




Blake put up with 3 girls for a week...he was wonderful!! He became our personal photographer.
The Estancia Don Silvano was very interesting. They had old fashioned farm equipment and carriages as well as buildings from when it was a working farm and homestead in the early part of the 1900's. We rode horses, ate an asado, watched a show (dancing and singing from different regions of the country), learned argentine tango, and saw horse/gaucho games outdoors.
Kelly, a long-term and very great friend of mine from PSU Dance Team, came down to visit with her friend from Tampa, Heather. Kelly's MBA program was traveling to Brazil, so she decided to come a week early to see us in Argentina before heading with Heather to Sao Paolo and Rio de Janeiro. We have done many things around Buenos Aires, many of them for the last time....because Blake and I are leaving for Chicago in 10 days. The weather has been a lot colder here, since it is now almost winter in the southern hemisphere, but we have still managed to do some great things around the city. We visited the Recoleta Cemetary, Alvear Street (the richest and fanciest street in BA, where the Four Seasons Hotel, ranked in the top 5 in the world is located), Palermo shopping (boutique clothing stores), Florida Street (leather shopping), Belgrano (for our very own private showing of leather coats by a friend of Kelly's who works in the leather business here), San Antonio del Areco (a small city outside of the capital, where we went to the Estancia Don Silvano for a dia del campo--gaucho day), and San Telmo (for the market and a tango show). We have eaten and drank everything Argentine: medialunas, submarinos (hot milk + chocolate), cafe con leche, asado (beef on the grill), homemade pasta, empanadas, picada (meat, cheese, and appetizer tray), mate (herbal tea), vino tinto (red wine), and of course helado (ice cream/gelato). We have enjoyed doing our last trip through the city as tour guides for Kelly and Heather. Here is a photo of us at the Tango Show.

We are trying to finish up some smaller artworks or "easily-packable" items. Here are a few examples of art that I have finished at the end of May and now in June. We are also trying to make several gifts for some of our friends here. The 3-part abstract panels are a gift for our friends who really helped us get comfortable here in Argentina. 
Blake turned 31 on May 25, which happens to be a huge holiday here in Argentina. We spent the entire "autumn" day wandering through the Palermo Parks. These parks consist of several lakes, gated-in gardens, bike paths, event locations, etc. We had not really spent much time in this area before because it was always a long distance from our other apartments. We were able to walk from the apartment we live in now. We made a picnic and found a neat spot to eat underneath a vine-covered pergola. 
