My internets been really bad so I am just catching up on my blog posts now...
Friday:
We started the day with another bowl of fruit and went to do our Charla on the Rocket stove. At first we were skeptical if the advertising that was done was going to bring any people, but only 20 minutes late (its Guatemalan time), people started to show up and were excited to hear about the rocket stove. I introduced who we were and then my job was to create the fire and show how the rocket stove works. After we talked about how Soluciones Communitarias is a business that is here forever that is for Guatemala and our products are not donated because we want to be a sustainable business and offer solutions that are more than temporary we started talking about the rocket stove. The rocket stove is our smallest stove that serves as mostly an auxiliary stove for a family that already has another stove. In guatemala people have to use so much wood to light their stove and it is really inefficient and uses so much wood and money. Foods like beans and Nixtamal take hours to cook and a lot of the time the entire stove has to be used and so much wood just to cook one type of food. With the rocket stove they can save so much wood and time because the stove is small and uses so little wood and conserves the heat so it is really efficient. After we talked all about the stove me and Nicole made popcorn for everyone and they were able to see how it works.
All the women were crowded around as we successfully lit the fire and made delicious popcorn. It is made of metal so people were scared it would burn them but while we were cooking everyone was touching the stove and were amazed that it was almost cold! We also were able to sell a rocket stove after our presentation but the best part was one of the ladies took down all the names of the women that were interested and when they had the money they were going to take a pick up truck to the store which is far form where they live to give access to so many more people!
All the people from the Charla!
Lighting the fire...success again
A fire and Popcorn!
Our professional set up
The poster I made...so artistic
We are ready!
After our successful Charla we had lunch at our home which was a SALAD with grilled chicken and avocado! I was in food heaven. Then we had a Candela competition where we went to peoples houses to sell candelas for their water filters. We did this because many people in the town have donated water filters from three years ago but after a year the candela that filters the water does not work! So, so many people do not know this and are drinking dirty water!
After our weaving lesson we returned home for dinner which Raylin cooked! She returned home with the ingredients at 7….so I knew it was going to be a while until we ate. She cooked dumplings, eggs, and soup which ended up being delicious but we did not eat until 10! Thankfully I was there to help translate for her and try to get the cooking going faster or else we would not have eaten til 11! The hardest part was making the dumplings out of scratch….making the tortilla like outside was a huge struggle but ended up being delicious. This was our last dinner and during dinner our mom gave us each a napkin she had weaved for us! She then gave us her phone number and email address and had a long speech thanking us for the fun times! She was the nicest and her family was so great! Sad that this home stay was only for so short!
After our weaving lesson we returned home for dinner which Raylin cooked! She returned home with the ingredients at 7….so I knew it was going to be a while until we ate. She cooked dumplings, eggs, and soup which ended up being delicious but we did not eat until 10! Thankfully I was there to help translate for her and try to get the cooking going faster or else we would not have eaten til 11! The hardest part was making the dumplings out of scratch….making the tortilla like outside was a huge struggle but ended up being delicious. This was our last dinner and during dinner our mom gave us each a napkin she had weaved for us! She then gave us her phone number and email address and had a long speech thanking us for the fun times! She was the nicest and her family was so great! Sad that this home stay was only for so short!
Rayling attempting to make dumplings with corn...
Had the directions in Chinese
The hardest part of the dumplings..
Eggs and water mmmm
Still cant keep his eyes open!
The meal...soup with cucumbers and carrots, some fluffy eggs, and an extra large dumpling
Raylin still cooking...its 10pm
Batch number 2..extra large dumplings
Saying Goodbye to our home stay was really sad!
Raylin and the fam
Me and the Fam....GOOD BYE!
