So Long Sergio!

So this week I lost one neighbor, but luckily I'm gaining another!

Today, my host brother moved into his own apartment. Therefore, we spent the whole weekend celebrating.

On Friday night, after dinner, I joined my host family on a clandestine visit to Sergio's new apartment. We brought Dali, snuck up the stairs super quietly, and knocked on his door to surprise him. He has been working on the apartment since last weekend; painting, adding tile to the living/dining room, and moving all of his stuff in.

Here are Sergio and Javiera with the newly tiled floor and a fresh coat of paint. My host mom went over today to help him touch it up.

Saturday, we had Sergio's despedida (goodbye party) with the family.

Earlier in the week, we received about 50 pounds of cheese - no joke - and 2 whole lambs, so we decided to break out a lamb and have cordero in addition to the masses of meat that we already eat during normal asados.

I helped my host dad figure out how to fit both of the lambs in the freezer. He was pretty impressed with my creativity.

The whole family was here this weekend, and in addition to Sergio's godparents and their kids, we had a house full of people.

Here is the normal asado

Shooting the lamb - my host dad thought this would be hilarious. Side note: THIS IS NOT A REAL GUN!

Sergio was in charge of the lamb

My host mom really wanted me to eat the leg of lamb...

The asado was a crazy one. I attempted to escape early so that I could work on my history paper, but it was tough to be productive with my host mom coaxing my outside to dance with her. The music was also super loud and once they started playing the 80's music, I couldn't resist. It's pretty hilarious to see them sing "Another One Bites the Dust".

We were waltzing together

Today - with Madeline's help - I made "American Breakfast". My host dad has been intrigued by waffles and he's been joking with me for a while about making them. So I collected all of the ingredients - his son had a waffle iron - and we spent the morning making pancakes and waffles.
My host family loved it and kept telling me that I had to teach them how to make pancakes. Their version - panqueques - is more of a dessert crepe.

We had to use M&Ms for chocolate chips. They don't sell them in the grocery store. Odd, right?

The kids had just woken up - so they look a bit sleepy.

At the end, Sergio grabbed the rest of his belongings from his room, connected his bed to the top of his car, and drove 10 minutes down the road to his new apartment.

Here's Dali, staring into Sergio's empty room. They are best friends and Dali always sleeps in Sergio's bed.

Sad little Dali



So, needless to say, we're all sad to see Sergio go. But he'll be around all the time. I am certain. As of now, my host cousin, Italia, is moving into Sergio's room. She only lives here during the week so that she can be closer to the university. By the end of the week, I'm supposed to report back to Sergio and inform him if Italia is a better neighbor. Here comes the test week...