Pan de banano

I had another women's group meeting this morning. Got to tell them the good news that our pila project was approved by my director, and that the next steps can be taken…they seem excited, and at least I know that they'll be patient. If one thing is for sure, Guatemalans are patient people.

Today I had them all bring ingredients to make banana bread, which ended up being a huge hit…I think Rice Krispy Treats were just a little too strange for them. Banana bread is great because all of the ingredients (minus the baking powder which I provided) can easily be acquired out here in the campo, for cheap. I was a bit nervous about making bread over an open-fire (I'm lucky that I have a toaster oven to do my baking), but I followed the "Peace Corps Oven" technique, and it worked surprisingly well. For those of you out there that ever want to bake bread on an open fire (or a stove-top), here's how:

How to make a Peace Corps Oven

Supplies:
1 large metal pot with lid. (It needs to be big enough for a bread pan to fit inside with room to spare)
1 empty tin can, label removed (empty tuna or cat food cans work the best)

Place the pot on your stove-top/fire. Fill the empty tin can ½ with water and place in the center of the pot. Balance your baking pan on top of tin can. Cover the pot with the lid, being sure not to knock your baking pan over. Cook over medium heat. Avoid removing the lid too often to keep the baking heat inside the pot. This oven is best for cakes, breads and pizzas. Cookies do not bake well because there is no top heat.

The women loved the recipe; I demonstrated with the first loaf, and they made the second loaf all on their own. When the first loaf came out of the "oven," they all touched it and said "puro tamale!" I guess I never would have made the connection between the consistency of banana bread and a corn tamale, but I can see where they're coming from. They've all requested that on my next trip to the city I pick them up baking powder and aluminum bread pans so they can start baking the breads themselves. I was relieved that it went over well…poco a poco I feel like I'm earning their trust. It's still very formal, and they won't stop calling me "Seño Ana" even after I've insisted they just call me Ana. But relationships take time here, and there's quite a lot of them, and only one of me. Let alone the language barrier. They have this habit of looking at me and speaking in pure Q'eqchi', none of which I can understand. So I've started responding with full sentences in English, which they really get a kick out of. It is frustrating having to communicate through a translator. I'm getting impatient with myself…I want to learn Q'eqchi' faster! But as always here, I just gotta keep studying and stay patient. Estella (my unofficial translator) and I get along well, though…she's invited me to come to her house this weekend to help her kill and cook her 2 rabbits. Yay. The women also collectively decided that they want to dress me up in traje (typical dress) for the 15th of September (their Independence Day…it's a big, BIG deal here), so that should be fun.

No classes this afternoon, so I'm going to go for a run and settle in early with a book. Gotta be at the market tomorrow by 7 if I wanna beat the rush and get the good cabbage.