Miss J9 Peace Corps Adventures: Guatemala: Making Tamales

War on Mold

Posted by Author On October 21, 2010

From around Mayish to Octoberish is classified here as the rainy season. It is signified with rain showers almost every day and usually around the same times. In some towns, like mine, there are several power outages, and sometimes water can be dirty from the soil movement. Funny enough, none of these things really bothered me. Granted, I really didn’t like wearing rain boots everyday because, here, they have no inner soles in the bottom of the boots, but I could still deal with them. The one thing I could not deal with was the MOLD......

Trainee to Trainer

Posted by Author On September 30, 2010

Remember a year ago when I was in the middle of my training? Remember when I wrote about FBT (field base training), and how dramatic it was for me? Well, thank God all of that is behind me! Now the tables have turned. I’m on the opposite side of the training… the trainee has become the trainer. The past two weeks, I have hosted the “New Class” at my site. First, there were the Ag Marketing trainees. They came to visit my coffee cooperative. They got to meet Rudy, a wonderful guy I work with, who gave them a history of the cooperative and where we are planning to be in the near future. They got taste our delicious coffee we make, and a special surprise…

The Visitor

Posted by Author On September 13, 2010

As I waited at the airport like a kid waiting for Santa on Christmas Eve, I thought to myself, “I wonder if she makes it through customs ok?” She can’t speak any Spanish, and I don’t know the customs process well because it was over a year ago when I arrived. “Oh well! She should be fine. My sister made it through with no problems. She will too!” I continued to wait, and wait……and wait. Finally, she walked out! My face lit up like a Christmas tree, and all I could do was wave.

New Editor

Posted by Author On September 7, 2010

Despite the fact that I have several projects with my cooperative, I still felt like something was missing. I wasn’t quite sure what it was, but I knew I had to figure it out. So I sat for a few days trying to decide what was wrong. I wasn’t depressed because I rather enjoy my life in SMJ. I wasn’t lonely because I spend a lot of time with the guys from my cooperative. Hmmmm? What could it be? Then, just as I thought I wouldn’t figure it out, it came to me. I don’t really talk to the volunteers in my project. Other than catching a glimpse through the blog-o-sphere, I really don’t know what they are doing in their sites. How could I remedy this problem?.....

One Year in Country

Posted by Author On August 10, 2010

This week marks my first year in country!!!!!! I can't describe this feeling I feel right now. It's amazing! Just yesterday, I was thinking about my first day here; how scared I was, but not in a bad way. I remember thinking, "How did I get here? Am I really going to do this? I can do this!! Just breathe!" Those moments of chaotic emotions brings me to a sense of peace now. I love that I had such an awkward time during my training months. I definitely came out stronger on the other side.....

Lost in Translation

Posted by Author On July 15, 2010

SO, I have been learning Spanish and a Mayan language, Kaq Chikel, at the same time for almost 6 months. I must say, my Spanish has improved but my Kaq Chikel….NOT. I’m still on salutations. I guess because I spend way more time speaking Spanish with my counterparts, everything else goes by the waste side. Now my real struggle begins, I teach English classes to my counterparts!! That’s right; they let the girl with the lowest Spanish level possible teach them English. I guess they figure: this is the one place I should really excel. Ha! Ha! Jokes on them, or should I say on me?.....

Fabulous 4th

Posted by Author On July 5, 2010

¨Oh say can you see….¨started my first 4th of July celebration outside the U.S. It was also the first time I heard those words sang so proudly since I began living here almost 1 year ago. Tears filled my eyes and slid down my face as I sang along with a great joy in my heart. I couldn’t explain it. I was so emotional. Since I’ve been in this country, it’s the first time almost all of the Peace Corps volunteers currently serving in Guatemala have been gathered together. What a beautiful experience!!!.....

Juneteenth

Posted by Author On June 21, 2010

This past weekend I participated in the 1st ever Juneteenth celebration here in Guatemala. Forthose of you who are unaware of the significance of Juneteenth, let me give you a brief history lesson. On June 19, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln sent the U.S. Army to Galveston, TX to enforce the decree set out 2 years prior that abolished slavery. On that day, Uniion General Gordon Granger, read aloud the that emancipated all slaves in the U.S. Therefore, Juneteenth is our Independence Day!......

After the Storm

Posted by Author On May 31, 2010

Have you ever been to a “Stomp” performance? You know the one with the tin trash cans, brooms, etc? Now imagine those sounds directly above your head in a 1200ft3 room. That’s the sound of the rain pouring down on top of my tin roof during tropical storm Agatha. It rained non-stop and so hard that water leaked in through the cracks underneath my window. And I can’t stand the rain against my window. I unplugged all of my electronics just-in-case lightening decided to be not-so-nice and destroy our power lines.....

IST

Posted by Author On May 10, 2010

Last week, I attended my IST. Now for those of you who are not up on your acronyms of Peace Corps, IST stands for In-Service Training. As a Sustainable Agriculture volunteer, we all gathered together for a few days to go over some things we may still be fuzzy about, but need, to do our jobs. Therefore, we received training on some great things. We learned how to make organic pesticides and fertilizer, how to compost with and without worms, how to form tire gardens, and how to make jellies. We had a blast! It was only 5 of us, but we like it that way. Everyone was able to participate in the learning process.....

Making Tamales

Posted by S. Janine

This past weekend I went to my host family's house in SAAC. I love to visit them. They really treat me like part of their family.

When I got there, they were prepping the food to make tamales. Now this is an every Saturday morning event. They start early in the morning making the tomato sauce and corn mix. I'm still not sure how those two are made. When I lived there, I never go up early enough to see; and now when I visit, I never arrive early enough. Although, this time, I got there around the time they were cooking the corn mix. Of course as a member of the family and a female, I had to help in the preparations. I stirred the corn meal-mix, while my host sister added the water and salt. It's not easy mixing over an open flame. Sometimes, the smoke gets into my eyes. They burn! After we are done with the corn mix, we prep the table to begin making tamales. We make a bowl of tomato sauce and a bowl of the corn mix. We have a bowl of banana leaves and a pile of corn stalks (also known as "petate").

Now we are ready to make tamales. Here's how it goes:

**Take 2 banana leaves and lay

them flat on the table, placing

one inside the other.

**Put one scoop of tomatoes and

one scoop of corn mix in one

banana leaf.

**Mix the two together

**Optional: add a piece of chicken

or beef

**Fold the first banana leaf so the

mix does not come out

**Then flip the first banana leaf

over inside of the second

banana leaf

**Fold the second banana leaf

**Take a a corn stalk and pull it

apart so you have long strip

pieces

**Tie the the corn stalk around the

banana leaves

**Place in large pot of 1/4 hot water

**When finished making them all,

add more water to the pot

**Place several plastic bags over

the top of the to act as a lid

That's a lot of work! It normally takes majority of the day to get everything done. With an extra hand helping, we were able to get done after a few hours.