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!
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