Tortillas with Fingers

 Marisol, the youngest of the Guatemalan girls who works at Earth Lodge, and an absolute sweetheart. 

Everyday, the chicas who work in the kitchen at Earth Lodge make themselves lunch; and it is always something more traditional than the menu items we offer: lots of rice and pasta and things cooked in eggs. This afternoon, they were making tortillas, and I wish I had a video of the process, because they make it look so incredibly easy! 

They pull a clump of dough- basically corn and water- roll it into a ball, and clap it between their hands until it forms a perfect circle a few cm thick.

I was on shift, but there were no guests around the bar and all my jobs were finished, so I joined them in the kitchen to try my hand... and let me assure you it's not nearly as easy as they make it seem. Mine took ages to craft, the dough sticking to my hands and refusing to shape itself the way theirs would. The girls were laughing so hard at my attempts, teasing me that my tortillas (I managed to make two in the time they made five or six) needed to visit the doctor and had 'fingers' rather than being circles. 

Can you guess which two are mine? (Top left, and second from the top right.)

I got to eat mine with guacamole though, and though they look weird, they tasted just fine!!

Catalina, the matriarch of the kitchen, has taught me how to prepare two other Guatemalan dishes, which were much easier to pick up- including one with guicoy and eggs that's to die for!  

 And you know what else is to die for?

This view. 

It still gets me, every time.