Laughing and Crying

Today was quite an amazing day, but I will only write about the evening, as I am quite zonked, and it is still fresh in my mind. As I was walking home from the other things I was doing today, thing which you will find out soon enough, I passed by one of the many theaters in Buenos Aires. I decided that since I am leaving the city soon to travel, and I have not yet experienced theater here, I would go inside and see what was on the calendar. Well, it turned out that this evening there was a concert by the fellow named Carlos Nunez, a Celtic-music-playing-Spaniard. I have attached a video, I think. This is a video I found on youtube, not a video I took.

In short, the concert was amazing, perhaps one of the best I have ever been. I have always thought that Celtic music is one of the most evocative genres; they played some songs that had me bouncing in my seat with joy and some that actually brought tears to my eyes. I hadn't been this happy or sad in a while. He was a powerhouse on stage, non-stop, and constantly cracking jokes in Spanish that threatened the Millenium Falcon's record for the Kessel Run. Yes, I did. I know they were jokes not because I understood, but because everyone laughed. His violin/concertina player was from Ireland, and at least she spoke some English on stage. She was also unbefreakingleivable. I wonder if there are any violin-playing Celtic Jews out there (single of course). If you know of anyone who fits that description let me know (try that on for size shadchans!).
Anyway, there were a few real kickers in the concert, including when Carlos went down to the front rows and brought the first few rows on stage to dance! The stage was full of dancing audience members! Damn cheaper balcony seats!
Another kicker was when some random audience member got on stage and cut an Irish swath across the stage like I haven't seen since Lord of the Dance! His feet were moving as fast as Carlos Nunez' Spanish!
The real kicker, though, was when the guy sort-of-next-to-me (there was a pillar in between our seats) leans over and says "Wow, what are the chances of there being a guy with a kippah here!" (In Spanish of course). He is a 39 year old fellow, flute player, huge Tull fan, and a up-and-coming baal teshuva. We spoke after the show, he offered to drive me home, and instead drove me to sushi, where we had a delicious dinner (besides for the cream cheese in some of the sushi. I mean, what the hell is wrong with these people! How can they put cream cheese in sushi!? Have you ever heard of such a thing!). Afterward I treated him to some ice cream and then he drove me home, but we spent a good 3 hours hanging out and talking mostly in Spanish but partly in English and Hebrew as well, and we talked about everything from wind instruments to being single. He was a great guy; thanks Claudio!
Speaking of being single, one of the things Celtic music can make you feel, if you are in a position to feel it, is alone. Some of the slow haunting melodies make some who is alone feel even more so, and it can be quite sad. If 'they' want us young Jews to get married quickly, they should just send us to a Celtic music concert. I tried to take a few videos, but the sound on my camera doesn't seem to be working, which is a bummer. More about today tomorrow. Buenas Noches!