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.