Photo by Caitlyn
We were greeted again this morning by smiling C.A.S.A. employees and a van sputtering in the driveway, ready to whisk us off to our next rural adventure. We rode down a familiar-looking dirt road lined with cacti and arid land until we arrived in San Juan del Carmen, where two C.A.S.A. employees, Mildred and Veronica, planned to provide a free cooking and gardening lesson to the local women.
As we walked through the community knocking on door after door, it became apparent that the majority of the women were out working in place of their husbands who had migrated to the United States. The handful of women we were able to contact gathered in another’s kitchen and watched intently as Veronica began making “pay de queso”—cheesecake.
While Mildred walked down the street to the tienda for more butter, the local women chitchatted and shared laughs as Veronica continued showing them how to form a crust. After the cheesecake filling was poured and our stomachs were all grumbling, we switched gears and went outside to garden.
Together we worked with the C.A.S.A. employees and local women to form the rows of a garden that will later be home to cilantro, beans, and pumpkin for the community. After working up an appetite under the scorching Mexican sun, we returned to the kitchen with the local women to enjoy friendly smiles, soda, and a piece fresh cheesecake, which they can now make themselves.
-Caitlyn