Arriving

Sunday:
We landed in Santiago Chile around 7:50 AM. Ran into Taylor and Billy waiting for the flight to Mendoza. The airport in Chile was lovely... spacious feeling and clean. Short but beautiful flight over the Andes to Argentina. No problem in customs, after managing to convey we were there for a guitar seminar. Ignacio and Jorge met us. Alasandro from Italy (not Bruno) was also on the flight. I called my mom and MB called her parents. And we were off, riding in a hired shuttle type bus. The weather here is really nice. Cool and dry. Big puffy white clouds and deep blue sky. We picked up Heruko in town, and then proceeded to the retreat center, about a half hour drive away.

Got settled, then had some lunch of boiled potatoes and squash at 1:30 PM. I volunteered for cleaning up. The language barrier is going to be a bit of a challenge. Wandered around until I found a spot that I felt comfortable doing some of my daily practices. This is going to be another big challenge for me. There is going to be almost no privacy here at all. The course is supposed to have 115 people on it. Strangely 40 of those are "kitchen team." And then it was time for tea. Bitter coffee, cookies and crackers. I felt some quiet knocking at lunch, but not at tea. Lots of conversation. Good to see some European Crafties that I met back in '01. The grounds here are just beautiful. Clean and airy. It seems to be a working convent, as there are nuns about the grounds. After tea group of them were singing in a circle, playing guitars (and one lute?) in the backyard. Hearing their voices, I got a sense that I remembered having on a previous guitar craft course. If it were a flavor, it would be lemony metallic, perhaps. Have no idea what that means. The nuns stopped singing at the exact moment a bird loudly called out. Did they take the bird call as a signal to stop, or did the bird sense the end, or was it coincidence?

The power adapter I brought seems successful in charging the laptop, so, I should be able to continue these entries, given I find time for them.

Practiced guitar for an hour and a half, or so, first outside, then in the hall. Found that I was practicing things slower with more attention to detail, as often occurs on courses. Visited several of my pieces, as well as the repertoire for the Earth Day gig. Moving Force was pretty good. Lark's continues to be problematic. Slowed down and worked on transitions and developing certainty and clarity in my muscle memory. Third Relation, and related, floated through.

Dinner, rice, fried onions and a cold salad of the potatoes and squash from lunch, plus some fennel. I love this part of a course, and people arrive. It's like Christmas. Talked to Pablo, who is living in Vancouver. An odd desert of cheese on quince jam.

I've been thinking lately that people really underestimate their own beauty and power. Having involved myself with several "self work" sorts of programs, I've found that the people are where the value really is. The rest is just a framework for them to sit inside.

Took a little nap, realized I was snoring at the same moment I heard MB saying from the hall "Have you seen Glenn?" I yelled "I'm in here!" Then seeing Billy looking at me oddly, I said "My wife is looking for me." He said "I thought you were talking in your sleep." I said "No, I was snoring in my sleep though..." Helped her string a new high G on her guitar. A trio of Argentineans are playing in the hall, and sounding pretty amazing. I'm getting the feeling this is going to be a real ass-kicker of a course. I'm on for tea tomorrow.