Rosa Viviana

Rosa has become a good friend these past few months. Last night for the second time a small group of Americans and Europeans went to dine at her family's house.

Rosa at 24 works two jobs. She teaches first grade in the mornings and is a middle school principal in the afternoons. Her father works at the Catholic church. The pile of corn on the cob, the size of a pickup truck bed, in the living room is evidence that the family has a few pieces of land here and there. They don't work it -- they pay someone else to. The complex where they live has six or seven rooms that open to a courtyard filled with loud dogs, stacks of wood for cooking, hundreds of empty Coke bottles, all centered around a pila (sink for washing).

We have brought chicken mole, a salad and two quarts of ice cream. Though the family is well-off by Santiago standards, there is no refrigerator or freezer. The cramped kitchen consists of a small table, a wood stove and a sink. The stove has a chimney, something which is often not found in the Guatemalan Highlands. COPD is rampant as a result.

Rosa, her mother and aunt have made patin, tortillas, potato salad, broccoli, and a hot pineapple beverage. There are two types of patin -- fish and beef, both smothered in tomato sauce and wrapped in a large leaf. The fish are minnows, very salty and pan-fried. The beef has been marinated in lime juice before being cooked. The fish patin is much better than what I've had at the market before. The potato salad contains homemade mayonnaise, and even I'm a bit nervous about eating raw eggs here, but I don't turn anything down.

Rosa's mother shows us the different types of corn they produce -- yellow, white and black. The seeds they plant have been in the family for generations. The grow beans, coffee and avocados as well.

A few years ago, Rosa gave up a government job where she made a lot more money than she does now. She feels she can give more to the community working directly with young people, though she currently earns around half of her former salary of $600 per month.

Her aunt doesn't join us this time, probably because she doesn't speak much Spanish. We leave the rest of the mole and salad when we go, but take the ice cream.