Food Glorious Food

If you know me I’m sure you wondering why it took until my third post to talk about food. But I’m here now and that’s all that matters.

We’ve been in Guatemala now for three weeks and had too many food adventures to recount. I will tell about some of the highlights of the trip so far.

We cook for ourselves which has been interesting but really rewarding. In order to do this we shop at the outdoor market for fruits, veggies, meats, and eggs and in the supermarket for the rest. The market is an amazing maze of colors and smells. As we run through the narrow spaces in between the stands chasing after Mirella, our host’s wife, we realized we could not manage without her.

The first day in Guatemala we settled in, went to the supermarket, and made dinner. Peanut butter and jelly, the only thing we felt comfortable making. Though we still make PB&J’s for lunch, we have definitely branched out. We have learned that bean paste is not only a necessity, but delicious. We have learned the difference between spoiled and good milk, by asking Luis after a couple days if the milk tasted strange to him. We have learned how to make vegetable soups, tostadas, poached eggs, and various hearty rice dishes. Breakfast is usually a mess in the kitchen. We scramble to eat cereal, pack our lunches, and make coffee by placing a ground-filled filter over our cup and making our own drip system. After a day out, we always come back to eat our favorite tortilla chips we found at the store, while we prepare dinner.

Eating out of the house has been so fun for us as well. The first weekend Luis took us to the Macadamia Nut Farm. After a short tour we ate at the restaurant. We had maca pancakes with maca butter, maca granola with more maca butter, and traditional Guatemalan breakfasts with eggs, bread, potatoes, and plantains. We have also fallen in love with a local crepe restaurant. It was so good the first day; we had to go back again the next. With Independence Day this past weekend we did try a lot of the street food that our students recommended. None of us got sick, of which we were so grateful. Lastly, the ice cream. Our team loves sweets and Sarita, the big ice cream shop here, always satisfies our cravings. We live a block away from a bunch of tiendas, little stores that sell snacks and basic house and food items. Their ice cream is great as well but we walk to the tiendas to try all the local chips, candy, and cookies.

So far we have really enjoyed all the food. It’s interesting to see the different staples and prices. Communicating with the locals at the market, tiendas, and on the street is always an experience, but it really pushes us to learn and be immersed in the community and culture.