini skirts while I was wearing gloves).

I'll tell you more soon. Btw: does somebody need something (small) from Argentina (Juan, la yerba ya esta en mi lista)?

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