Thanks, to everything I miss

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.

cositas y gracias

Rise and shine, it’s cherry-pickin’ time! School here has been out of session for a little over a month now. But for many Pedrano families, this three-month vacation falls in line with the coffee harvest. Years ago, all the children were sent to the family campo to pick coffee cherries. I’ve spoken to locals (in reality, most parents here are more or less my age) about their childhood days in the coffee fields. Picking the plump red fruit from the tree was a job for the whole family. With a plastic basket or bag strapped around their waist, the workers scan each tree for the brightest red, the ripest berry and pluck it into the basket. (Hopefully Kevin and I will get to visit a campo and pick some coffee berries soon.)

Today, there are less children doing this work, but many families in San Pedro still have small plots of coffee trees to tend to this season. There is an old, abandoned coffee finca at the end of our road, hence the road is called Calle Finca. Kevin and I walked out there yesterday and passed through some small huts still occupied by a few families. The finca facilities seem to be in good shape, but are not in use anymore. At the very end of the road, there is a footpath that leads down to the lake- Playa Finca. There were a few families enjoying a Sunday picnic (as well as bathing and washing their clothes- the lake is so useful, ha), so we decided not to swim here. But there was a newly constructed dock and a little visible sand/dirt; which is hard to come by in town because the lake has risen so much and is continuing to wash away the earth.

We went to the oldest town on the lake last Saturday, Santiago Atitlan. It was a very interesting place, very traditional and quite spread out. We forgot to bring a guide book (or even look one over before we left, so we probably missed something) but the trip was fairly productive. Kevin got his hair cut for Q10 ($1.25!!!!) and I got to talk to a yoga instructor about a teacher certification program and his experience living on a sustainable farm at the base of the volcano.

Last week, I had some terrible allergies (first time in months!) and today I’m feeling much better. The wind has finally died down, and the weather is beautiful! The sun is strong and warm, but under the shade of a tree the air is refreshing and cool. What disparity from the autumn chill at home, eh?

Kevin and I have been thinking a lot about Thanksgiving this week. We are really going to miss our holiday family time, and we’ve enjoyed sharing our Thanksgiving traditions with each other. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that we’ll be creating any of our own here, as we have no access to the typical Thanksgiving staples. In fact, we don’t really have anything planned for Thursday, although Kevin is determined to make mashed potatoes (yessss!). We’ll have to get pretty creative :) and we’ll try to document the experience, of course.

Then on Friday, we’re heading off to Copan, Honduras. I must renew my passport before November 30, and rather than go to the city and pay for another stamp, we’re going to take a short vacation so I can be outside the country for 24 hours. We’re looking forward to seeing the Mayan ruins of Copan, but not too excited for the actual trip. Getting here and there in this country is never easy. It will likely be a ten-hour drive, and we have to stop in Antigua and switch shuttle companies. Then once we get to the border, we will probably have to pay exit and entrance fees (although there is a Central American Four agreement, which implies that tourists pass FREELY between Guatemala, Honduras, Belize and El Salvador) because all the government officers are corrupt and bored. Thus is life here.

Please enjoy some turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and vino for us on Thursday! Finally, some things I’m thankful for:

-health! The fresh food I’m eating and daily yoga and meditation I’m doing here have given me a new perspective on feeling healthy.

-friends and family! Always you are in my thoughts and I’m sending health and happiness to you this week

-Guatemalan generosity! For the wonderful people and the abundant land and nature here, I am thankful to be a part of it.

-opportunity! I have been so fortunate this year; being in the right place at the right time and meeting the right people. I am so grateful for the opportunities that have been presented to me and hope that I can keep the positive karma flowing.

-Kevin: I am thankful and so lucky to be here with you- te amo.

ps: feliz cumpleaños nana! wishing you a wonderful day! besos y abrazos!