Baptism and Cow Stomach!

Our neighbor, Marta, invited us to her grandson's baptism this past Sunday. We gladly went. Yes that is a picture of us with the family and little, happy, Nicholas at the church. We were totally welcomed as family. It was a wonderful mass, that I could not understand a word of. After, we headed to there house for a DAY of festivities. First was lunch.

OKAY!! You know the smell of a petting zoo or a barn? Yeah, well that is how COW STOMACH tastes. Yes, you read that correctly.
And yes, we really ate it. How could we not?? They are so wonderful to invite us, it would be a death wish (or just very inconsiderate) if we did not partake. All I can say, is that I was glad they served beer. I thought, "If i drink fast enough, I won't notice the taste as much?" It did not work. John was thankful for the endless supply of Coke. We barely made it through a quarter of the soup. Check out the pics- One of the little girls was slurping the strips of stomach like gummi worms. I loved it- (watching, not eating).

It was a great time. We ate gladly. Drank more. They kept asking John why he did not drink? They could not understand they idea of not liking the taste? You just drink it!?

I checked out of the party pretty early, I had to grade papers. The others stayed for the BAND and Dancing. The band started at about 2 and went until 10:00 PM. Oh, and the cake was AWESOME! Seriously, as we went to bed that night, we could still hear the music. Bolivians know how to party! If that was for a baptism, imagine a wedding?

(note, my favorite thing about this family is they they all work for Coca-Cola. It is as if the whole family is sponsored by Coke. Everything we used: table, chairs, silverware, and cups...all coke. Half their wardrobe is coke paraphernalia as well. Love it!)