Our first group was a group of 12 friends over New Year's weekend. Twelve is a nice sized group to get your feet wet. They were fun, laid back, and forgiving of our learning curve. Then we had a group of 15 English teachers. That was a CRAZY time because not only were we cooking all the food, but we also did almost all of the programming. But again, we were so pleased with how it went. Our last two groups have been church retreats, and we have only provided food, not programming. The first was over Carnaval and was a group of 25. Last weekend was a group of 50. Yikes. We have decided that with our current infrastructure, 50 is our maximum for now.
Imagine cooking 3 kg (6.6 pounds) of rice at a time. Or 3 screaming pressure cookers cooking 3 kg of beans. That was the foundation of every lunch, which is the main meal of the day here. On top of that we would have some sort of salad and a meat dish (chicken with a vegetable cream sauce, a special bean dish with chunks of meat cooked in with it, and we even did a BBQ!) For one supper we did spaghetti and meatloaf (cause we decided meatballs are just WAY too much work). The other supper they had an 'evening of the nations' where they celebrated cultures from around the world. They wanted an international meal, so we did... A WIENER ROAST! I know that sounds ridiculous, but if you think about it, that is one of the most culturally unique things we do in North America. The concept doesn't even exist here. They had a fantastic time roasting dogs and marshmallows.
After the wiener roast, they had a fashion show, modelling cultural clothing from around the world. Karl and I had the privilege of being the impartial judges! What a fun time that was! We saw Geishas, Bollywood stars, African tribesmen, Sheiks, Flamenco dancers, and more. They did a great job putting everything together.
Overall, it was a ton of work, absolutely exhausting, but a lot of fun. Each group we host, we become a little more organized, tweak a few more recipes, and generally stress just a little bit less. One of the best things we did this time around was hire an extra employee. This freed our regular employee up to focus just on food with us, while someone else kept the bathrooms clean, set up meal tables, washed towels, and helped wash dishes (no, we don't have a dishwasher here).
Looking ahead to the next couple of months, Karl and I will both be back in Manitoba for a few weeks. (If you would like to get together, let us know, we would love to visit with you!) Hopefully we can continue with improvements around the yard in May and June. Then July is going to be English month! July is holiday month here. Government and business run on bare bones staff, if at all, there is no school, and everyone travels and hangs out on the beaches during this time. Each week throughout July, we are offering a 5 day English Immersion experience. We will speak only English with the group, serve typical foods, have cultural activities, as well as some workshops. But this is not something we can pull off with just the two of us. We are looking for a handful of people who are interested in interacting with people who speak English as a second language (Any TESOL teachers or students reading this?!?) Also, we would love to find someone who can help us in the kitchen. If this is something you are interested in, let us know. We would love to tell you more about it and how you can get involved!
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