THE ART OF BROWNSVILLE - COMMENTS

A sorta reflective narrative about this past weekend:

Feeling so good but so tired. I feel jet lagged and my body is so out of whack. I haven't felt this way since my flight back from Italy almost two years ago. But I am feeling good. The future looks good from now, even if I am going into the future $22,000 in debt! lol

So Fronteras Cruzadas went very well. Very very well. Though I did wish that more people went, but that is the perfectionist in me, 100 people isn't good enough. lol. Just kidding, I think the turn out went very well. The kids had a great time and we had some friends come all the way from Austin. Hannaha, Susan and Lucy saved our butts when they got into town at 1am on Saturday morning. Frank and I were so far behind and matting was much more trouble than we anticipated. The show went well but we were so sleep deprived and Frank was just getting over a spell of food poisoning. We decided that next time we would definitely not mat the artwork since it is so time consuming and trouble, or atlleast have the kids do it.

We finished setting up the exhibiton around 6am and the girls and I went home to sleep. I got a little less than 2 hours of sleep before my sister woke me up thinking I had slept the whole night. So I woke up, watched a little bit of Disney channel and then got ready. I took two pairs of shoes with me, some flats and my mary jane heels. They both kicked my butt eventually! This makes me even more intent on becoming a shoe designer. My mom was getting the food ready, which turned out so well. Even if there was food for 200 people, all 100 attendants gobbled it up. One of the student's 3-D scultptures kept falling and she was so sad about it. We tried every adhesive we had but it just wouldn't stick. The acrylic paint on the boxes wouldn't let any adhesive keep. Now that I think about it, I would have told her to make some texture marks with a blade on the boxes and then use some Gorilla glue. But you never think about these things when you need to. But Ken Hale commented on how atleast she was disappointed about it rather than indifferent. That goes to show how much she really cared about her work.

The folklorico dancers from Porter HS were also an added plus. The room looked great and I will post photos as soon as I get the chance. All the students work was impressive and some students even got to sell some pieces. How exciting! The evening reception at the Narciso Martinez Cultural Arts Center went very well too. But by then, I was so tired and my attempts to nap before leaving for San Benito failed miserably. I was told I was a bit spacy through out the event, but watching Rose and Joe Perez play their music was so great that I didn't notice my swaying as I was told I was doing.

So after that, I took the girls to South Padre Island to meet with Will, Jay and Angel who came to support Frank. Frank met us there after a while too. We spent about 2 hours at an Irish bar called Kelly's Pub and then hanged out at their hotel room for a bit. After that, we went to the beach around 2am. The beach is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen at night. It felt like I was in the biggest room in the world and up to that point, the waves were soothing me since I had not slept since 9am and my birthday piña colada and half a bottle of Smirnoff were sitting in my tummy making me all warm. The wind was so refreshing as well. I wish I could be there again right now. Will kept saying how the lucky we were to live so close to the beach, and how of all the beaches he has been to SPI was one of the best. And he has been to many beaches he said, but I can't recall what he said but I do remember feeling impressed and proud of my home. I have to agree, I love South Padre when it's all quiet and peaceful. And I have been to to freaking Medittereanean so I know what I am comparing it to. Now I loved the Amalfi Coastline! I have never seen water so blue in my life and the cliffs are breathtaking! But the beaches I have to say were uncomfortable and rocky. I think what makes SPI so great is the vast miles of soft sand and there is nothing quite like home. After that, Lucy drove home as designated driver and we slept for a good 8 hours. The next day, my mom took us to Tiko's in San Benito to celebrate my birthday and afterwards we went to Las Palmas Bakery to buy pan dulce for the girls. It was like we were 6 years old and in a candy store. Then I took the girls to Matamoros to el mercado. They bought some flip flops and then left for Austin around 6pm.

So this weekend was busy busy and fun. Frank and I want to have a little get together with the students when we take th show down in the end of May. It's been great getting to know them and we would love to give them feedback as well as get feedback from them. But for now we have to take it easy. We have graduation in 3 days and tons of thank you notes to send out. ay ay ay!