"The Professor with a Passport" Series
Dr. Bonnie Gasior is the third Carol of Moon's contributing writer. I asked her to share with us because well, quite simply, she's a bad ass woman!
I've had the privilege of knowing Bonnie since we were 6 years old-- grade school friends. We endured all the shenanigans grade schoolers do as well as our flutophone saga with Miss Allme, our music teacher -- (for the record the are now called recorders). Middle school and high school in our small hometown were exactly what you would think of in the 80s.
Bonnie and I sat next to each other in high school Spanish class. We both were lacking in our Spanish language skills and Senora Lucas let us know it. Except we did learn one phrase and always called each other it- Amiga Mia! However, something happened- at the fork in the road, we went on two separate paths. I still lack in bi-lingual skills, and she is now a professor of Spanish at California State University- Long Beach. Senora Lucas is proud, I'm sure!!
We lost touch during college, and several years after that, which was not intentional, just a matter of life. When people say they hate Facebook because of all of the crap that is posted there, I simply say, without Facebook, I would have never reconnected with my dear grade school friend. So, for that, thank you Mark Zuckerberg.
I am enthralled with conversations about life with Bonnie. She has traveled the world and experienced places I have only dreamed about going to. She may live in the coolest place on earth- Long Beach, California, with the coolest job (professor of Spanish at CSULB, home of the baseball team with the coolest nickname- The Dirtbags) and her cool husband Tim. Her outlook on life, respect for others and empathy is inspiring; I'm glad to call her Amiga Mia!! ❤️
Please help me welcome my friend, my Amiga Mia, Dr. Bonnie Gasior!
-C
PS, look for her first blog, Tagine, The Quintessential Moroccan Dish Everyone Should be Making in the next few days. (I've tried it and my goodness, it's DELISH!!)