Hanukah Miracles

December arrived with its fake snow displays, tacky fake Christmas trees, and the funny feeling that I still feel when seeing Christmas stuff on a hot summer day. But it also meant the lesser publicized arrival of Hanukah, the Jewish festival of lights. Our house was ready for Christmas on the 8th, but Josh and I were at the beach for the first night of Hanukah, and then I got sick upon return and could not get my act together enough to buy candles.
I was upset that we would light no candles this year and Josh said he would take care of it on a day off. Well, low and behold, we had our own little Hanukah miracle right here, in Casa Cochabamba!! (Ok, so I'm writing this post from the beach, you got me, but it happened there). Josh remembered some candles being left over from last year, and what do you know? There were exactly the right number for the last two nights of Hanukah.


Here we are on the seventh night lighting candles with everyone we live with. It was the first Hanukah for many and I was excited to share this tradition (in Spanish) with Christmas lights in the background of course. A meshing of all kinds of culture...

putting the Menorah in the window for all to see

making sure we don't light the house on fire

The eight night of Hanukah brought another miracle. After years of not seeing each other, Max Horn and I were reunited in my very own Casa Cochobamba!! Him and his girlfriend Rachel are taking a six month trip around South America and I invited them over for a latke party! What does one wear having not seen a person for probably about three years? It didn't really matter becasue I have about five outfits now that I've sent most of my clothes home with Patrick, but I was kind of nervous to say the least. Turns out, there was no need to be nervous. I was so happy to know that there really are some people in this world that you can literally go years without seeing and then pick up where you left off. There was plenty to talk about, and I got to know his Rachel, who I had met once before when they first started dating five years ago. She's pretty awesome.

Max lighting a candle

Rachel lighting a candle

Oh no! There weren't enough candles for Manzi to light one!

We had two more guests last night (pictured above). Two friends of Patrick were in town after a stint in Chile. Kate (on the left) and Lauren (on the right) were only in town for two more days by the time I had time to see them, so we got lunch and then they came over for their first Hanukah and latke party. They were pretty much in love with the latkes, and I really like them too! They are an awesome couple and just maybe we will all be in NYC next year and I can hang out with them all the time.

latkes and empanadas, a match made in heaven (just like Nick and Josh)

they might be in NYC next year too!!

Last night Max and Rachel came over for an impromptu asado. Rachel wasn't feeling that great, but Max got to eat his fill of perfectly cooked Argentine asado and his first choripan!! I was so happy to be able make this moment happen for him. Its a life changer. Hopefully we'll see them when we get back from the beach. For now, we are haaaaaappppppppppyyyyyyyyyy (so happy) in pinamar.

I leave you with a photo of Max and his first Choripan