23 de Julio

It was pretty quiet this morning without our fellow classmates that we started out with. The day was filled with normality. I studied, messed around on the internet, and had a good session in class. There was an extra treat at the end of class today. There is a large group from Portland University that is leaving tomorrow and there was a party to wish them farewell. The party was during my class but they brought my teacher and I tamales and punch. There are two types of tamales here in Guatemala. There are “chuchitos” which are very similar to the tamales of Mexico, made of masa de meiz and wrapped in corn husks. Then there are “tamales” de Guatemala. They are about the size of two open hands put together. Instead of masa de meiz, they are made of rice and they are wrapped in banana leaves. They are pretty good but I still prefer the “chuchito” style best. They call the punch here “caliente”, mainly because it’s caliente. I’m not sure what kind of punch it is exactly but they serve it hot like cider and there are chunks of cocoanut and pineapple inside. It’s really good. The word for today is “pupitre.” It means “writing desk.”