Food, Drink Y Volcano

The food situation has dramatically improved. The “mother” in my new house is a much better cook. She makes pupusas which are these incredible melted cheese filled corn tortillas served warm with an excellent homemade salsa. There’s also pepian, a spicy chicken stew with cilantro and pumpkin seeds, which sounds weird but is really yummy. Then I had the best chile rellenos of my life at a typical Guatemalan restaurant, different from the Mexican version as there was no cheese. And the best part is every day fresh corn tortillas are delivered to the house so every lunch is filled with the awesome smell of warm tortillas! No beans at this house, you would rather share a room with me here than my last place!! The fruits here are amazing too, many I don’t know the names of. Papayas, mangos, and coconuts are common and Maritza makes fresh juices with them. So no more hot dogs and beans for this girl—yay!!

My Spanish teacher, Mayra, took me to this huge Mercado and told me all the names of the fruits and vegetables but of course, I can’t remember them all. I have so much to learn. I’ve been taking naps each afternoon b/c my head hurts from all the learning!

I can’t believe I forgot to mention the coffee. They are understandably as into their coffee as Seattleites, maybe more so as there’s a lot of pride in their product. There are good coffee shops everywhere! Starbucks would never make it here. Other non-caffeinated beverages I like are horchata, a sweet rice drink with cinnamon and Rosa de Jamaica, which tastes like fruit punch and is made from hibiscus flowers. And for you beer lovers, the Guatemalan brand is Gallo, as in rooster. Sangria, mojitos, and pina coladas do not taste the same as in the US but I’ll continue to give them a try!

This past Friday, I climbed an active volcano called Volcan Pacaya. I went with 3 other students from the school and others from Australia and Chile driving in a shuttle to the volcano, a fun group. The drive took about 1 ½ hours from Antigua up and down windy roads into the “real” Guatemala. I realized how wealthy Antigua really is upon leaving, where it’s not uncommon to see Hummers and BMWs. As soon as we arrived at the entrance to the national park, there were young kids, maybe 4 or 5 years old, begging us to buy walking sticks. I bought one and was glad I did, the terrain was rocky and jagged. I was also hoping to mess with the hot molten lava (is this what it’s called, or magma?) with the stick but was too chicken to get that close. Other young kids were trying to get us to take a “taxi” up the trail—a horse!!! They kept saying “taxi, taxi, you need taxi.” And on the way down, they all said “light for me, light for me”-they wanted us to donate our flashlights so they could sell them to the next bunch of gringos. Sad to see such young kids basically begging. Anyway, the trip was up the trail to see the sunset and volcano and was dark and dangerous by the time we climbed down! We had a guide, although he wasn’t too helpful. But what a beautiful view of the surrounding valleys and up close of the volcano. It was amazing the heat it gave off! I tore up my shoes a bit but at least they didn’t melt, as other students’ shoes did. It was a surreal place, kept feeling like I was in a Lord of the Rings movie.

Mas to come....