Pan Dulce

Is my new favorite thing here. We celebrated Elsa and Liz’s birthdays in my group last week and Cuerpo de Paz (Peace Corps in Espanol) treated us to some pan dulce. So this is basically their version of dessert/snack here. It’s delicious and amazing and desires its own food group.

A woman apparently comes by the training center every day at 3 pm to offer a variety of different warm pans full of delicious sweet and savory bread. Some are chocolate with sprinkles; some are laced with layers of chocolate and cinnamon. Some have pineapple or chucks of apricots. But, every single one looks cooked to perfection and smells like heaven. My mouth is practically drooling over this poor woman and her basket while everyone else around me points and picks what they want in the little Spanish we have learned thus far. I decide this is a great food adventure and grab my camera for a snapshot for you to enjoy with your eyes. Though, I must say it barely does it justice.

(it's ozzing in the middle and hot!)
I picked some sweet looking one, I could not even tell you if there was a name or what exactly was in it, but all I do know that it was gooey and yummy and amazingly delicious. It pretty much melted in my mouth and I know went straight to my thighs. Yum! I now understand how volunteers gain weight here. Awesome. My family also went to visit a Dulceria in San Vicente (where our training center is and the biggest “town” closest to where I live currently), my visiting family from the states seriously bought around 7 boxes of sweets and asked if I wanted one, so you know I figured why not (why, oh why would you say NO!). They were all little bars, looking like fudge almost, but not of chocolate, mostly just sugar. We were even able to see the women in the back of the shop stirring the milk to thicken and watch it boil. It was awesome. I picked out flavors of pineapple, papaya, fresca *strawberry), peanut butter, chocolate, fig and a few others. When I offered to pay, my family pushed my money away, they are beyond generous to me, always. I am so lucky. I ate as much as my small belly could handle then brought the rest to the training center, which everyone in my group gladly enjoyed thoroughly. :-)
I have been feeling a lot better by the way, thank you for all the encouraging messages of “get well soon!” Though, I do have to emphasize that this is simply a state of getting used to the culture and diet here, which mostly includes beans, oil, rice, tortillas, more oil, some meat, eggs, beans, and more, more oil. So naturally my stomach rejects it. Oh well, it’ll get better.

(my mom with the fruit)
I have also discovered an amazingly delicious new fruit called Sapote. It comes in all different types, I am putting some photos of it and trying it. It's about the size of a large squash, the texture and look of a papaya and tastes sort of like a fig. It's amazing. ;-)

(first bite, delicious).

Shawna and I FINALLY found the coconut lady in our town, she cuts it open with a machete, pours the coconut water into a baggie, then cuts open the rest, scoops out the meat and puts the rest in a bag with a straw! Perfect snack during Spanish class!