Yesterday, I had the opportunity to go to the home of lady who cooks dinner for us. Her name is Teresa and is absolutely one of my favorite people here in Guatemala. She has the biggest heart, loves teaching us how to cook and Spanish (even though she knows very very little English), and makes the most amazing meals!
At the beginning of Guatemala, she told us that she would invite us to her house to cook lunch and try on traditional Guatemalan outfits called Huipil. Instantly, I knew this would be something exciting to do here. So after debrief, I scheduled a day with Teresa and majority of the girls on my squad wanted to come.
When the day arrived, we were all very excited and so was Teresa to show us her home and bring us even deeper into her culture. The chicken bus ride took close to an hour, but eventually, we made it to her house! We spent the first part just sitting around and talking. This is very common in Guatemalan culture. It’s important to ask how everyone is and pray for each other if it’s wanted or needed. We were also offered “water” which turned out to be orange soda as an act of hospitality and welcoming you into a home here.
After a while, Teresa’s brought out all her Huipils and told us each to pick one. She has over 50 traditional outfits which is crazy! It was lots of fun trying them on and bonding with Teresa in a new way. They were so beautiful and everyone looked fantastic in the Huipils. I loved getting to learn more about the culture here and wear a traditional outfit as well. It’s alway interesting to me how many things play into what makes up a culture. Here are some pictures of us. The first one is with Teresa and the second with my team.
Since we were all dressed up and took many pictures, we helped prepare the last bit of food for lunch and then pilled our plates to enjoy a meal together. We sat around and talked and were offered another round of “water” which was grape soda this time! Lunch was rice mixture with chicken and veggies, salad, and black corn tortillas on the side. Having tortillas with every meal is another huge culture aspect here. They have come to be one of my favorite parts of meals here.
Once we had finished lunch, Teresa asked us to go visit her in-laws and say hello. They live right next door to her and love seeing Racers immersing themselves into Guatemalan culture with the Huipils. We talked for a while and ended up gathering around and praying for this couple which very quickly turned into them praying for us in return. They are one of the sweetest couples I’ve met so far. They invited us to sit and have some “water” again which was Pepsi this time around. So even though we thought we might miss our bus back to town, we sat and visited more. Be relational is very important in the Guatemalan culture, so we were all happy to stay longer than expected and just talk.
While changing back into our clothes, we all chatted about how fun it was to immerse ourselves in this culture in a new way. We made many memories today and got to experience Guatemala even more. Thanks God for such an incredible day and for Teresa being so kind to let us try her Huipils on.
Thanks for all the continuous prayers and I can’t wait to read your comments below!
Lots of Love,
Paige :):)
