Elotes locos (crazy corn on the cob)! Personally, I prefer it before it's slathered in mayonnaise, ketchup and hot sauce (notice the huge tubs of condiments).
A stand of typical Guatemalan candies, including my favorite- candied coconut!
Carmen, Des, Sara and I all ready for the big noche vaquera (cowboy night): a rodeo followed by a dance.
Now here are some pictures of broccoli harvest. I spent two mornings last week helping my host family. Broccoli is the main source of income here in my village; with the chilly weather, it grows great. Broccoli takes three months from planting the seedlings to harvest, so many men get in two harvests during the rainy season, and if they have irrigation, one in the dry season. Although some men grow broccoli to sell in the local market, the majority work with export companies. The broccoli is cut up into pieces at one of the maquilas (factories, if you will) here in the village, and then transported by truck to the capital, where it is frozen, packaged, and exported mainly to El Salvador and the USA. So next time you buy a bag of broccoli, check the country of origin! I know one of the export companies sells to Hanover Foods (based in Hanover, PA). Actually I just looked at their website, and it says that Hanover purchased ALCOSA, a broccoli exporting company in Guatemala in 1975 in order to ensure vegetables year round. Interesting, huh?
A nice head of broccoli.
Nando cutting broccoli and tossing it to Sole.
The sack where Sole is packing the broccoli.
Sole tying up the first sack- that day they got almost 40!
These sacks are heavy- 130 or 140 pounds, but the only way to get them to the truck is on your back!
Nando tying a load of sacks on his truck for the drive to the "acopio"- the place where the broccoli is weighed by the export company and loaded on trucks which take it to the "maquila" or to the capital.
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