Ryan Greenberg

Emily with her parents upon their arrival in Pocuro. Mrs. Rostkowski brought the Baked Lays chips from the U.S. They had a tough journey, but made it mostly intact.

After a trans-America journey, Emily’s parents arrived last Friday to visit and spend the Easter celebration in Chile. It’s not a bad time to be here; although autumn is indisputably here and the nights are getting winter cold, the days are summer warm. Good Friday is a national holiday, and there are plenty of community events connected with Holy Week. Friday afternoon there was a Stations of the Cross walk through the neighborhood. On Saturday, we took Emily’s family up nearby Pocuro Hill.

Much to our delight, the Rostkowskis brought plenty of international booty with them, things that are nice to have from home but you can’t get here. This includes a myriad of goods: salad dressing, peanut butter, 409 cleaner, and—my favorite for right now—Cadbury creme eggs. I wish I could hoard them, but my sweet tooth won’t let me. It’s also customary to bring things for friends of associates that live here. After years of having Americans living here, they too have grown attached to peanut butter.

For now, Emily and her parents are seeing a little of the countryside. After Maureen’s brother Kevin, this is the second set of visitors we’ve had this year. I’ll have to wait my turn until a little later. Let’s just hope that Cadbury creme eggs are still in season!