It’s 11PM. My flight to Santiago, Chile leaves in 9 hours. I haven’t packed yet. And, I haven’t even eaten dinner.

But, I just had one of the best experiences in my two months in Buenos Aires, and I have to write about it: I finally went to a tango lesson!

A friend of mine recommended that I take lessons from one professor, so three compañeros and I hopped on a bus and took it to an unassuming little studio on a corner. We knocked on the door, and fumbling our words, tried to say that we were looking for the tango class. After the woman at the door realized what we were asking, she let us in to this exclusive tango haven. We waited awkwardly for the teacher to arrive, chatting with some of the veterans.

At long last, a petite older man walked in, parting the sea of attendees as he approached us. He asked us who were; we dropped some names; and our lesson commenced.

He began by asking us if we had ever taken a tango class before, so we told him about our one experience at IES (it was part of orientation week). He asked us to demonstrate what we learned and quickly halted our hilarious attempt. “Let’s start from scratch.”

He told us that first we need to dance with our shoulders, the woman’s hands on the man’s shoulders, to be exact. The man needs to guide the woman, which he can do with a little pressure on the shoulder. He’d nudge my right shoulder, and I would instinctually turn to the right–and the same on the other side.

For those of you who have followed my blog from the beginning, you know I have a problem with “letting go.” This time, I was determined to be a follower for once and let go. AND I DID IT. I cleared my head, occasionally closed my eyes, and let my partner guide me around the dance floor. What a freeing feeling! We danced and danced, engraining the basic steps into our muscle memory. Much to our surprise, he praised our progress, assuring us that he wouldn’t say “está bien,” if it were wrong.

He told us that tango is something you have to feel in your soul, your alma, so we need to get out of our heads, listen to the music, and let our bodies move with the fluid melodies. Although we were supposed to be serious and not laugh or talk, that class was so much fun! I’ve had a very stressful day filled with midterms and last-minute planning, and tango-ing put me completely at ease. I still feel so peaceful right now. Not many things can completely clear my head–I swear my brain is always moving a mile a minute–but somehow tango managed to do that. While I was dancing, all I thought about were the steps, my partner, and the music. I read once that some people compare tango to finding your zen. I completely understand that now. I may have finally found my gateway to tranquility.

I swear I’m in love. I’m in love with tango. I’m in love with my teacher. I’m in love with this wonderful feeling.

*Disclaimer: This was written a week ago, but I had no Wifi, so I couldn’t post this until I got back from trip.*

More blog posts to come this week: I’ll try to give you a glimpse into my vacation of a lifetime to Chile and Peru, but it’s hard to describe an indescribable exp

Location: My apartment, Buenos Aires