Chestnuts roasting on an open fire...

Last night we had a visit - AS A FAMILY! - with some friends I made the other night while out walking. I make a big deal out of the "As a family" part because since we've lived in our "C, V-L, SAT", we continue to make friends with single people! Brad has many single men friends and I have many single women friends. This makes it really hard when we want to visit... so we end up spending 2-3 nights  a week with one of us at home and the other one out visiting. Boo. We like each other :) We like to be together! We've been praying for a family to be friends with since we've been here. And last night, we got it!

When we first got there, it was lots of women in the room and Brad. I know he was uncomfortable. They had the TV on, so both he and Lucy were glued to the TV, not paying any attention to anything else going on in the room. (If it had been a room of men, I would've done the SAME thing! We're just not used to being in the company of the opposite sex anymore!) Finally, my friend's dad came back from the mosque and Brad had a friend. We ate some fruit all together and then headed outside.

Outside, the kids got to run around and all the women and men sat around a small open grill. They were making this local bread - they rolled it out and then put it on the grill and it puffed up, then they put olive oil and thyme on it and it was yummy! Then they brought out chicken hot dogs and chicken hamburgers (not my favorite!) and grilled those. THEN, they took the grill part off the coals and threw in chestnuts! FOR REAL CHESTNUTS! *Insert yourself singing a beloved Christmas song now, because I know you are...*

"Chestnuts roasting on an open fire..."

They are yummy! Have you ever had them? Well, they are not so great when they are raw, but they are super tasty once they are roasted! A few of them, once they'd been on the fire a minute or so, would POP! It was quite exciting, kinda like fireworks! So, you roast them in their shell and then once they are ready, you peel the shell of and enjoy... ahh...so good. They are a very rich nut, however, and when you are with an Arab family who force-feeds you, well, you'll feel the effects of those 10 huge, rich chestnuts afterwards.

As we were leaving, as is customary, they gave Lucy some cookies. I'll leave you with these. Please see below to see what they are called:

He's a super hero. Oh yes.