Filming buñuelos

Sorry it’s taken so long to write, but we’ve been packing a lot into the past few days and it has left me with no time to get into an internet cafe to write.

Two days ago, we went to visit Yoli’s dad. Our main purpose was to film him making buñuelos, which is a Bolivian treat somewhat like a funnel cake. Rather than a runny batter it uses more of a dough, but it is fried and served with honey or powdered sugar. Yoli has tried to make them before but has not been pleased with the results. Her dad is a baker, so he knows how to make all these Bolivian delicacies.

Anyway, he seemed to really enjoy showing how to make them (though apparently he had not done so in some years). In fact, it was one of the best visits we’ve ever had with him… he didn’t complain about anything or speak a downcast word. The funny thing is that he made way too much dough. Yoli purposely brought only a little flour since it would be only the three of us eating them. But he added much more and we ended up with two mountains of buñuelos.

I’ve had several opportunities to talk with my brother in law, Boris. The conversations went well and I was able to communicate decently. He can talk fast at times, which makes it hard to understand, but overall it went well.

Last night we had a RISK night. The idea was to have all of the brothers-in-law plus another male friend… a “guys-only” night, basically. It was scheduled for 7 p.m.

In true Bolivian fashion, nobody showed up until around 8 or 9 p.m. and the full slate of people didn’t arrive until 10 p.m. All the brothers-in-law brought their wives, and Alcides also brought his daughters. After going out to get some food and soda, eating, and talking, we probably didn’t start playing untilaround 11:30 or midnight. Since lots of explaining of the rules was necessary, we didn’t finish until around 3:30 a.m. Two of the couples ended up sleeping over (One nice thing about staying at El El Jordán is that there is no shortage of mattresses).

I ended up winning the game, which is not too surprising since none of the others had played before. But they caught on pretty quick and they seemed to really enjoy it. If we had time, weñd probably try to play again, but I don’t think there will be time. In fact, some of them wanted to play a second game right after the first!

It’s always interesting when many of us are together. The problem for me is that conversation moves far too swiftly (and with way too many jokes) to understand much. One on one I have a good shot, but when there’s a large crowd, I’m usually in the dark.

Today (Thursday) we have a full slate of visits scheduled. Friday morning I am supposed to go fishing with the guys. We’ll stay out all day and come back in the evening, rather than do an overnight trip. It should be a good time.

I have some photos from the trip to post, but it appears this internet cafe lacks a computer with a CD-ROM drive. Hopefully I’ll get them posted before the day is over, so check back.

2 Replies to “Filming buñuelos”

  1. I can definetly say RISK is a guy’s game. I do not have the patience to play it with Eric! 🙂

  2. Hope Yoli puts us first on her list when she is ready to share her bunuelos in Missouri! Please tell us how that baby girl is getting along with all of her cousins:)

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