Today I finally turned in the art project that has been haunting me for the past few weeks and took my last exam. One itsy-bitsy presentation tomorrow and I'm set for summer vacation. Sounds a bit odd, being as I just had summer four months ago up in the Northern Hemisphere...For that reason I'm completely fine with taking summer quarter because here in Argentina because in the States I'd be in school January and February anyway. 

I put a picture up of the American lunch Devin and I concocted yesterday. I was pleased with the results, and at the same time super nervous that the Chileans wouldn't like it. Granted, American cuisine is a bit heavier and laden with dairy fat, and I couldn't help but be more aware of that as I was eating it sitting in between Marcelo and his mother. She spent the whole lunch going on about how delicious everything was and eating every last crumb on her plate. She is such a sweet considerate person that I wouldn't put it past her to fake a little of the enthusiasm to make me relax a little but either way I appreciated it. To make the pumpkin pie I had to use another kind of squash that made for a more yellow pie filling than I was used to. Plus, it was waterier when I cooked it so I had to adjust the recipe a little. The oven I used was a gas heated and didn't have numbers to indicate temperature, just an image of a small flame and a bigger flame on the knob to give me an idea of relative hottness. Considering all that, I would say the pie turned out pretty well. Not exactly like the pumpkin pies eaten on Thanksgiving, but it was better than no pie that's for sure. 

Marcelo, Devin, and I watched 3 Star Wars movies, which took up the remainder of the day after the late lunch we ate. At one point Marcelo's brother Tomás put on his black trench coat and Darth Vader mask he happen to have stored in his room, snuck up on Devin while I watched excitedly, and did a pretty solid impression of the character. I also found out that Tomás likes Dave Mattews Band and I told him I went to one of their concerts and the Gorge and now he's getting a DMB t-shirt for christmas :)

I am excited for my family to meet this family because they have been such a fundamental part of my experience here. It will be sad to say goodbye, but the good news is I'll be coming back in March and living three houses down. Very "Meet the Beavers," but with a Chilean twist.