Trabajo Escolar con Mis Amigos

Sometimes, as teachers, we feel like kids because we spend ten hours a day with 14- to 18-year-olds. This summer I feel like I am at the best marriage of sleep-away summer camp and first year of College. I wake up "late"... 7:00.... have breakfast cooked by mi casa Mamá, host Mom, walk to school looking at volcanoes, work hard and then go to study sessions with my friends. Above you can see Alejandra, from Portland, and Thomas, from the Netherlands. We often get coffee and help each other practice whatever we worked on that day.

This morning on the way to school, I had to make way for these two cuties. I'm not sure where they live, or where they were going, as Antigua has a shocking lack of personal green space. What I mean by that is that most residences will have plants in pots, but not yards of any kind. There is also no market to sell or buy animals within the city limits. Here is one of a 100 missed opportunities to ask about Guatemalan culture, because I know they speak no English and I'm not yet confident enough about my Spanish. I am confident, now, that I will get there some day, even though I told my house mother that she looked good bald this morning, pelado, rather than she had beautiful hair this morning, pelo. One day at a time, I guess.

This morning might have started with a bit of an awkward conversation, but I am determined for the rest of the day to be amazing. Guatemalans have Armed Forces Day, Día del Ejército, y las Fuerzas Armadas de Guatemala, on June 30th. Yet for some reason it was celebrated on July 4th this year in Antigua … I have no idea why it's being observed on this day, but the upside is no school for me and a trip to the Macadamia Nut farm instead!

Now not only do I get to see a Macadamia Nut farm, I also get to go there on a chicken bus! I have been wanting to travel on a chicken bus ever since I saw my first one, on my first day in Antigua. Now, I've been told by more than one Guatemalan that I should probably tamp down my enthusiasm because they're not all that great to travel on. They tell me that they're crowded, they will put 5 people in a seat made for 2, that some of the rural people don't have the same level of hygiene as those from the city, and that there may actually be livestock running free. Sadly, there was no livestock on our bus, but we did cram in pretty tightly because so many people wanted to go on this trip. It took us about 35 minutes to reach the farm, which was amazing because I got to see another section of the Guatemalan countryside.

Here you can see how town becomes the suburbs, becomes farmland, all in one photograph. It is amazing how they can farm such incredibly steep land. In fact, I'm going to throw in one more photograph here, just so you can see what I mean.

I love the patchwork quilt look to the land. Some just tilled, some with mature crop covering it, some with new vegetation, and everything in between.

Welcome to the organic, biodynamic, community-oriented Valhalla Macadamia Nut farm. The tours here are very cool, and free! So if you ever find yourself in Antigua, I suggest a visit.

OK, from left to right… There are over 300 cultivars of Macadamia Nut tree. One of the things that makes these trees so tricky is that they will produce nuts at different times of the year and take 7 months to go from the flower on the left to the green nut on the right. If you look very carefully at the center photograph, you can see the tiny bulge on the stem. This will end up being a Macadamia nut. One of the community outreach programs that this farm does is that they give away Macadamia trees to communities in Guatemala and Nicaragua. There are many families in Guatemala who live on $3 a day. If they can successfully grow Macadamia trees in their home village for 5 years, they can produce approximately a $100 profit per tree annually. Also, Macadamias that are broken or unsaleable can be consumed by the village as a very healthy protein source. Another thing about Macadamia trees is that they are incredibly good at sucking up carbon dioxide. They are more effective at this than other trees because 20% of the green husk (see the nut on the right) is pure carbon dioxide. If you've ever tried to break into a Macadamia nut, you know that it is nearly impossible to get through the thick hard brown shell. Also, once the trees start producing nuts, they will do so for about 150 years. This kind of consistent business can change the lives of a village. Also, the machinery needed to process the nut is not overly complicated or expensive.

OK, here we go with the processing. The trees are either shaken or picked when the Macadamias are ripe. The green nuts go through the MacGyver machine at the top left. You can see the result in the second photo (top middle), or you can watch this video of MacGyver in action.

After the green husks are taken off, they are laid in big wire mesh bins where they sit covered in black plastic for 30 days. The guide took a few nuts out and let us hear how you can tell a properly dried nut from an undried one. Then the nuts are dropped through a device that has bars of differing widths. The nuts drop into bags under the first size they fit into. You can see in the video how a village could make a version of this for a very affordable price.

Of course, one of the highlights of the entire tour was the tasting. We were able to have a few Macadamias that were just roasted, and a piece of either white or dark Macadamia Chocolate.

Here is Maya, my Australian friend from Melbourne, eating a white chocolate Macadamia drop with Daniel, the Máximo Nivel director. Everyone had such a wonderful time learning about the harvesting and production of Macadamia nuts, as well as Valhalla's social programs. Valhalla also had extensive grounds that I only got to see a bit of. There were beautiful gardens and a spa! I'll just put two photographs of the gardens, one of a Monstera deliciosa plant, because I love them so much and I've never seen one in flower, and one of a banana palm.

Just think... If I'd been here in a month, I could have fruit from both of these plants! We all know that I have no shame and would have ripped one of those bananas straight off the plant😇 As I predicted at the beginning of July 4th, I knew it was going to be an amazing adventurous day, and it was!