Taking a crash course in Spanish in Quetzaltenango (Xela) involves living with a Guatemalan family. Homestay forces you to immediately practice the skills you acquire in morning class.
Last week I lived with the R’s, a couple in their early forties with a 17-year old daughter and a 14 year old son. We usually met for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Unfortunately, their working class-cooking wasn’t exactly a feast for the papillae. Some day menu’s:
Monday
- Porridge with cornflakes
- Plain spaghetti with tasteless fresh cheese
- Scrambled eggs
- Dry tortilla pancakes
Tuesday
- Small, thick pancakes with maple syrup
- Overboiled ‘rice porridge with shrimps
- Egg soup
- Dry tortilla pancakes
Wednesday
- Scrambled eggs
- Baked banana’s (not bad)
- Bitter Guacamole, Refried bean paste (love that stuff!)
- Dry tortilla pancakes
It wouldn’t be so bad if the desayuno’s, almuerzo’s and cena’s were accompanied with some mean Spanish exercising. Unfortunately, my guest family was more interested in watching Mexican dating shows and Colombian soap opera’s with the worst actors you can imagine.
Today I relocated to the house of a sweet and talkative evangelical couple my compañero Jeroen already lived in for a week. It really sounds more scary than it is. Besides, they are better cooks.
1 response so far ↓
Sirkka // February 23, 2008 at 11:25 pm |
Beauty and inspiration can be found in most boring places. Good luck with searching.