THE BOLIVIAN UNDERGROUND: Chocolate, My Friend

This past Christmas a good friend of the family left large Christmas basket full of goodies on our porch. By mistake, the person who delivered it left a small price tag on the side indicating that the contents, wrapping, and the basket itself totaled around $35. It was because of this tag that my parents refused to open the package in fear that a scamming gift collector would come and ask for the $35 (my parents believe that everybody is out to 'get them'). So, the package remained unopened next to our Christmas tree after Christmas, for most of January, and for a portion of February. That was it. I searched the package and found a phone number for Carol's Gifts on the bottom of the basket. I called and asked if a scamming collector would come hunt my family down for the money. The kind lady informed me that the package was from a family in the Stake, and that the it was already paid for.

I unwrapped the clear cellophane and pulled out some treats. Chips, salsa, cookies, cheeses, crackers and a tub of Stephen's White Hot Chocolate. I. Love. White. Hot. Chocolate. Do you know where you can find white hot chocolate? Nowhere. I have searched all stores and Internet websites and found none. So you can only imagine how excited I was. I would sprinkle nutmeg and cinnamon above the steaming drink and share it with my family over a game of Ticket To Ride. I could not imagine more perfect nights than those.

Then my white hot chocolate tub became more tub than chocolate. The sources depleted quickly. I was sure that I was the only one who would make use of that tub and it's insides. One day my dad told me that my mom was eating it too, only she was eating it plain (without milk, or shame). All those spoon fulls of goodness, wasted. I hid the tub from then on until it was finally gone.

I thought the days of white hot chocolate were over. Then my parents got back from a trip to Hawaii and brought me back a small tub of white hot chocolate that they found there! This was especially surprising because my parents are usually the worst gift givers, ever. But this gift was really nice! I guess they saw how excited I was about the white hot chocolate and the next day they bought me a pound of white chocolate. A pound of it. So thoughtful they are, really.