Chocolate can change the world

We were up bright and early to help with today's guests. The Toledo Cacao Growers Association (TCGA) had asked Ixcacao to do a workshop and training session specifically designed for Mayan Women. Most of these women are growing cacao and mainly use it in the traditional way of making hot chocolate. This is the chocolate drink that Mayans have prepared for thousands of years by hand grinding the unprocessed cacao bean on the metate. What most Mayans don't understand is that their cacao, what they actually grow, makes a chocolate bar. Fascinating right? Ixcacao is the only Mayan chocolate maker in Belize so TCGA wanted Juan to educate them on how to take the cacao bean and produce moulded chocolate bars.
The women arrived from their villages all packed in the back of pick up trucks. It was such a colorful vision seeing all these dark haired woman with their brightly colored orange, blue, yellow and green dresses, some with babies and toddlers in tow climb out from the truck. All together there were about 30 women, not including the babes. The workshop lasted until the mid afternoon, and went through the entire chocolate making process - roasting, winnowing, grinding, tempering and moulding chocolate. I have so much respect for Juan. By passing on this knowledge, he doesn't view this as future competition, but educating the Mayan people and giving them a better way of life.
For most of my career I managed Executive Briefing Programs at Sybase, Oracle and Apple and I've got to tell you, Juan is a natural. He ran this workshop perfectly! He had every woman stand and tell their objective of why they were there, kept them engaged and adjusted his presentation when it became too technical. Most of the Mayan women were very, very shy and even had a hard time standing up and stating their name and telling what village they were from. Juan was a pro at drawing them out. Ned helped Juan in the training and was in charge of explaining and demonstrating the tempering process. Not an easy challenge for my food scientist guru, especially when English was not their native tongue! Ned found it ironic to explain that the optimal conditions for tempering call for a 65 degree room and most of these woman don't have electricity let alone air conditioning! The traditional Mayan home has a thatched roof, wooden board walls and a mud floor. However, Juan and Abelina also came from these very humble beginnings and now have electricity, wifi and an air conditioned room for chocolate tempering. Yes, the water did run out again today, one is always battling the never ceasing invasion of the insects, but it is possible! (Just imagine leaving a spoon that had sugar on it on the counter. By the time you turn around it is lined with thousands of microscopic sugar ants, or wasps clinging to it. Don't even get me started on the cockroaches that invade every nook and cranny).
For me, this was probably my most rewarding day of anything we've done in our two weeks here. To see the aha moment when some of the woman, particularly the younger ones, "get it" brought tears to my eyes. To see that they don't have to just grow the cacao, that is sold for maybe 90 cents a pound, but that they can make a valuable and highly desired product that can sell for one or two dollars an ounce was inspiring.
After a really long day, Ned and I packed up our belongings, and all of us (Juan, Abelina, Henry and Lucresha too) all headed into PG. Tonight was the big "Battle of the Drums" a celebration of the Garifuna culture. We walked around town for awhile to soak in the vibe before the drumming began, then enjoyed dinner at a restaurant overlooking the moonlit sky sparkling down on the Caribbean Sea.
By this time, everyone was just exhausted and we decided to say our final goodbyes and head our separate ways. It was a very tearful goodbye and we will miss this warm and generous Mayan family who welcomed us and made us feel as if we too were part of their home. I will miss Abelina's laughter and friendship, Juan's great sense of humor, hanging out after dinner listening to Henry and Lucresha's stories and of course, Abelina's great cooking!! I won't miss that damn rooster that insisted on waking us up at 4 am every morning!
Ned and I were crashed out, kaput, wet noodles hanging out on the couches at the ProWorld HQ with no intentions of moving for a good 12 hours, when in walked Nicole dressed in beautiful Garifuna attire. She said, "You guys gotta go see this. It happens once a year and you'll regret not going." So off we went headed toward the "Sports Complex" and were soon surrounded by hundreds of enthusiastic Garifuna, many dressed in African attire or brightly colored clothes, moving and grooving to the beat of dueling drumming groups on stage. Wowza. Loved the music, drums, dancing, and stories told thru the drums. At around 10:30 Ned and I couldn't keep our eyes open anymore and decided to drag our weary bones back home. We meandered through the PG streets finally settling down about midnight. Whew - what a day. Vacation starts tomorrow!

TGIF with the Cho's!

Woke up with a spring in my step...okay after Ned brought me coffee in bed! Nothing like coffee grown on your own farm, roasted and freshly ground to start off your day.
After a cold shower which I kept telling myself that I would be grateful for in a couple of hours due to the humidity, I finally showed up for breakfast. The kids were already long gone for school and Abelina had fixed another amazing spread. Fresh eggs made with her own salsa, (homegrown peppers & onions) with papaya and those all too delicious fry jacks. Knowing this would be our last morning to enjoy breakfast at a leisurely pace, we all savored the moment and hung out a bit.
There is a big group coming in tomorrow so Juan left to prepare his presentation and Abelina, Ned and I went to work organizing the newly renovated chocolate area. We worked hours and hours right through lunch and into the mid afternoon. During this process we presented Ned with several challenges, such as can you just move a shelf from here to here? I don't know how Ned does it, but he made it work. First in order was prying the old shelf off the wall and breaking two hammers in the process, attempting to screw the shelf into the new wall and realizing the screws were too short, then the only masonry bit he had was completely melted down on the tip. He ended up switching to a bigger bit, he split a piece of wood with a machete then pounded it into the bigger hole and then nailed the shelf to the wall with big common nails. Juan aided by using a chain saw to cut up a pallet for the support piece. Yeah, ain't no need for a Home Depot around here, we got Ned on it! The matching shelves at the front of the chocolate factory, with products for sale, look pretty snazzy.
Simultaneously, while organizing the chocolate area we were also all pitching in to make another batch of chocolate. It's so cool we all know the drill. While one was working the crankenstein, someone else was winnowing, another roasting. So fun.
About 5ish, I couldn't stand it anymore and said, "Time to break out the Panty Rippers!!!" Henry, by this time had set up an entire DJ booth. How freakin' awesome is that?! We had speakers, a computer as command central and music blaring throughout the village. Turns out that last year Abelina and Juan had won a huge raffle. It included the DJ speaker set up. They also got their fridge and freezer as a result of the raffle. How ironic is it that today the water ran out and we were scrambling to fill up buckets of water and tonight we have a pretty serious DJ booth under a thatched roof. So Belize.
Abelina, continuing my cooking lessons, had me make the beans, taught me her killer curry pork recipe and showed me how to make Belizian chicken and tortillas. Okay kids (Molly, Megan and Josh) be prepared to be my testers over Thanksgiving as I go solo. My tortillas didn't exactly match up to Abelina's. During dinner, as Juan picked up another tortilla, he held it in front of his eye and peaked at me through one of the holes. Funny Mr. Juan. Even sweet Luchresha held up a rather deformed one and said, "I think Debi made this one." Juan then commented on the beans and said they tasted a bit burnt. Yeah, once again my contribution.
Right before we sat down to dinner, Abelina handed me a package and OH My GOSH, she had an entire Mayan outfit made for me! I couldn't believe it. Naturally, I put it on immediately and started dancing. I was even lucky enough to have Henry as my dance partner. I am so excited to have the beautiful woven skirt and delicate white blouse with little lace edges on it to wear tomorrow. Turns out that the Mayan Women's Toledo Cacao Growers will be here all day (starting at 7) for a chocolate lecture and presentation. (Toledo is the name of the district we are in). I'm so honored to receive this beautiful gift and even more importantly, to have Abelina as my friend. We've had so much fun these past two weeks together and I so appreciate her kindness and patience as she has taught me so many things about her traditions and culture.
After dinner Juan broke out the microphone and entertained us with his karaoke. In case you haven't picked up on it, Juan is a natural ham. Got to love these marketing types... Henry and Lucresha drew us a picture of Ixcacao and Henry wrote us a poem. Absolutely touching and darling. I know both of these will be proudly displayed in our home. Later on, I played a couple of games with Lucresha while Ned, Abelina and Juan went back to brewing up some chocolate. Those 3 live, breathe and of course, eat chocolate 24/7! Love this family.

Henry's Poem:
To Debi & Ned
Thank you for all your help that you gave.
The week may be short
But full with fun like sports.
You guys cheered us up
And helped us a lot
You took away the rot
In the house
Even worked hard when the day is hot
The work you helped us with was tough
For you
Like painting on the cement that was rough.
I hope you guys learned something new
And thank you for helping with the machineries.
I hope you enjoyed your stay with my family.
Thank you
Henry Cho

Ix-Ca-Cello Chocolate - The Best of Both Worlds

What do you get when you combine Ixcacao Maya Belizian Chocolate and American Cello Chocolate? The best darn chocolate team on the planet! Today was about making chocolate together, celebrating Lucresha's 12 birthday and sharing good times.
Yes, this little Mayan chocolate piece of heaven can at times feel like Grand Central Station. We started out this morning, after one of Abelina's killer breakfasts of fry jack, eggs, sausage, papaya and coffee, working on the chocolate factory. Juan had run into PG for supplies and Ned began working on the new shelving system when a van load of nuns and a priest showed up. Ahh - Maybe it is true that chocolate is food of the Gods! (Sorry, couldn't resist). They were from Poland, Italy, India and from a local Mayan community. They came for a short visit and to have some hot chocolate. No sooner had they left then a mother daughter team from Portland showed up for a tour, then a couple from Germany. Finally, things quieted down and we all started making a big batch of chocolate together, about 17 lbs. or so. It was so fun to roast, crack, winnow and grind cacao beans together before finally getting the heavenly elixir into the melanger. Even tho we both share the same process, the type of equipment used is slightly different. Like Ned, Juan too built a winnower for separating the shells from the nibs. Two completly different designs, but same philosophy. When it came to grinding the nibs into liquor we use a rigged out champion juicer and they use a huge belt driven grinder. What made it especially fun was doing it all together. Occasionally Juan would stop to play a little tune on the merimba, which just encouraged me to sort nibs while shaking my booty. I promise you this batch of chocolate is going to have so much love, laughter and spice in it. I envy the folks who get to buy a couple of these bars! (Food of the Gods indeed!)
It was Lucresha's birthday and we wanted to do something special. Ned and I at first entertained the idea of baking her a special birthday cake, but the electricity was out for quite awhile and we didn't know if the water would stay on. So, we decided instead to take everyone into town for a special birthday celebration dinner. We started off at a fun, loud, and crazy restaurant next to the Caribbean Sea. Juan and Abilena introduced us to "Panty Rippers" a coconut rum and pineapple drink that goes down ohhhh so easily. After several of those, dinner and some fun dancing Juan suggested we mosey on down to another place. (Dinner was interrupted by Ned, Henry, Abelina and I making a run across the street to a store to stock up on stuff to make more Panty Rippers at home on Friday. We thought it would be fun to celebrate our last night together tomorrow night. That's what I call thinking ahead!).
Tonight is the start of the big drumming weekend in town. People from all over the world are descending upon Punta Gorda for the Garifuna drumming festival called "Battle of the Drums". Several cities in Belize will be competing as well as Garifuna people from Guatemala and Honduras. Juan took us to another place and the drumming and dancing was awesome! So fun to watch these amazing dance steps - so fast and rhythmic. Poor Lucresha fell asleep at the table as we were watching the drummers. That's what I call a memorable 12th birthday! Originally, Ned and I were going to officially depart Juan and Abelina's on Saturday morning, but now we've all decided to hang out together on Saturday, help with a large group coming in, and then all go into town Sat. night and watch the place explode with drums and dancing. Seeing that we will be staying in PG, I seriously doubt Ned and I will get a chance to sleep at all that night.
The last thing Abelina said as we stumbled into our room was that we could sleep in tomorrow. Let's hope the rest of the chocolate seekers agree. Good times fellow chocolate makers, good times.

Chocolate Heaven

We finished the paint project!! Wahoo. It was 3 intense days of painting and the "chocolate factory" looks great. As you could tell from my blog yesterday, I was hot, tired and just plum done for. The tricky thing about working in the tropics is that you are doing two things at once, using your energy to work on a project and battling the heat. I'm like the firecracker, I start out with a huge burst of energy, shine brightly for a brief moment and then spectacularly flame out. Ned is like a flower. He slowly opens up and shines brightly all day. Let's just say the the flower is thriving in the tropics and the firecracker has been more entertainment value in how spectacularly it flames out.
Last night's dinner continued to be great fun with the family. Abelina made a wonderful gibnut (rodent) soup that just hit the spot and Henry entertained us all with his jokes and stories. We were having fun telling stories with puns, which isn't an easy thing to do when you don't share the same language and culture. There were two stories that my Big Papa (grandfather who lived with us) would love to tell. Even tho I heard them a thousand times I was always delighted when he told them. As we were telling stories last night I wanted to share them, but I didn't think they would translate well nor would I do a good job explaining the pun. Much to my absolute shock, Henry told both these jokes one after the other! Gave me goose bumps really. Got me thinking that maybe my ol' Portuguese Grandpa heard them from a Mayan - ha!
One of my favorite times of day here is first thing in the morning. Abelina and Juan's kitchen and dining area is an open thatched roof area that is on the second floor of their chocolate making area. It's centrally located in the village and a great spot for watching the coming and goings. I love seeing the school children in their navy blue skirts or pants with light blue shirts walking to school, many of them barefoot. Or the Mayan women in their traditional dress walk by. Today a man with a wonderful white beard on his way to his farm walked by with a machete in his hand. I told Juan that all over America people are commuting to work with a brief case, here they commute with a machete. Another time a tractor came by hauling the huge palm like cahoon leaves which are used to make thatched roofs.
Most of the day Ned and I concentrated on the painting while Juan and Abelina focused on their chocolate tours. It was such a treat to have Juan call us for lunch and just have it magically appear. I know how much love and work Abelina puts into her lunches! I took a pic of Ned's plate for you to see - really a thing of beauty. Abelina fixed cucumbers and tomatoes, coconut rice, ginger rice, beans (best I've ever tasted), chocolate chicken, curry pork and callaloo (my favorite spinach like veggie dish). I mostly ate the beans, spinach and curried pork. Really to die for.
Last Sunday when Ned and I were in PG, we had breakfast with an English woman, Sarah, who has been traveling and living abroad in remote places for the last 15 years. We told her about where we are staying and today she to came to stay for a night. Ned, Sarah, Juan and Abelina had fun sharing stories over dinner. I watched the movie, Step Up, with the kids. They've seen it a bunch of times, but were asking me all kinds of questions. They were really curious about New York City, the styles of clothes the kids wore, the expressions used, etc. A couple of days ago I had said to Henry, "Later, gator". He assumed that it only came from this movie and didn't realize it was an American expression. Stuff like that was pretty fun. I really enjoy hanging out with both of them and getting their take on things. Lucretia is 11, tomorrow is her birthday and she is so curious about everything! Really wise beyond her years. She is always championing the underdog and will crack us all up by saying things like, "Did you get permission to take their picture?" Or, "You know Debi, if you have low blood pressure why don't you just think about things more", implying that will cause me to worry and raise my blood pressure. We constantly joke around that if we get in trouble we want Lucretia to represent us.
It's late at night, and I'm in our little thatched hut ready to hit the hay. Ned, Juan and Abelina are deep into chocolate world. Ned and Juan fashioned a cold storage room (not an easy feat in this humidity with limited resources) and Ned and Abelina are testing out new tempering techniques. As I'm typing this, I can hear all kinds of chopping and knocking noises. God only knows what those chocolate fanatics are conjuring up. All I know is that Ned is having the time of his life. It's so fun seeing those two collaborate. Ned the scientist, measuring and documenting everything and Abelina, the Mayan intuitive, doing what has been passed on for hundreds of years. It's such a delight to see the respect they both have for each other's techniques and they so enjoy learning from each other. I'm usually the one dragging Ned everywhere and a little bit sad when it's time to come home. This time I can honestly say that it'll be Ned dragging his feet to go home. Mr. Ned is in chocolate heaven and the angel by his side has a Mayan accent.

Painting the town...

We painted all day. It was hot. I am tired. Did I mention it was hot? Back at it tomorrow.

"Ka`ju`nil o`" - Loosely translated from Kek'chi "All Hands on Deck"

We returned from Barranco late last night to arrive at Ixcacao once again. I can't tell you how wonderful it was to reunite with our family. Their bright smiling faces, laughter and kindness just really make us feel like we are not just welcome in their home, but genuinely part of their family. We couldn't wait to share with them our experiences of the weekend and they laughed so hard at our American perspective on the Belizean way of life. At one point, Lucresha and Henry came in giggling and laughing with something behind their backs. Henry had Ned and I stand up in front of everybody and he did a very sweet presentation. Lucresha handed me a gift wrapped in pretty tissue paper. It was a lavender traditional Mayan blouse that Abelina had made for me!! It is so beautiful and fits me perfectly. Really, how incredibly adorable is this family! Henry then handed Ned a coc (a woven basket shaped like a turtle) and a calabash - a carved out shell from a nut traditionally used in Mayan cacao ceremonies. They thought Ned could use this for any future chocolate classes. WOW! We went to bed that night feeling so loved and really blessed that the universe had somehow managed to connect us with this wonderful Mayan family.
We had discussed with Nicole, our ProWorld project manager, some of the projects or improvements we'd like to do at Ixcacao and Nicole told us we had some money allocated for projects. Yippee!!! We had a "family meeting" last night and everyone was just talking over each other with ideas bubbling out. After much discussion we decided upon fixing the chocolate making area downstairs.
First thing this morning while donning my new Mayan outfit, after the kids had gone to school, Juan, Abelina, Ned and I were having coffee and discussing the project. The decision was made to spruce up the place with paint and do some rearranging of the area. We were all gathered around my iPad looking at Mayan colors. I had actually googled "Mayan colors". Once again, old world meets new. Well, a very animated discussion was in place looking at yellow, turquoise, green, orange colors when a van full of Czechs (9 in all) pulled up. Ay yi yi yi. It was the first tour! They weren't supposed to arrive for another hour and were only scheduled for the hot chocolate and chocolate making tour. We all jumped up and were running around like crazy picking cocoa leaves and flowers, making hot chocolate, roasting beans, grinding coconut etc. We knew there was going to be a small group of 4 people for lunch, but now these people saw some of the things we were cooking in the kitchen and they too wanted lunch! All of a sudden Abelina heard a Mayan harp and started showing Ned a traditional dance step. Next thing you know she's teaching Ned the man's part. In the middle of all this craziness those two are dancing!!! Crazy kids.
Abelina, like the captain of a ship, was directing us to do this and that. She had Ned and I doing double time cutting up vegetables and washing dishes as fast as we could. Poor Juan never had a chance to even eat breakfast and was just giving one chocolate making demonstration after another. The groups of Czechs were almost done with the tour and were all squeezed into the "factory" space when the door opens and a group of TEN people arrived without an appointment wanting the chocolate tour. At this point things were just comical. We were trying to clear off the first large group table, make more hot chocolate, more cocoa leaves and flowers, etc. Meanwhile, the second smaller group was ready for their lunch. All 4 of us were like choreographers, each doing our own dance, while juggling and trying to keep out of each other's way.
Abelina has two sets of sinks in her kitchen. Only one is hooked up with water and is used. The other one is next to the stove and doesn't have a faucet. I assumed it was hooked up for drainage, but not water coming in. WRONG. At one point, while trying to be helpful, I drained the cooked callaloo in this sink. Abelina, in her very cute Mayan accent, is saying over and over "Where is this water coming from? Where is this water coming from?" Yeah, it was an open drain and everything was drained in the underneath cabinets and all over the floor. Oops. Some help aren't I?
Turns out the last group of ten were ex-pats from Canada now living in Belize. When we were giving them our background, one of the gentlemen said he too had worked at Apple! He was a business specialist out of the Toronto office. We both laughed at how far afield we have strayed from our technology days at Apple. He knew the Executive Briefing Program (the group I used to manage while at Apple) a galaxy far far away.
Once everyone left we all took a short break and then decided to all go into town, pick out the paint colors and buy supplies. It's about a half hour drive into PG and every house, building or Mayan woman with colorful clothing we passed, someone would shout out, "What about that color?" In reality, unlike going to a Home Depot in the States your choices are pretty much limited to what is at the 2 hardware stores in town. The first store was a complete bust with only about 4 colors, none of which we liked. When we reached the second store, BINGO! We looked at the 12 colors available and everyone was in agreement. I have a cute picture of Juan, Abelina and Ned all pointing to the colors chosen. We did a lot of other errands and returned about 7. Everyone was excited to get started on the project and so we all tackled one of the rooms - there are 5 in all. Even the kids, Henry and Lucresha pitched in. Update: The room looks great!! Terracotta walls with turquoise trim. Very Mayan.
There is a tour scheduled for everyday the rest of the week. I think the plan is for Ned and I to be holed up downstairs doing the painting and repairs while Juan and Abelina continue to run the chocolate tours, etc. upstairs. Carmelita, Abelina's sister will be coming back for awhile to help out. Looks like it's going to be a very busy week indeed.

End of the Road, beginning of a journey.

Belize's slogan is one land many cultures. Since arriving in Belize we've been immersed in the Mayan Culture and today was about being exposed to the Garifuna Culture. The Garifuna are descendants of Carib Indians and West Africans who escaped Spanish slave ships wrecked off the coast of St. Vincent in 1635. In 1763, when the British invaded, the Garífuna were exiled to Roatán in 1798. From there, they migrated to mainland Honduras, and continued along the coast -- to Guatemala, Nicaragua and arriving in Belize by dugout canoe in 1802. The oldest Garifuna community in Belize is in the coastal town of Barranco which sounds like a pretty awesome place to chill out on a Sunday afternoon.
After an amazing morning breakfast at Driftwood Cafe - callaloo omelette, cassava fries and homemade raisin bun - and a charming conversation with a volunteer from Guatemala, we finally connected up with Nicole. She offered to take us to Barranco for lunch and meet up with some friends. The road getting there was a real life version of Splash Mountain. Nicole is obviously an old pro at driving these roads. A heavy rain had fallen most of the night and on and off all morning. Nicole bopped along at a good clip driving in and thru huge water puddles on a rough dirt road sending sprays of muddy water flying in the air. I was riding shotgun and kept expecting to be drenched. Nicole seemed pretty happy to be driving at 30 MPH and not 10, expertly handling the huge potholes and jet ski like sprays. Ah, locals, takes a lot to faze them.
After what seemed a good 45 minutes of teeth rattling we finally reached the end of the road, the village of Barranco. Well at this point, we weren't exactly in the village more like a really interesting home on stilts sitting above a creek. Dawn greeted us on the road and took us through a circuitous path over a boardwalk to her one room kitchen. Well this was certainly fun and different! There was an open fire glowing and lots of great smelling pots were simmering. We met Dawn's daughters, Esperanza and Zephyr, and her friend Kronik who was cooking up some fresh fish (literally just caught). Over freshly squeezed lime juice we got acquainted and by the time lunch was served it felt as if we were old friends. Hard to believe I could be hungry after Jill's breakfast, but how can you turn down rice, beans, fried fish and cooked pumpkin. Dawn even made a homemade cacao cake washed down with a home brew berry wine. What made this whole experience so amazing is that Dawn did this without any running water, electricity, propane or solar. She also pretty much single handedly built her home. You go girl!
Dawn has lived in Barranco for about 5 years and has really embraced the vibe of this Afro-Carribean community. She makes her own soap using local ingredients such as cacao and copal. Her company is called Barranco Botanicals. After this amazing lunch a stroll through town was in order. We walked to the pier, along the shoreline and finally arrived at a little thatched home on the sea. The person who owned it wasn't home, but no worries, everyone made themselves at home anyway. Several other people soon joined us and we spent quite a while chilling on the deck, listening to some good music, and enjoying the lazy sun drenched afternoon. Eventually it was suggested that we should get a proper tour of this village of 150 or so people. Kronik showed us around pointing out the temple, post office and community center until we finally came upon the local store/bar. Seemed like a good time to make some more new friends and share a Belizian stout. Everyone was so incredibly laid back and friendly. Barranco seems to be one of those places where you could come for a visit on a Sunday afternoon and find yourself staying for 5 years wondering where the time went. In many ways it's like Big Sur. Not in environment, but in spirit. Barranco is a state of mind.
Since coming to Belize I've been welcomed in several Mayan homes and now into the homes and hearts of the Garifuna community. Perhaps I need to extend my stay. I understand there's still the Creole and Mestizo people I need to learn about. Ya mon'.