A thermos of atol and a container of soup will help your friend recover their strength and get better quicker. Not just because of the delicious and nutritious food, but because of the love and company you provide.
Many Guatemalans have a wood burning stove, sometimes called a pollo (poh-yoh). This kind of stove is fueled using firewood and household trash. To start the fire, old tissues, paper, cardboard and plastic are used as kindling. Then, heavier wood is piled on top to create a roaring blaze that can bring your water to a boil. Then you're free to cook rice for an arroz con leche, toast corn for a pinol, or cook down fava bean flour for an atol de haba. In whichever case, the thick beverage has to be cooked for 20-40 minutes until it's reduced, thick and delicious. In the cold months, the wood burning stove also heats up the whole house and is usually the only source of heat, which is very much needed in the mountains!
Many Guatemalans have home gardens, or larger plots of land called terrenos (tehr-reh-nohs) where they plant a wide variety of fruits, vegetables and grains. Where I live, it's common to plant the "three sisters": corn, beans and squash. These plants grow well together, each one helping the other. Like best friends! Corn acts as a trellis (a tall frame) to support the beans, beans make the soil healthy for the corn and squash and the squash's big leaves keep weeds from growing and help keep the soil wet.
People here use what they have access to.Pages
