Feast of Nations

Last Friday night we went to a fun church activity. Each country represented in our barrio had its own table to decorate and fill with food. We were also supposed to talk about our country. I thought that we only had to bring food. Since our family and the missionaries are the only Americans in the ward, our table and wall space behind it looked really sad. I scurried into the Primary room and got some construction paper and made a red, white and blue chain and some silver stars out of tin foil. Emma made an American flag out of construction paper. One of the missionaries went back to their apartment and brought back a flag, a jar of peanut butter, a football and a bag of American coins. I also had some of the kids help me rip up bits of red and blue paper to make confetti on the white table. Decorations-wise it looked better, but we couldn't do anything more about the food. I made three delicious apple pies and the sister missionaries tried to make rice crispy treats, but they could only find cocoa crispies and strawberry flavored marshmallows. An investigator, an American college student who is studying Spanish in Granada, made brownies from a mix.

Most of the other tables were awesome. The Spaniards, of course, were represented and had made tortilla, paella and some desserts. They even had a gitano flag: bottom green for grass, top blue for the open sky and a wheel in the middle to represent the way their culture is nomadic.

The Colombian table had art work and a flag and coconut milk rice which tasted just like the kind my mom makes. Yamiles and Miguel Angel's mom danced a typical Colombian dance.

The English couple made hats out of newspaper and decorated them with flags, she also made shortbread with raisins in it. They also had a slideshow of pictures of Great Britain on a lap top sitting on their beautifully decorated table.

Of course, the most popular table was the Mexican one. Ana Maria is the best cook in the world. I had helped her and Justo make tiny corn tortillas earlier at their house where I also baked my pies. I had baked one at home and it turned out OK, but a little burnt, so I thought I'd at least bake the rest at Ana Maria's because she lives right next to the church. She made a dish that had fried pork that had been marinated in chilies on top of a couple corn tortillas, then topped that with cilantro, onions and a hot salsa. It was delicious, but I'm not surprised because everything she makes turns out great. In fact, she made this awesome lentil dish with potatoes, tomatoes, bay leaves, and carrots. She gave me the recipe and I tried to make it the other night. It tasted exactly like burned dirt. I could try and blame it on my stove, but I know that I have never had a great track record with dried legumes, we just can't seem to get along.

After everyone talked about their country, we all feasted and most everything I tried was really good. I also received a bunch of compliments on my pie, although one kid said to Collin that it smelled funny and didn't want to eat it. There was also some dancing (including a missionary who was, against mission rules, dancing to Mambo #5). Esteban, Miguel Angel, Loli, Esperanza, and Leonor were all doing a sort of line dance to I Know You Want Me by Pitbull.

I love the ward activities here, everyone lets it all hang out in a good way. There is plenty of time to visit with people. The food is always delicious. They always play fun music and end up dancing. Also, it seems like the preparation isn't just up to one individual or committee. It feels like everyone pitches in to make the activities fun. This ward is very close, the people care about each other and have fun together. I love, love, love the people in our ward here.