Fiñale

My sweet older brother picked me up from the airport in Mendoza and whisked me away to his casa where I could breathe.  I changed clothes and unpacked a suitcase, then was whisked away again to his abuela's casa where I met all of the extended family.  It's one of those times in your life that you don't even realize you are speaking or listening because you are having such an out-of-body experience.  The people are so hospitable and want to know you, even though you don't speak a lick of Spanish.  I could feel God's presence in the middle of that family and I knew He had come before me to give me these precious people that would love me unconditionally and look at me as a sister in Christ. 

Not only were they especially welcoming, we ate and ate and then ate some more.  I wasn't hungry, I think my nerves were going into overdrive.  We had this contraption of bread that was very light and fluffy with cheese, onions, and cow mixed in the middle.  It was delicious.  We then sat around a huge table and had homemade pizza.  It was different than in the States.  They put a lot of Bleu Cheese on tops with pickled onions and salami.  HAM HAM HAM! It's everywhere.  We had a pizza with ham and pinapples with brown sugar on top.  It was very delicious.  Then dessert which consisted of a banana-lemon sweet and it was yummy.  Flan was next with dulce de leche on top.  SO GOOD!

Family is an important consistency for my family and my new Argentin family.  We laughed at each other for not knowing the language, laughed about abuela knowing FRIENDS and loving it, and loved one another through stories.  It was a great experience and a great moment to realize the love of the Argentin people.

I hope to be back soon to visit with Abuela because she does not live far away.  Speaking of living...