Notes from my travel journal: Our first day in Santiago Atitlan

My first morning in Central America! It's 5am local time (corresponds to US Central Time), still dark. When we arrived here at Santiago Atitlan, walking from the car to Mom and Paul's house, everyone we passed greeted us with "Buenas Tardes." The Tzutuhil Maya are small in stature; the women are so tiny! As we drove here from Guatemala City, the Spanish place names gave way to Indian names. Mom says the Tzutuhil were the last tribe conquered by the Spanish, that they were subdued only when the Spanish destroyed their cocoa plantations. We drove past lots of sugar cane fields. I hadn't realized that sugar cane is a grass. Many of the fields were blooming with tall grass flowers.

It was hot on the plain, but here in the mountains it's cool and pleasant. The topography is similar to the Colorado Rockies, only the flora is totally different: large spreading trees with enormous trunks, trees with brilliant yellow flowers, palm trees, pineapple, banana and coffee trees. Mom and Paul have a lovely little orchard in their yard, with two trees full of oranges, coffee trees, and half a dozen banana trees, all bearing bunches in various stages of ripeness. The guardian, Pedro, has been harvesting and processing the ripe coffee beans.

Lake Atitlan is gorgeous, surrounded by three volcanoes: San Pedro, Atitlan, and Toliman. The kitchen window looks out at San Pedro, a totally spectacular view. I hope I can take some photos that convey how beautiful it is here. mom and Paul have beautiful scenery outside all of their windows and glass doors.

The house is cinder block covered with plaster, so it has the look and feel of an earth house. It's tryuly a handmade house. All the floors are tiled, including the two patios, one at ground level and one outside the upper apartment. There are lovely arched doorwaus framed in stone work made by local Indians, beautifully crafted interior doors, and lots of small sky lights that create wonderful natural light in the house during the day.



Paul made us an exceptionally fine meal--pretty impressive after 5 hours of driving to and from Guat City. It was a spicy beef braise served over mashed potatoes, with braised carrots and onion on the side. A real feast! Mom made a fresh guacamole as an appetizer, with fresh lime. Yummy!

Braised Beef and Chipotle Sauce
from Molly Stevens's All About Braising
Roast on foiled cookie sheet in oven broiler 4 1/2" away from heat; turn when skins darken and split (about 5"--the pepper takes longer):

3/4 # ripe tomatoes
1 large red bell pepper
3 garlic cloves (unpeeled)

When vegies are cool, skin and core and chop, and process with 1/4 c water with the following:

2-3 canned chipotles in adobo
1 T of the adobo sauce
1 t oregano
1 t cumin seeds, lightly toasted and ground
1/4 t ground cloves
1 1/2 T cider vinegar
1/2 t salt
1 t sugar

Brown in olive oil in small batches:

3 # beef chuck cut into cubes

Brown 'til light brown, then add puree and reduce 8-10 minutes:

2 T olive oil
1 large white onion, finely chopped

Spoon sauce over meat in a large Dutch oven.
Cooking options:

-All day in crock pot on Low.
-Simmer on stove top 1 hr. or so.
-300 degree oven, covered in foil on middle rack, 1 hr. and 15 minutes--lower temp if boils too much. Roast without foil at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.