Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my Mom’s birthday. Let me tell you a little about my Mom. She is the most unselfish person I have ever known. She always looks after others. She has always been there for me and my sister.

I remember as a child that when school started, My Mom always got sad, because her girls didn’t get to spend the day with her like in the summer. Most parents were happy for a break away from their children by that time, but not my Mom. I also remember that I did not like going to school and being away from my Mom. At one point, I faked stomach aches to get to come home and be with Mom. That stopped abruptly when I stupidly said to my Mom after being picked up by Mom and Dad after a stomach ache “episode”, What are we going to do when we get home Mommy? Dad sternly said, you are going to bed and will stay there all day. Mysteriously, the stomach aches never came again. (hehe)

She patiently taught me days before the first day of school, the route to walk to school, just a short piece away from our home. On my first day of school, I came inside the big front doors of the school and had an anxiety attack and walked right out the front doors and all the way back home crying. She, always the patient and loving Mom, walked with me back to school and helped me find my class and explained to my teacher what had happened.

When we lived in Louisiana, My Mom was known as the neighborhood Mom. We always had a house full of children. Only my Mom would call ALL the women of the neighborhood to see our dog have puppies. She was so excited! It was hilarious to see a house full of women trying to gather in the small area where the dog was having puppies and hearing them offer sympathetic little soothing encouragements for the dogs "puppybirth" pains.

My Mom always let me be creative when I dressed as a child. She would just look at my outfits and grin and say, you have your own style. She didn’t say, OH MY GOD! Look at what she intends to wear today. She just let me be, my own crazy unique self.

When I was sick, my Mom, being as we were southerners, knew exactly what to fix as my comfort food. She made me a big bowl of grits with melted cheese. Ahhhhh! I still love cheese grits.

I got sick at 13 years old and had an extended several years almost non-stop hospital residency, she was the one who comforted me and stayed with me daily at my bedside and offered loving support. (My sister and Dad were usually close by as well.)

Now that I am an adult, she is a constant and loving support in my life. She is positive and very much a Mom and a friend to me. She is a life-saver when it comes to chores in the house which I cannot do. She helps me one day a week to do the things that are difficult for me to do.

Happy Birthday Mommy!

I love you

Happy Birthday Armando!

Reflexion: Dos semanas en Chile

It was a lot of fun to see part of Chile. I enjoyed meeting Armando's family and friends. They were very welcoming to me.

Armando's Mom was a total sweetheart. She taught me to knit while I was there despite the language barrier. I like to crochet already but knitting is fun too. (Although, I still need a lot of practice yet!)

Because of the change of weather, I got sick while there and was sick a good bit of the time with a bad cold. Armando also got sick with a bad cold before we left. That was a bummer but we still did fun things like playing games. We often played poker with his friends until the wee hours of the morning! Or magic card games or the ship game. Don't you just hate it when you are on vacation and you get sick?

Armando and I lost our jackets at the Miami airport. Oops! I bought another one in Chile and thank goodness, Armando had another jacket in his luggage.
Armando's Mother's house was great. I liked her yard. It had trees and flowers and a gorgeous water fountain made from quartz.

She had beautiful rocks and crystals and little sitting areas that were so inviting. When you entered into her house, you were met with this trees right beside the door that were so tall and growing in an indoor brick container. Her roof is part glass and wood and the trees were nearly touching it. The glass from the roof let in such a beautiful light to her living room. Her house is so in touch with nature. She has bonsai trees and rocks and a shell collection and a horse collection. I loved it. In the hallway, I got to see great photos of Armando and his sister as children and picture of his Mom. I saw a picture of his sister with white doves on each shoulder. My favorite picture was of Armando's Mom and his Dad in the background and Armando as a little boy in the front standing by a tree. He was so cute. :) I liked a picture of Armando's Mother sitting on a big rock surrounded by water. She looked so pretty in that picture.

In Chile, it is very common to have wine with your meals or pisco sour (a Chilean drink with pisco and lemon). I liked the pisco sour and the piscola (pisco with coca-cola or “coca”as coca-cola is called in Chile) and I enjoyed Chilean wine too. The fresh bread there was delicious. Armando's Mom was a great cook. I was SO happy to see avocado or “palta” so readily available. I love avocado and I ate it a lot while in Chile in salads and on bread. Yum!

I was so happy to see the snow capped mountains of Santiago. I had seen so many photographs of the mountains and Chile that it really was great to actually be seeing those in person. I liked how when we stepped into his Mom's yard we were met with a view of the mountains every morning. I liked how the evening light made the snow on the mountains take on a golden hue.

When you go to downtown Santiago there was great architecture everywhere. The churches and many of the buildings were so ornate!

We met with Armando's best friend, Carolina in Viña and Valparaiso. I was so happy to finally meet her. I had spoke with her on the telephone and chatted with her on the internet before. She is a very sweet lady and with the prettiest long flowing hair. We had a very good visit and her and Armando showed me Viña and Valparaiso and the surroundings.

In the city of Viña, I felt very peaceful with seeing the sea and the water hitting against the rocks. The sound was completely relaxing and the atmosphere in Viña (in the winter at least) is very at ease. You see people going on horse drawn carriage rides everywhere. I understand that in the summer it is a different scene with many tourists coming from Argentina and of course other parts of Chile to enjoy the beaches and sea.

Valparaiso was so charming with the mountains covered with homes and the view down below of the sea. I really liked the bright colors of the houses and the little winding streets that went up and down, up and down. I also enjoyed the murals painted on walls. There is a University in Valparaiso that is extremely beautiful. It looks very British and is complete with stone walls and many steps.

In the part of Chile we were in, (Central Chile) you are surrounded by big palm trees, there were orange trees that grow in the winter and there were a lot of avocado trees. On the way to Viña I saw many vineyards.

Chile is a very long country so the country is very diverse. Part of the country is desert and dry, in one part you can see ice glaciers. I only visited a few cities and I was sick part of the time so I know I only saw the surface of a very beautiful country. I am glad I had the chance to go with Armando and to meet his family and friends. I look forward to another visit and seeing more of Chile in the future!

I included a few pictures in that we took.

-Michelle

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