Today I learned how to make chocolate cake the Guatemalan way. I carried a few ingredients on my 1 hour school-bus ride and 50-minute walk to Shalanshac where I met the unsuspectingly large group of Guatemalan ladies. As I walked to the town from the bus I enjoyed the immaculately clear view of the miles of cobalt blue hills and ravines and innumerous sheep and lambs grazing on the unendingly steep hillsides. I spoke with my walking company about chocolate cake and family until we arrived to our destination, and was asked to accompany the 4- or 5-year-old girl walking with us in her graduation next October. When we arrived I ducked through the kitchen door to find 15-20 women with bags full of this or that ingredient, but never all of the necessary parts. We started by greasing and flouring our sauté pans (in which we were going to bake the cakes) while the HUGE bread adobe oven heated up. Soon we mixed the ingredients while measuring everything by eye in coffee mugs and table spoons and fought over who got to use the cocoa I brought with me before it ran out. We finished before the oven was heated and so proceeded to make frosting, of which only two out of the 15+ were able to achieve the necessary creamy, spreadable texture. Everyone else put in too much milk/water because they were afraid that the difficulty they had stirring it warranted more liquid. And of course there was not enough extra powdered sugar to go around, so they all ended up with icing instead. Then they rushed to feed me my two hard-boiled eggs, peeled tomato and peeled potato before I had to catch the bus back to town while fighting over who was going to reimburse me for the ingredients. Eventually it all came together one quetzal short of the total amount and I headed out the door. I had to leave before they put their cakes in the oven, so I’m anxious to hear how they turned out. Vamos a ver.
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The rainy season started to come in a few weeks ago. I have enjoyed my naps under the daily afternoon torrential downpour on the tin roof quite thoroughly. I’ve also LOVED the thunder cracking ferociously right above my head and wading through rivers on my walk home from work. I just don’t think I’ll get sick of it. LOVE it.
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I continuously grow more and more excited for my short visit to home. I get so excited with my insatiable hunger for your hugs. I need them. It will be difficult going from this wonderfully temperate climate to 110-degree Sacramento summer days, but well worth the sweat. I love you, thanks for reading.
Sees, I cannot wait to see you either. What a happy experience, baking chocolate cakes :-) And I'm jealous of your "rain on a tin roof" times... Yesterday we had some cracking thunder over my office, but it wasn't nearly enough to make me happy! The weather here has been much cooler than average, so hopefully it was stay so for your trip home. No 100+ days in the foreseeable future :-) I yub you mucho mi hermana.
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