In light of Thanksgiving, here are a few of the things I miss:
1. Friends and family: number 1 for a reason, but really, this entry, like American society, is about appreciating materialistic things. I wrote that last sentence when I first started writing this entry, and had to come back…definitely miss a lot of material things, but also a lot of experiences unique to the states.
2. Thanksgiving in CT. For the friends and family, definitely, but also for the Manchester Road Race every Thanksgiving morning, and of course, for the food and the resulting food coma.
3. Refrigeration. We don’t have a refrigerator, and hence anything that needs to be kept cold, we need to use right away. Often we just don’t buy it. A huge portion of this entry is going to be devoted to foods and beverages that I would normally keep in a fridge.
4. Fresh Milk. Ultra-High Temperature Pasteurized milk just isn’t the same, and the real stuff isn’t even available.
5. Bicycle culture: I miss being able to ride everywhere, geek out about Shimano 7900 and Sram XX, talk about how carbon fiber isn’t really all that rad, and make fun of people for trying to coordinate a colorway.
6. Trail maps: For lack of having anyone to mountain bike with, the lack of maps makes mountain biking even more frustrating. The same goes for hiking. Dear god, I hate paying for guides, and I will never take U.S. outdoor recreational infrastructure for granted again.
7. Cold cuts. Cured meats are hard to come by here, and I don’t have a fridge, again. I could buy bologna at some of the tiendas, but I don’t really like bologna, and even if I did, the stuff here looks like garbage. Taylor Gourmet, Neon Deli and Noonie’s, you spoiled me rotten.
8. Cheese. See refrigeration. But even when we do buy cheese to eat the same night, the cheddar tastes almost the same as the mozzarella, and there’s no feta to be had. The queso fresco’s pretty damn good though.
9. Draught beer: really only exists in Guatemala City and Xela.
10. Microbrewed beer, and a variety of choices in general: Here we have a single dark beer option, Moza, then Gallo and a few other equally boring and watery pilseners/light-colored lagers. A hoppy IPA, please.
11. Snow. If global warming ruins my trip back home for Christmas, I’m gonna be pissed.
12. Great coffee. Guatemalan coffee’s great, as far as the beans are concerned, but the attention to preparation is lacking, with a few exceptions. Definitely a luxury in DC to have at least a half dozen great options for an excellent cup of coffee.
13. Hipsters. I’m kinda serious, we only have hippies here, and there’s a huge difference.
14. Music. I miss hearing new music at work and in coffee shops, online, and passed down by friends. And going to shows. Guatemala needs a Black Cat, and some bands that aren’t playing reggaeton or some hippy bullshit. One night we walked by a bar with a guy playing “Reggae-Flamenco Fusion.” Awful, and to make matters worse, his stage name had something to do with elves.
15. New England Macintosh apples in fall.
16. The internet at home, without having to go to an internet café. I think we’re working on this for our return in January.
17. Ben Tabor. Just kidding.
18. Grapefruit juice. Fresh would be grand, but I’m really talking from a carton, with pulp, when I wake up in the morning.
19. Twizzlers. This is really Stacy’s thing. So far my mom and Jennifer Holder have sent them. Mad props, yo.
20. Comfortable furniture. The bed’s perfectly fine, and we have some wooden chairs and a bench constructed by yours truly, nbd, but there’s something to be said for couches and heavily-upholstered armchairs. Such a spoiled brat.
21. Tap water that I can drink and use to rinse my mouth when brushing my teeth.
22. Being able to flush the toilet paper.
All that being said, I’m thankful that I’m here with Stacy, and that I’m lucky enough to take a few months to slow down from the normal pace of life in Guatemala, learn about coffee from the ground up, eat some great (if often questionably sanitary) ethnic food, and travel and experience life in another country with an incredibly rich culture. I’m just looking forward to being back stateside next Thanksgiving.
So funny story in relation to your cheese comment. My girlfriend (who is Mexican) was making cheese enchiladas one time, and I was given a shopping list which included queso fresco. After getting all the other ingredients I discovered that queso fresco is harder to come by in Boston than anticipated, especially when the people at the grocery store don't know what you're talking about and you're not sure if there's an English translation that would be easier to find. This became increasingly frustrating as I was told over the phone that it wouldn't be worthwhile to make enchiladas with any other kind of cheese so if I couldn't find any queso fresco I might as well put everything else back. I bought everything anyways, ready to insist that we make them using shredded cheese but we ended up ordering food instead. A few days later (the next day?) we were at Trader Joe's and she told me they didn't have queso fresco, she had looked before. Since apparently it was a necessity (and because I wanted her to make me enchiladas) I checked anyway and they did in fact have some. Add some green salsa and the effort was well worth it.
ResponderEliminarThat's all I got. I realize now that it probably was not very funny, nor did it have much of a point (make enchiladas?), but it seemed relevant especially because this was only the second time I had ever heard of queso fresco. Also, I'm in the middle of finals and that was a whole bunch of minutes I didn't have to spend studying. If you're not back yet have a safe trip home. Kevin, I'm sure I'll see you at some point over break.
-Confrey (Brian)