All over Guatemala, corn is grown, even on slopes so steep I wonder if they use ropes to get them! The maize is dried and stored, either on the cob or off. When they are ready to eat it, the kernels are soaked in water mixed with a bit of lye, a highly caustic white powder that is sacred to the Maya. It seems a little scary to be mixing lye--which we use as drain cleaner in the U.S.--with something you plan to eat, doesn't it? However, unlike the corn I'm used to, maize has a tough outer coating which protects the inner kernal. The lye eats away the coating, leaving only the yummy part! Sometimes the maize is soaked three or four times until the coating is completely dissolved and rinsed away with the lye water.

Traditionally, corn is ground on a rock with another rock as a mortar and pestle. Although some women still do this difficult and time consuming work, many now have hand grinders or take it to the molino (mill). Even a town as small as Chitatul has a motor operated molino. The women carry the carefully rinsed maize in plastic tubs down to the mill along a bumpy dirt road. The tubs are balanced on their heads, resting only on rolled clothes. For two and a half Quetzals, the man at the mill grinds three large tubs of maize, saving so much time compared to grinding it by hand. The ground maize, now called masa (corn dough), is again put into plastic tubs and carried back up the hill on the women's heads. I'm glad they didn't ask me to try that!

The main food made from masa is, you guessed it--the tortilla! Standing around the fire with a group of women, I am learning the art of making tortillas. For them it is effortless! As they chat, they scoop up perfect amounts of masa, roll them into balls, pat them several times between their hands, twirl them once through their fingers, and slap them onto the comal--a round piece of flat metal seasoned with lye and set over a fire. One woman checks the progress of the tortillas and flips them with a quick flick so as not to burn her fingers.

Of course, this is all much harder than it looks. I scoop out the masa, roll it into a ball, and begin patting it between my hands. Perhaps these big white hands just aren't suited to make tortillas! What emerges is a crumbly, uneven, odd shaped mess o'masa. I try again. And again, and again. Magdelena and the other women give me some hints and encourage me. Eventually, my first tortilla finds its way onto the comal. It sticks out like a tall white woman among Maya - it is fat, uneven, and not at all round. My teachers are proud and say that it resembles children's tortillas when they first learn this skill.

I keep practicing, all my attention on the task at hand--which is fine since I don't speak Quiché, anyway. By the end of the night, the tortillas I make look decent but still stand out. And I haven't learned how to make all the other masa-based foods, yet! This may take a while.

Tamales are lumps of masa wrapped in corn husks or other large leaves and steamed. Chuchas are like tamales, except that inside is a small bit of meat in a tasty tomato sauce. Atolé is a hot liquid made from the masa, which is drunk with meals, often sweetened, or served as a soup with hot sauce and maybe some cheese. And Elotés are corn on the cob (or in a cup), unground, often served with mayonaise, ketchup, salt, lime, and cheese.

Some meals have several different forms of exactly the same food...Corn! This is partly the result of tradition, but it is also due to the fact that corn is abundant and cheap enough for the poor, rural, indigenous population here. The Mayans often asked me, concerned, "In America, do you eat tortillas?" They seem relieved when I respond, "Yes", but look worried when I add that tortillas are not made in tortillerias, but rather by machine, and are eaten days later. Now that I've had fresh tortillas I will never again be able to eat the ones wrapped in plastic off of a store shelf!