Whole Lotta' Shuckin' Goin' On
We
showed up to our new grandparents’ house to find a mountain of corn. We had been invited to “help out” with the harvest.
The grandparents owns a small parcel of land on which they grow enough
corn to feed the whole family (probably 20 – 25 people) for a year.
Now…
I know what you’re thinking. “How
much corn can a family eat in a year?” Well…
in the U.S., this equates to about a dozen cans of Green Giant.
In Guatemala, the average mother makes anywhere from 100-150 corn
tortillas EVERY DAY! For those of you counting at home, this equals a squllion
ears of corn.
So,
Gabby and I joined Grandpa Francisco, Grandma, Josefa, aunt Laura, Momma
Graciela, sister Yadira and baby brther Josesito for a no-holds-barred “shuck
fest.” There
was white corn, yellow corn, yellow corn with black spots, white corn with black
spots, rotten corn, soft corn, corn with bugs… you name it!
We all sat on little tiny chairs and peeled the ears of corn non-stop.
I even broke a small chair in the process.
Still,
not all was lost. In the mountain of corn, I tried my hand at making
"corn angels". Little Josesito even had a go at it. Sure,
it was a feeble attempt to recapture some of the "winter magic" we're
missing back in the states, but we had a good time.
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