Feb 13, 2019
Brunch in Guatemala is definitely nothing like New York.
seen from Brazil
seen from India
seen from United States
seen from Switzerland
seen from Singapore
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from Chile
seen from Georgia
seen from Malaysia
seen from Switzerland
seen from United States
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seen from United States
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seen from United States
Brunch in Guatemala is definitely nothing like New York.
Fiambre!
Yesterday was Dia De Muertos and here in Guatemala, everyone participates in paying homage and respect to the dead by setting up Ofrenda’s and eating Fiambre.
What is Fiambre you ask?
It basically takes 2-3 days to make and is a combination of A LOT of meats + vegetables pickled in vinegar and spices mixed all together.
Shoutout to Boris & Roxi for making me some vegetarian Fiambre so I could try a little bit of their culture — man! Was this delicious!
It tastes like desi-onion-pickles but in a stew form. 10/10 would have it again!
Soul Spot 2 — Ayyam-i-ha version with the wonderful humans of Guatemala 🙏🏽
Theme: love & service
Blessed to wake up to fresh flowers in the house courtesy of Sonia (the helper for the apartment I’m staying in).
It’s about the little things :)
Kadai Paneer and Punjabis — Name a more iconic duo, I’ll wait.
First of all, Happy Diwali to all my desi-peeps celebrating this joyous occasion!
Secondly, Let me tell you a little tale about how ya girl temporarily got over her fear of doing things alone real quick and took herself out to a solo-dinner at Little India today courtesy of Sardar UncleJi.
So I guess it’s true when they say “you can take an Indian out of India but you can’t take India out of an Indian” because after being severely deprived of my consistent brown-town presence in Guatemala, I basically yelled across the street at an Uncle-Ji in a Pagari (turban worn by Sikhs).
Me *impulsively*: Sat-Sri-Akal Ji!
Him *crosses 2 streets over to me*: Hola! Buenos Tardes. Ki Tusi Ithe Se Ho? (are you from here?)
Me *looking for my Uber*: Nahi, not really — just saw a familiar face toh socha kuch boloon! (so I thought I should say something) I’m running to go find Indian food.
Him *points to my potential-uber*: Kya baat hai! (Oh wow!) Go to Little India, it is pretty close by and the store next to it sells paneer.
Me *walking away*: Arrey Uncle Ji...apne toh mera din banadiya! (Oh Uncle...you made my day)
Him *waving*: Have a good evening beta, mucho gustos!
Who knew a basic-short-quick interaction in Hindi/English/Punjabi could postpone the scheduled homesickness that easily?
It’s been 1 wonderful week since I’ve been in this beautiful city and 1 week too long away from my beloved Paneer. So I finally resorted to the gift that keeps on giving — Google Ji — and recommendations + Uncle Ji and ended up at Little India.
This is not going to be a food review cause let’s be honest, beggars can’t be choosers so I’m gonna take whatever Paneer I can get; Yes, I’m also hashtag blessed to even have such trivial problems. Anyways, they were playing Shiela Ki Jawaani and Barso Re, so I mean...it doesn’t get browner than that am I right? They even gave me some Raita (shared it with HR in spirit) and Masala Chai (missed my lovely Chinu) on the house!
P.S: Mom & Dad if you’re reading this — don’t worry, I was not “too friendly” with a stranger and/or give him any personal details.
P.P.S: Yes the leftovers are going to turn into corn-tortillas-Kathi-rolls for Sunday dinner
Too Brown for my own good?
Took me a whole week to find someone who speaks Hindi. Who knew I would miss basic things like this?! Current mood:
* playing Dance Pe Chance in the background *
Whole experience/story coming in the next post 😏
Things you can get for $5.00 in Guatemala!
Being nice versus basic human decency
As someone raised with Indian values in a Middle Eastern country moving to America when I was 18 was definitely eye-opening on the community-culture front...or lack thereof.
All my brownies can probably relate; I always thought you can’t possibly recreate Desi-hospitality or Middle Eastern-warmth, but I was wrong! The people in Guatemala are AWESOME. They mimic the values and cultures I was raised in and yet I find myself very very uncomfortable surrounded by their niceness — trying to slap that New York/American trait outta me (my inner New Yorker is getting very defensive right now).
Classic third-culture-kid problems!
Example: That Time I Got Google Translated