Rowing, Swimming, Celebrating

What a week! On Monday, Seba, Lorena, Yamil and I went rowing in a branch of the Parana River. The river and the land along it was beautiful and relatively untouched by human "development." Then we had a picnic with the folks that let us use their canoe, and there was a commanding, funny woman there that loved to visit. They shared their mashed potatoes, their bathroom, their desert, and their tereré with us.

Next, and if you know me you ought to know that among my favorite things in the world is swimming in rivers, we went swimming in a safe part of the Parana River. It was a fun, fun day with fun, fun friends, and I hope we do it all again. ha!

Tuesday I worked at both the Instituto Terciario San Fernando Rey and Escuela Normal Sarmiento. It's become kind of a tradition that I pick up vegetarian food from my Taiwanese friends' restaurant on the way to Escuela Normal and then eat with the juniors and seniors that linger there after school (they go from the morning to noon-ish and then what we might call middle school goes in the afternoon. I think.)

Wednesday I turned 25! A quarter of a century old. Seba, Alejandro and I practiced Kilómetro 11, an old, beautiful, and difficult Chamamé song. We had a party of ice cream and cake at Escuela Normal, and then that evening I skyped with Stephen and Darby and called Mom and Dad before heading over to hang out with Seba, Yamil and Lorena.

Thursday I worked at SFR and napped.

Friday I had lunch with Seba's grandmother and Seba, Lore, y Yamil, and we were able to hear a little about what Chaco (the Argentine state in which I live) was like 70+ years back. She made delicious veggie empanadas (Argentine dumplings) just for me (there's an ode to her empanadas below). Then in the plaza my students and I read an article on organic farming and a great poem/story by Sonia Sanchez called Norma from her book Homegirls and Handgrenades. I dined with the Britoses, one of my two Argentine families.
On the way to the plaza Lore and I stopped by my place to put some beans in water, and she happened to read a couple of letters from Stephen Ironside and Darby. She observed that I'm fortunate to have people that love me and want to sing with me and be with me here and in Arkansas. I couldn't help but agree. The speed at which my Argentine friends and I have risen in love is inspiring. Seba, Lorena and Yamil have become some of my best friends ever and we've only really been hanging out for a few months.

Saturday I helped teach music with Seba in Vilelas, then came home and pressure cooked black beans. That night I hung out with my Taoist/Buddhist/Christian/Confucian friends from Taiwan and Resistencia.

Sunday I made fresh-squeezed orange juice for tereré, the cold version of the sacred yerba mate. Seba, Lorena, Yamil, Andrés Alvarez (a student and friend from San Fernando Rey, the college where I teach), my Taiwanese friends Pablo, Andrés, Shuwei, and Angela, and a couple of new friends, one from Italy working for a non-governmental organization (NGO) and another, a great sculpture from Resistencia, one of the world's sculpture capitals.

Monday, today, I dared to wash a mountain of dishes and in a moment I'll sweep the floor. It's a beautiful, shirtless, tereré kind of day. Seba came over earlier and we wrote a lovely description of his music in English for publication on various websites. Tonight, veggie burritos and, if I'm feelin' real crazy, homemade peanut butter.

Thank ya'll for following the blog!

Below are some pictures, and an invitation to Fayetteville's event for International Climate Action Day. Obama and most of the rest aren't doing enough, and as they're a reflection of us, we can now examine ourselves and get to work.

See you!

PS I can't believe I'll be back in Arkansas in a month and four days!

Here is some great art from the port in Barranqueras.

Just outside my house these flowers were growing.

These are right outside the kitchen window and its mostly effective mosquito screen.

On the 11th, a few folks from San Fer came over for dinner.

This is of course my favorite class, minus a girl and all four
boys. The gal in the back scarfing ice cream is
really funny.

With a happy birthday wish in the background
and a delicious, lopsided torta in the foreground.
Much thanks to the four students who got
together to make this delicious cake.

Seba's grandmother is really cool. A technologically
literate senior, a gardener who knows a bit
about medicinal plants, a superb painter, and...
her empanandas weren't burnt at all
they were soft pockets of experience
and spinach, chard, and eggs.

Lore, Seba, me, and Seba's cousin Cristian
who later came and visited me and my students
in Plaza Belgrano as it is in front of his
university.

This is from Saturday in Vilelas at the music workshop.

These feet were in the park at Laguna Argüello to celebrate
my birthday with frisbee, badminton, and bike riding.

Here we are, some of us.

Diddo.

Ricardo is there on the left, then me, Seba, and Lorena.

They said the red candle/firework was worth
20 and the little ones one each. ha! Good times!

And from Moshe and Hamsa Newmark:

Greetings, please invite everyone you know, including those with alternative transportation (bicyclists, scooter people, those with bio-diesels etc.) to join in the parade - rally for Climate Change on Saturday, October 24th, at 2pm behind Bordinos Restaurant. This is an opportunity for us all to be part of an international tapestry with over 1300 other cities world-wide to help push for substantial climate change legislation. This issue affects everyone on the planet and is universally the most pressing! Let's join in solidarity on the 24th....here are the details:

Climate change is real and you can do something about it. October 24th is International Climate Action Day and Fayetteville is one of over a thousand cities around the world that will host a rally. Join with fellow citizens of NW Arkansas and people world-wide on Saturday, October 24th, 2:00pm for a March and Rally beginning in the parking lot off Dickson St. behind Bordinos then marching to the Fayetteville Square. There will be speakers, music and information on how we can make a difference affecting the December treaty in Copenhagen. Stand up for Action on Climate Change, Saturday, October 24th, beginning at 2:00pm behind Bordinos, sponsored by 350.org and 1 SKY. For more information call 521-7786.