Joan Miró

Figur Gegen Rote Sonne II by Joan Miró

Today, I walked to school in the rain zipped into my brown rain jacket and when I arrived, I was informed that my teacher was sick. Instead of turning right back around and walking home, I hung around a bit. Luckily two of the classes were heading out on an excursion to the Joan Miró museum so I just tagged along. And it was awesome. Joan Miró was an surrealist artist who created stunning paintings, sculptures and ceramic pieces before his death in 1983 here in Palma. The museum was split into two sections, one being his original studio filled with his art and another being a traditional gallery with a wide range of his art. Unfortunately for me, I couldn't understand a word the tour guide was saying because she spoke in Catalan but I just observed and helped the kids. They painted replicas of four of Joan's paintings so they really got a kick out of walking through the museum and looking for the paintings they imitated. And, Joan Miró is the namesake for our school so it seemed appropriate to explore his art. Our tour guide showed us great photos of Joan Miró using out of the ordinary painting techniques using a broom, his feet and a water can. I also enjoyed his use of different materials including sandpaper and bronze. Managing the children in the museum was enough to make me crazy but I still found time to appreciate the paintings and sculptures around me.



Today is also Inca's (the second largest city on Mallorca) big market day so Joseph, Nikki and I are going to set out shortly to scope out some Mallorquin crafts and goodies so I'm pretty excited about that.


I've been a little homesick lately but I'm trying to fill out my days more so I have a bit less down time. Working only 12 hours a week has left me with a lot of time but I think that is both a good and a bad thing. Bad because sometimes I get bored but good because I am using the time to think a lot about where I want to go from here and what I want out of my life in the future. I'm definitely thinking a lot about the possibility of graduate school and I also think that living abroad is a fabulous experience but I will want to return to Oregon and home afterwards. So, lots of thinking still to do, but I have plenty of time.