Mangoes and Adam Smith are dank

Mangoes are delicious. And cheap. One of the awesome things about Guatemala is the price of fresh produce.  Yesterday, I bought a head of lettuce, a bunch of carrots, a cucumber, three mangoes, an avocado, and a pound of black beans for roughly $3. There are several markets in Xela with rows of venders selling all sorts of fruits, veggies, beans, and grains. There were several things that I’d never seen before, like a fuzzy red fruit of some sort and another fruit that looks a bit like a potato but is apparently a cross between an avocado and a sweet potato. I’ll let you know if that’s the case when I try it.

I’ve also decided that my dentist is going to be very angry about the amount of coffee and tea I’ve been drinking. When it’s cold and rainy all you want to drink something warm, so most days I’ve been drinking 4 to 6 cups of tea or coffee. Cater, who is the food and health expert around here, told me that because Guatemalans so frequently drink hot drinks, which they usually drink with sugar, diabetes has become a problem in many communities. Thus, I drank my coffee and tea without sugar and instead ate a coconut macaroon that I bought on the way back from the park instead.

Going back to the title of this blog, Ben is definitely a bit of an expert on economics, so this morning he showed Kirsten and I his presentation on the Invisible Hand’s role in economic development. I’ve had several econ talks with Ben and realized that 1) I learned way more than I thought in my Business, Ethics and Society class and 2) Adam Smith is a boss. I guess I should also add 3) I’m a huge nerd.

Lastly, one of the VCU kids, Lucas, used the word dank the other day which I’ve never heard or used before (probably because I'm not a stoner) so I thought I’d give it a try haha. Also why do you have to add an e to the plural form of mango, seriously, who decided to do that?

Hasta luego.