Aug 30 Thurs Pot Luck at Kie-Balam (school)
Up and ready to roll the same as usual. After a terrific breakfast (Ha!) we walked to school. Today we will be preparing a pot luck lunch. Can I tell you how much I hate pot luck meals? Anyway all of the students who wish to participate will be in the kitchen around 11:30 am. Of course that means we have to go to the mercado during our Spanish lessons. I decided not to make a gumbo because I could not face buying the meat for it plus I did not want to be standing over a pot of roux forever. I bought some green beans and onions to stir fry. We bought way to much as usual, however the final results were good. The beans could have been a bit more tender but time ran out so we ate them aldente. Don & Juan made a salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions with vinegar, salt and pepper. Then Don remembered that he had a hankering for guacamole so the Don/Juan duo went after avocados. Much to my great surprise the guac tasted simply terrific and the surprise was because I had to 'wing it' on the spices and other ingredients.
Marlo, the school director, contributed a casserole with spinach, potato, red pepper, cilantro, parsley, salt & pepper. Patty made a drink "tipico" of pineapple. The meal and the company was great. I had been longing for greens for some time and this was just what I needed.
Our plans for the evening was to go to San Carlos University to watch a performance of typical Mayan folkloric dances. Marlo invited herself to go to the event with us. We picked her up (on foot) and then took a microbus part way. It was part way because we found ourselves on a bus that didn't so where we wanted it to and Marlo had been involved looking at the pictures on our camera. Don was the one who noticed we were going to leave the area of San Carlos. We got off the bus and walked to the campus which was alive with people!! There was a rock concert going on in the courtyard. Then we discovered that the folkloric program had been cancelled! Disappointed we headed home on foot in the dark! Marlo took my arm & walked on the outside so she would be the one at risk and not one of her students. When walking around in Xela you will often see a mother and daughter hooked arm and arm or two girl friends hooked arm and arm and if I had to guess why they do that it would be because of the fear of children being kidnapped which occurred in the recent past in Guatemala. Even here there is safety in numbers and never go out alone--find a buddy.
When we reached our "home" neighborhood we went to Cubatenango for a burrito. They were great! They are tortillas filled with rice, beans, tomato, avocado, lettuce and wrapped as a sandwich. We continued our trek home and then Marlo invited us to have a cup of chocolate-con-leche (hot chocolate) at Cafe Q at Kie-Balam. The chocolate was terrific but we headed home soon after finishing.
