Tortillas, but So Much More

Back in the states, I never, ever would have put down money for a corn tortilla. Before coming to Guatemala, my experience with corn tortillas had been pretty disappointing. They were always stale, tasteless, and far inferior to their soft, chewy flour counterparts. Basically they could ruin an otherwise good meal just by being there. I am a changed woman.

Keep in mind these are just observations and bits of interesting information I´ve learned along the way, and I´m sure many a cultural anthropologist could say all this better with more clarity and precision. However, I feel like I´ve devoured enough stellar corn tortillas, and spent enough time in the company of those who can make a mean one, in my three months here to be able to write a musing little blog.

As an Iowa girl, I know corn. I grew up literally surrounded by it, and ate it for dinner an average of three times a week, and that was in winter. However in Guatemala, corn isn`t just a diet staple, it`s a thing to be revered. Part of my pre-Guatemala studies also taught me that many Mayan groups perform extensive ceremonies asking permission of the earth before planting or harvesting the crop. I would like to see an Iowa farmer perform such a task before climbing into his combine.

According to the Popul Vuh, the Mayan sacred text which translates to The Book of the Community, the Mayan people are literally The People of Corn. The Mayan creation story explains how the gods tried several different materials including wood and mud during the construction of humanity, and found them lacking, until they built men and women of corn. This is a small exerpt-

¨They came together in darkness to think and reflect. This is how they came to decide on the right material for the creation of man. ... Then our Makers Tepew and Q'uk'umatz began discussing the creation of our first mother and father. Their flesh was made of white and yellow corn. The arms and legs of the four men were made of corn meal.¨

As they play such a crucial role in the Mayan cosmovision it`s not a surprise that, corn and corn tortillas aren´t just food sources in Guatemala, they´re cultural and spiritual icons. I´ve seen corn tortillas integrated into Guatemalan culture in a number of different ways over the past 12 weeks. In the Mayan-Catholic church in Chichicastenango they were brought up to the altar as an offering. In Guatemala City they were small, almost perfectly round, made of black corn, and were on the table at every meal. In Chamelco they were thick, soft, and the size of dinner plates. Here in Xela they often appear in the form of a tamalito, a small slice of husk-wrapped cornmeal. Working at Bezaleel School, I knew I´d finally arrived when I could down an entire bowl of soup using only tortillas. Corn is also present in the form of tamales, chuchitos, atol, and other local fare. I remember reading in ¨I, Rigoberta Menchu¨during my Guatemala preparations, that she and her large family subsisted almost entirely on tortillas and maiz atol, a thick, sweet, milky drink made of ground corn. If they were lucky they had some chile as well.

In some areas of Guatemala the word for tortilla in that region´s native language (there are 26 in Guatemala) is the same word for food itself. In the Kekchi language for example, the word for tortilla is ¨cua¨and the primary verb for ¨to eat¨is ¨cuac.¨ As some fellow volunteers, who speak quite decent Kekchi, explained to me, you can down an entire meal, but if you haven´t had tortilla yet, you haven´t actually eaten.

So, I´ve identified just one more way Guatemala has changed me. This isn´t a huge change, it`s more of a palate expansion than anything else, but maybe a little more than that. Guatemala`s culture and values have rubbed off on me a bit, and have yet again left me feeling a little more reverent of the world around me and my own connection to the earth, and I`m left wanting to learn more. Even if I can´t relate to corn and corn tortillas the same way a native Quiche or Mam Mayan would for example, I now have more context to understand and respect the connection they feel. Pass the tortillas please.

Thoughts on Xela, and What Comes Next

Today marks the end of my second week in the city of Xela, the second largest and most important city in Guatemala after the capital. It´s a beautiful, very European-styled, city midway between Guate and the Mexico border, and I absolutely adore it. Originally Xela was not part of the plan at all. Those who read some of my first entries will know that I started out the summer thinking that at this point I´d still be doing service, and presumably in Honduras. I am so happy I scrapped that plan and didn´t look back! Xela fits, very well in fact. It´s a sort of haven for American, Canadian, German, Dutch, and English travellers and basically every other nationality you can name. People from all over the globe come to seriously study Spanish, but yet at the same time Xela is very traditional and very Guatemala. Walking through the streets you still hear Spanish as well as the native Quiche, but Dutch, English and others are still common.

The city itself is quite pretty. Although it´s modern, it´s cleaner and more charming than the capital, but more realistic than Antigua, basically a perfect mix. The streets are cobblestone, the homes and businesses a rainbow of colors, and the buildings in the heart of the city are tall stone edifices that almost remind me of some of the Dublin streets I strolled down 8 years ago. The central park is flanked by restaurants, salsa bars, and shops and the city just has a very relaxed, casual, friendly vibe. I am lucky enough to be living only three blocks from the square and one block from my language school. It´s a great location from which to explore the city. My host family here is much more financially stable than my family in the capital, and it´s been very interesting observing the different lifestyle they lead. They have been equally warm and welcoming, and I even have a housemate from NYC named Sunny. She and I get along very well and it´s nice having another student in the house.

The quality of Spanish language education, in my case anyway, is also much, much higher. I feel as though I´m finally learning here, and regret spending so much time in the city to be honest. In two weeks I´ve been able to experience two different teachers, and I much prefer this method of learning. Before my second week they actually recommended that I change it up because people who do so also tend to learn at a quicker rate. After having the same sweet, but generally disappointing profesora in the city for seven weeks, this was a welcome change. Carlos, my first maestro, loved talking futbol and politics, was great at correcting me on my use of the preterite and imperfect tenses, and even took me to see the birthplace of President Arbenz Guzman. Ligia was very sweet and never let me get away with using masculine and femenine improperly, and indulged me when I wanted to spend class time visiting a famous Xela bakery. They have both been excellent for my progress, and I´m very excited to work with Jessica next week, which is also my final week in Xela and in Guatemala...for now.

After having travelled almost every weekend since I arrived in Guatemala, I decided my last one should be spent enjoying the present. I´m really looking forward to just spending the day exploring a little more of the city. I plan to attend mass at the beautiful cathedral, wander through the museum, maybe pick up a few things at the market, and possibly meet another student for dinner at one of the many restaurants that look so delicious. I also wouldn´t mind ending up taking a few spins on the dance floor as I discovered two days ago I´m actually a pretty good salsa dancer. Good to know those 13 years of ballet and jazz are still serving me well.

Although I love the idea of just spending a whole lazy, leisurely weekend enjoying Xela, I have to admit I have an itch to see Chichicastenango just one more time. I´m heading to the Chichi market with some other students early Sunday morning to tuck in just one last big Guatemala market experience. The first time I was pretty rushed, and I would like to enjoy a full Mayan-Catholic mass at San Tomas while I can. Since it´s just a day trip from Xela I don´t have to go through all the trouble of figuring out multiple busses and coordinating times and hostels, which is a nice change of pace.

Since my time here is quickly coming to a close I´ve also been trying to remind myself that, although it might feel that way, Guatemala is not my reality. Honestly thats a really hard truth to accept. I truely love Denver and the life I have there, but every day in Guatemala is an adventure, and that becomes very addicting very quickly. I´ve come close to tears several times in the past weeks thinking about the fact that I really do have to leave, and generally over insignificant little nuances of Guatemalan life. It´s not that I even prefer Guatemala over Denver, but I think I´ve fallen in love with the feeling I have being here. Three months isn´t a lifetime, but it´s enough to become more the kind of person I wanted to be, and thats equally addictive. I don´t want to over-romanticize my experience here, but I think anytime you find an environment that allows, or maybe encourages, you to become more fully yourself, you can´t help but feel like you´re leaving something terribly important behind when it´s time to go. I know that my Guatemala experience doesn´t end when I leave the country, but it sure feels like that from where I sit right now.