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Jonathan Andersen

A young pastor in an old denomination

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My entries for the “Food and Faith” art contest

Recently the “New Creation Student Arts” group at Duke Divinity School held a photo contest with the theme “Food and Faith,” and one of my entries won second place!

The theme for the contest came from the book “Food and Faith: A Theology of Eating” by Norman Wirzba.

The exhibit was created to help relay two major ideas from Wirzba’s book.  First, we must acknowledge the fact that our culture often manufactures food in such a way that much of it is wasted, the environment is degraded, and inhumane processes abound.  Second, we must also acknowledge that our faith is sustained by food, particularly the bread and wine of the Eucharist, and that we are called to be stewards of God’s creation.

My three entries were from my trip to Central America this summer.  I featured the bottom two photographs previously in the post Cooking in Guatemala.  The first entry is one that I hadn’t shared until the contest and it ended up winning second place.

The photo features Ángel, the pastor of La Iglesia Evangelica Metodista La Providencia.  It was taken at his house late in July when he had the interns from Duke over for a last supper of sorts.  We were all sharing homemade lasagna and Coca-Cola when a torrential rain storm moved in.  Suddenly, the power went out.  At this point in the trip this wasn’t too rare, so we all kept talking, eating, and enjoying Ángel’s huge smile in the candlelight.  I pulled my camera out because I love to photograph in low-light settings.  I took numerous frames, but when I took this one I knew it was special.  Ángel doesn’t regularly smile for posed photos.

 

Pastor Ángel
“Pastor Ángel” – Ahuachapán, El Salvador

 

Macadamia Nuts
“Macadamia” – Communiad Nueva Alianza, Coffee Finca

 

Tortilleria: Los Comalitos
“Tortilleria: Los Comalitos” – Xela, Guatemala

April 3, 2012 by Jonathan Leave a Comment

Cooking in Guatemala

One of my favorite things about traveling is the opportunity to sample foods that I don’t normally eat.  At school my diet consists of cereal for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch, and something quick and easy for dinner — Panda Express being my favorite in this latter category.  Here in Guatemala, it has been a true blessing to have fresh meals cooked each day by my house mother Aldina.  The menu for the past month has consisted of combinations of:

Breakfast – Pancakes, eggs with salsa, tortillas, black beans, toasted sandwiches (ham, hotdog, tomatoes, onions, ketchup, and mayo), fruits (papaya, mango, watermelon, pineapple, plantains), corn flakes with warm milk, and mosh (similar to very milky oatmeal)

Lunch and Dinner – Carrot soufflé, rice, tortillas, cucumbers and tomatoes in vinegar, black beans, eggs, chicken (covered in onions, bell peppers, and salsa), hotdog tacos, carne asada, vegetable soup, carrots and potatoes, fried plantains, tortas (similar to hamburgers on tortillas), paches (rice, steak, and mole), green bean rellenos, and plantain envueltos.

Here is Aldina cooking my favorite food in Guatemala, fried plantains, by candle light one night when the power went:

Power Outage

Each day we have fresh tortillas that are made at a tortilleria named Los Comalitos that is only a block from my house.  Three ladies operate this business, and they go through 75 pounds of corn per day as they hand pat 2,000 tortillas.  They work from sunrise to past sunset each day. Here is one photo of Mary and Norma (18) who have both been doing this for ten years and another of me making my first tortilla!

Tortilleria: Los Comalitos

Tortilleria: Los Comalitos

At my Spanish School, Sakribal, we have weekly meals where the students and teachers cook.  The first week I cooked fried oreos (Oreos fritos) and they were a huge hit.  Since then I have watched globalization take place as three of the teachers at the school informed me that they went home and made them as breakfast items for their children. All of the kids loved them, and the teachers added a little fruit surrounding them for a little more balance!

Fried Oreos

Fried Oreos

Last week at the school we had some of the best pork I’ve had in a very long time.  We had fresh chicharrones (pigskins with a little meat on them) and carnitas which are traditionally eaten by families on weekends.

Chicharrones

Carnitas

Other random food finds:
These are macadamia nuts at the Nueva Alzenaia planation.  We visited there last week and were able to see the processes they use to produce coffee, macadamia nuts, spring water, and biodisel.

Macadamia Nuts

A Chocolateria in Xela:

Chocolateria

If you buy a glass bottle Coke, most stores will pour it in a bag for you so that they can keep the bottle and give it back to the manufacturer for refilling.

Coca Cola en una bolsa

Every Guatemalan I’ve met loves to put ketchup on top of their pizza.  I sampled this trend when I bought Dominoes for my family one night, and I can report that it tasted exactly how I expected.  It wasn’t great and it wasn’t terrible, and the whole time I asked myself why I put ketchup on top of a perfectly fine slice of pizza.

And finally, here is a picture of the family I live with and some of their friends eating Shrimp Creole that I cooked last night.

Family Dinner

June 7, 2011 by Jonathan 9 Comments

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