Keeping myself busy

Bariloche is the capital of arts and crafts in Argentina. I thought I would get involved and I have been doing pottery. The potter has a magical house not far from the city, up a mountain.the house is full of cats, dogs, pot, pans, not an empty space anywhere. To get to the sessions I have to leave my house very early when it's pitch black. The plus point of this is that I get to watch the intense colours of the sunrise whilst I mix colours to paint my pots. Kira is an excellent potter and has been showing me the ropes. Another dog... watches the clay going round and round.

One of the cats likes to watch the activity from high up.

This black cat has found a convenient place to nap!

The locals here call these birds little eagles.

Where's the bus!? This photo is after one of the English classes in a mountain village. The head teacher was laughing from the school door with the kids at the thought of the 'gringas' being stranded in the village to freeze to death because we missed the bus...

Another day doing a 'kind of' English class, more just stimulating the kids whose families are struggling and have little time for them. This time I had many foreign helpers from UK and New Zealand. I let the kids play with my camera and these are the results.

Ok, we've lost their attention. Let's play in the snow.

During my first few days in Bariloche I went to a talk by a spiritual leader. One of the things he said that stuck in my mind was, 'Most of us find it very easy to know what we want and need but not so easy to see what we can give' It's great to see these kids laugh like this when you play with them!

Volunteers.