Into The Heart of Argentina

SORRY about the site being down for a while. Thanks Jon for getting it back up!

Ivan recently climbed to the top of one of the nearby mountains. He went with three young folks, all in their 20s. And then he came home, ate breakfast and took a two hour nap. But at least he made it to the top! I would have probably gotten 100 yards up and wanted to stop. I seriously don’t think I could have made it this far, just a bit above where the houses end. It wasn’t easy but he kept plugging along… ...until they arrived at the top! They started walking at sunrise so he took lots of photos and then stitched them together to create this panoramic shot. As well as this one, once the sun was good and truly up. So what do you think of our fair city?

When Ivan came to pick me up from art class he took a photo of me and my art teacher. Another Marcela! (My Spanish tutor is a Marcela also) No one speaks English in this class so I get a good Spanish workout several hours a week! I am really, really bad at art. But I’m having a great time ☺ I enjoy hanging out with other ladies, even if I only understand a fraction of what they’re talking about.

This week I took two Quilting Arts magazines to show my teacher because I wanted to know what they call it here. I’ve heard the term “patchwork” used in reference to quilts but I really didn’t think art quilts fell into that category.

They don’t nor do they fall into any existing category. The closest thing is what they simply call tecnica mixta where cloth can be used but, rather than being sewn, it is glued to a wood or canvas base (along with a variety of other materials). Which sounds kind of fun to try!

My art teacher also gave me the name of a famous Argentine artist, Antonio Berni, who is well known for tecnica mixta. She mentioned his Juanito Laguna series as a prime example and I found one of his pieces at The Museum of Fine Art in Houston, TX. So I’m learning a little history and culture along with the class ☺ But the primary purpose is to work on my Spanish.

In Spanish we’ve started working on the past perfect tense. VERY easy tense for which I am so grateful! I was more than ready for an easy tense. The only hard part is memorizing the irregular past participles that go along with the past perfect form of haber. Once I have those memorized, this tense will be a breeze.