we´re just country boys and girls gettin down on the farm

This past weekend my amazing counterpart, Riva, invited me to spend the weekend with her and her family in a town called San Carlos Sija!  It was the town fair, and so there was lots going on...

First there was the Female Convite (women dress up in these incredible costumes and dance intricately coordinated moves to live music)





This costume was my favorite!





At the end of the event the women take off their masks so that everyone can see who they are!



Riva´s family had their corn out drying in the sun...  Check out the variety!

I named this cutie Moonbeam!  (Santa, all I want for Christmas is a baby cow)

Riva´s kids and her nephew and niece, as we walk to town from the house...

Sija´s soccer team playing verus Cabrican

Sija´s female basketball team playing for the championship!



The last day there was an Argentinian Horse Race!  All of the men watching were decked out in boots and cowboy hats...  Check out the little cowboy (too. cute.)



Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope that you had a wonderful time with family and friends.  This year (drumroll please) I made my first turkey!  A few weeks ago my host dad told me that he wanted to do the ´real american thanksgivng´ and so, we got ourselves a 12 pound, south carolina turkey (yup that´s right, imported). 



My host mom with the turkey all set for the oven!



The hardest part?  We only had 24 hours to defrost it!  After a frantic google search turns out you can leave the bird in water for a half and hour and then change the water, for 6 hours.  It worked!

Along with turkey, we had stove top stuffing (thanks to my mom, and my aunt Nancy and uncle Jim who brought it with them on their visit), steamed green beans, and rolls.  The whole family came together to sit down and eat (18 of us!)...

The evening ended with all the women cleaning up, the men watching tv and the kid cousins being crazy hooligans...