Here is our new butcher. I love that he has the "old Pope" in the background! That's his style. When I asked him if he used preservatives he wrinkled his nose before shoving a tupperware full of spice powders under my nose, "I don't use those things. I preserve with spices!"

 I wanted to weep when I saw that he had homemade chorizo. I grew up in Texas where chorizo is a comfort food of sorts. I'll admit with much shame that once a month I bought a frozen hunk of chorizo from Huckleberries for a whopping $9! I never felt good about it but the kids have grown up with the 'chorizo bug' so once a month we would partake. This fellow's homemade and absolutely fantastic chorizo set me back about $1.50.

I ended up buying 3 pork chops, a coil of chorizo (Spanish-seasoned sausage),  and a steak all for about $5.50. Best of all, the butcher was overflowing with enthusiasm and graciousness (he went over to the small supermarket to show me the cheese that is made down the street---from the milk of the cows we ran into the other day).

I couldn't help to think about the 'paradox of choice'--- the idea that more choices don't make us more happy but less. This butcher shop couldn't have been much more the size of a small closet. He had two small shelves- one dedicated to beef products, the other to pork. Needless to say, there wasn't a ton of choice but I felt like I had hit the jackpot of relationship, of knowing where something comes from, of sheer pride of purpose. When I asked if I could take this jolly soul's picture I thought for a minute he might actually hug that half of a cow. I can't wait to get to know him better and introduce you if you come to visit.

Preparing for school takes a LOT of time. Some tears, more laughter.

Blue Valley school definitely runs at a crisp clip of projects, labs, math and poetry due. The kids now have a couple of weeks under the belt and there have been multiple group projects due. Last night J finished up a lab report presentation on the chicken dissection. Over the weekend he penned three original poems and finished up tracking his food intake for a three day period. Today he'll crunch how close he came to meeting nutritional recommendations. 

Gigi is doing a full-year writing project for a pre-IB (international baccalaureate) research class. They'll stay with the same subject (of her choice) the whole year. I'll keep you posted but definitely sounds interesting. 

The 'cancha' in our village, it's a beauty. . . because it's closed unless it's to host matches or practices.

 J practiced with the village youth team yesterday. More on that to follow. He's practicing with the school team Tuesday's and does an all-school scrimmage on Monday. He still hasn't been able to find much 'street ball' ---- it's definitely not as common as in other places we've been. We are still hunting and meanwhile Bobby and I are trying our best to play against J whenever we can.

J is staying super flexible. You can see from the picture below that he'll play whenever he can with whomever he can!

Off to pick up Baby-O who is 'queen of the week' at her school which means she'll pick the music, books and bring in a treat. She was ecstatic! 

Casper "Bones" is losing his gauntness but still has a ways to go.

 Miss you!