Eating Our Way Through the New Year!

We hope each of you had a wonderful start to 2015.  The big New Year celebration for the state was held a block and a half from our apartment - poor Craig was awake most of the night, amazed that I, with my uber-sensitive ears, could sleep through such noise!  What can I say?  I can sleep when the wind blows!  :)

The magnitude of the crowd was outweighed only by the
power of the PA system that they had!!!
Unfortunately I didn't have a camera with me on the way to
the office on the 1st to show the bodies asleep in the streets!!!

After not having a lunch or dinner invitation for two months (except for Christmas Eve and Day, which we had to decline because of mission rules) we were invited to four AMAZING meals this week!  The picture below is at the Cintra home - he being the Patriarch of the Stake who Craig street contacted and taught 48 years ago, and who I have mentioned before.  (Craig was transferred a couple weeks before the family got baptized.)  All 28 descendants are very active and committed to the Gospel, and several have gone on missions so far.  It was a wonderful evening.

Brother Cintra is at the end of the table, his wife to his right.
Yummy ham, fish, and three kinds of chicken - Wow!

So as long as I have mentioned food, there have been a few pictures I wanted to share that show where people eat here.  If you have a bike and cooler, you can set up a little breakfast or lunch stand on the street corner.  Here are some that we see every day on the way to work:

This is in front of our Chapel - not sure that
this location would be allowed in the US!

There is one or two of these on every block.  I cheated and
got this off Google Map - they are more nervy than I am!!!

This guy rolls his goods to this corner every
morning, including the chairs for his guests!

I am learning more and more to adapt to what is and isn't available to me as I prepare food.  Who knew you could make an apple pie with no pie tins, no rolling pin and no shortening?  (I will never use the latter again - butter is so much yummier!!!)

After losing 11 lbs when he was sick last week,
Craig needs to eat a couple pies a week!!!
The grape juice bottle was my "rolling pin."

Question of the week:  What is creepier than finding a live lizard in the middle of your front room in the morning?
Answer:  Finding one there that has obviously been dead for several weeks!!!  What on earth dragged it there?  Makes it even more amazing that I can sleep so heavily, right?

We love you all!  Happy New Year!!!