Oh, wow! Wow! Wow!

We just completed week three of Escuela de Española. We are learning but we are raw, green as a gourd, pre-pubescent! We have a so far to go. But here's the cool thing. I can go into a shop and make my wishes and questions known. Maybe we are becoming competent tourists?? Ok enough of that except to say our days are full! If Stan and I are not in class we are walking back to son casa where we practica, practica and complete the day's homework. We have little time for anything else right now. It is in fact like being back in school. We both even speak completely cuckoo Español in our dreams most nights too. I dare you . . . if you are sestenta o mas anos, just try it!!! Mui difficil!!!

Not a lot of news except the sale of our beach house did close. We are happy to have the transaction done. We no longer have to deal with booking vacation-guests, worrying that the A/C might go out while we are traveling , or whether the pool pump is working and any number of things that can and often does go wrong with a house. But we are indeed saddened that we will no longer have that wonderful place, our little piece of the beach, to dream about and visit. We thank God for the wonderful friends we made there and all the family memories we will have forever. It is the end of an era.

We truly have been working hard on digging in our Espanola but we learned Ludwig (poker player from Sweden) was still in the city. He suggested we meet for dinner before he leaves Santiago on Saturday. He's only 27. Stan thought he might like a home cooked meal. He accepted the invite immediately. Stan met him at the Unidad Catolica Metro Station near us. We had vino together on the rooftop. The citizens down below on the street entertained him with small demonstrations accompanied water cannon sprays from the policia.I made a good old family traditional dinner . . . meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green peas and ensalade con lechuga y higo y cebolla con aceite de oliva. That boy ate it up. He's only about 7 feet tall and his thin belly is at least 3 feet long. He packed it away. He ate seconds and then third plus helado. I think it made him miss his mama in Sweden. He even took a box of food back home with him. We had such great conversation. He's such a smart young man. I think he called me out, in jest, certainly but he got me nonetheless . We were all chatting sometimes all together and sometimes over each other then he said to me, do you always question what he (Stan) says? Both Stan and I said no. . . . Stan quite often speaks BS which must be checked out. But hey, his question made me think.

Ok, I must tell you about Sebastian. Sebastian is our instructor for the first hour and a half each morning. He is single but he has two ninjas. He is clever, maybe even brilliant. He is hilarious and he is fun to be with. He teaches us serious Español but then sometimes we get sidetracked and we find ourselves in a deep conversation in Español about the craziest of things. For example we have learned the Español word for MF. (I'm not saying that!!) We learned that yerba means herbs like parsley,,mint and oregano, pero tambien "weed" in Chile. . yo tengo yerba?? He makes us laugh every day. Today we talked about household items. A cooking pot came up and we talked about what kind of utensils we have at home and how and when we got them. Then we talked about an iron. Stan spoke in Spanish to saying he does most of the ironing at our house and that he does not mind. Suddenly Sebastian drew a stick man with an iron-face (think an electric iron)------ with eyes, a nose and a moustache and said "Stan, tu ares iron man!!! " Great Halloween costume for 2020!!!

Well, we thought we might visit Park Quinta Normal this afternoon after school. Both instructors said no. Ok on Sabado o Domingo but no on Viernes. Viernes es dia de manifestciones. It is the premier day of the week for demonstrations and police violence. At a minimum, the metro stations can be shut down.

We took their advice. Instead of traveling out of the neighborhood we walked the neighborhood and explored shopping galleries and calles. It was pleasant and relaxing.

Manana es de anniversario de bados! Forty-five years!!!!! Wow! Thank God for such blessings. We will visit the Parque Quinta Normal and then we will have dinner at Borago. It is rated one of the top 50 restaurants in the world, right here in Santiago People tell us we will drop some serious cash.
But it is our 45th!!!!!