Reflections.....and smoke.

Soooo I don't have a picture of this story but was reminded of it just recently. While I was violently ill in Argentina, we happened to visit the big cemetery in Buenos Aires which is quite spectacular and very popular. Honni ventured out on her own because some of us were having trouble trolling through the rows of tombs. So she hops back to us at one point with a sinister look on her face (as always) and says she has something to show us. I am not taking the bait on this one because we are in a cemetery and I don't really enjoy stories that start like that in places like this. She keeps on us, that it is strange but she still thinks we will like it. After about 10 minutes of this, we decided to follow her. She turns left down a narrow aisle and from a distance I can sense something is off. As we draw closer I see it, smoke coming from one of the house-like tombs. At this point, my steps grow smaller as I fall to the back of the crowd. I am not interested in being the first one to discover the reason for the smoke. Without understanding, I am suddenly craving a plate piled high with ribs and roasted chicken. We pass by slowly and see that the door is propped open to reveal 4 men, sitting around a tomb, smoking up some hot dogs and carne asada and enjoying a nice little feast. Apparently this is a custom in latin america. Discuss amongst yaselves....

Got no words....

But I do have a couple of pictures....

If you get real close, you can see by the look on the man's face behind him, that this man's songs about his eggrolls can put you in a trance. No joke. It's some sort of magic.
Sort of funny how these pictures came to be but for now, let's just hush and enjoy the view.

Friday and all is right.

Not much to report here. My family is still great. It is still 80 something and sunny every day. I am still going out a lot and exploring the city. It still smells like trash. But I am really enjoying the students. We are having such a good time and so many of them are so enthusiastic that it makes it all worth it. There was a large scale earthquake apparently predicted to happen at 8pm last night here by some ancient prophet which was big news all over town. I was thankful said prophet was totally wrong. Hope all is well stateside and would love to hear from all my gringos!

This picture has absolutely nothing to do with Antofgasta but I realized I hadn't posted it before and love it.

Family and lasagna.....

So had a great weekend here in Antofagasta. Still observing at my schoool and my new teacher is great. I think we are going to work well together. Went out with a friend on Thursday night since we didn't have work on Friday. Then the girl who was staying with my family last year in the program came in to spend the long weekend with them. Turns out her name is Jennifer and she is from Seattle. Small world. We had a great time this weekend comparing stories and talking about this great city. Going back to school this afternoon and start teaching on Wednesday officially.
I have included a photo of the fam, minus Eugenia (the mom), and a pic of the ingredients I was given when I told them I would be happy to make the lasagna for lunch today. I have included the sunglasses in the pic so you can have the correct perspective on the cheese and sauce portion. Did I mention this is for 6 people....Buen provecho!

Lasagna for 6? No problem. Here is the cheese, the noodles, and the sauce. There is a bowl of meat in the fridge.
Jen, Betty, Ely, Leonel and Vero.