time after time

This past weekend was a great one...!!!

I went to visit my mother-in-law and extended family in E's hometown...The bus ride may be long, but the calm and the company are always worth it. My mother-in-law is an amazing woman, and I get along well with my sisters-in-law and nieces, and have met so much of E's family...I admit that being from another country and not being totally fluent was a concern for me when we first met, but I have been so blessed in having a good relationship with everyone...!!

My sister-in-law and I spent a lot of time together, and it was great. We are about the same age and it is great to have someone to talk with about girl stuff, to cook with, to ask about cultural things and learn more about the family. Love her!! My other sister-in-law, B, invited us over to her house for a grill out and we had lots of good food! The grill is not quite the big silver contraption that many people have in the backyard in the USA...it is smaller, rounder, and all about charcol! We made "pinches" or beef kabobs with red pepper and onion...then chicken and yucca, and even pizza. We had a great time sitting on the back patio and sharing stories, eating and watching the bugs converge around the lights as the night crept in on us...

The next day (Sunday) I spent quality time with my mother-in-law and a Tía (Aunt) and we made tamales!!! I have once before helped to make tamales, but I got to see how the filling is made and how more of the ingredients are prepared (for example: I did not know that the banana leaf the tamal is wrapped in must first be softened over heat so the leaves will not break when folded! or just how important the seasoning is to makeing the filling, and my mother-in-law has the perfect touch!), and I got practice wrapping and learned a new more homestyle way of wrapping and tying tamales, and at the end of the day I ate a chicken tamal and it was DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!! Pictures later.

On Monday I had to head home, but not before eating a filling lunch and spending time in the living room with my nieces after they arrived from school and we all sat together watching soccer and eating home-made ice creams...Then hugs and kisses and "see you laters" and I was on the bus home.

Yesterday was my birthday, and it was great! It was  nice realxing day with some of the best company, E! We had a great breakfast (mango season is in, and I am totally taking advantage) and then went to the beach for a while, had a delicious lunch at the Shrimp Shack where I tried my first shrimp burger, and then we shopped around a bit before heading home and changing to go see a movie. It was great day...!!!

I have to say that I do not feel any older. Maybe a little wiser, but not older...and I know that there is still so much to see and do with my life.
When I was younger, I never thought that my life would turn out the way it has...I am so blessed, so lucky, and time after time I am overwhelmed with gratitude for everything I have, and inspired to continue discovering and learning and living and loving....!

PURA VIDA