A night to remember forever

View from the window last night at Restaurant Giratoria.

Last night was a special night. Armando took me to Restaurant Giratoria. It is a restaurant in Santiago where you sit at tables near windows and the floor rotates slowly around and you get a beautiful view of the city down below. I felt very special just being there and being treated to such a fancy place.

But then...another surprise... he said he had a small gift for me.

It is an old tradition. If his Mom really likes the woman her son is going to marry, she gives her a ring that is special to her and it is passed down. He gave me a beautiful ring that his Mom and him had sized to fit me. It meant a lot to me that she likes me and that they gave me such a beautiful ring. I never expected it.

The food I had was delicious. I had a pisco sour which is a Chilean drink with lemon and pisco. We had a Chilean wine with our meal and I ate:

FILETE PANORAMA
(Beef filet stuffed with ham and cheese, pepper and mushroom sauce, sautéed asparagus heads and noisettes potatoes)

For dessert I had:

MARRON GLACE
(Chestnut in a delicious syrup)

and

CAFE CORTADO
(Coffee and cream)

Yum! It was really good. (I know, I know. I am a pig!)

-Michelle

The prettiest church

Santiago, Chile

Chile

It is beautiful here in Chile. The snow capped mountains are gorgeous. It is great to see where Armando has lived most of his life and to meet his family.

Armando´s family and friends are very welcoming and kind to me. His Mom and family and friends held a barbecue in my honor when I first got here. An aunt and a cousin brought me flowers and chocolates. It really made me feel good.

I am improving my Spanish every day as I hear it spoken around me and I try to speak what I know and what I learn.

We went to Cajon del Maipo yesterday (Me, Armando, Armando´s Mom and sister). We ate at a restaurant that had a view of the mountains. I had roasted chicken and a salad with some things I have never tried before. I don´t know what they are called even but the salad was good with lemon, salt and oil.

Today, Armando and I went to an artistic place. They had beautiful art works there of many different kinds.

The picture is from a park overlooking the city of Santiago, Chile. We went there the day before yesterday.

Until Next Time,
Michelle

Simply Great

I wrote last about struggles and I wanted to lighten up a bit this entry and talk about some of life’s simply great things.

You may not hold the same opinion of the following things but in my world, these ten things are simply great!

Books
You can drift into another world when holding the right book in your hand. I love being curled up in bed with a good book!

Traveling
You can really never have enough travel! I enjoy experiencing new cultures and different places.

Photography
When holding a camera in your hands, you learn to be still and look at everyday objects in different ways. You learn to reflect on the beauty of nature and your surroundings.

Love
Where would the world be without it? I really like giving love to things whether it is a plant or an animal or a person. (I really like loving Armando.) :-)

Music
I don’t think I could make it through without having music in my life. There are so many great artists and my taste is all over the place when it comes to music.

Antique Jewelry
Ok, not on everybody’s list but… It IS on mine. I really enjoy old jewelry!

Creativity
I really like making things by hand. I enjoy crocheting and I like most hands on things that involve creativity.

Cooking
I like delicious food and I enjoy cooking and baking.

Coffee
I cannot live without it.

The outdoors
I love trees and flowers, sunshine, pretty clouds and blue skies. I like being outdoors and feeling a breeze as it blows.

Feel free to share some of your simply great things too.

-Michelle

Curve Balls and Such...

Sometimes life can take away your happy smile and make you forget all the beautiful things in the world and send your mood straight into the gutter! It can send ya things, oftentimes MANY things that you surely did not bargain for. Little situations that creep up on you before you are prepared for them or those little roadblocks that are waiting for you around the corner when you are feeling so “untouchable”.

I have often wondered what life would be like without life throwing all the little curve balls that it does. I mean, come on, let’s be honest with ourselves, do we REALLY need constant tests of our strength? Do you think you are stronger for having bypassed or overcame situations like that? I think I am. Do you wish they would stop coming so frequently? Sometimes I do. I have totally gone past the point of asking, why is this happening to me? Have I broke any mirrors lately or done something in to bring me so much bad karma? (laugh)

Actually, things happened so frequently at one period of my life and then set off a domino effect of “bad events” that I rather became used to bad things happening to me and I just got into this hunker down and brace mode. I was constantly ready to adapt to the next disaster. It took a lot of “learning”. You know, the kind of learning one only gets from going through bad stuff. The kind of learning that gives you silly little phrases to help you through like: No pain, No Gain! A winner never quits and a Quitter never wins! Grin and Bear it! You reap what you sow!

On the other hand, if I did not have frequent struggles, maybe I would think the next “big one” was coming and would totally screw my life up and that could be a weight I am unwilling to bear. I think when all is said and done, I grow stronger in adversity and the little battles I have won have made me who I am today and have gave me a sense of compassion for those facing struggles in their life.