Corn, Corn, Corn!

The rains have come and it's harvest time! Everyone is gathering all the corn they planted, so there is corn overload! This means that people are making everything from corn. Besides the usually corn tortillas and semi-regular corn tamales, or chicken tamales with corn on the outside, I have now eaten about 20 corn on the cob in a week, a bowl of atol, which this time was a thick corn drink that is okay, but in small quantities, fried corn pancakes, grilled corn pancakes wrapped in banana leaves, more corn tamales (which I helped make!), corn in soup, and any other way they think of using corn - very inventive! I mush say though, that sometimes my system can't digest that much corn, and I have no idea how they do!

For now, life is good and rich, but come February it will be a little harder without the harvest and extra corn. Prices will go up and people might stop eating some meals because their staple can't grow and they can't afford to buy it. A change we don't usually see in America.

Modes of Transport ...

So, a few months ago, I moved houses. My new house didn't have a pila (a cement tub that has two plat surfaces on either side to wash dishes, clothes, whatever you can think of), so I went to a neighboring town and ordered one from the pila man. He gave me the cost and then I asked does this include transportation or do I need to find transportation - what's the deal exactly? Anyway he said it would be ready in about 5 days and transportation would be $10. I thought that was maybe a little high, but its a huge cement object that four strong men have a hard time lifting a 1/4 of a cm. off the ground.

So, five days later, I'm on my way home from the school with a couple friends, and someone says my name. I turn around, and I see the man who makes pilas with my pila ... pulling it by OXEN! Well, needless to say, I was a little surprised that this costs $10 - but at least I got my pila!

Side note: Oxen is not an unusual transport option here, so that isn't what surprised me - it was the fact that my pila cost an extra $10 because of oxen.