Daily Life Blog Post - Food

This is one of many (hopefully) editions featuring aspects of daily life here in Guatemala... in writing these, I hope to share funny things, ironic things, and things I admire and I want to share them not as a form of judgment... in ANY way... but in a form of telling a story... with that being said...  here's information about food!

Food.

You can tell a lot about a culture from the food they eat.  In Guatemala, there is an interesting mix of food from the States (Ramen, McDonalds (that's where you go for special occasions), prepared soups), and traditional foods.  The traditional foods are what I love and they really tell us a lot about the culture.

 I didn't realize how true the "food tells us about culture" notion is until today.  Today was multiculturalism day... the day when everyone wears traditional clothing and every class presents to the students a traditional food showing them the ingredients, prices for each ingredient, what it all looks like, and where in Guatemala each ingredient is grown.   It was really cool to see the kids in teaching roles and empowered to take the role of teacher for one of the first times.

The kids getting a lesson in sugary tomales from one of the 1st grade classes

Me, with two of the 1st graders, wearing my former host mom's traditional Xela clothing

The primary ingredients in these foods are corn, sugar, cinnamon, beans, and rice... all things that can be grown here.  Corn, the commodity that can be grown in every department in this country, is a staple in almost every featured meal... including the drinks.  Sugar and cinnamon, things that I can't even picture the plants for (aisle 9, lefthand side at Safeway), are grown here and therefore featured because they make the corn taste better. Beans are affordable, filling, and healthy... if you ever thought there was a limit to ways that you can serve beans, you probably should visit here in order to get your mind blown. Like sugar and cinnamon, I don't think of beans as a crop, I see them as coming from a can with a nice looking woman on it. 

2nd Grade showing their enchiladas

6th grade and Platanos Rellenos

Then, there are the other foods.  The various peppers, spice things that I don't understand, random use of fruits, really really really inexpensive tomatoes (I have been known to beg/argue to pay more for a 1/2 pound because I really don't need a pound of tomatoes but they are so cheap you can't cut the price in half)... they are all used because they are grown here.  They are a part of the land, and therefore a part of the diet. And they're pretty tasty too!

Here's a recipe for you! (if you can read Spanish..)

Hands

Hands.

Something I’ve come to learn over the past 6 months in Guat (oh my goodness, we’re over ½ way! I am so sad… yet excited for the next chapter...) is how amazing hands really are.

If you were to look at my hands, it would be very apparent that I don’t have the best track record of hand care.  My left ring finger was broken and “surgerized” in an innertubing accident, my pinkies are both bent out of shape from too many sprains and accidents, there are scars all over them, and today, I’m graced with the presence of two temporary cat tattoos (thank you little host sisters).  I have always taken these vital organs for granted, but now that I’m living here, I see how incredibly important hands are to life.

Everyone knows that hands are the evolutionary advantage granted to humans.  Wow does that opposable thumb have some power! 

But, beyond evolution, hands are what sustain life.  These people here have taught me how much corn can be shucked by hands.   I have seen how their hands can assemble an ungodly amount of wood into a bundle and then strap it to their heads as they walk home.  Hands are what milk the goats walking down the street as people buy fresh milk by the glass.  Hands are what cut the fruit that I eat.  Hands are what write the lessons on the whiteboards.  Hands, for these people, are life. 

Hands are also security.  When we cross the road to go to the playground, the girls say, “Mano, mano” asking for a hand to keep them out of trouble.  When I put the girls to bed, they want to hold my hand, to know that all will be okay as they escape into dreamland.  At school, I sometimes feel like a strange version of a rockstar walking through and having every child reach for my hand (which is at face level, more or less) – for these kids who come from rough backgrounds or the orphanage, I sometimes fear that the touch for which they crave from my hands is the only positive touch that they will receive all day.

Finally, hands are for play.  Hands are what can hold playing cards, one of the primary forms of recreation in my life here.  They hold crayons as we create valentines.  I’ve learned that, at least here, high fives and thumbs up are universal reassurances and signs of positive feedback.  All the crazy hand games I have used in youth ministry to kill time are also great to bridge cultural and communication gaps.  All of us have hands, we might as well play.

Sitting in church the other day, I had the youngest one on my lap.  She, with her small, smooth, dark hand was rubbing my hand.  She clearly was mesmerized by it – it’s a different color, different size, and I have a wonky finger that keeps her entertained.  As I watched her intently watch my hand for over an hour, I tried to picture what she was thinking…

“we both have hands, but they’re different.”

“They both can do a lot of things but hers can open the glue when it’s stuck and mine can reach into the fence when we drop things”

“why are they different colors?”

“why does mine have a scratch here and hers has a bunch there?" 

“why do we both have 10 fingers?”

The beautiful thing about hands is how much they have in common, but how they can each tell a story of their own.   

I think that’s the beautiful thing about people too.

Daily Life Blog Post - Community

This is one of many (hopefully) editions featuring aspects of daily life here in Guatemala... in writing these, I hope to share funny things, ironic things, and things I admire and I want to share them not as a form of judgment... in ANY way... but in a form of telling a story... with that being said...  here's information about community!
During our group of volunteers from Southern Illinois University visited, one of the chaperons asked me if there was a big community of volunteers in Xela. I never thought of that as a question that someone would ask, and as I thought about my answer, I realized that I really just take the people here for granted.

I have a wonderful community in the country.  There are the Mission Co-Workers from PC(USA) who are not directly involved with the YAV program but who still offer support and invite us over for Thanksgiving Dinner (Thanks, Karla!).  Then, there are all the volunteers in the country: Juli, Laura and Andrew in Antigua area with our wonderful coordinator, Marcia, and her family, plus Tina who is  here in Xela with me so we can celebrate Monday Fundays.  The community that I have with these volunteers through our Sunday texts and monthly/bimonthly retreats definitely keep me going.  At the retreats, we each take as much time as we want (usually 45min-1hr) to tell our stories of the elapsed time since the past retreat.  Then, we work together to hear underlying issues and brainstorming how to address them, if possible, and talk about the really interesting subject that we have been studying/reading about since the last retreat.  I love it!  When this blog posts, I'll be in Belize with these wonderful people!

Tina and I, along with Malea, “my boss” at the school and Kyra, the other english teacher, also have a really healthy community here in Xela.  We try to grab lunch together at least once a week and from time to time have sleepovers or go on some fun adventure.  When something happens be it funny, strange, or bad, these are the people that immediately get to receive a text about it (aka my dog giving birth when I’m home alone, my month-long inability to find my bus (silly Christmas market blocking streets), fleas…).  The support they offer is incredible.

Then, there’s the other “extranjeros” in Xela. I don’t really have a night life, mainly because I don’t want to pay for a cab, miss the opportunity to spend time with my sisters at night, or miss my chance to work out in the morning (or more correctly, look out the window, see the frost, and decide that it’s way too cold to torture myself in that way).  However, despite my lack of socialism, I do have a few people who I really value and enjoy time with. Kate, Hannah, Steve, and Kelsey (from CPPC! before she left) are some of these people.  It’s just great to engage in conversation over a walk, hike, or coffee, about our experiences and observations. 

As much as I do really like people, I do also greatly value my independence and never saw myself as a strong “community” person.  Then, I moved to a Latin American country and community suddenly became important in my life – my lifeblood.  These extranjeros, along with my Guatemalan families, fellow teachers, and friends, are the reason that this experience (thus far) has been as incredible as it has been.  I wrote my Statement of Faith for Seminary with the premise that we, as humans, are called to live in community with one another and with God.  This year has strengthened that belief even more.   

Who are you in community with?

Happy Birthday, host mom! (and a post that is an excuse to display puppy pictures)

 This past Sunday was my host mom's birthday.  It was the first birthday for an immediate family member, and I was excited to see what transpired. 

I was warned that it would begin really early, at 6am to be exact (that's really early for a Sunday now that I'm not working at a church!).  I got up at 5:15, thinking that I should help prep for what was to happen.  No one was up so I went back to bed where it was warm.  Finally, at 6:10, the doorbell rung and in a matter of 5 minutes, our house went from silence to Alvin and the Chipmunks singing multiple versions of Happy Birthday and people running all about.   There were about 15 of us in total.  It was loco for that hour!

Around 7, we ate tamales and then life transpired into art in my room and puppy play outside where I gave my host sister my camera and she produced some fun pictures that I have to share!  
They are actually cute now - look!

Daily Blog Post... Transportation Take 3!

This is one of many (hopefully) editions featuring aspects of daily life here in Guatemala... in writing these, I hope to share funny things, ironic things, and things I admire and I want to share them not as a form of judgment... in ANY way... but in a form of telling a story... with that being said...  here's information about more transportation!


Transportation, as you can tell by its ability to take of three weeks of daily life blogs, is a very fascinating thing for me.  Not only do we have the big buses and the little buses (both of which have gained recognition with their very own blogs that highlight the differences between the US and here as well as some fun anecdotes), but then we have the other things that are just so different that the differences captivate my attention…

Seatbelts.  Yep.  Not important.  Nor are seat numbers.  I instinctively reached for the seatbelt in our car the other day and not only did my sisters laugh at me, but I found out that they are as close to unusable as humanly possible.  Then, as soon as I recovered from the embarrassment of assuming that I would be able to safely sit in my seat, I was befuddled by how many people were crawling into our car. That number would be 13.  Yep.  13 people in a SUV.  Kids in the back, 5 people across the back seat, and 3 in the front.  Ridiculous.  I guess I didn't need a seatbelt after all...

Streets.  Psycho.  Not straight. Very skinny. Very pretty.  Slightly terrifying when  a car, driven by a very energetic and aggressive driver, comes careening towards your face.

Motorcycles (or Motos en espanol). Possibly the most dangerous idea ever.  Put lots of people, of all ages, on a two wheeled hundred pound (or more) piece of metal and drive around town like a bat out of hell who has no recognition for rules or traffic regulations.  This is made even more treacherous when you realize that the larger hunks of metal on wheels that they are cutting around and through also have little to no respect for rules and regulations of the road (that is terrifying as stated above).  

and helmets?  They're a fashion accessory.  I see them most often hanging off the handle bars. 

How many people can go on the moto?

Two Spanish teachers + a bag full of water + moto = relief car for our independence day 5k.

 Pick-ups.  They are by far the most useful car in Guatemala.  There is one town outside of Xela that is nicknamed Toyotalandia because of its influx of Toyota pickups.  They aren't lying in the name.  There are a ton of pickups.

Anyways, pickups can carry a lot.  They can carry 10-20+ people, ages 0-90.  They can carry bags upon bags of fruits.  They can carry enough food for hundreds of people as we hand it all out at schools. OR... they can carry ALL THOSE AT THE SAME TIME!

One of my favorite things about walking through the Market in the mornings is that the majority of the Taxis that are there are pickups.  Magical.

Stand up, sit down, stuff in the cab, or extend yourself over the luggage in the back.  How you ride in the pickup is up to you.

Laura modeling with a tuk-tuk!

Tuk-Tuks.  Aren't they pretty?  Sadly, they're outlawed in Xela... possibly because of the crazy other forms of transportation. 

But, let me break my mourning and describe these amazing vehicles.  First of all, every tuk-tuk has its own flair.  The one pictured here is pretty boring.  The ones out along the lake are crazy.  They look like bugs with their flying curtains as they careen and bump down the holy (not in the spiritual way) roads (often sandwiched between camionetas... in a collision, the latter would win).  They are decked out in hyper, flashing lights, and have extraordinarily tinted windows... so tinted that sometimes you doubt that they can see out the window at night but then you realize that there's a tiny hole, the size of a telescope, that allows them to see.  And at night, you sometimes question their sobriety.

Tuk-tuks, in design and by definition, are three-wheeled apparatuses that are driven by a joystick... kinda reminiscent of our the handles that steer and drive the airplane my family had when I was a child. Not reminiscent of our airplane, the average tuk-tuk pilot is a 20 year-old boy who is looking for girls and a party and as many people to ride in their tuk-tuk as possible, thus they drive REALLY FAST (afterall, you're charged for distance, not for time). 

Oh man, there's so many more types of transportation to tell and explore, but there just isn't the time... plus, so many other stories to share!  
Take care!