Maria Teresa and I were good friends because we both came from another planet full of pink dreams. When she was young, her parents thought she didn't have to study because she was blond and lovely and was going to marry a diplomat and have tea parties. Instead, she landed in Uruguay far away from the world of diplomatic parties in France so she became like an exotic bird landing far away in a storm and never quite adjusting to her surroundings but hanging on to her dreams. She spent her life packing for the diplomatic post in France that never quite materialized but was certain to come the next month.

To deal with this world of mate and churrascos, she kept a continuous stream of doctors and cures that didn't quite work because the doctors were ignorant and could not find the cure for her endless illness usually brought about by a corriente de aire bringing some evil spirits. She persevered with her cures and when she got to 94, she climbed this long flight of stairs on her own and told me she was now well, thank God, and didn't have to go to doctors anymore. The world needs dreamers as well as engineers.