How I'm Coping with My Rainy Day: Two For One Special

Left: Chocolate Caliente and the rain that inspired it.

Please read my post below before you read this one... this is just a quick update!

I live in the coffee region of Colombia, therefore, I drink coffee in the mornings, and so do all my co-workers. The only "hot drink" variation I ever see is agua panela (which I can post about another time) and sometimes, just sometimes, the health conscious at school drink hot tea. Kids might drink hot milo (kind of like Nesquik or Ovaltine), but primarily my fellow Risaraldans drink coffee. And lots of it.

In various other regions of Colombia, coffee is second in popularity to chocolate caliente (hot chocolate). Not the typical, sweet Swiss Miss-style we drink in the United States, but pure melted chocolate, mixed in water or milk, with a tiny bit of sugar. It's dry and bitter, but just as popular as coffee, especially among working-class men. (Nothing like a cup of cocoa before heading out to build a new apartment or drive a bus!)

By a chance accident (I needed chocolate, Warren doesn't understand the words "unsweetened") we had a package of Luker brand chocolate at the apartment. On this cold, rainy day, I decided there wasn't much that I would enjoy more than a cup of hot chocolate. So, I did my best.

It wasn't as sweet or smooth as my hot chocolate at home, but it definitely warmed me up and gave me a happy dose of endorphins.

Below: Chocolate Caliente



I've included two recipes below, one from the Luker package itself (with my notes about how I prepared it) and one from my cookbook Secrets of Colombian Cooking (by Patricia McCausland-Gallo), which was a Christmas present from my brother Billy.



Luker Recipe for Chocolate Caliente

Ingredients
Unsweetened chocolate (should be pure: only 100% cocoa mass)
Agua Panela (if you are Colombian) or water
Sugar (probably 1/2 tablespoon per cup)
Unsweetened soy milk if you're vegan, regular milk if you aren't as cool as me (just kidding)

Directions:
In a saucepan, warm up water or agua panela (1/2 cup for each cup you want to make). Add a square (7.8 grams) for each cup you want to make. Stir until melted. Add a tablespoon of sugar for each cup you want to make. Stir until dissolved. Remove from heat. Add 1/2 cup of milk for each final cup you want. Beat with a whisk (the Luker package suggests putting it into a blender to make it frothy, but that seemed totally unnecessary.) Warm thoroughly and then serve. Don't let this boil, ever. Also, stir often so it doesn't burn/stick on the bottom of the saucepan.

My additions: I added a pinch of salt, a teaspoon of vanilla, and extra chocolate squares. I then tasted it and added sugar until it tasted less bitter. (About another teaspoon per cup.) If you are using Baker's chocolate in the U.S.A., I would estimate that 1 Luker square equals 2 Baker's rectangles.



Chocolate Caliente, from Secrets of Colombian Cooking (McCausland-Gallo, pg 208)

Ingredients
4 ounces sweetened table chocolate (vegans-don't use milk chocolate!)
4 cups milk or 2 cups water and 2 cups milk (sub soymilk if you are vegan)
2 tablespoons sugar

Directions:
1. Place the chocolate, milk, and sugar in a pot over medium heat. Bring to a simmer (but don't let it boil) for about 5-7 minutes, or until the chocolate is very soft.
2. Remove from the heat and with a whisk stir rapidly and continously until hte chocolate forms a lather or foam.
3. Serve and enjoy!

A very rambling post with a side of chili.

Above: Not my best picture, as it was taken on the bus, but here's what I've seen every day since the beginning of April: clouds, rain, and more clouds and rain. Also, this is one of the poor areas of Cuba. Please read on for more about why I posted this photo--I need your help!

No one commented or voted "interesting, etc." on my last post... should I take it as a hint that you don't want to read recipes? Or am I the only person reading my blog? If you are a secret reader out there, I would really love it to hear your comments. When you comment or vote interesting, funny, or cool, it lets me know that you liked the post, and I'll know to post on the same topic or use the same idea again. Plus, you must remember that I live a fairly lonely life here in Colombia (although my 17 students informed me that they were my 17 closest Colombian friends yesterday), and when you comment or vote, it makes me feel more connected to people at home. You don't need a blog or a Google account, either. So... you secret readers out there... please let me know what you want to read about!

Okay, so the real part of the post (when I don't lecture my readers):

Onto a more interesting (and vastly more important subject), the photo at the top of this post (as bad as it is), is of a poor neighborhood in Cuba, a barrio in Pereira. I'm posting it to help inspire you... I need your help. I'm trying to come up with ideas to engage my students in a fight against poverty. I want to instill a desire to help and aid the lower classes in Pereira in my students. Teaching wealthy students frequently makes me guilty in this country, but I also realize that my students are the ones that have the ability to make a difference. So, I would like to hear your ideas. How can I teach my students to care about the plight of others, and what kind of projects or activities could we do to help the poor populations? I would specifically like them to help kids their own age. If you have any ideas AT ALL, please comment or send me an email. Thanks for your help!

And now: Why I hate the rainy season.

It has rained here continuously every day, all day for 2 weeks straight. The most sunlight and warmth we've gotten has been little snippets for an hour or two when we are lucky. Usually it's just cloudy and rainy, with a break for 30 minutes here or there. I've been bragging about Colombia's weather for months, but I'm so over it. Until we've moved past this constant downpour, I'm officially NOT a fan of Colombian weather. I know I sound like a big baby, but you have to remember that LPV is an OUTDOOR school. We don't have hallways or doors.. it's all open air. That means that every time it rains, all my posters fall down because the air is so moist, the desks are covered in water because it drips through the guadua shingles, all the bugs come inside to get dry, the electricity frequently goes out, my classroom and my students are covered in mud and water, and my students go CRAZY because there's no where they can go to play except our classrooms because they are the only covered areas! I love the school and it's environmentally friendly/hippie outlook, but I'm definitely not handling the rainy season well. Unfortunately, I've got around 1 more month of it left AND there's another one coming in a few months. Again: I'm so not a fan.

What I am a fan of is a hot bowl of chili when it rains.


Above: Chili, our dinner on Monday AND Tuesday (we had leftovers!)

There are few things in the world that scream American to me as much as a hot bowl of chili on a rainy, cold night. I made chili Monday and was incredibly pleased with how it turned out. Why? (I mean, it's just chili, right?) I was scared it wouldn't work because I can't find CHILI POWDER in Colombia. How is that even possible?

Anyway, here's the recipe. It's certainly not anything like my American recipe, but if you're in Colombia and want a hot bowl of chili, this will definitely satisfy your craving.

Colombian Chile

Ingredients:
3 cups of speckled beans (or black, kidney, pinto, etc. Feel free to mix if you have different types of prepared beans), pre-cooked (see directions below the recipe)
1 red onion
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cloves of garlic
1 or 2 red peppers
4 tomatoes
4 tablespoons of tomato paste (pasta de tomate) (you can use less or more if you need... if you don't have any, use ketchup!)
water as needed
1 teaspoon yellow mustard
Spices: Cumin (comino), pepper (pimenta), salt (sal), ajo (garlic powder), oregano... I used a mix called "Salsina", a product of El Rey spices, that was garlic, cumin, and pepper mixed.

Directions
1. Chop onion finely and sauté in olive oil until the onions are translucent.
2. While the onion is cooking, mince garlic. Add to the onions.
3. While the garlic is cooking, dice the red pepper. Add to the garlic and onions.
4. Dice tomato and add it to the vegetables.
5. Cook until the red pepper is tender and the tomato is almost mushy.
6. Add beans and liquid from cooking the beans. Add water if needed... the beans should be floating and the mixture should be easy to stir (not stew like, soup like!).
7. Add tomato paste and up to a tablespoon of yellow mustard. Stir until the mixture is well blended.
8. Bring to a boil.
9. When it begins to boil, turn heat down a bit. Stir. Add spices. These should be to taste, but to begin I recommend: 1 1/2 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, and 1/2 teaspoon oregano. If you are using "salsina", you can use it to replace the garlic powder and pepper, but you'll still need 1 teaspoon of cumin.
10. Let it cook for about 30 minutes on medium heat. Stir often so it does not stick to the bottom.
11. After about 30 minutes, taste the sauce. I added more cumin, pepper, and salt, but you should add as you think you'll like. You might want more mustard--it helps a lot if you like it.
12. Cook for 20 minutes or more over low heat.
13. Serve with your favorite crackers, and if you are Warren, cheese!

How to prepare dried beans (almost any type): Dump beans into a bowl, clean out and remove anything that looks like it doesn't belong, and cover with 2 times the amount of water as beans (so, 1 cup of beans, at least 2 cups of water). Soak overnight (or at least 8 hours). Drain and rinse after 8+ hours, and dump beans into a soup pot. Cover with the same amount of water. Bring to a boil, turn heat down but keep them at a low boil. Cook for at least 1 hour--may take longer, just test them every 30 minutes or so. They should be firm but easy to smash. When they seem like they are almost done, salt them a bit (a teaspoon or a bit more is good). When they are finished, store them in a plastic container in their cooking liquid in the refrigerator.

Guest Post by Warren

Hello! Warren is going to blog today, so be excited. I thought you would appreciate his perspective instead of my random banter. -Melody

It rained a little extra today to make up for yesterday's sweltering rain-starved heat. We woke to grey skies and unusually crisp air for P---, and D-ita told me that she was cold and she expected a lot of rain today. Never doubt a local, especially when she's the one who feeds you every morning and each night. When we arrived at the liceo, Melody and I first went to Lucho, who teaches 11th grade (the highest grade at LPV) English, as he had requested we interview his students with original questions to approximate those they will have to take before entering university. Lucho is the most candid teacher I know at the school--he apparently spent the early part of his life in New York, and so his English is spot on and full of idioms with an ever-so-slight accent of his Latino upbringing. He had his students come one-by-one to our simultaneous interviews. The kids were quite sharp for the most part; the spectrum of their English ranged from decent to extraordinary. During our gentle interrogations the rain finally came down in a brief torrent that lasted, at most, twenty minutes. By the time the interviews were over, the sun was glinting brightly off the moistened vegetation and a moat of murky water had filled around the Plazuela del Saman ("Little Plaza of the Salamander"--a shady alcove where a brick sidewalk rings underneath the leafiest tree you've possibly ever seen).

We probably should have prepared more for the 5th grade English assessment tests that we are to administer to those unsuspecting 11 year-olds, but it requires a lot of patient, extended reading and practicing on our parts. The tests HAVE to be administered in a specified manner, and honestly, it's mundane and tiring, and so we've been putting it off in favor of preparing lessons for Wednesday and Thursday and Saturday and et al. We'll get around to it in due time. Besides, our fifteen minute snacktime around 10 am turned into an hour-and-fifteen-minute-long affair when Lucho got ahold of us and we talked about everything from the price of cars in Colombia (horrendously expensive, by the way), to our opinions on the last three American presidencies (it's true, most foreigners love Obama), to how Colombian parents pay for their children to attend LPV (drug lords are still out there doing what they do best, and one student's father was apparently extradited to the US last year). Do NOT take this to mean that anyone who has money in Colombia is in the drug business; it is quite uncommon. Lucho confirms that prostitution, even among members of the upper classes, if far more widespread.

Chicken burritos for me for lunch, pinto bean burritos for Melody, and I also had some fresh, lightly salted tortilla chips that were perfectly deep-fried, and which Melody began stealing from my plate. I gave her dirty looks as payback. We talked to a couple of girls whose names I cannot recall, and of course Justin showed up and talked to us in that sweet, teacher's pet, fifth grade way of his. I can't help but like the kid: his English is impressive, he loves learning, and he has the Spanish version of my middle name as his first.

Today's after school "Let's Talk" was for the eleven students (eight of whom showed up) in the 9th to 11th grade section. We spoke about appropriate and inappropriate topics of conversation (e.g. occupation and salary, respectively), had them read Spanish with gringo accents to help them better learn American English pronunciation, and had a talk about the advantages and disadvantages of learning English. Beforehand, Melody had confided her nervousness in teaching potentially unreceptive know-it-all high schoolers, but I felt like they might be one of our best groups. Indeed, I thought the activities went smoothly and well, and that the kids were willing to interact with a couple of newbies at this teaching thing. (Well, maybe I should just speak for myself here.)

Stellita was at the dining room table on her mini laptop when Melody and I returned "home" at 5:30. She showed us pictures of Cartagena she had taken last year and also called a woman she knew in Bogota about us (M and W) going there in the near future. The odds are in our favor, as the woman there will look for a hotel for us that is cheap, safe, and comfortable. Stellita left for her finca and we had dinner of bean soup, rice with tomato, fried yuca, Melody with a broccoli/cauliflower mix and I had a steak. D-ita is a good cook, but seriously, I really can't have such heaping portions. I'm gonna be a fat guy soon.

Tomorrow there is a pronunciation workshop for the TEACHERS at 7 am that Melody is leading. Wish her luck. I certainly will. This means we have to wake at 5 am, hop on the bus at 6:10, spend a full day at LPV, and then lead the 6th-8th grade "Let's Talk" from 3:15 to 4:30. Sleep is getting harder to come by these days. My spirits are high, and my Juan Valdez pure Colombian coffee intake will undoubtedly need to be higher. Thanks for reading, and good night. -Warren