He hides his deep wrinkles behind darkened hands; one more shadow in the desert many call City. Nobody meets his eyes, he is not acknowledged or taken in. He stays very quiet and covers his face, just for now.

My feet shuffling cool sand,

November in my city (Buenos Aires).

I have been so busy lately: I am working exceedingly  long hours; I am helping my children study -I´m studying with them, in fact- for their multiple end-of-year tests before summer holidays (in some three weeks´ time); my ho/… Read full post »

I read a very interesting article last weekend by Naomi Klein, published on a local newspaper, La Nación.

What the writer says unfortunatelly applies to the situation in my country; and I guess it also applies at least a little to yours? We are going through very similar tough times… Read full post »

 Parts I and II are here

The following passages from Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, by Annie Dillard, are about nature, about religion, about ourselves, about it all. 

“Moses said to God, “I beseech thee, show me thy glory.”… Read full post »

Dear Open Salon community:

I´ve shared with you deep feelings, private thoughts, secret dreams. However, unexpected circumstances have made it essential that I now pluck up the necessary courage to share with you ... my bathroom. Or rather, the part of my bathroom which is relevant to… Read full post »

A Thousand Words, by talented director Ted Chung, is only four minutes long. I have used this short film a number of times as class material, because A Thousand Words has the quality of transmitting much with a few images, and it´s a good stepping-stone for conversation… Read full post »

 For Part I click here.

 I have been trying hard to express what I feel when I read Annie Dillard´s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. Her narrations are exhuberant, intoxicating; but also terrifying, unbearably cruel -and yet, irresistible. 

This book is having a deep impact … Read full post »

I went to work with tears in my eyes. And I found my students (hard-core businesspeople) with tears in their eyes. So we had our classes and, of course, we talked about our Negra Sosa. 

You see, Mercedes Sosa, our Negra, she trascended it all, because… Read full post »

Dear Robin, this is for you. It’s a poem by José  Agustín Goytisolo, a great poet from Spain... OK, don´t roll your eyes, girl; I´ll translate it for you, although I am hopeless at translating poetry, but all the same.

So, here are the Words for Jul… Read full post »

OK, here I go…

Most of you already know a bit about me: I am a teacher of English as a foreign language, I know quite a bit of Portuguese, and I am the director and coordinator of my small business in my city, Buenos Aires, Argentina.… Read full post »

It´s Spring-time in Buenos Aires. Last weekend was sunny and with a perfect warm temperature. I have just come home and I took these pictures from the plants in my terrace. The quality of the photos is not the best, apparently my camera is on its last legs, but well,… Read full post »

This is Tinker Creek, picture from google.com

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, by Annie Dillard, is a book I had no idea about. Two wonderful people, Melissa and Michael (from Metaness, The Yellow Starlings, Love, Grandma), sent the book to me more or… Read full post »

Juan Martín:

Te quiero!!!!!

¡¡¡Argentina!!!

¡¡¡Argentina!!!

¡¡¡Argentina!!!

Roger: you know I love you

&… Read full post »

Walt Whitman and his Leaves of Grass. I´m sure you already know this poem, you must have studied Whitman at school. I learned about Whitman and the Transcendentalists when I was doing my English teaching training here in Buenos Aires, and I have loved the old Walt and Emerson, and… Read full post »

Hey you, Barack! (with all due respect, Mr. President of the United States): are you finally Adolf Hitler or Carl Marx, a terrifying Nazi or a diabolic communist?

After reading some posts last night here on Open Salon, I did my own research on the… Read full post »

Ah, the incredible ways some "Annies" have to enter my life…

I had no idea about this Annie: I had never heard of her or that she has won the Pulitzer Prize; in short, I did not know about Annie Dillard´s existence.… Read full post »

Many people long for money, others for fame, some may desire beauty or maybe social class. My true longing is oh, to have social skills, charisma, cool manners, whatever it is that makes people enjoy being with someone and –more important- wanting to see that person again and become a/… Read full post »

Hi! ("high?")... well, whatever....

Do have a look at what I found today on an important newspaper in Buenos Aires:

El 90 por ciento de los billetes en EE.UU. tiene restos de cocaína

Para los… Read full post »

I need a song that lightens the burden of some hearts. Some music that makes people happy for a few minutes at least; one made of simple words and deep meaning; a healing song...

Ah, but I know that song: it is slowly coming… Read full post »

Dear Sheila:

I started reading your blog, fascinated with your stories and your reflections on life. Time went by and one day we chatted, web-cam and all, and I discovered a sweet and beautiful person with a great sensitivity and a fantastic… Read full post »

 All photos (c) Marcela July 2009

 The five of us in Salinas Grandes: a sea of salt as old as time itself.

 Little daughter having fun in amazing extensions of sand in the mountains.

 Hiking in the company of my husband´s siste… Read full post »

1.      Who was your FIRST prom date?

Prom dates? No, we don´t have proms  to which you need to go with a date in Buenos Aires: boys and girls go all together as friends, so some romance will take place directly on the evening  … students who ar… Read full post »

How much can be conveyed through music, image and a few lines when there is talent behind?

I use this material in my classes very often, and it always brings smiles and a number of topics to talk about and practise conversation in English. But you are not in my… Read full post »

There is something about untamed nature that brings in me the real me. It´s when I´m hiking in remote places that I finally feel I´ve found myself, and it feels nice. These are pictures from last summer at Perito Moreno Glacier, in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. They resembl… Read full post »