Hot Tamales

August 26, 09

I came back for lunch at my host family's to find Patty, live-in cook, maid/cousin, hauling a huge sack of potatos into the kitchen. Why? My host mom, Estella, said she would make 500 potato tamales for the local school for a snack. Let me tell you, this tamale-making is definitely an endeavor.

What was needed:

*500+ potatoes, boiled, peeled then made into mashed potatoes

*Few pounds of tomatoes, onions, butter, oil (probably something else, I forgot to ask), blended together to make the sauce

*1,000 banana leaves made into pairs of one large and one small leaf

*dried corn leaves to make the string the tie the tamales together

*500 hot peppers

*20+ lbs of meat

*mix the potatoes and sauce together in a huge tub

*scoop out a big spoonful of potato mix, place in the 2 banana leafs, add a pepper, add a piece of meat, fold banana leafs and tie.... then place into a huge pot

I had a few for lunch today and they were awesome. Probably the best tamales I've had since I've been here. They started at 1:30 pm and didn't end until 4:00 am.... crazy!

Vamos Xela!!

Experienced my first foreign soccer game, the Xelaju (che-la-who) soccer team of Quetzaltenango! It was pretty awesome. Our seats were kinda crappy but we were in the "cheering section". The game opened up with "Tigo" girls (dressed provocatively, of course) throwing our free prizes, all sorts of fireworks and then tons of chants. Thanks to our NY Times photographer and jounrnalists Kiki and Kati, we were able to score some pictures on the infield.... and became friends with the Western Highlands Tigo representative known formally as Juan Fransico "Pancho" Ramirez, now oficially by popular demand known as Don Juan. The "Don" drove us classy ladies around in his white volvo and for the 20 min. car ride, for a split second, we felt pretty cool. Thanks to Papa Don we will never have to pay for another Xelaju home soccer game and if we play our cards right.... maybe unlimited Tigo minutes.... but I'd settle for t-shirt. Ahh yeah.

GRATIS = attendance

So I gave a health presentation in front of 15 teachers, administrators, health professionals, etc. at my town muni. The meeting went well, teachers asked for my information so I could possibly start nutrition classes in their classrooms and I got word that they wanted me to give the same presentation the next day. Well.... not exactly. I show up with a health educator from my health center and one of my doctors and there are like 500 people here. They are having a food promotion with soy protein, pasta, atol, tomato sauce... and each food was represented by a company. Basically a local NGO put this promotion together and due to free food and a raffle the whole town showed up... well it felt like it to me. On top of that everyone in that room spoke Quiche, so there goes my health presentation. So between the cheesy in-between act fillers (teenage boys lipsynching and dancing terribly to mariachi-type singers decked out in tacky suits and large sombreros) I had to use the bathroom, of course. I had to use the public bathroom in the town market. Pretty much you are guaranteed to leave the bathroom with your pants soaked in pee and crap. Forget the smell. Needless to say that was awesome. I get back to find out the presentation started and my health educator was looking for me.... I felt bad, but it was either cross my legs in pain on stage or sacrafice the health of my feet (I was wearing sandals, go figure) and smelling like pee. Well, the presentation went well but when someone tells you to give the same presentation the next day it could either be 15 people or 500, you never know here.....

Lactancia Materna

My health center had a parade to celebrate the month of breastfeeding. About 300 women from all over Chiquimula came to participate in this parade. It was actually pretty cool. At one point during the presentation part one of the health educators asked all the women to start breastfeeding their babies and then asked me to take pictures.... since I've been here I've probably seen nearly 50% of all the women's boobs here. Boobs are like smiles here, you show them for the whole world to see... at church, on the bus, while talking, walking, eating, holding your other child's hand, maybe have someone else's kid see, maybe even test out.... there are no rules here for boob modesty. So if you really like your boobs and like showing people but can't in the states in public, hop on a plane and we can air those puppies out.

Pulgas, Pulgas, Pulgas!

Anything that flies and sucks on blood has had a piece of me. When I go to sleep at night I put on layers: socks, wool socks over the socks with my pants tucked in, t-shirt tucked into my pants and a long sleeve shirt... and I still manage to wake up with bites. AND they itch like you wouldn't believe. There are days when I scratch my legs for a good 20 mins. Then after the bites they turn into bruises, it is awesome. I am hoping whatever scent I am giving off will stop soon, it is getting a bit ridiculous :(

LONG overdue....

Well, I have been in site for almost a month. So far so good. It is a very small town, quiet, tranquil and the people are nice. I'm still have some difficulty with the language, but it is getting better as the weeks go by. Eventually I will start learning the Mayan language, Qui'che.... it is the second and dominating language in my site but first I need to understand Spanish. Here are some pictures from my cite, Santa Maria Chiquimula, Totonicapan!