Oranges

Guatemala has a lot of fruit I don’t know, but I do know oranges. Or so I thought. Here, the oranges are kinda green, and the first time I saw an orange cart in the street, I thought they were some sort of melons. (The irony of this is that my camera apparently brings out the orange under the green, and the orange in the photo actually looks orange.)
They have orange carts here filled with just oranges and a squeezer. And they make you orange juice right there! No concentrate. No water. They cut some oranges right in front of you, place them in a press, squeeze them into a cup and hand it to you. Hmmm. So fresh. So good.
Then in our kitchen the other day, I was asking my house mom about what she was cooking and about things in the kitchen. I saw the melon-looking fruit pile and verified they were oranges. She then told me which half was for cooking and which half was for eating. Different oranges for cooking and eating! She asked if I wanted one to eat, and I thought “Why not?” I have learned not to turn down fresh fruit here. It is always a treat. But what happened next I didn’t expect. She started looking around for something, I assumed for a little peeler. Maybe she would stick a fork or something sharp under the skin to get it started like I do. But no! She picked up a large, fat knife and peeled that sucker in one piece. The knife seemed to stay still as she twisted the orange beneath it, and when she was done, I was ready to sign her up for Iron Chef.
It was then that I learned she had actually studied to be a chef a while ago. No wonder her food is so delicious!