Hi Everyone,
I have come here to hole up for a few days with Karina and Eduardo before I head for Rosario and Buenas Aires. The weather has been grey and overcast with occasional torrential rain - not what I expected in Argentina but apparently I have stayed in the north while the rainy season is in progress. Hey ho you can´t get it right all of the time. K and E took me by bus to the top of the Cerro which is a rain forest hill just outside the town. Precipitous drive with hair pin bends and the ground dropping away beside the road. Just the sort of drive I hate! However spectacular views to be seen if we weren´t in deep drizzle. At the top is an enormous statue of Jesus with hankerchiefs tied to the surrounding fence plus socks, pictures, bottles and anything else you can think of. We retreated from the rain to find empenadas (bit like danish pastries) and a warm drink. We ended up in a strange barn of a place with drunken men playing snooker! The empenadas were delicious!
No we didn´t walk home as planned as visibility stopped play.
The other evening we were all heading for bed at about 4 a.m. I was in the bathroom when suddenly the floor started moving beneath my feet and walls shook and in the end the whole building felt as if it was swaying. "What the fuck is going on?" was my response. Karina was so frightening she couldn´t move and Eduardo was trying to calm her down. It turned out we had experienced a minor earthquake - 6 on the Richter scale. It was just OK because it stopped but there was a point while it was happening that I thought how long can this building stand up to this treatment - bearing in mind that we live on the 8th floor. If it happens again I am certainly heading for the exit!
It´s a working city Tucuman and has few frills - the galleries I want to visit seem to always be shut when I turn up. Lots of shopping and browsing and generally hanging out together and visiting friends. We spend lovely evenings together chatting, eating and drinking on their balcony watching the city lights and listening to the mad guy who lives across the road to them. Definitely delusional and will rant and rage from his house or up and down the street. Sad but also sometimes weirdly funny.
I went to mass the other day with E and K. A very beautiful church that was packed with people even standing with children in the isles - a dog slipped in too. Before the service started I saw a bit of cuddling and kissing between couples. People come to mass in shorts and T shirts some in suits and some in jeans - there is no dress code. I cannot say what the motivation is for people to attend these services but there was a great feeling on community and there was also fantastic singing from a small group of people high up above the organ loft. Their singing lifted my spirits - they were inspirational. I had gone with a completely open mind - in fact I nearly didn´t go but curiosity got the better of me. I came away feeling moved in someway - mainly by the music. I feel I have no need to go to church but recognize the power of the senses.
I have done some drawings of Eduardo - it feels good to have charcoal in my hands again.
Happy in Tucuman doing not very much!
Big hugs and lots of love to you all
Sal xxxxxxxx
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