Here are some great pictures and short comments related to some recent photos and videos I took in Talca.

I noticed this young man taking a bunch of glass bottles to this receptacle in my neighborhood.  It seems that recycle is an important goal in Talca.

This was a charming little tienda de verduras where vegetable are sold in my neighborhood.  As I approached, I asked a guy nearby if I could take a picture of the store.  He said I had to pay him, yeah I passed on the close-up shot in that instance.

Today was my first trip to El Centro or in other words, downtown Talca where the larger mall is located.  I needed a curling iron and the folks at the mall near my habitación said I would have to find that particular item in El Centro mall.

Entering downtown Talca.

Many portions of downtown Talca seemed very similar to my remembrance of downtown Manhattan in New York City, more particularly the SoHo area.

Yay!!  Shopping and browsing time. 🙂

Lots of traffic in downtown Talca (El Centro).

Chilean Independence Day is celebrated on September 18th.  The country of Chile secured its independence in 1810 and history records that the area of Talca played a major role in that event.

These young dancers performed in honor of the upcoming September 18th Independence Day Celebration

There are very few public restrooms in Chile which surprised me.  When we were at the bus station in Santiago my new friend Carmila told me, “Use the for-pay restroom, trust me!” I was able to use  el ban pictured above because I was a patron at one of the mall restaurants.

Mi cena (dinner).

La mayonesa is a common dressing on food here in Chile.  As you know, yo’ girl and feeling the mayonnaise so I ended up selectively removing portions of my salad to another small plate.

I also learned that ice isn’t as common in drinks here as is the case in the United States.  That’s been quite the adjustment as well.  I was happy to have a Sprit with my dinner.  Bottled drinks are served in 1/2 liter bottles versus the 12, 16, or 20 oz. bottles.

Taking a taxi back to La Casa.

Purchased this little change purse to avoid having to always pullout my wallet.  So cute and granny style. 🙂

Chocolate doesn’t seem to be as available here as back in the US, however I was so happy to find these familiar friends. 🙂  They are smaller thank your typical North American candy bar, but most snacks foods appear to be in smaller portions here in general.

La biblioteca (library) isn’t open on Sundays like is common at UGA but there is an area that’s right by the library that is open and has access to WiFi and electrical outlets for laptops.  It’s kinda like a cabin-style smaller version of the MLC (Miller Learning Center) at UGA. 🙂  Also if you look to the lower left corner of this pic you will see some dog paws.  Dogs roam quite free here.  I don’t who this one belonged to as he was there when I (and the woman in this picture) departed.  He was just laying there chillin’! lol

I had the honor of being asked to serve as a Judge today.  I joked with my friends that I didn’t know whether I would be Nicki Minaj or Mariah Carey.  Nevertheless, this young lady stole the show with her soulful singing voices, winning the praise of her peers and 1st prize in the contest. There was tremendous talent here today and all of the students performed in English. A very impressive display by the students organized by the Professors in the School of English and Pedagogy.  Video and more details to follow shortly.

The talent show hosts included Major Nelson and Jennie from the popular 70’s TV series “I Dream of Jennie”. 🙂