Rellenitos de Platano with Familia de Martinez

Guess I'm becoming Guatemalan after all.  It makes me crazy to write Spanish words like platino without the correct accents.  Imagine an accent on the a in platino.  Thanks.  I feel better now.

Smooshing overripe platinos was never on my Friday night list of things to do, but it works.  Lisette made sure we had a full body experience making these Guatemalan snacks.  The pan next to me is filled with sweetened black beans.  Now, don't scoff.  These were very yummy treats.  We took a handful of de-lumped platino and pressed a hole into it for a bean pocket.  Then, the sweetened platino is wrapped around the beans and fried in hot oil.

Hermana Batschi, the new enfermera (nurse), has been here less than two weeks, but she is adapting beautifully.  Behind the stove where you see the darkened window is a typical Guatemalan courtyard.  The courtyard in Lisette's home is between the living room and kitchen.  She has lovely fig trees and tomato plants growing there.  The boys have gymnastic rings anchored to the courtyard beams for their workouts.  Luis has lots of athletic awards and Armando is a fine artist.

Guatemalans love their hot corn and hot fruit drinks.  Lisette is boiling all kinds of fruit to make her favorite for us.  It usually has random chunks (sometimes large) of fruit floating in the glass.  This drink is gray in color, which is not so visually appealing as a wassail made in the U.S., but it's very good.

Carlos surprised us with some gorgeous handmade Mayan artifacts.  Mine is a jewelry box with Guatemalan jade set into it.  Mike's is a hand carved drinking vessel used by adults for their horchata, a corn drink that is much loved here.

Carlos is an attorney in Xela.  He has studied Mayan history extensively and has traveled in Egypt and learned much about their culture.  It was delightful to discuss with him the Egyptian history and symbolism in our LDS scriptures and to compare all three cultures and the spiritual beliefs they have in common.  He was amazed to find chiastic structure from Hebrew roots in the Book of Mormon.  I was amazed at how much of his Spanish I could understand.  That's rare.  On the way home I discovered that he loves opera as much as I do.  Isn't the world a small place!