Cultural divide

Although I made no claims for my skills in acknowledging people inside the salon I still feel rather hoisted by my own petard.

I went to this milonga where there was a visiting Argentine teacher and very musical dancer who I have seen at a few dances and chatted to briefly, mostly about music. He was nearby in the salon as I arrived and I nodded an acknowledgement. He nodded. 

So I was about to move away when he said “Hello” in a surprised tone by which I understood he thought I had not acknowledged him properly.  I was taken aback because I was sure he knew I had acknowledged him. He must have realised I was surprised because he said “A kiss?” which surprised me further yet by which I understood him to mean: because isn't this what we in the milongas normally do with people we know? and indeed in Argentina I found it so, even with people I had met only lately.  He embraced me. To explain my more northern approach on this occasion: I didn’t feel I knew the guy well.  But Argentina is a different culture in terms of how people interact with one another. I was glad he had bridged the divide and better than me. 

Someone I know from South America was there and though I don’t know her well, I know her better - in fact I was there because I knew she was going. Her Latin warmth is infectious. Talking to her is like being in the sunshine and boy, does she understand the guy-girl thing in the milongas the way women from South America and more Latin cultures than ours often instinctively do.