Food in Guatemala is an experience within itself. A lot of it is amazing while other parts not so much. The biggest shock for me though has been never getting quite what I’d expect. For instance I had asparagus soup for breakfast today and then a green bean omelet and maple syrup covered pineapple for lunch and eggs and beans for dinner. A few days ago a friend opened up a Tupperware his house-mother had sent his lunch in to find an entire fish (eyes and all). The fish was then given to another more fish-enthused friend but he said it was amazing. We are all having experiences similar to this whether it’s with chicken feet or the thin oatmeal-like soup (that is surprisingly really good) that a lot of Guatemalans have for breakfast. We are learning quickly that, although we’re definitely not going to like everything put in front of us, frequently it’s the things we wouldn’t expect to like that we end up loving and that the only way to really get the most out of Guatemala is to try everything and dive in, stomach-first.

To thank our host families for their generosity and sharing their food and culture with us, last night a couple of us interns (Caitlin Eaton-Robb, Vishal Khamdar, Morgan Croce, Anthony Blake, and I) threw a pizza party in an attempt to show our host families a little bit of U.S. culture and food (with the help of the local Domino’s). After the pizza was delivered we had what many of our Guatemalan friends agreed was the best meal since we arrived. This wasn’t because of the pizza (even though Domino’s pizza is as good in Guatemala as it is in the States) or the really good and really sweet ketchup they dip their pizza in. It is just oodles of fun having a bunch of Guatemaltecos in the same room eating dinner with you and laughing away at jokes you can’t understand. Not a moment passed when someone wasn’t cracking up and we couldn’t stop if we tried. It was so fun and so successful that we all agreed we would make it a weekly gathering and from what I can tell my host-family is as excited about it as I am.