Trudging Through The Obstacles
After coming home from a strenuous walk in ninety degree Panamanian heat, I was welcomed home by my warm-hearted Panamanian family with a plate of delicious, authentic food that Gladys and Marcela had prepared for us “gringos” or Americans. Coming from America, this type of cooking and labor that is required to prepare a dish is uncommon. However, this is standard in Panama and South American countries. Every day, Marcela would get up before the sun rises to start the time-consuming task of making patacones, which are fried plantains, for our lunch. After having this delicacy every day, I grew tired of them but once back in America, I craved the sweet taste of the patacones. Assuming I could never recreate such a dish because of its authenticity, I simply let the craving slide by.…show more content… I turned to my host mom, Gladys, on Facebook and asked her how to make the fried plantains. After asking however, I felt even less encouraged because she had given me the recipe and directions fully in Spanish. The words and grammar used were advanced compared to my knowledge of the language. This was just another obstacle that got in the way and kept me from trying to cook them. However, after receiving the message “No es tan difícil. ¡El resultado será excelente!” (It’s not that difficult. The result will be great!), my confidence boosted and decided to start decoding her advanced Spanish, feeling
