Celebrating My First Christmas and New Year Abroad

Christmas and New Year was bittersweet this year. It's the first one I've celebrated with my parents in over seven years because until recently we were living in different continents. It's also the first one I've celebrated without my husband by my side. Unfortunately, it couldn't be helped. We need to get apostilles on our marriage license, high school and college diplomas and on our transcripts. So, my spouse went back to New York to celebrate the holidays with our family in the States and to take care of the whole apostille business. 

Being home alone has been tough. Now I know how Macaulay Culkin felt in Home Alone. I guess I didn't realize how much the hubs had distracted me from noticing how homesick I was. Now that he's back in New York, it's hitting me like a fist across my face. I think it gets worse when he sends me photos of what he's up to in New York, which I'll share here in a second. 

Don't get me wrong. I'm happy for him, but I'm also a little sad and envious. 

The hubs with the family dog, Chewy

I cry myself to sleep at night and walk around the house like a zombie during the day. I wish I could be there with him celebrating the holidays. I'm not sure if this overwhelming sadness will go away. I can't wait for him to come back. Unfortunately, he won't return for another month and a half.

In the meantime, I skipped Christmas but celebrated New Year's Eve with my folks privately in their home. Of Course, my dad is a fan of Argentine barbecue. I'm not! It's gross!   

My dad barbecued goat, cow brains, and sausages

Thankfully, my parents know how I feel about Argentine barbecues, so my mom was cool enough to create an assortment of other dishes like potato wedges, Armenian empanadas, as well as Argentine empanadas. 

The triangular shaped Empanadas are Armenian. They are very similar to the Arabian empanadas, but the taste of the ground beef, and the shape of the space at the center differs. The Empanadas on the lower right-hand side of the photo are called Empanadas criollas.  

The first plate on the left is a basic salad with lettuce, tomatoes and onions. The potato wedges I mentioned earlier are in the middle plate, and the third plate is chimichurri. Chimichurri is a seasoned sauce that you can pour over any type of meat. Believe me when I tell you that I used that sh*t a lot to mask the taste of the stuff my dad was barbecuing. 

I tried some of goat meat. It was okay, but I'm not a fan of the texture. I also hate cow brains because of the way it jiggles in my mouth. It tastes like phlegm. Not even the chimichurri could save this for me. 

I decided to go for the safest route and make myself a choripan. A choripan is a sausage sandwiched in a bread, and it's very popular in Argentina. As you can see from the picture above, I added some of the salad along with potato wedges and chimichurri to make it edible. I wouldn't have minded some barbecue sauce, but they didn't have any in the house.  

My mom then placed an assortment of peanuts, sugar coated candies, and turron (nougat) for dessert. Turron varies by texture and color. Focus on the big plate. The turron on the upper right-hand side is white and has a tougher texture along with peanuts cut in half. I don't like this type of turron because chewing through it is difficult. I prefer the softer turron which is on the lower left-hand side of the plate. It's brown and soft like peanut butter and easier on the teeth. 

My mom also made a delicious fruit salad for dessert

Later tonight we're going to toast to 2013 with Sidra (or cider) before I head back to the emptiness of my home.

I want to thank all of my readers and followers. In the coming months I'll blog about an upcoming trip to the capital of Buenos Aires, my continued efforts to validate my U.S. diploma and transcripts, plus more amazing photos and videos of Cordoba. 

Until next time, have a safe and happy New Year!