Wow!! Carmen has a twin sister.

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Wow!! Carmen has a twin. :)

I found out this week that mi amiga Carmen has a twin sister Paola. Double AWESOMENESS!

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Chile never ceases to surprise.  For example, I woke up this morning with the assistance of a little earthquake tremor (chico teremoto).  I also enjoyed family day with my Chilean host/landlord Carmen and her family.  She may or may not have told me she had a twin sister (gemala) last semester.  Carmen is very private and my Spanish wasn’t as good as it is now last year so she might have told me and I simply smiled and nodded politely.  So we began Saturday afternoon with this delicious chicken and vegetable stew prepared by Carmen (she’s a good cook like me).

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Her twin sister Paula has two boys ages 6 an 10 named Gaspar and Andres.  The older son knows a little English so we were able to talk about his school and my family.  As you can see, after lunch they both enjoyed some helado chocolate (Chocolate ice cream).  Gaspar doesn’t like taking pictures but he warmed up to me enough to make this funny face while eating his ice cream.  Very sweet and friendly little boys.  I told them and their Aunt (Tia) I was going to improve my blog with their fotos. 🙂

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Yummmmmm helado chocolate!

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Oh my word!!  It is so hot down here.  The temperature is ranging between 80-90F degrees (27/32C).  This might not seem very hot, but after leaving the United States were it is winter time these types of temperature require an adjustment.  I always seem to loose weight in Chile in part because the portions sizes are smaller here (we have very large portions in the US) and walking in the heat carrying my bookbag feels like I’m walking in a sauna.  No complaints, I’ll that this over snowy Mid-West blizzards in March any day of the week.

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More family and friends join Carmen, her sister and sons, upon my return from my power walk.  I am terrible with names and don’t remember the new folks, but they were just as lovely.

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Tweenzies!!

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Another place I am happy to see is our neighborhood tienda de verduras y las frutas (vegetable and fruit store).  I also finally had the chance to eat some grapes as they were not in season when I arrived last semester.  So now, all the fruits are easily accessible and this was the best pear I had tasted in some time.  The also had some peaches, but I’m a Georgia Bulldawg.  It’s going to very difficult trying to compete with a Georgia peach.  They are the BEST!!  Unfortunately, I think that Chilean farmers are using GMOs because I saw some of the biggest ears of corn, squash, and cucumbers that I’d ever seen in my life.  I wanted to take a picture but felt it might be a little rude to do so.  Maybe I’ll get the nerve up to ask the owner to take a picture next time. 🙂

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Well, the highlight of my weekend was to talk with my daughter and her beau this weekend while she visted Texas.  I thought they looked so cute and told them I was going to take their pictue and put it on my blog.  So here it is guys!!  She’s a lawyer so I hope I don’t get sued for not getting any permissions.  I don’t know if their images are copyrighted or not.  No matter, I’m the momma (the original law)!  He he.

Hondura my Motorcycle is getting better (I pray)

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Hondura is getting better (I pray)This is my girl “Hondura” (nickname). She’s a 2000 Honda Rebel CMX 250 and my very first bike.

Here is my beloved Hondura, the name I gave to my very first motorcycle.  I made the decision to learn how to ride a bike back in 2012 and told my friend Brian about the idea.  He initially thought I was crazy, but subsequently found a motorcycle safety class and we joined and got our license that summer.  Brian was a lot more experienced as bikes than I and that showed in the class.  I had one of the smallest bikes in the class.  That’s me front in center in the bike blow.

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Anywho, my dream was to get licensed for motorcycles, purchase a bike, and then practice riding so that I can adventure ride while in Chile.  I purchased my bike in the Fall 2012, and started riding with my friend Brian and then on my own (he said I needed to learn how to ride without him sometimes).  So I did and we were both proud of me.  I was riding everywhere, even in the rain and at night.  I was (and still am) hooked!  Well last fall, right before I was to take off for Chile, my bike started to stall and subsequently wouldn’t start.  I tried to get it repair but the guy who was working in it got injured in an ATV crash.  So the first thing I did when I returned to the US, was to look for someone to fix my bike.  Now I’m from the generation where you simply don’t just throw away things and buy a new one when they break.  I love my bike and wanted to fix Hondura.

So, my friend Luis told me about another guy who fixed bikes about 30 minutes from where I lived.  So I loaded up Hondura and towed her to the mechanics garage.  The repair job got very complicated.  My little brother told me to just buy a new bike and not invest anything into Hondura… ¡No puedo!  Another friend who didn’t have time to fix it because he thought it would be a big repair job (and it is) wanted me to give him the bike for free… ¿Estás loco?  So, I had to leave my first love in Georgia and expect that all will be well upon my return.  Above is her motorcycle hospital photos.  lol  The choice was either to fix Hondura or invest in a new bike.  I simply decided to fix Hondura because essentially I’ll have a brand new engine and still have the bike that I love.  Oh sure, there will be other motorcycles in my future, but nothing like your first.  Besides, I got an international driver’s license from AAA before I left the states so that now I am able to drive in central and most of South America.  ¡Tan divino! 

So after I get myself situated with my dissertation research data collection agenda, yallz can expect to see some adventure ridin’ pics from the road with friends in Chile.  Qué bueno ¿no? Sííííííííí  🙂

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Hondura and I gettin’ our ride on in the early days.

Los regalos continuan a venir!

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Los regalos continuan a venir!

The gifts keep on coming! 🙂

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(Click on pic for enlarged view)

So my dear friend (and landlord) Carmen was in Spain while I was in the United States this semester.  She travelled there to complete her doctorate in library science becoming the first Librarian with a doctorate degree in Talca, and perhaps in the entire Region VII of Chile.  I’m so proud of her accomplishment.  While there, she picked up this gift for me.  It’s jabón natural de jazmín (natural Jasmine relaxation soap) and it smells so beautiful.  So I’ve got a present from Spain too and I can’t wait to try this out.  My friends here are spoiling me, and I likey!  Ha ha  Carmen was also attentive to make sure that the product was produced in a just (justo) manner and did not exploit the poor as indicated on the company’s bag.  Therefore, that completes her classification for triple awesomeness in my eyes.

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I also had to go to the story tonight and buy some of these, because the one in my digital recorder is failing and I have a research interview tomorrow.  I actually didn’t know the word for these when I arrived at the framacia (pharmacy) so I again had to resort to my high-level charade playing skills to describe what I needed.  NOTE:  These are not called batteria but are in fact called pilas.  But come on!!  You can’t blame a sistah for tryin’ that one out hoping to hit the mark. He he! 🙂