!!!PAN!!!

Xela has been good to us, especially in terms of its plentiful cafes and bakeries. Since the cafes played such a large part of our lives, I wrote a separate post for them previously. This post will be dedicated to what is simply termed PAN (or bread in espanol). People here eat a lot of bread or carbohydrate like goods. It makes sense since the soil is so rich and so much of grains and corn are grown here. Every night, tables fill with bread, rice, or beans and meat is a plus, not a must. I miss meat. BUT, the bakeries in Xela are definitely something I will miss once we leave.

Our favorite bakery in Xela is conveniently termed, The Bake Shop, a tiny establishment run by a family of Mennonites. Yes, there are Mennonites in Guatemala, Swiss ones. We see different groups of them everywhere, even at Walmart. The establishment is open every Tuesday and Friday for our patronage and we have gone, without fail, every Tues and Fri we were in Xela. The tiny store has all sorts of delicious goods ranging from our ultimate favorite, Banana Bread, to croissants filled with ham and turkey, cupcakes, gingerbread cookies, whoopee pies, bagels etc. They even made fresh cow cheese, yogurt, and milk. This was LEGIT. We frequently brought goodies for our host parents, teachers, and friends. It sustained us on our LONG hike to Santa Maria. Thank goodness for bake shop. I would convert to Mennonite-ism if you will teach me your secret ways.

The BAKE SHOP

Delicious Goodies

MAS delicious goodies.

Security guards with HUGE shot guns protecting the bake shop

On the days the Bake Shop owners are milking the cows, baking the breads, and recuperating from making so much kaching on Tues and Fri, Jing and I fall back on the chain, appropriately termed, Xela Pan. There are over 20 in the city of Xela alone and a handful of them have a restaurant on the 2nd floor serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. From every store, you can take a peek behind the glass as bakers hurriedly make the next warm batch of delicious breads. Flour powder fill the air; a glob of unrecognizable goop quickly becomes a shapely delicious invention. Options include Focaccia (Jing´s favorite), Piedras (rocks in espanol), apple turnovers, apple tarts, cookies, croissants, dinner rolls, all-purpose cakes, etc, etc, etc. The store selection is HUGE and cheap. We go DAILY during breaks in Spanish school and often after to grab a snack.

Xela PAN

Us with our maestros outside of Xela pan one break. We really spend ALL of our time during class breaks there.