una receta para ustedes!

hola! just wanted to share a new recipe that we've added to our weekly repertoire. courtesy of kevin, mostly :) i want to try to post something foody on a regular basis... we'll see how that goes.

Caprese Pasta with Eggplant and Rosemary Vinaigrette

serves 2-4

ingredients:

olive oil

salt

crushed red pepper flakes

rosemary

4 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 large onion, chopped

2/3 large eggplant, chopped into cubes

2 plum tomatoes, diced and not seeded

1/2 fresh basil leave, torn into strips

2/3 cup queso fresco, crumbled/cut (or feta)

pasta, your choice

vinaigrette: (makes 6 ounces)

one minced garlic clove

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 honey

dried rosemary

crushed red pepper flake

3-4 ounces balsamic vinegar

3-4 ounces olive oil

Instructions:

Prepare vinaigrette and set aside (you can add dressing to dish as a whole before serving, or each plate may serve themselves

Boil water for pasta. After vegetables are chopped and assembled, start with olive oil, garlic and onions in the pan. Add red pepper flakes, rosemary and salt as you sautee the onions until translucent. Add eggplant and toss until golden. Then add tomatoes and simmer for a few minutes. Turn off heat and mix with pasta. Top with basil, queso and vinaigrette.

Buen provecho!

machete.

queremos comer! queremos comer!

kevin bought a machete last week... i'm not crazy about it, but hopefully he can clear some trails soon so biking here will be more enjoyable.

besides- maybe he feels more like a Pedrano. everyone here has a machete. they use them for everything: cutting wood, carving, farming, construction... they're huge. and they don't have any kind of blade cover or casing. (machetes don't hurt people, people hurt people... or some excuse like that...) some of the locals that carry them into the woods to work (especially the kids) are so short that the blade is sometimes longer than their legs.

he's been pretty busy preparing for the coffee course he's giving next week. i hope i or someone can video tape it. it's gonna be really grrrrreat. i'm so proud of him.

if i could just get him to use a regular knife for eating his vegetables...

hola, otra vez!

long time no blog. wow! wasn't planning on a month-long hiatus, but it's been a very busy month. the holidays were wonderful: lots of family time, lots of good food and lots (bordering on too much) travel. between driving back and forth across tennessee several times and from nashville to austin, i thought maybe i was well prepared for the day-long journey back to guate. little did i know, mr. winter turned that journey into a four-day one.

worst: the waiting. it's always the waiting. that helpless feeling that something out of your control is orchestrating your precious time. while i would have much rather stayed home for the duration of the flight delay than be cooped up a hotel in southern atlanta, i was lucky to share the time with my mom. as frustrated as we both were, i wouldn't trade those days for the world. the older we get, the less time we seem to have (or the faster it passes, not sure which) and it's important to relish those moments.

anyway, suffice it to say it was a long trip. and boy was i glad to see kevin. he was so sweet to make that trek twice (in the same week is incredulous to me, much less in three days). and now after a week being home, i'm beginning to understand why people tend to stick around this place longer than they originally intend to. it was so nice to return to something familiar. as kevin already explained, the chinga was definitely familiar. but i underestimated the comfort that i've felt this week hearing familiar bird calls, squirrel (yes, squirrel) calls, the T'zutuhil language, the patting of tortillas being made, the roar of picops and tuk tuks flying down the road in front of our house... it's not that we're starting over, per se, but being here after the initial culture shock and displacement has worn is truly amazing.

so far, kevin and i have been very agreeable and supportive of each other (high five!) this due in part because we're aware of things that have to get done everyday and the burden can't fall on one person. it also helps that he's got some goals with FEDEPMA and i've started working with a local art collective, and have met some really neat people.

they're working on establishing a weekly art workshop for local kids. i'll have much more to write on the subject once the ball gets rolling... right now, we're still organizing and setting objectivos... some of the photos below are from the first saturday (basically a try-out), but it was super fun.

also featured below: la guitarra (se llama "chito" aranjuez), but kevin calls it the aranjuez POS 500. get it? it doesn't stay in tune for more than a 2 and a half minute song... but it is certainly the thought that counts :) we are both enjoying it.

and now, if you'll excuse me, i'm going to go eat a mango.

going away dinner for Lorenzo. so yum.

Internet en la casa

So, we've been back for about a week now, and finally got internet in the cabin! We should be a bit more plugged in now...

Anyways, it's been a great week so far (not counting, from what I can tell, Stacy's extended stay in an Atlanta airport hotel). It's kinda strange how much coming back into San Pedro felt comforting, even the first time back, without Stacy. Same basic headaches, but it feels good to be back.


I flew into Guatemala city Tuesday, and after one chicken bus driver tried to get me onto his bus (the wrong one, of course), I finally made it into San Pedro around 7 pm, after leaving the parent's house in CT for the Boston airport at 1:30 am. Luckily Joss and Natasha, our neighbors, invited me over for dinner, since we had no food in the house.


After giving a tour at FEDEPMA on Wednesday, I took the chicken bus back into Guatemala city to meet Stacy at the airport. Her flight had been postponed 3 days thanks to ice storms in Atlanta. It was great to be home, and amazing to see family for the first time in several months, but the three weeks apart felt like a looong time, especially considering that we spend entirely too much time together here in Guatemala.


So finally seeing her step out of the airport was my best moment of 2011. Which was quickly followed by another 5 hours in a chicken bus to Panajachel (15 hours in old US school buses in 3 days, and they don't make those seats for adults), an hour waiting for a boat to cross the lake (captain said we were leaving "ahorita, muy pronto," then proceeded to have a beer with his buddies for 45 minutes, already back in the thick of the chinga), and finally made it back home. So we haven't exactly eased back into Guatemalan travel, but the past week has been great, for me at least. No doubt Stacy may have her own perspective.


Anyways, I have to go manage 13 high schoolers from Norway who want to volunteer at FEDEPMA for the afternoon, so I gotta run. But if they're reading it, I hope Christy, Dan and Judith are having a great time at origin in Nicaragua. Crashed at Christy's in DC two weeks ago, and I'm still finding Pika and Buckley's doghairs stuck to my stuff. That may have been TMI, so here are a few quick pictures from the trip to meet up with Stacy in the city. Of course I didn't actually take out my camera once we met up, but here's a glimpse at chicken bus travel.

Chicken bus from San Pedro to Guate

3 people to a seat, knees slammed against the seat in front of you, but damn, that's some nice fake marble interior!

Three to

a seat, and more in the aisle

Panajachel dock

height of the coffee season. the drying patio at FEDEPMA

quick post from the airport

Hi there, it's been a little while. I'm writing this from the Fort Lauderdale airport, and I thought that my flight was going to be dlayed a bit more, but I just got the call up to board. Basically, just wanted to say that we're on our way back, though Stacy's trip was pushed back from Monday to Thursday due to a poorly-timed ice storm in Atlanta.

Anyways, we'll be back to semi-regular posting soon.

Happy belated new year,

Kevin