Feliz Navidad!

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Seeing as how the local high school marching bands have started up with Feliz Navidad over and over again, Roger and I are once again getting out of town -- this time to a "hill" called Cerro El Baúl. It's apparently a forest on top of a lava dome. As far as I can make it out, it's one of the only protected national parks in Quetzaltenango. We've heard it's an hour hike, and then there's like a flat, sitting/rest area which I think is as high up as you can go, then of course, an hour back down. We're making a light lunch, and we'll be sure to pack our camera. Tripadvisor has quite a few different reviews from people who have made the trip. So far, the only real complaint is that it's not looked after by the authorities. I'll be sure to write all about it soon.

Last night we made empanadas for dinner. Anyone who's ever heard Roger talk about his time in Argentina knows how much Roger loves empanadas, so of course we made Argentinian ones. Which basically, I think, means - no red sauce on the inside, and a hard boiled egg and some green olives are included in the meat mixture. It sounds weird, I get that, but it tasted amazing. Our neighbor came over to try them, but said he was too hungover to really eat a lot...so I ate his share too. THEY WERE THAT GOOD. We're totally making more. Roger said the filling was just like Argentina but the crust wasn't, so we'll try again with a different crust recipe. (Oh! We took pictures of the process of making them, but then ate them so fast we forget to take a pic of the final product...maybe next time!)

On a final note, I got to skype with my brother and his almost-3-month-old baby girl this morning. I only got a few smiles out of Miss Jocelyn, but it was so wonderful to see how much bigger she's gotten in just the few weeks we've been out of Duluth! I haven't been homesick too much yet, but I fully credit that to everyone's Facebook comments, and blog comments, and snap-chats and iMessages. Technology makes it hard to be too homesick, and I'm very grateful for that. I am definitely missing the pooch though, and think I will try and see if someone can facetime or skype me with her sometime this weekend. Speaking of adorable puppies, Roger and I saw two boxers on our walk yesterday! They were both wearing long sleeve shirts and bandanas! It was pretty dang adorable. One was a brindle like Jade but the other was more fawn, like Roger's old boxer, Comet. We both stared far too long as we walked past.

Alright - I've got to get ready for our hike - the band's playing another song now :/

Besos!!

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Comments

[Megan C]

Recipe Please...
Those sound amazing... Please send me the recipe. :)