Finally I have had a day during which so far I have done nothing except sleep, eat, walk the dog and write emails. Though I do need to do some sewing later.
So where did I leave off last on the Costa Rican events? Oh yes the earthquake at Manuel Antonio. After sleeping at the beach all
day we ventured back to take showers at Juaquin’s friend’s hotel, and went into town in search of the museum boys, we could not find them so we just had some dinner, fed and walked Adso by the beach and then decided to go hang out by the pool of a bar on top of a hotel to rest a bit before we would head off at around 10 at night to drive back to Heredia in order to avoid the end of the weekend traffic. While we were sitting there another friend who we had hoped to run into came bounding up the stairs and non
chalantly said hello like he knew we would be up there. Turns out he and his traveling companion had lost their ride back to Heredia so they were waiting to take a bus in the morning and he offered us his room to stay in in exchange for a ride back. Deal. I was exhausted anyway. It was quite a romantic little hotel, situated in the rain forest down the side of a mountain. I had the best shower there that I have had since my arrival. real Hot water and pressure with no flashing smoking lights above my head. You know rain sounds harder and louder in the Rain forest, I could swear that when I woke up the next day it sounding like it was pouring, when in fact it was just a light shower, the forest is so dense with large leaves that the sound of the rain falling echoes on their surface which is then compounded so many more times in your ears.
Once back in Heredia it is was back to work again, with returning the car, checking in on the cilantro, which had still not quite sprouted, and finally receiving the internal support structure for the skirt. It looks great though it weighs a ton. We move it to the gallery next week. On tuesday of last week I wanted to go to a local reserve which has a major highway running through it to photograph the meeting of two rivers under a bridge. So Dennis the museum driver was asked to take me. On the way we saw three car accidents and were finally stopped before my destination by a fourth. It seems a truck had spilled a whole bunch of oil so the road was slippery causing a few cars to run off the mountainside. We had passed an emergency crew set up in ropes to go down the mountain, Spooky. We gave up on the trip and returned back to San Jose.
Just been concentrating on the show ever since. The dealer loves my photos of Parrita, and we are going to try and print the enlargements tomorrow, I hope the resolution is okay from my digital camera. I have become quite spoiled by that little thing. It really is quite a treat to be able to see how your picture is going to come out before you pay for the film to be developed. The mural of the palm trees is currently being worked on and should be done on thursday. I think I am going to have another set printed here because it is so cheap and bring it back to the states to be framed. I can’t wait to see the whole piece installed in the gallery.
A highlight for the week was that on Wedensday I finally discovered that some of the seeds in my fabric had started to sprout. Yipee!, unfortunately I still don’t have enough time to let them grow fully, atleast I saw that they took root and will atleast be little sprouts among the larger plants I placed in the fabric. Emelina the assistant director the the museum who has been a great help for me even won a bet with Julio my assistant that their were sprouts when he thought the whole thing was not going to work with out soil.
This weekend has had its moments. Went with Henry on friday night to an opening of a group of young artists from Honduras, who know my work from my show here last year and from my friend Dermis Leon who is working with them and myself on a huge show in Honduras for next year. I really liked their work, simple, clean, minimal yet strong in their concepts. I was tired most
of the time since I had been up since 5 that morning to spend 5 hours planting the cilantro in the curtains. The best thing I realized is that now that my understanding of spanish is improving, I am following people’s conversations better and not getting as tired so easily from it.
I even went out to see a Mexican movie with Henry on saturday night and eventhough I did not get the details of the conversations (it was a rendition of the classic coming of age on a road trip story) I got the sense of what was going on. It made me realize how much I need to see the film Amores Perros. AFterwards we went dancing in this crazy night place called Pueblo where you just roam around windy narrow sidewalks of restaurants, bars, discos and souvenier shops in this make believe little village surrounded by the dressed up night life of the young of San Jose. I believe they set up this place so one can feel safe to in a sense walk around at night and enjoy a wide variety of night life versus having to do it in actual San Jose which is quite active but extremely dangerous at night. I mean we drove down the street that I normally walk on during the day to and from the bus station and there were hookers all around plying their trade. So much for what the meat packing district once was.
So now this brings me up to today my lazy sunday, I was supposed to go work on the mosaic but the guard would not let me in, Juaquin should be back later tonight from the beach, I think I am going to experiment with trying to fry a plantain that I bought.
take care, and more later as the opening approaches, the invitation looks great, I hope the dealer plans to send out some sort of email notice as well. which I will promptly send out to you.
Take care,
Michele
