Cosas que me hacen sonreír #3

It's been a while since I explicitly posted on the "cosas que me hacen sonreír" (things that make me smile) here in Chile, but that's not to say that there aren't many reasons to smile here.  There are.

Like the fresh fruit re-appearing for sale on the street corners in summertime.  My apartment, which is pleasantly cool in the kitchen in the morning, and the living/dining room in the evening.  The long days and what seems like limitless sunshine, and finding sunblock for sale.  Summer holidays, and putting that sunblock to the test on a long bike ride.

Today, just one simple encounter prompted me to smile, and then remember all of the other reasons that I smile here in Chile.  I was walking down the street near my apartment building, carrying my bike wheel with a semi-inflated tire, on my way to the bike shop.

I passed a small boy, maybe 3 years old, and his dad walking the other direction on the sidewalk.  After we passed, the boy said something loud enough to make me turn back, and I realized he was talking to me (remember, all of this happened in spanish, so my interaction was naturally limited).  I paused, and asked him "What?"

He repeated something, which I gather was along the lines of "What is that?"  I explained that I was carrying a bike wheel, and I had a flat tire, so I had to go to the bike store to change it.  Our conversation carried on briefly, as he asked me where, why, how I was going to change the tire, and where was my bike.

It was a somewhat simple interaction.  Except when I recall the context, of a Chilean toddler starting a conversation with me, a gringa carrying a bike tire down the street.  The part that really made me smile was every time he would say "bicicleta" (bicycle), but it sounded more like "glee-key-let-a".  Also, he never seemed to mind that my own spanish was probably worse than a toddler's spanish.  Finally, his dad suggested they head on, and I walked away smiling.