A Milpa and More

On Saturday in Tinum, we visited a milpa outside of town. A milpa is simply a farm- but they're usually small farms with little to no technology. The farmers are completely dependent on the land. The Milpa we visited was about 10 acres, and the farmer planted corn, squash, and beans. This past year has been a drought year, so all the farmers are struggling. Many didn't yield enough corn to plant this year's crop, so they'll have to buy some, if they can find the money. It's a vicious cycle that's completely dependent on the weather.

While we were at the Milpa, the owner cooked some squash and yucca root for us in an underground oven. It was delicious! We dipped the Yucca in some amazing fresh honey that one of the farmers had gathered from his bees. And the squash was smooshed and mixed with honey. It was warm, gooey, and delicous! It was a really kind gift from the farmer.

After we visited the Milpa, we headed back into town and stopped to check out a panaderia, or bakery. Yum yum yum! It smelled so good! They were in the middle of baking the days treats, and we got to see the huge wood burning oven they used. It was so large that they had to used really long paddles to manuever the bread cooking in the oven. I'll have to post pictures later.

After the panaderia, we drove to the molinera (I think that's the name), which is where the community grinds corn for tortillas. Tortillas....yum! I've become addicted to handmade corn tortillas- so much better than flour tortillas! The place was really noisy because of the machinery used for grinding. It was neat to see how quickly things were made. People could buy premade corn tortillas there as well. It saves time, especially if someone has a huge family. A typical Mexican will eat 2-5 kilos of corn each day- it's the main part of a Mexican diet. Corns and beans. It's a yummy combo!

Well, I have to go to class. Ick...