San Antonio part 2

We went to San Antonio this weekend to let the kids run free on the beach. We figured they needed to unwind after their very stressful schedule of playing all morning, doing 2-3 hours of school and then watching cartoons all evening.

 Oh no! Someone cut off Becca's toe and buried it in the sand!

Oh no! I have sausage arms!

 

Keep on digging guys. Eventually you will make some progress!

 

Actually I was lying. The sand is black, super fine, and dry. When the wind blows it slides and ripples like water flowing through a pebbly stream. It's nice because it's extra soft and it doesn't stick to you, but it's not good for digging holes and building sand castles.

 Father of the year.

For all my friends who are currently living in snow. It may have been slightly brisk and windy that day but the sand is sun cooked and I can't even describe how incredible it feels to let it warm the soles of your feet. Not to rub it in or anything...

Que Pasa Calabaza? Nada Nada Empanada.

The title literally means, "What's up pumpkin? Nothing Nothing Empanada." I know, it makes no sense. But I learned this saying when I lived in Texas as a teenager and it just sounds so cool.

Instead of having pumpkins (calabazas) this fall, we are having empanadas. The Waltons, a missionary couple here, put together a little activity so some of the Chilean women could teach us gringas how to cook empanadas in an outdoor horno (oven).

Don't my kids look excited to try these?

 These are empanadas de pino, which is not a pine empanada like it says, but beef, onions and olives. We bought empanadas de pino from a roadside vendor one of our first days here and they were pretty gross. Then later we tried empanadas fritas de queso, which is basically a fried cheese pie and they're okay but make you feel like your heart is going to stop beating. So we gave up on empanadas for a few months, but these were delicious and have made me rethink my position on eating empanadas. Lesson learned: Chilean food is like most food, it really depends on the cook.

Left: this sister is making the traditional round Chilean bread, which is also cooked in the horno. It was really good hot with lots of butter, but gets hard after a while and you have to sneak and throw it away when nobody is looking.
Right: This sister made all the empanadas beforehand so I didn't get to see the method. In this picture she is cutting up frutillas (strawberries). I have yet to eat a meal with someone where they don't serve strawberries and cream for dessert.

Halloween

When I was packing to come to Chile I didn't think I would need stuff for Halloween. That was actually one of the only reasons my kids were sad to come to Chile. Who doesn't love dressing up and begging for candy? We all kind of figured it was just another thing we would be skipping. But then one of the missionaries in our ward here put together a trunk or treat/Halloween party at the church and we suddenly needed costumes. The good news is that my dad happened to come right about that time and brought some of the essentials like candy corn and canned pumpkin. (Have I mentioned they don't have that here? Because they don't and it REALLY stinks.) He also brought a few costumes.

 Joseph is a power ranger, Paul is a ninja, the girls are fancy dancers, and Mando is a headless man carrying an incredibly large cheetah baby.

My dad chose this cheetah costume for Sam. The Chileans all went wild over him and I had a quite a few ask to take pictures of him.

I had zebra ears and a zebra tail but I blamed my kids for misplacing them only to find them the next day on a high shelf in a closet. Way higher than any kid can reach. My poor brain...

Luckily I always keep a spare cheetah sweater around. (And maybe a cheetah shirt and cheetah shoes...I have a slight problem.)

 

Can't you tell it was a fun night? Joseph being Joseph and Paul practicing his ninja moves.

 Izzy LOVES balloons. She is wearing a very Heidi-ish costume that Aunt Beth got from a dance studio sale. Becca is wearing another special find from Aunt Beth. Becca's has some lace fluffiness on the rear-end that makes her costume extra special. Thanks Beth.

It was a real ward party complete with the toilet paper mummy game.

Paul with his friend Fabian and later bobbing for apples.

 

 

The kids had a really fun time and most importantly felt like they had Halloween. Only like 5 people brought candy to the trunk or treat, but it was still plenty, especially because Papa brought us a few bags too!

 

 

We had the trunk or treat on the night before Halloween and then a little party at our house on the actual night of Halloween with a few friends. We had a gourmet spooky dinner.

Then the power went out right as the sun went down and stayed off for a few hours so it really felt like Halloween. We watched a movie on the ipad and wished we had a candle or flashlight, but it finally came on just in time to eat donuts from a string, which we all know is very important on Halloween. You can't get donuts just anywhere here, but they do have dunkin donuts with old, stale donuts in some malls.

Haha Paul is eating a pink donut. Haha Joseph likes the Dallas cowboys. 

 

 Oh there's my zebra ears! It was all Izzy's fault.

 

 Making rice krispy treat pumpkins with cereal that is like rice krispies on steroids.

 



Izzy having fun with Nestor. She has the most expressive eyes ever.

Pomaire and Papa

Pomaire (pronounced pom-ie-dd-ay) is a famous tourist town outside of Melipilla.  Abundant natural clay in the hills surrounding the town bolstered a thriving pottery industry in the community. In the village there is a tradition of giving Chanchitos, little pig statuettes to friends and family members to bring good luck. Okay, maybe I pasted those last two sentences from Wikipedia. But they just sounded so awesome.

We went to Pomaire on one of our first weekends here and went back with Papa when he came to visit the first of November. If you go to Pomaire on Saturday the streets are crowded and it's hard to walk from store to store. If you go on a holiday weekend (like we did with Papa) it's impossible to drive or walk anywhere and you end up hot and sweaty and not getting a picture with Papa.

 A Chilean woman painting a statue. Some slightly creepy garden gnomes.

 There is pottery like this everywhere. Food cooked in this pottery is supposed to taste better.

We bought this Chancho pot to test this theory.

I'll let you know once I'm ambitious enough to actually do it.

 

 Isabelle and Becca standing by their favorite flowers. You can see the difference in their personalities.

 

 Mando buying souvenirs for the kids at a little vendor.

 We ate at restaurant in Pomaire that was actually pretty good. They had this incredibly large clay pig in the front. While Mando was in the bathroom the Chilean waitresses all oohed and ahhed over Sam. One of them practically grabbed him out of my arms and took him to show the bartender and other waitresses (all within a few feet of us or I would have been having a panic attack). He's such a novelty down here with his bald head and blue eyes. It also helps that he has such a friendly disposition and giggles for anyone who talks to him.

 

We went back to Pomaire with Papa a few weeks later. He left with his ride before we got a picture and we stopped for icecream. Doesn't Mando look happy?

 

In the streets of Pomaire. Doesn't Joseph look happy? The tortilla sign over our head is not accurate. I have yet to see a good tortilla here. They don't even have corn tortillas. (In case anyone is confused Chile is a LOOOONGGGG way from Mexico.)

 

Oh wait, I did get a picture of Papa. He stopped to look at the cacti in a cactus shop. Then he ran out and I had to ask him to come back for a picture. It must be exhausting to always be one your way to something else.

 

 

Mando bought me this lapis lazuli necklace and earrings at a little shop. This stone is mined in Chile and Afghanistan and as I'm fairly certain we'll never make our way to Afghanistan it's a perfect memory of our time in Chile. Thanks Mando.

 

 Paul Sr. and smallest Paulest playing ticket to ride on the ipads before we left for Pomaire.

Can you see the family resemblance?

Okay, I just found the last two pictures on Mando's phone. We ate with Papa and some friends/coworkers at a restaurant called Parillas de Argentina.

They cook the meat right in front of you on the grill and then put it on a plate that is sitting on hot coals inside a dutch oven. This is one of the very nice restaurants in the area.

Here's some pics of the kids playing on the swings outside

They are all thinking how lucky they are to be playing outside instead of going to school.

Well maybe not really, but I like to pretend they feel that way.