Clafoutis is my must-go restaurant in Santa Fe, unless the owner's family is out of town or visiting their home in France, which has happened on occasion. And what sad days they are when I'm all ready with an empty stomach standing outside of Clafoutis, wishing I could open the door and start cooking as if I were the skilled French chef.       

This is more like a French cafe instead of restaurant in the French standard, based off their single-course menu (though sometimes I leave thinking I ate 4 courses). Those who can make delicious meals out of the simplest ingredients are the real chefs. Even it is just a turkey sandwich, or a croissant, it just tastes great here. In addition, the price is very reasonable, which makes the good better.

      Homemade chips, $2.99. Okay, chips and french fries are just potatoes. but chips from Clafoutis are so crunchy and chewy at the same time. How do they do it? Even though I'm not fried fare fan, I cannot resist them.

       "The Sea" and "The Country" are both $12.50. The sea has shrimp, salted Anchovies and fresh salmon. While the country comes with liver, bacon, salami and two giant pieces of cheese. Since they are both combo meals, they come with a french baguette (you can substitute it with croissant which will make you just as happy), veggie salad and dessert. Dessert is seasonal, I got the apricot tart with the sea, and French cream puff with the country.

   

   Sandwiches here are tasty too. The cooks press-toast the bread to a certain degree while it is hot.

       A corner of the restaurant. Actually Clafoutis is not big at all, which allows no more than 50 people in total. Hours: 7am － 4pm, breakfast till11:30. Be prepared to desire this restaurant many times after your first visit!

Finding a Mexican restaurant in New Mexico is as easy as finding the haystack that contains the needle, but other authentic fare can prove quite the challenge. Good quality Mediterranean food is one of the secrets that has kept Yanni's popular in Albuquerque for more than 20 years. So popular in fact that the owners also opened Nick and Jimmy's restaurant later on after the success of Yanni's, which provides Greek food, American food, Mexican food, etc,. Nick and Jimmy's, however has failed to reach the popularity of Yanni's--maybe good dishes are like good friends, the older, the better?

 

The Mediterranean color of blue and white fit Yanni's menu pretty well.

Yanni's does not offer free chips and salsa like New Mexican restaurants, but its fresh baked bread, crunchy and chewy, is also good to comfort a groaning stomach while awaiting the feature dish.

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Lamb Shanks on top of spring vegetables is a refreshing summer dish, $15.The well-done lamb stays tender, accompanied with watermelon, tomato and cucumber salad.

     Greek vegetarian plate and Spanikopita，$12.50. Potatoes baked with olive oil and lemon juice, earthy tabouli, and a vegetarian moussaka. Mmmm the yummy Spanikopita is spinach and feta cheese filling wrapped in the filo dough, solid but soft.

    If you're looking for a tasty Greek restaurant, Yanni's is your place. If you're just looking for a tasty restaurant, Yanni's is also your place.

      

     Sadie's is one of the most popular New Mexican restaurants in Albuquerque: big portions, very reasonable prices, and tasty food. Since it is New Mexican food, you can expect a heaping plate full of Southwestern fare, sometimes smothered with chili and cheese. If a bang for your buck is what you're looking for, Sadie's is definitely the place to go.

       Almost all the New Mexican restaurants in New Mexico offer free chips and salsa, and Sadie's is no exception. Sadie's salsa is famous for being fiery hot. You can see the jalapeños and green chili melding in their salsa. Chili lovers can get a warm-up round just from this free appetizer.

Red chili ristras can be spotted often in New Mexico. I wonder if it represents New Mexican's attitude towards life: Sometimes hot and spicy, and sometimes just hangin' around.

  This is the weekend special  Breakfast Burrito: A tortilla wrapped with fried potato dices (or papitas), bacon, eggs and chili (red, green, or "Christmas"), sprinkled with pinto beans, tomatoes and lettuce, finished with an utter-full of cheese. The price is $7.35, big enough for 2 adults to share.  

     Summer hours for reference. Note the historical sign on the right.

As the capital of the state of New Mexico, Santa Fe is not such a city kind of city. It's quite hippie actually (and that's a positive label in Santa Fe). The combination of art galleries, stores, cafes and restaurants make walking in Santa Fe always pleasing like whistling a song. 




The Road Runner commuter railway system goes all the way from Belen to Santa Fe's farmer's market. It costs $8 for one way and $12 for return if you depart from Albuquerque, the biggest city in New Mexico. The one way trip takes about 1 hour and 20 minutes. 

 
The state bird of New Mexico, Road Runner is also the fast track between Belen, Albuquerque and Santa Fe 

Tomatoes

Red Chili Ristra 

Santa Fe's indoor/outdoor Farmer's Market runs every Saturday morning till the early afternoon. Mostly local Santa Feans sell all kinds of organic vegetables and meats. The price may vary, but the high quality will never let you down. Amidst the various booths you're sure to satisfy your tongue's curiosity with samples after samples. Sometimes without having to buy anything, your organic lunch is already in your stomach, not to mention the visual satisfaction. 

 New Mexicans love chili so much, they don't just eat "chile", you'll find houses decorated inside and out with it. Red chili strings (or ristras) can be spotted easily as you're walking or driving around New Mexico. As the seasons change, the color of these chili fountains turn from a fresh rosy red to a rich crimson, all the while swinging in the wind like a silent wind-chime. I wonder if the heat from red chili can keep bugs away? Or perhaps it's a symbol of happiness, as the color red in Chinese culture? Let's not forget red's un-ripened counterpart: 

Fresh roasted green chili is not in supply all year round as dried red chili. Early Fall is its season. If you happen to be in New Mexico from August to October, then you'll experience the inviting aroma of green chili all over, as fire roasters (specifically designed for green chili) are constantly turning bags and bags of the stuff . Many local people buy green chili by jumbo sack, so that when it's out of season, they can freeze them and consume year-round. 

Fresh or Roasted? Come and Get It! 

Chili separates New Mexicans from the rest of America. There are red chili people and green chili people. And if you have a hard time deciding on your favorite, then go ahead and ask for Christmas at the restaurant: half red, half green. Red chili is normally kept as a powder and turned into a sauce while green chili needs to be roasted first, then chopped into small pieces and mixed with garlic, salt and pepper. 

Fresh green chili and fresh tortillas，YUM! 

New Mexico is not a big desert, and it has a culture very different from it's "old" Mexico neighbor. 

Since Santa Fe is in northern New Mexico, the temperature in Santa Fe is usually at least 5 degrees cooler than Albuquerque, and 10 degrees cooler than Belen. 

Overall Santa Fe is a uniquely relaxing, artistic city. People here are quite laid back. They wear colorful comfortable linen and soft-cotton clothes and produce a variety of art, with a very friendly heart and smile. 

Walking in Santa Fe, you will encounter chirpy fun art any time. 

Angry Red Bull？ 

Since New Mexico is a high desert, houses here tend to be earth-toned. They are not exactly Adobes (made of mud brick as in the past), but sand castle to me, with soft curves and contrasted colors. 

The oldest hotel in Santa Fe, awaiting the afternoon

Feltre Italy: Chilly near the Dolamites.

Pastor Craig has another church up north in Feltre. It's a fellowship that began when a few of its citizens commuted all the way down to Montebelluna to attend church there. As word got out, more and more people began commuting until they asked Craig if he could do a teaching in their town every once in a while. They were blessed with a building to begin Wednesday night services.

It's really small, but pretty much filled to capacity

On the road back to Montebelluna, a student and I were chatting with Pastor Craig about Italy an its people. We had an interesting conversation about the way they do religion in their country. Interestingly, I found that they're overall much less religious than most people think, which is surprising considering Christianity's deep roots here. Even so, Catholicism is evident just driving through towns displaying street signs named after "saints," and just about every region has its own token vintage chapel. But a large majority simply don't practice regularly, let alone have an understanding of God's Word. Many use church only to fulfill a traditional obligation, or attend on special days that seem holier than the rest.

Pastor Craig pointed out how the atmosphere in these cathedrals tends toward the dreary and cheerless. Although you'll find symbolism inside depicting Jesus, He's often depicted broken and dying on the cross. Jesus' death was definitely a central event that is foundational to the Christian faith, but even more important is the fact that He conquered death by rising from the grave to take His place at the right hand of God. "Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right Hand of God, who also intercedes for us." --Rom. 8:34 The news just gets better from there, because once we've accepted Jesus as the One and only way to the Father, then we too have our security with Him, as it says "Having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead." --Colossians 2:12

Not only is it heartbreaking that these Italian churches place a strong emphasis on death and sorrows, but they take a step further away by neglecting the command of God in Exodus "Do not make any gods to be along side Me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold." They neglect this with their apparent reverence and prayer to certain saints and especially Jesus' mother Mary. Elevating Mary to near deity status isn't only an Italian thing, and God must've known it would become a problem since it happened twice in the New Testament where Jesus had the opportunity to elevate His mother above average human status, and He nearly did the opposite: "Someone told him, 'Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.' He replied, 'My mother and brothers are those who hear God's word and put it into practice.'" -- Luke 8:20-21 And later on in Luke: "As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, 'Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.' He replied, 'Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.'" --Luke 11:27-28.

Tradition definitely holds its valuable place in our world (without it, I wouldn't be enjoying some of the tastiest food ever!), but it can also lead people to automatically believe certain things without being accountable to seek for themselves. I pray that more and more Italians==well actually, that everyone--questions their lifestyles and rituals, and are eventually led to the real truth that is only revealed in God's Word.

My new family in Padova

The weather here has been unpredictable: Sometimes it will rain without stopping, other days will be sunny, but with an unexpected chill in the air. The best way to plan your day around Northern Italy's tricky weather conditions is to plan straight through it and hope for the best.

A little drizzle this morning didn't keep us from hopping on the train to nearby Padova. One of the missionaries decided to meet up with his friend, Marta, who had attended bible college the semester prior. I'm so glad we decided to tag along.

So after 45 minutes by train and 20 by bus, we made it to the town center. Today was a market day, where you could find everything from February flowers to cheap shoes from China.

Padova is much bigger than Montebelluna. There were plenty of winding cobble-stone roads and big buildings. Someone told me that the guy in the first photo was someone famous. I for got why, but apparently this Dante fellow lived here.


Not surprisingly, you can find Pizzerias everywhere in Italy, often at very reasonable prices. This square pepperoni (or Salamina Piccante) pizza reminded me of Little Caesar's back home... only 100-times better.
No wonder people eat so much cheese and bread, and yet are still able to remain in great shape--they walk everywhere!
After lunch we went to visit Marta's mom, Kiara. She made us feel at home instantly by offering us hot chocolate. This wasn't you're usual chocolate-flavored water neither... it was so thick and rich, if I didn't know it was a drink I would have just figured it was a melted chocolate bar in a cup.

Kiara was very enthusiastic showing us pictures and told us story after story in her broken English.She understood some of my Spanish too. I especially liked that she thought I was 20 years old!
Even though I new her for less than a few hours, it was kinda sad saying goodbye to my newest Italian friend. Chances are, I won't return to Padova with the limited time I have remaining here. Among other things, finances and cheap February flights will send me home sooner than expected. What I had hoped would be a ministry of service into the spring, became a couple-week visit to this awe-inspiring country. Better get to Venice before it's too late!

We learned some interesting symbolism studying the book of Joshua this morning. I'm familiar with every book of the Bible pointing to Christ in one way or another, but I never saw the type of Christ that Joshua represented. He was the military leader who led the Israelites into the promised land after miraculously crossing the Jordan River. Because their prior leader, Moses, died just before this, he represented the Law (or Ten Commandments). The Law could only get us so far with our Christian walk until it begins to hold us back. At a certain point in our growth, we need to shift our focus from the Law to the Law giver, Jesus Christ. He is the only one who can carry us into a fruitful and fulfilling land (or life).

Good stuff!