Happy New Year's

Since Baby McCall had not made her debut into this world yet, we took advantage and celebrated the new year with Argentinian friends Claudia and Gustavo at a dinner they hosted for family and a small group of friends Monday night. Claudia's parents are in town from Buenos Aires and her sister Marcela, who lives in Bolivia, was there with her family.

The party started around 10pm with all of us cooking a variety of meats and veggies in a pot of fondue. This was an interesting experience for us since it was not an issue to the others to mix the raw and cooked meat, using their same fork for both and landing the cooked meat on their plate where the raw meat had just been. Charles and I were a little more concerned. Not to mention, trying to keep up with speedy Argentinian Spanish conversation while remembering which fondue sticks were ours and how long they had been in there had been a particular challenge especially late into the night. The experience was really fun, nonetheless, and it was also pleasant being on the patio with a cool breeze and fireworks bursting in the sky all around.

The group counted down according to our own watches and toasted each other with champagne and confetti. The children were overjoyed to have silly string and light glow necklaces to entertain them throughout the evening.

We continued the night with a chocolate fountain, dipping goodies and cake. Latins eat cake for any occasion possible. Charles and I also went along with their tradition of eating 12 raisins to bring good luck in the New Year. We tried to explain the black-eyed peas we eat on New Year's for the same cause and only got a few blank stares.

Charles and I finally made our exit around 2:30am when I could no longer keep my head up and the conversation flowing. All to say, it was a New Year's to remember.