Dee is a very special woman we met in BA and we were among the many who celebrated her birthday at the home of her long-time friends. Beautifully set tables and a great mix of folks from all over the world made for one great evening! She will return to the states in a couple of weeks and everyone will sure miss her!
Here's the party group for Dee's Birthday. Maybe 1/2 Argentine and the rest from wherever. The Argentine hostess, Sophia, is sitting on the floor and Don, her NYC husband, is in the first row at the far left. Gretchen's hairdresser, Ryan from Canada, is directly behind the woman with silver hair.
Even though we were out until 3am, the next day we managed to get to the afternoon circus to see a trio from Switzerland do some amazing dance, acrobatics, juggling etc. to the sounds of a a string base on wheels and a drum hung from the ceiling. You had to be there.... This was the last day of a week-long circus festival in Buenos Aires. Performers were from around the world, appearing in four venues in the city with five or six events each day. We went with Cathy, Dee, Nancy, Jamye and Dave....
A huge International Book Fair was winding down at the Convention Center Rural and we managed to take that in one day with Cathy....by golly, PANAMA was even represented in a booth! We loitered there waiting for the man to get off his cell phone so we could visit with him about the books, most of which we had never seen. Meanwhile a group of junior high-aged kids came along and wanted to know if Jon was a writer, since there were many writers appearing at the fair....they got to practice some English with us at least! The man was still chatting away so we finally gave up and left...
Here's Jon busy with his guitar teacher, Maria Luisa....
And then there is wonderful Marta, Jon's Spanish teacher and extraordinary source for cultural events in the city. For years she lived in NYC with her American husband, Mickey. He's a professional jazz singer and wine importer/exporter. What a great combo????
We joined a group of expats for a guided tour of the Museo de Arte Popular Jose Hernandez, located in a beautiful home. The museum was started in the 30's to preserve and popularize Argentina handcrafts. They regularly invite artists to work in the museum, sharing their craft with the visitors.
This artist, Nora Jaikin, traveled to the northern provinces and was struck by the indigenous peoples who struggle to carry on in the rugged mountains between Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. She portrays these people in figures using wire, resin and fabric.
Here a teacher supports the Argentine flag in front of children emerging from the earth and rock while begging for food and knowledge..
The images below are first of a mother and child and then of a grandmother teaching songs to her grandchildren to pass down the cultural history. The artist told us she created it from a polaroid photo.
Tonight we joined a group to enjoy dinner and concert with María Volonté, voice and guitar, and Kevin Carrel Footer, armónica, from California. It was a very intimate venue called La Biblioteca Cafe just a 10 minute walk from home. Beautiful soft jazz. As is typical of Argentina, we just returned home -- a little past 2 am. Goodnite!
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