Salsa and meeting new people

[Vezeltje]

Hi everyone,

I'm Fay and I just arrived in BA. I'm from the Netherlands and a few months back I decided not to spend my gap year winter in Europe, but somewhere sunny. I've been to BA when I was a kid. I loved all the history and culture this city has to offer, especially since I'm into all kinds of Latin dance. So naturally I decided to come here without too much research (oops). Now that I'm here by myself I don't really know what to do with my time. I'm located in San Telmo, but I've heard the dancing etc is more alive in Palermo. Does anyone have tips for where I could go for a social dancing party? Preferably salsa/bachata. This for me is the ultimate way of meeting new people, but maybe there are other ways? I downloaded the meetup app, but I haven't really seen any events that peeked my interest yet... I also don't have social media (besides whatsapp) so maybe I'm making it myself more difficult then necessary. I would love to meet some cool like minded people here, who love discussing thought provoking subjects, but also just want to talk shit and have fun! Dancing is a great way to connect, but if you just like listening or playing music I'd love to go to some live music somewhere. Or go for a hike somewhere beautiful. Maybe even meet people who want to go on a lil trip to different parts of Argentina/South America. Or hanging out with some locals who want to show me the way here, but I'm guessing an expat forum isn't the place to find locals

I also want to improve my Spanish (it's almost non existing right now), but I don't really want to have to go to a school for 15/20 hours a week. Does anyone have any recommendations for courses which don't require that many hours or just more flexible hours?

A looottt of questions, so let's see if anyone can be asked to respond to them . I'm open to anything, as long as it positively attributes to this adventure that I'm hoping to share with more people. So yeah, let me know what you guys think .

 

[Johngwyn]

San Telmo isn't safe to visit neither to stay, also try to avoid microcentral like Retiro or Constitution.

Just go Palermo find a hippie cafe, at one point some local will definitely talk to you, especially if you're European....

As for the school, many offers things like 2 hours per week class, also they can sponsor one year temp visa.

 

[another]

https://lasalsera.com/clases/ -

 

[Macanudo]

Both these places have tango a few nights a week:

ATRODEN Club | Perú 571 - San Telmo used to have Cuban style salsa Thursday nights. Not sure if they still do. Great dancers back in the day.

La Glorieta de Belgrano | Echeverría 1800 I think has Thursday night Bachata and Salsa starting at 8 PM until 10:30?. Take colectivo 29 from San Telmo. Friendly people, all ages. Beautiful park setting in an outdoor gazebo.

 

[LongtimeExpat]

San Telmo isn't safe to visit neither to stay

You'll just say anything, won't you?

Fay, I'm sure by now you've discovered that this isn't true. If you want to meet people in San Telmo, you could try Gibraltar, at the corner of Peru y Estados Unidos. These days it's more active Thursday - Saturday. Also Chin, and the corner of Bolivar y Estados Unidos.

There aren't buses in San Telmo anymore. You have to take them from metrobus 9 de Julio or Paseo Colon.

 

[Johngwyn]

You'll just say anything, won't you?

Fay, I'm sure by now you've discovered that this isn't true. If you want to meet people in San Telmo, you could try Gibraltar, at the corner of Peru y Estados Unidos. These days it's more active Thursday - Saturday. Also Chin, and the corner of Bolivar y Estados Unidos.

There aren't buses in San Telmo anymore. You have to take them from metrobus 9 de Julio or Paseo Colon.

You believe what you wanna believe, if San Telmo is safe for you.

I'm just trying to help. People got robbed there, and all my local friends told me the same, nobody likes it there.

 

[lunar]

... People got robbed there, and all my local friends told me the same, nobody likes it there.

"Nobody likes it there" is probably a bit of an exaggeration - the place has its charm.

But to be fair, even one of George W. Bush’s daughters had her purse stolen in San Telmo while under Secret Service protection. I guess that says something about the area.

 

[LongtimeExpat]

But to be fair, even one of George W. Bush’s daughters had her purse stolen in San Telmo while under Secret Service protection. I guess that says something about the area.

I've lived half a block from that spot for 21 years, never a problem. Everyone's very friendly. It's better now than ever.

It's a big tourist area. I think you have to ask, if it's such a terrible area, what were George Bush's daughters doing there?

 

[Ries]

San telmo paranoia aside, BA is not a huge Salsa town.
Salsa is from Cuba and Puerto Rico, about twice as far from here as London is from Moscow.

I suggest you go see Bomba del Tiempo at Konex on a Monday night,
La Grande at 4040 santos dumont on a Tuesday night, and Orquesta Fernandez Fieero at CAFF on a Wednesday night.
All three are great to dance to, and full of young argentines who are friendly and having a great time.

 

[julia_en_ruta]

As other folks have said, salsa isn't so big here, but if you're interested in learning tango, there are a ton of places that teach lessons early in the evening before the dancing gets going: https://www.hoy-milonga.com/buenos-aires/es

You can also take more intensive tango lessons if you decide it strikes your fancy, and there's a listing of schools on that site.

I hate to say it, but you might want to download Instagram. A fair number of centros culturales, which host music performances and workshops, primarily or only post events on IG. You could find a lot going on by just following centros culturales or dance schools.

And to weigh in on the question of San Telmo, I think it's as safe as any neighborhood here, and it has activities like any popular neighborhood does. People can get robbed anywhere. Retiro is also fine, you don't need to avoid it.