In Belize, I was taught by a local teacher how to make Mayan chocolate. This chocolate got its name because Mayans were the first to make it centuries ago. It is special in the fact that it has honey and no sugar. The ancient Mayans added this chocolate with chili, cinnamon, five spice, or spicy pepper. Now let me share how to make the chocolate! First, I was given a cacao fruit. The cacao fruit is bumpy and yellow. The fruit is soft on the bumpy parts and hard on the other parts. It is the same size as my hand. Second, I used a knife to cut the cacao fruit in half. After I cut the cacao, I could see some white sticky triangles. I could eat the white part off or cut it off. When I finished, I could see dozens of cacao beans. They look brown and tasted bitter. The cacao beans are the size of jellybeans. Third, I grinded the cacao beans into one big chunk. The beans were grinded three times by a manual grinder. The grinder, as my teacher told me, was from the Mayans and made of stone. What was more special about the grinder was that it was made from a lava stone and was passed down from generation to generation. This lava stone cannot be bought or sold in Belize because it is illegal. Fourth, I poured the chunk of chocolate in a bowl of warm water. Then, I mixed the water three times with a wooden spoon. I made sure that there were no more chunks of chocolate left. Fifth, I put in honey and cinnamon as my favorite. I picked them to make the drink sweet. I did not have sugar to add, because I guess sugar was not used when the Mayans were alive. Then, I added chili, five spice, spicy pepper, and more cinnamon. As a result, the chocolate drink had more flavor. Finally, I was ready to drink the chocolate! Even this was my first time making Mayan chocolate, my chocolate came out successfully, with rich flavor and flowy taste! It was exciting to have such a new experience.
Young Bloggers
Mother
Caretaker of the House, Cooker, Organizer of Paraphernalia, Player of Music, and Reminder of Kindness; Motivated, strict, loving, Mother of our Home: They tell me your house is small with little room to work and I believe them, for I belong in this house, smelling every scent there is to smell and touching everything that is there to touch. They tell me this house is beautiful: with the lamps shining brightly through the windows and the shrubbery out front cut to its perfect place. They say they see the order of the crimson bricks and I reply: I see them every day, walking along the path, or climbing up the trees, facing our house. They say they see the woman with the basket of laundry, hanging up fabric with clothespins on the line, maybe tending to the flowers and I turn once more and say: I know that woman from all my life, you might say I see her daily. I say: Come and show me another woman who does as much work as this: washing dishes, taking flower’s care, helping out with our belonging animals, and feeding the hungry mouths that need food. No one can be better who does as much work as she, sweet care she gives to all, questions she asks out of curiosity and care. As strong as Hercules himself, using this through her mind and body, clever with her soul and spirits that perform the way she is now, Caring, Loving, Strict, Firm, Trying, failing, retrying, Under the sheet of moon or in the middle of the dusty dawn, finding ways to go through the busy work of day, Under the rippling sun with work to do in yards and rapid trips to drive, never giving up through all the tough times, Under the scary circumstances of arguments, giving advice and gaining trust through all that she tries to teach us, Under the times of impossible, where nothing seems to get done or ever begins to work with determination and effort, Smiling! Smiling the motivated, strict, loving smile of strength, having pride to be Caretaker of the House, Cooker, Organizer of Paraphernalia, Player of Music, and Reminder of Kindness.
Falling in Love with Oreo at First Sight
Every month I have a habit to plead my parents for a hamster. One cold breezy night, my mom, dad, and I went shopping, and my dream came true. “Hey, look, there’s a PetSmart here, you could go get Adela a hamster, if there are any.” My dad exclaimed. My mom smiled and said she would; I was very thrilled! I was finally getting a hamster! When we sauntered in, my mom inquired about where the hamsters were. I met two Long Haired Syrian hamsters at first. An employee came and helped us choose. “There is also one over there, hiding in his bedding,” the employee said, pointing to a cage. I looked down and saw a hamster staring at me with a pile of paper bedding over his entire body. “What gender are they?” I asked the employee. He answered that they were all male. “The Syrians are more defensive than the other one; the Winter White hamster is a little shyer,” the employee added. I decided to get the Winter White. I named him Oreo because of the mix of colors he has– a soft and fluffy gray coat and a snow-white belly; it looks like an Oreo milkshake. The shape of him when eating looks like a round snowball. When we put Oreo in his new cage, he loved it! After that night, I decided to switch to some hamster care videos on Youtube. I saw a channel called Victoria Raechel. I checked it out and discovered that Hamster balls aren’t safe for hamsters, because their feet could get stuck in the air holes. I quickly told my dad about it and we removed Oreo’s ball. I also learned that hamsters are small animals, but they still need a lot of space; my dad added a big bin to the cage to give Oreo more space. Oreo lives safely upstairs in my dad’s working room which is next to my parents’ room. Every night, my parents could hear Oreo running wildly on his wheel, which made it too noisy to sleep. My parents had to switch it into a different type of wheel, named Silent Spinner. Now Oreo runs on his wheel but doesn’t make a sound at all. So, my parents now can sleep soundly in their room. Every hour I check on Oreo and feed him a little grain mix, popcorn, worms, and broccoli. Oreo has grown twice as big as he used to be! Oreo is living the best life a hamster could possibly have. Oreo is a marvelous hamster; I knew that picking Oreo instead of the others was a spectacular idea. He is lucky to be with me. And I am lucky to be with him.
