Thoughts on Food

(the bounty from a recent market visit)
One of the things that I love about Guatemala is the abundance of fresh food. Every Sunday and Wednesday my town comes alive with the sounds and smells of the street market. Vendors come from all of the villages of my municipality and some of the surrounding towns to sell things that they have grown or raised. On market day I am able to buy most of my food for the week (excepting things like flour, olive oil, and specialty ingredients like curry) and know who grew, where it came from, and when it was cut. It’s amazing! I have developed a friendship with Doña Glendy, the woman from whom I purchase my veggies in the market. If I see her when I’m walking around town on a non-market day, she’ll often give me a bag of cherries or an orange- just because.

It’s an amazing thing, knowing from whom and where your food comes from, and something we’ve all but lost in the United States. In the 9 months or so that I’ve lived in my town I’ve been watching my neighbors and friends value what the earth gives them and have learned a lot from the experience. There’s a word in Spanish- “criollo” that is used almost interchangeably with the word “rico” or delicious- it means basically homegrown. Guatemalans use it to describe all sorts of food products that come from the community- chicken, garlic, vegetables; the word is used with pride to tell a guest that what they are eating is from here- in other words, it is the best there is.

One of the women I work with, who lives in a village that is 2 hours from the town center once took me for a walk out in the woods and pointed out various medicinal plants that I never would have recognized as edible. She also cut me some green leafy things and gave me instructions to bring them home and cook them like spinach and eat them with salt and lime. It was delicious and clearly full of iron and other vitamins. It’s this kind of creativity and simplicity in food that we’ve lost in the US that thrills me about Guatemala.

On the downside, any Peace Corps Volunteer will tell you about the multitude of Guatemalan children seen sucking down sugary sodas and chewing on prepackaged snacks. Sadly, a bag of processed Tortrix, the Guatemalan national junkfood, costs less than a mango or a carrot. Hopefully Guatemalan food culture is strong enough to hang onto their respect for the local and diverse. If not, they might soon find themselves in the junk food crisis that the US is in.

Camionetas: Part II

During my first few weeks of training I wrote a blog discussing the qualities of the famous Guatemalan mode of transport- the Camioneta. Now that I’ve lived here for almost a year I’d like to reflect once again on this colorful aspect of Guatemalan culture.

They’re loud, they smell, and typically stuffed to the fingerprint smudged doors with people, livestock, luggage and the like. Peace Corps volunteers earn more or less the same amount of money as Guatemalans, therefore we eat, live, and travel in the same ways- including camionetas.

My favorite part of the camioneta ride, and the aspect on which I wish to reflect on today, is a little something my friends and I have come to call “the wedge.” Think back to the days when you rode a big yellow bus to and from school. Maybe you were assigned a seat or maybe you fought your way to be the first on the bus and have the best seat, but either way, you’ll remember that the seats were designed for 2 people, 2 small people. However, here in Guatemala, we creatively fit 3 full sized people in each seat bringing each row of the bus to a grand total of 6 passengers with kids and animals on the lap. Typically this means that the two people sitting on the outside towards the aisle are left with space for only one cheek; when winding up, down, and around the curves of the Guatemalan countryside, the trip becomes a workout and a battle to remain in your seat.

This is where the wedge comes in. The official definition of the wedge is the smashing of the two aisle bodies together so that they prevent each other from falling to the floor. The trick of the wedge is that both parties have to be willing- which is trickier than it sounds. When you are the third in your row and the third spot in the seat across from you has yet to be filled, you’ll be eyeing the boarding passengers to see who might sit next to you. The ideal partner that you are hoping to sit down next to you is the middle aged mama-type. She’s always willing to work together to make the ride more comfortable. As for the rest of the passengers who may chance to share the aisle with you, you’ve got to feel out whether or not they’re willing to do the wedge. With a little bit of luck, you’ll be sitting comfortably in no time.

4th of July (and, I`m back!)

Working for a government organization such as the Peace Corps means that you celebrate the 4th of July in style. This year, Peace Corps Guatemala hosted a 2 day All Volunteer Conference leading up to Independence Day, in which they invited leaders from interesting fields, former Peace Corps Volunteers, and others to come and talk to us about our post-Peace Corps lives. Then on the actual 4th of July we had a giant party complete with an American barbeque, DJ and dancing, Soccer game (in which the Ambassador played- the man is good), basketball tournament and talent show.

Side note: those rockin yellow shirts that you see me and David (in the background) sporting are our offical Huehuetenango t-shirts! Though we were knocked out first in the basketball tournament we were for sure the brightest at the party!