Tuesday Scott needed to work late so Kiersten and Mackenzie had a Mommy-Daughter dinner date at a little cafe near our house. Since our Mazda wasn't working and with the yellow car in the shop, we walked there and it was terrific. Also the food at the cafe was better than anticipated.
Earlier that day, Alicia taught Kiersten and Brenda how to make authentic, Paraguayan chipa. She mixed everything by hand and didn't really measure anything. Chipa is usually baked in a fire wood oven so she didn't know how hot the oven should be. The first batch took a while to bake but once we got the heat cranked up to 400F the rest finished quickly. It was so good! And, fun fact, chipa is gluten-free. How this isn't extremely popular in America yet is beyond me. Perhaps we'll set up shop and become insanely rich upon returning to the States....
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| Any shape goes when making chipa. The easiest to form are logs and circles. |
On Wednesday Scott also had to work late so after getting Mackenzie down to bed Kiersten relaxed with a French film (Blind Date on Netflix) and some much deserved ice cream.
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| Some guys came to work on our car as well. Mackenzie was fascinated. |
Thursday began the Holiday of Semana Santa (Holy Week or literally Week Holy). People had the day off of work but many places of business were still open like grocery stores and restaurants. In the afternoon we had about 5 different Embassy families over for games and asado. People brought a side or appetizer to share and their own meat for grilling. We provided some snacks, dessert and the grill which was our first time using. Everything went off without a hitch! After eating we all, kids included, commenced in a raucous game of charades. Women beat the men! Everyone had a great time and best of all, the clean up took us less than an hour. Win!
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| Mackenzie helped Mommy make the cookies! |
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| Kiersten from 1988 helping her Mommy make cookies! |
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| Our inaugural asado with some meat! |
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| Friends enjoying food and conversation. |
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| Our crowded living room during charades. |
Good Friday was the real holiday and everything was closed except for Biggie which is a 24 hour mini mart which is really well stocked. We needed a few last minute items. In the morning, to get out of the house, we drove to the Costanera. Mackenzie ran the whole time one way and then being very hot and tired needed to be carried back to the car, against her will we might add.
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| Before driving home we found the big cathedral down town. It was pretty crowded so we didn't get out. |
In the afternoon our neighbors came over to play our expansion to Harry Potter. We lost once and were doing well on our second game when we needed to end early to go to a Passover Seder hosted by the resident Jewish family with the Embassy. This was our first Seder and we didn't really know what to expect. Lots of Hebrew and symbolism and very educational for us on Judaism. And now, an anecdote. During the Passover Seder you ceremonially drink four glasses of wine. Since there were children present there was also juice or water to drink. The hosts gave us apple cider and said it was carbonated like Martinelli's back home. Well we soon found out that unlike Martinelli's, this was alcoholic so we both had our first unintentional taste of alcohol at the age of 30. We stuck to water after that first sip for the rest of the evening.
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| Playing her own game during our battle. |
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| The beginnings of the Passover Seder (I asked permission to take pictures). |
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| Mackenzie was in love with this little car. She screamed bloody murder when we left. |
We got home well after Mackenzie's bed time and it took her a while to settle down for sleep. Kiersten went straight to the kitchen to begin prepping for our General Conference Brunch the following morning.
In the morning, the brunch cooking and baking continued with eggs, bacon, sweet potato hash and finishing with the quintessential conference cinnamon rolls and frosting. Our guests brought juice and yummy fruit salad making the meal complete. Scott dashed off to attend the first session of Conference at the church building for his calling and Kiersten along with Brenda and Netza stayed at home to watch. Mackenzie was very well behaved during the whole 2 hours.
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| Yum! |
After the first session we got a rain storm and Scott took Mackenzie out to play and she loved it! "Agua! Agua!" she gleefully shouted while splashing in the puddles. Due to her late night and early nap that morning, after coming in from the rain and bathing, she went down for a rare second nap during the second session of conference. For dinner that night we ordered pizza for the very first time ever because we usually make our own or pick up one to bake in our own oven. We got Dominos because they have one here and to compare the taste to back home. Two thumbs up! It should be noted that Mackenzie chose our dinner that night. We asked her if she wanted a sandwich, pizza or pasta and she said yes to pizza. Good choice!
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| 'Mas!' to the green olives. |
Sunday morning Kiersten was in the kitchen once again baking up a storm. Since this is another major holiday where we found ourselves without family we were reminded that we don't have any traditions. Kiersten discovered in her Culinary Hungary cookbook that there is a delicious looking recipe for an Easter sweet bread loaf. We made it and after the first bite she was transported right back to Hungary and just like that, we have an Easter tradition.
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| This loaf was HUGE! |
Directly after breakfast, we took Mackenzie into the living room for her egg hunt. When she saw the first egg she thought, hmm, that's interesting. Then there were more and it became fun! We didn't put anything in the eggs for a few reasons, the main ones being; one, she's not even 2. She doesn't need the candy and we'll end up eating it anyway. Two, we didn't buy anything because this was kind of last minute. Three, it's April Fools Day. Four, Easter is the day that Christ rose from the dead and the tomb was empty so the empty eggs symbolized that. Five, she wouldn't know the difference anyway. She still opened each one and was only frustrated that the two halves were connected. She found all 10 eggs and then when she wasn't looking we'd hide the same ones again. She was thrilled with this new game for about 20 minutes. "Mas! Mas!" she chirped when ever she'd find one. It was probably the best Easter morning ever.
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| 'Hmm...' |
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| She liked playing with them as much as finding them. Little ducky! |
Mackenzie went down for her nap right as the first session started and missed the whole thing. Conference is always so amazing! We love General Conference!
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| A small contribution to our Easter decorations. |
After the session was over, we finished making our very first solo Easter dinner complete with baked chicken (they don't sell ham here), cheesy scalloped potatoes, maple-glazed carrots, cranberry sauce and the Hungarian Easter sweet loaf. Everything was delicious! It was the best Easter meal we've ever made! We quickly FaceTimed with Kiersten's parents and Mackenzie got to see her cousin. Those girls love each other! Warms the heart. Then we finished the evening off with the last session of conference (OMG!!) and then bed time for Mackenzie. It was a wonderful Easter.
Monday has been a very busy day. We gave Alicia the day off to ensure she could spend adequate time with her family who lives 13 hours away by bus. She'll be back tomorrow. So the usual chores were left to Kiersten but it was great to have such a busy and productive day. Then unexpectedly at 5pm the power went out! The girls were sitting on the couch and somehow they ended up snuggled together. Mackenzie hasn't cuddled like this in almost a year! Kiersten took full advantage of their time together and didn't dare move. It was spectacular.
We made an impromptu dinner on the stove top by lamp and candle light and then at 7:30 the power was back on.
Misadventures in Baking:
- With our Easter feast only including the three of us, Kiersten decided to make a mini carrot cake as is the traditional Easter dessert in both families. It was a hit! And so cute and mini. We even used up the last bits of cinnamon roll frosting for the cake. Win-win.
- The cinnamon rolls were better and sweeter than we remember. There's a good reason we only make them twice a year. And we tried something different. Kiersten did all the work the night before so in the morning we pulled them out of the fridge to warm up and then bake. So easy!
- The Hungarian sweet loaf. The recipe called for 8 cups of flour, 1 kilo! It was so much flour but oh my was it delicious. It tastes great on its own or in savory dishes like grilled cheese or eggs and toast. This might be a more regular baked good in our home....
Quirks of Paraguay:
- Good Friday. This day specifically is the big holiday of the week here. As previously mentioned, everything closed down save for the Biggies (mini marts) and some gas stations. It's so nice to be in a place that celebrates religious holidays other than Christmas.
- Lomito. Not sure if we've talked about this before but a lomito seems to be one of the national foods of Paraguay. A lomito is a sandwich with a specific 'lomito' cut of steak which is very thin and tender. Then a full or complete sandwich will include lettuce, tomato or pepper, ham or bacon or both and a fried egg. Kiersten got one at the cafe for dinner on Tuesday and it was one of the best lomitos she's had in country to date.
Just look at that runny egg. The best!
The Mackenzie Update:
Hold on to your hats, we've got a lot this week!
- New words:
- hands - she'll say this when her hands are dirty and need to be washed
- "are you/they?" - She's leaving out the "where" here but she'll repeat us when we say, "where are you?"
- dipoah - diaper
- vez - as in 'otra vez' which is 'again' in Spanish. It sounds like 'pez' (fish) so you gotta pay attention
- She has a few notebooks that are now deemed her coloring books and over the last few weeks has really taken to drawing and is getting much better at it. She can make loops and circle shapes rather than just scribbled lines.
- The 'Hello/Hola' primary song is starting to have different pitches when she sings it. We've got a singer!
She did this all by herself. - This next one is very adorable but not something we want her to continue. If she doesn't want something or go somewhere, she'll hold out her hand like 'stop' and say, 'moe!' which is 'no'. Sometimes she'll say it a few times, 'Moe, moe, moe!' with a look of consternation. We'll then ask her what she wants and can usually come to some sort of compromise.
- We bought her a kid's yoga book in BA which is in Spanish. Kiersten absolutely loves it and so does Mackenzie. She can copy many of the poses and say them by name. Yes!!
- She'll put her finger on her chin and 'scratch' it and go, "Hmm..." She copied Scott doing it one day and it stuck.
- New favorite food: green olives from the pizza on Saturday.
- And we think we've officially hit the "Terrible Two" stage of her life. Not a fan. The highs are really high and the lows are oh so low.
She loves to watch the "beep beeps" and didn't want to come inside.
Thanks for sticking with us this week. It was a long one. Happy April everyone! See you next week!
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