Good morning friends, I am Joel Seoani, today I am going to take you to meet a Maya Chorti community. Right now I am here in the town of Copán Ruinas, and we are going to move to a place called Brisas de San Juan, which is about an hour by car from here from Copán. So we are going to go by car and the objective of this video is going to be to show you how the Maya Chorti community lives here in Honduras, what their customs are and also to try a bit of their gastronomy. So I invite you to join me on this journey and stay with this video until the end. They see that we have returned to the market to have breakfast. It's called that green thing you see there, they say it's ground squash seed. It has beans. I'm scared, I don't know if I'm going to like it. No. I don't think he's going to eat it. Well, we made another stop here in a community called El Zapote, I'm here with my guide, William Landaberry. How is William? Taste. Nice to meet you. Here. This is the Zapote school, a school that. Public school. Public. Not here, we don't have private schools, they are all public. Well, look, and I haven't told you, but I'm here thanks to a teacher from the National Autonomous University of Honduras in Tegucigalpa, her name is Jennifer Ramírez. She personally has the purpose of being able to help these communities here and as she was telling us here, four schools in these communities already have internet. What grade are you? In seventh. Oh, are you in seventh? How old are you? Twelve o'clock. Oh, it's big already. Yeah, we're here with Keily. He lives next to the school. In other words, if she didn't like going to school, they would take her to the door. But you like going to school, right? Nice to meet you. How are you? Good. Permission. You are Kelly's dad. Yes. This technology, I thought it was a tube, but it's like a banana shell . Banana shell, right? Like the stem of the bush. It is used for drainage. Right now the rain wants to come right now. Yes. So, here runs the. Well friends, see we arrived here at our place. Well, from here we are going to move now in a double car. We ride in a tourist car, the tourist car can no longer continue. As you can see, we already packed our bags. We are in a community called Aguascalientes. We are somewhat close to the famous hot springs called Luna Jaguar. So, from here we are going to move right now to our destination, which in this case is Brisas de San Juan. Let's go, let's go, let's go. Well, see that it started to rain, here we started walking, we reached the detour. Here my guide tells me that four by four cars go up here, but hey, we don't have any, so we're going to walk about twenty minutes. Yes, twenty minutes. Well, here we are going to cross a river right now. Well, we're going down here to a creek. This ravine flows into the Managua River. I'm already a little burned out and we're starting right now this backpack that I've never used, it's the first time I've carried it inside there are two camping tents. Hi teacher. Hello. How are you? How is it going? Let's go up there. It's good. how much is left? Five minutes already. Fourty. Oh back there goes the kindergarten teacher from the school where we go. He says it takes forty minutes to walk. I had been told it was ten minutes. Now they tell me there are forty. It 's raining really hard right now. Oh. The rain caught us. He got under a stick here. There's the house. The backpack got stuck. Eh he brought the backpack already. Already. Already. This backpack is bigger than me. We got home. Well let's camp a little rain here. Let's wait a bit to see. As it is called? Saints Vincent. Holy. We are close now. Yes, they are missing a little. Five minutes. Like fifteen. Fifteen. Uh I'm all sweaty people. Up to there already. But upon reaching the creek. OK. Here it is already flat. Yes, it's even here. OK. You go for. Yes , I'm going to bring some sticks there. Oh he's going to work. Okay , well, let's continue, then, well, thank you. Good luck , we're fifteen minutes away. It stopped raining. Now I'm wet but from sweat. Well, see that we arrived here at a place, from here you can see where the community is already. Breeze of San Juan. The sun came out again. Here the weather is a bit weird. So let's fly the drone. We're close now, about ten minutes I think. Take it drone. See that here there are gates on the road, we have already passed one, we are passing another right now, there is our guide Williams, he was telling me that here this part that you see here, here is to pass, but since we are no longer cool, I think that I don't fit, so we had to open the big gate to go through with this tremendous trailer. Well people, we are very close, but very close, about to arrive, only the last stretch of the road is missing, behind me, see, here the street looks like it is disappearing, but although there in the background, I don't know if they look at some Little houses that you notice up there, well, the street appears up there again, that means that this goes down and then you have to go up, everything that goes up goes down, says a saying, but here everything that goes down goes up. We were back there where you look at the street and now we have to keep going up here. Wow I didn't think I was that tired. I didn't think it was that difficult. We met a little friend here. He goes to school. What grade are you? In one. First grade. They wear boots to school. shock her shock her It's. Friends we are coming. See that we started walking at one in the afternoon. Right now it 's two twenty in the afternoon. They told us it was half an hour. An hour and twenty walk to get here and see that they brought us our guide that as here they knew we were going to come they decorated. See. Those little palms that you see there behind me is an arrangement as well as a welcome one. We are going to stay here in a school today, it will be our place to be. They're in class right now, let's see. We're in Chile, I can't stand it anymore. Wow, this is heavy, as you can see, what a tremendous view behind me, see, our guide is explaining to us where Guatemala is, but let him explain to us the best, hello, good afternoon, or we will arrive, we will arrive, we will already arrive at the Brisas de San Juan community, on the right hand side we have the la Republic of Guatemala about eight hundred meters I think it is the border and less than a kilometer close we are very close because it is a community that is well organized as you can see organized with little palms to welcome them is we are going to show them to the shore of community. I'm going to read the M and the A. M A. Well, look, we just entered the school here, this school is called Víctor Martínez, it is the only school here in this community, Brisas de San Juan, there are only first to sixth grades. There is only one teacher, they tell me. good afternoon how are they? Good. They were waiting for us, right? Yes, we were waiting for you since the morning. Yeah, it's been the longest day of school so far. We entered at ten we entered. Oh, at ten. Yes. There are three grades here, first, second, and third grade. They are in Spanish class right now. See, she is the only teacher here in this school, her name is Lilian, right? We want to level them because no, we can't, for example, be, right? Passing them and passing them and I know what interests one as it is that the child learns not only to give the certificate and that is already done. You see, the Mayan Chorti are a mixture of Mayan with Chorti when the Mayans arrived here in the national territory , the Chorti already lived here so there was a mixture and that is why they are called Mayans so they have a mother tongue but unfortunately here in Honduras they have been losing that mother tongue in such a way that only very old very old people possibly know some words but right now here the children in the schools are re-teaching them the mother tongue. Right now they just sang the national anthem of Honduras in the language. I'm going to leave it to you so you can enjoy listening to the beautiful notes of our national anthem, but sung in the language. Fifteen, sing, it 's over, come on See, there's a peacock at school. He's threatening us, I think. Yes. It scared me already. Hey, look, they were waiting for us here with lunch. They gave us Indian chicken soup . I haven't tried it yet but this smells good. It has potato, it has cabbage, it has tomato, and the chicken is on the side. I noticed that soup is served here. See. The chicken apart the soup apart. Indian chicken soup here in a Maya Chorti community. My guide Williams tells me here that this dish here is very typical, the family eats a lot. Yes. So, Indian chicken soup is typical food. Yes, little tomato. Bon appetit to you too, and let me enjoy this delicacy. I have never eaten ticuco myself. They say it's ground beans, with corn, with a tamale like that, let's see. Like the pisque tamale, it's like the bean tamale that you normally eat but it has a different flavor, I think it's because of the leaf, but it's not a dessert, it's food for sustenance. I wanted to mention that here the school is the only place where there is internet here in this community. You can say but that is normal the internet. But see here the internet is very important. I was talking to the teacher and she was commenting to me. She is not from here. He is not from this community. It comes from other places. So when she wanted to communicate with her relatives, she had to go look for the highest places on the mountain. Being able to find a signal. Now with the internet it is a little easier for him to communicate with them and he told me that he also uses the internet as a means of learning for the students. She told me that sometimes she wants to make the sound of the syllable or the letters to the students, so she looks for a video on the Internet and plays it, she has also taught them, she says how the Internet works, because here the children, by not having internet, being of low economic resources, they don't have a smartphone either, so that way they can have an approach to what technology is. The Transformadora Honduras program has focused on putting up the internet and they also have the dream of at some point providing computers for these areas here in the Maya Ortiz communities. If any of you also want to support and help these communities, I will be leaving here and also in the description the link to the official page of Fuerza Transformadora Honduras so that you can communicate with them and also help in some way. Right now they are going to take us to visit the community. We are going to visit some houses. Let me tell you that it is already getting cold here. I think we're about eighteen I think. See here this is a typical house. You can see that the burner is on right now. This is adobe it's called. It's like mud with pieces of stone. Also like this pine one. Like pine needles. Hello. We can meet the kitchen. Yes. Enter. See, they gave us permission to get to know the kitchen here. See here are black bean tortillas. Oh here they grind. Yes. They put the corn in there and that's it. He gets up early to grind. Oh yeah. Early at five or before. Yes at five. At five they do. See this is another typical house here. This is wood. And then the house always has a garage. Here are the cars. Oh if you hear me tired we have to climb quite a bit here. So the terrain is mountainous. He wants to get in It gets. You have to give him food there, there, so hard, that corn is not new corn, right? Yes. Is it new? Yes this is new. But it is for tortilla. And this is for chicken I want it. Oh is it for the chickens? Mhm. I'm going to help myself with this piece of baby corn. Look look at the technique see the technique. Then give it to one side like this. Uh-huh. Right? This one is hard. Clever. My fingers were red but. They are posting. But but I'm done. Ah, he's grinding on stone. This stone mill . What is your name? Maria. Maria? Yes. Look at María, how she makes tortillas. Expert making tortillas here. He already has about fifteen there, more than fifteen I think. Well, we have just arrived at a house where they are going to teach me how to make tortillas, they said. I'm going to learn. I can't make tortillas. I have never made corn tortilla like this on stone, it will be the first time. Step number one. Wash your hands well. Here. You have to pour water. You have to pour water. It's hard. The truth is very difficult. I thought it was easier to make a corn tortilla but here they make it by hand. I don't know how to make a corn tortilla by hand. I have seen that sometimes they are made in nylon on a machine but here it is in the hand and they look good. So. No. I think it's more or less. Well, it looks a bit like it, I think. This was made by the teacher. I made this one. I turn it like this with my fingers. He is saying that when the tortilla starts to smoke, I turn it over. Yes. So they don't stay with me. But I don't know how. Oh oh oh there you see this one inflated by itself. I don't think mine inflates like that not mine I think it's spasm. This one thinks it inflates. No, very ugly. It is not shaped like a tortilla. Well, a little like that. Woman, how are you? Hmm. It's good. The secret is in the corn. Yes, without salt, without anything, but very good. They are tiny. They are called thin tomatoes. I'm going to eat tomato with tortilla here. They are like aciditos with candy. Look at the size. Like a maul. A little smaller I think, but very good. That's just how he eats them. They are eaten like this, raw they are also eaten brought with eggs. No, with egg. Ah, they must be tasty with eggs. Well, see, they told me to have the full experience of making tortillas. I have to grind corn in this hand mill. Because before hitting it with the stone, hitting it here with the mill. They tell me that this corn is cooked, it's cooked, but it's a bit hard, really. They are telling me that this is what the role of women do, practically here every day. Oh yeah, it's hard. This does it, my guide tells me that they do it three times a day. Right? The three meal times do this, they grind corn, to make tortillas. In other words, tortillas are eaten here every day, right? You don't pour water on this. No. No. There's no way it's water. No, yes, it's hard. And this is the work that women do, grinding corn. If you think it's not hard, I invite you to try it. He's going to pour water on it. I pour water on it. throw him out They go through it with water because they burn softly. Oh ok. I 'm going to pour water on it, let's see. Well, look, you're going to embarrass me, I'm going to give her, let 's see. Both hands. OK, that's really hard. They do this because here there is still no electric mill, there are communities where they have an electric mill and people only go to grind. There are still no such mills here, so the women do this heavy work, every day. In this family they tell me that they fill this, four times for each meal time, that is to say that a day they grind twelve of these, that is to say that to eat a tortilla here, it is a hard job that happens before, a woman the corn, then grinding it in this mill, then grinding it on the stone, and then throwing the tortillas there on the burner. Well, I'm going to try the blackberry soup here for the first time in my life. This plant is called blackberry. It's a typical meal here in this area, they tell me it's a little bit bitter and you eat the soup. The soup is eaten and obviously the leaves are also eaten. It has salt and you feel quite bitter here, right? I'm not going to eat it. But I tell you how it tastes. We're going to try a leaf, a blackberry leaf. It has like little hairs. It is bitter too. It's interesting, huh? This is a typical blackberry soup here in Honduras in this area of the country. It is a plant , let's say, native to the area here. It is also consumed in the part of Guatemala. There are families that grow it to consume it because it has many medicinal properties. It also has iron and it has many many nutrients that the body needs to function. This taste is a bit bitter. But we have already been used to trying it since we were little. We have consumed it and we already know that the taste is like that and we eat it normally. What is the name of that William? Zangarro zangarro zangarro is it good for? To get the cane juice, you put the cane here and turn it over with the sticks and here the cane juice comes out. You put a bucket here so that the juice falls out. In this climate, cane can be grown if it can be grown here like you do . you can see we have a variety of cane yes it is not if it adapts the same but if you can for consumption see we are going to make cane juice right now we are going to wash the cane first there it comes out with the black brush that you can see there we are making the cane cane juice here with a zangarro zangarro zangarro with a zangarro and with a squeeze so that the little juice comes out. The objective is to fill that corduroy that comes down there, see. You have to fill it all. Yes, yes, it has juice. Well, after hitting it with the mortar, you have to push it back as if it were a shirt, so it tastes like all the juice quite a lot, that's it. Let's try that juice now. See, the cane juice is ready. They say you have to put a touch of lemon. Oh, very good. The lemon gives it a fabulous touch there. Highly recommended. See what they tell me that here it is normal for families in their homes to have one or more hives. That thing you're looking at above me is a beehive. But they tell me they are domesticated bees. That is to say that these are not going to sting you. They are looking closely there and there is a bee that stays like that at the door. They tell me it's the gate. The one that checks who enters, who leaves, collects a toll from the bees there. They tell me that there is a little tampon here that when they want to get honey, they only open there and then they take it out. See what's behind me is a barn. They keep corn there , they are telling me. See how tall it is. This is taller than me. They say that eighteen quintals fit here, that is, one thousand eight hundred pounds of corn. And they are telling me a secret, that if they want the corn not to get weevils. They put garlic in it, he says. And the garlic. Scare away the weevil. Saint Francis, where do you study, Saints? In Hot Garlic. How many hours do you walk to get there? An hour. Every day. An hour from there and an hour. And what grade are you in? Tenth grade. Tenth. What degree are you studying? Bachelor's degree in sustainable development. Bachelor in Sustainable Development. You see, they are telling me that Santo is one of the first boys here from the Brisas del San Juan community, who is studying at the How many from here travel there? Four. Two and three more. Yes. And he's already in the tenth grade. That race they tell me is a rural race. How many years do you have left? One or two? Two. Two. You see I was talking to Santos here and Santos tells me that he would like to be able to go to university but I asked him what he would like to study but he tells me that he doesn't know what careers there are at the university. That's because here people don't have the opportunity to go to a university. In fact, Santos is one of the first young people in this community and he is graduating from high school because the school here is only for sixth grade. Another situation is that for a person from here to go to university, it is practically impossible for them because of the cost of moving from here to the city, in addition to the cultural shock that exists within the university. Without a doubt, there are many young people here, like Santos, who have that desire to go to university, but money is a very big barrier. So if any of you who are seeing me would be interested in being able to sponsor a young man like that, one of these children, to give him the opportunity to have a university career, I invite you so that you can visit here with Fuerza Transformadora Honduras and surely there you may have the opportunity have the desire to help a young man like Santos, Santos is almost graduating from high school but he says he would like to be able to go to university too. See that we are here in another house. They're going to give us Chepes a try right now, not Chepe, right? Chepe. And these are wrapped in cane leaves. The tamales in banana leaves, the ticucos in corn leaves and these chepes in cane leaves. See how that looks there. Let's take a bite out of this. Hmm very good. I think the cane leaf gives it a little flavor as you can see on my face I feel tired and I am very full, I think I have never been as full as I am today in my life. We went to about ten houses and they gave us food in all of them. We got to school and they had food for us. The people here are very friendly, really. He likes to give. And speaking of giving, they just gave me atol. This is a chuco atol. It is called chuco atol because it is sour. They say that they leave it a day before, so that the corn is added, and then they prepare it that way. This morning at the Copán market, I tried a chuco atol, but it had beans. They tell me that it does not have but that it is not sweet. So, let's try it. Here, it smells like corn, it smells like sour corn. It's salty, not sweet. It is salty and acidic. It's okay. I'm not going to take it all. But it's okay, really. Thank you very much to all the people here who have treated us very well. Actually, dinner was very good. Little beans, curd, tortilla, egg, a chulada. Well friends, see that it is half past nine at night. As you can see, I'm already here ready to sleep. I am in a tent. In the end we set up the tents here inside the school, because they say that at night it is very cold. This store where I am here is personal, only I fit. I go to sleep. Tomorrow, if God allows it, well, we are going to continue learning a little more about the activities that people do here in the morning. So, for now, I say goodbye to you. Rest, have a nice night. Goodnight. If you liked this video, I invite you to leave a comment and also to subscribe to the channel. In my next video I will continue to show you a little more about the Maya Chorti community in western Honduras. See you , until next time. Bye. follow full
