Healing aloe

My latest experiment in healthful smoothies, liquados as they are known here, is the inclusion of fresh aloe. It is delicious and very good for you. Aloe is well known for healing skin or epidermis, the lining of the stomach and the intestines has the same properties and for this reason aloe delivers great curative powers to the stomach. The important ingredient is the preparation of the aloe “filet”. After experimenting with a few methods this works best for me, take a lovely large and juicy leaf and clean and dry it. (Be prepared to get your hands all gooey, but the amazing thing is if you rub it in like a lotion it disappears and you get lovely soft hands. ) You'll need a sharp peeler, a sharp knife and a soup spoon. First of all the cautionary notes: at the base the leaf exudes a bitter yellow to bronze juice, DO NOT USE THIS! This bitter juice will cause severe diarrhea. What you want is the clear jelly inside. I like to have all my other fruit ready in the blender and add the aloe last.

A few pieces of pineapple, some papaya and fresh water is all that is needed. Additions such as other fruit or yogurt are also tasty. The curative effects come from the aloe, papaya and pineapple. The Pineapple and papaya both contain valuable enzymes that aid in digestion. Blend your fruit and if you like throw in a couple of ice cubes. The frothy mixture is a delight to the mouth and taste buds and your insides will thank you.

Home for lunch, best smoothie so far... fresh coconut, papaya, pineapple, yogurt and a splash of water, nice and refreshing and love those helper enzymes from papaya. An early morning trip to the "bomberos" market yielded some necklaces for Amelia and got the abuelas all excited to bring more next week. I finally figured out how to look interested in something else while I am checking out what I really want. Duh you say, that seems so obvious, I just don't have the acting ability!

I also found some very simple and light sandals at the sunday market and have been wearing them just about full time. They cost about $4.65 a pair with good solid rubber soles.

In these days the weather is dry and sunny and then there are sets of 3 or 4 days with lots of wind, the ritual for the shop keepers is to sprinkle water all around their stalls and on the busy street to keep the dust down. It really helps. This shot is overexposed, the sun is so bright but up on the left is a man sprinkling water all around.

At the dock the other day a man was selling macadamia nuts, not cheap (relative) he says he buys them for about 70Q per pound a little less than $10.00 but they are so amazing fresh from the shell, he carries a hammer with him to release the nuts. That and a few tortillas made lunch. That day I only had boat fare so could only buy a small handful of nuts. If you think I'm obsessed with food here, I AM. So many amazing fresh things, so challenging to clean, the ongoing battle. Off to the lake, that's all for now.

Sunset tonight a tapestry of grey, black and gold. Usually there is more pink in there. I feel the same way. A day of emotions, the phenomenon of NGO's (non governmental organizations) in 3rd world countries can be trying at times.

In the boat ride to Santa Cruz I overhear some exhuberant, dewey (white american) young men talking about their church and projects here. Don't get me going, isn't this how the troubles began here back in the days of the spanish conquistadors?! At any rate the question remains, such a beautiful country and so much need but how to help by teaching people to help themselves.

Here is my friend Jiff in the new kitchen at Cecap in Santa Cruz. The kids are having fun baking cookies, notice the rapt attention, but after they bake they go over the recipes and talk about what it cost to make the cookies and what they might sell for or what someone might buy one for. This includes time to go by boat to town, gas to bake, not even mentioning the existence of an oven which is a rarity. Most cooking is done on wood fired stove tops. The fact that the school is there to begin with is something short of a miracle and much work by the Amigos de Santa Cruz take a minute to read about this group.

Looking down from the windows of the school one sees incredible beauty and great poverty, the song of life here. These are two views from the same window. When I am walking up the switch back road to the village there is a characteristic smell in the air, wood smoke from cooking fires, dry soil and a slight pitchy dry scent from the grasses that grow alongside the road. I'm not going to mention the other less enticing odors this time!

My friend Francisco and his family live farther up the hill. He has just finished hauling about 300 of the 600 cement blocks, 40 bags of cement, much sand, rebar and wood to add on to his house. The original adobe house has one main room where he, his wife and their 5 sons live. The last several hundred yards of the delivery process is on your back which is actually and improvement from a few years ago when the small pick up truck could only get to the town center with materials! The industry and perseverance is admirable.

Soaking in the sweet Guatemalan breezes, outside the window a jasmine perfumes the air. I have a few projects brewing, enfleurage for my collection. By placing a small amount of an unscented light olive oil, soak fresh flowers in the oil, replacing the flowers each day until you are happy with the scent. Last year my jasmin kept it's fragrance all year. Soaking from left to right is alyssum, jasmin, gardenia& honeysuckle.


Last night I decided I needed a touch of home and made some potato latkes much to the surprise of my local family. We ate them inside corn tortillas which was really quite delicious. (Yay for the double carbs.) I was unable to find applesauce in the market and too lazy to make my own. But they were still yummy. I was worried they'd be soggy with the potatoes here but after a brief soak and wringing out in a towel they latkes were deliciously crispy.

Today the plan for a morning swim was altered by strong wind and waves, maybe it will settle down a bit for an afternoon visit. I'm trying to rest and recover after all the work getting the new greenhouses ready for spring production before I left. I'll be hunting around for some odd seeds to trial as I do every year.

Now my idea with the blog is to keep it light and simple so I don't stress about the content and just get some words and images out there for you to enjoy. I would love to get feedback or suggestions if you want me to look at any particulars.

Today in the garden Miguel found this snake and gave him his due, the poisonous snakes have taken over a bit since he was in the states working but he's been out there every day since we arrived trying to get things back under control. Anybody know the identification of this particular snake?

Walking to town the other day I followed a local abuelo in his traje (the customary clothing). I never want to invade people and sneak shots from behind. I hope to include a study of the lovely color combinations that the women put together for their daily dress. Well and I had to put in this photo because it just cracked me up. Barbie goes to Panajachel!