December 24,

We were around by 0800. We had our Javas and breakfast of Muesli and yogurt. It surprises me that we have been able to find Muesli or oatmeal around the world as readily as we have. Granted we have had to search some in a few places, but it is there. Anyway, we got about and went out walking by 1030.

We set out walking to the Hypermart, but again as we were going we found a giant Lider, which has been under Walmart ownership since 2009. So we popped into the mall that it was. Upon entering, we realized our mistake. It was Christmas Eve and the place had no shopping carts! Hmmm! We needed to get stuff because we were not sure if we could buy anything tomorrow. So we hunted down our list. Halfway through our list, we needed a shopping cart. I went out to find one while Jeff continued. Wowza! I had to go outside the store into the mall and waited by an escalator. Finally, I obtained a cart from someone going down the escalator! Whew! I went back into the store and found Jeff. He unloaded the stuff into the cart. I then got into line for self check out, because they were long lines. He looked for the last couple of things! This has probably been one of our most interesting shopping ventures and our biggest mistakes – timing-wise. Anyway, we made it through it, but OH MY! I think we were in there for an hour with our check out line time.

With our stuff we headed back to our place by way of a stop for lunch. We stopped at Carta Bashka, Shawarma & Grill. We passed by the place each time on our walk, it was time to check it out. We shared a Chicken Shawarma Plate and a Carne Shawarma. The flavor of the chicken was spiced much better. We will come back just for this! As we were finishing our meals, Jeff saw they had stuffed grape leaves. So we flagged down a staff member and added an order for take away. Our bill was 22,550 CLP with the tip ($24.92). We gathered up our shopping bags and finished the way to our place. This was the steepest part back. It still catches our breath, but we are getting better… even with groceries.

We made it and were unloading our stuff when our lady host called out to us. I went to the door and she had a big heaping bowl of cherries. She handed them to us and wished us, “Merry Christmas!” What a pleasant unexpected surprise!! I thanked her and wished her, “Feliz Navidad!” I brought them and showed them to Jeff. What a blessing!!! We tried one each… so YUMMY!

We settled in for the rest of the day. We had supper of the stuffed grape leaves and a few of those delicious cherries. We then watched the Christmas Eve service of our church back home via Zoom.

Simply living, someplace else… we realize how blessed we are!