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Since that storm back in March, it’s been sunny and warm, or sunny and cool, but not yet sunny and really too cold, and did I say yet that it just keeps on being sunny? It’s definitely fall (leaves are everywhere, pumpkins are in the markets), and it may be a lot colder soon. Scarves, hats, and mittens are showing up in window displays. But for now we still spend many outdoor afternoons – as long as you bring a sweater along.
Yesterday we spent the afternoon in Buenos Aires with friends Rachel and Gustavo (and their 3 kids). I dropped off an assortment of my recently-read books for Rachel, including Ann Patchett’s Patron Saint of Liars, Edith Wharton’s Age of Innocence, Amy Hempel’s Collected Short Stories. Good fiction in English is something we all crave overseas. This winter my sister-in-law Laura introduced me to GoodReads.com which works well for learning new titles too.
Soon we were joined by Julia Calhoun and her husband Rod Steel. Julia completes the triumvarate of women who lived together in a cool apartment near Praça de Londres in Lisbon in 1988-1989 (we three were fellow English teachers that year). Julia and Rod live in São Paulo and came down to visit Buenos Aires (and us old friends) for the weekend. Their 2-yr old son Blake stayed in Brazil with his grandparents (and for those of you who scrutinize people’s photos closely, yes, Julia is expecting baby #2!). We didn’t have nearly enough time to catch up as much as I’d wanted to, and I didn’t get to talk with Rod at all about his current documentary project on Santeria. Time for a visit to Brazil …
The truncated afternoon was our fault, we had already made plans for Chris and me to attend a concert of the Nuevo Cuarteto Argentino, playing Mozart and Dvorak in a small performance hall here in City Bell. Fantastic music with lots of “Bravos!” at the end.
diana maps 