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| Costa Rican coffe: a gift from Silvia of Galeria Octagono |
Yesterday I got a nice package in the mail: a gift from one of our TAFA members, Silvia of Galeria Octagono in Costa Rica. (See her member profile on TAFA).
coffee. macadamia candy. brochures. ornaments made by her kids workshop.
FUN FUN FUN
Silvia joined a couple of months ago and has been a joy! She participates actively in several of our forums and we share many common interests with Latin America, nature, and of course, how things are made. As the SDA representative for Latin America and the Caribbean, Silvia has a broad range in her role as an artist, educator and member of the world textile community.
As I was thinking of her and where she lives, I thought I would check it out on Google Earth:
Sil had sent a marker, which made it easier: "If you look up "Bosque de la Hoja, Heredia, Costa Rica" you'll get Galería Octágono campus. We're at the intersection: the road continues north to the Divide, and we're outside a huge fancy residencial development (Residencial Ave del Paraíso)."
They have a small B&B with a cabin and in my imagination, I am there, hiking around in the local hills and mountains. Here is one of the photos from her husband's, Rick's, blog:
Paradise, eh?
From there, I killed a couple more hours looking at Google Earth. I went to Kabul and ran away. What an awful place! Down to where I grew up in Brazil. Now everyone in my old neighborhood has a swimming pool in their back yard! Puh-leeze.... I don't want to hear any griping from my Brazilian friends about hard times! Went and took a look at Chicago, came down to Paducah and then the bird got tired and went to bed.
Woke up this morning.... and yes... I had a wonderful cup of that Costa Rican coffee. Thought of Silvia again. She had told me she was sending me a bag of coffee, but I had no idea it was going to be so big! Looks like I will be thinking about her for weeks ahead!
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| The Musician, available at Galeria Octagono |
Galeria Octagono is a lively place with many community programs and projects. Silvia is now a radio celebrity, with a weekly program aimed at getting regular people to think about art, nature, and other topics. It's all about education, meaningfulness, creating community, making life rich with color, texture and collaboration. I think about how each of us has the potential to impact our local communities. How we live in such faraway places, but in a click of the button, we can get a bird's eye view of our neighborhoods. How we can never meet yet still be friends.
Want to share a cup of coffee with Silvia? I doubt she can send bags all over the world, but she is there, interacting with our online communities. Visit her website, her blog, and if you can, go down and spend some time at their B&B. And, I bet that if you have some craft supplies that need a new home, Galeria Octagono would be a good place to send them. Buy their art, send donations, and make new friends. It's a beautiful world and it warms my heart that Silvia is down there, doing her piece to make it so.
Thank you, Silvia!
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(Both by the master, Mark Twain)
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