La Senora de la Refra

I don't think it would be right to leave Guatemala without having mentioned refracción, or snack time. I didn't really get a good idea of the significance of refracción until I started working at PIES. Primeros Pasos, which is primarily American, doesn't really have the same culture around refracción. But, in working with PIES both in the office and in the communities, I soon learned. Most countries outside the US take more time for food and it plays a larger symbolic role in daily life. But, I think what strikes me the most about refracción, is not that they pause and eat around mid morning, but the quantity and quality of the food - as well as how much care goes into it and how important it's place is in the culture.

I'm not sure how many Guatemalan's eat breakfast, or what the culture is around breakfast. The younger people I worked with in the office skip breakfast in order to be able to sleep longer before going into the office (sound familiar?). I think if you have someone to make you breakfast - eggs, tortillas, refried beans, etc... - then you eat it, if not, you don't. Just a guess though. Anyway, by the time 10:30 rolls around, people are hungry and ready for their 30min food and coffee break.

PIES' office is on a side street in a residential area of Xela. It's about a 10min walk away from my house. Sellers seem to know that there is an office there, and I think there might be others on the street, because many walk down the street daily selling all sorts of things. There is the fruit truck with a large megaphone on the top that announces what fruit it has that day and how much it costs; the tortilla man on a moped that comes everyday at noon, honking his horn; the ice cream cart with its bell around 10. I've also seen/heard bookcases (a man walking down the street with one small bookcase), pizza, and a banana lady.

So, it's no surprise that everyday between 10 and 10:30 comes the "Refra lady" or "La Senora de la refra." With all her food in a basket on her head, a stool and usually 1-3 kids, she enters in the office, sits in the lobby and waits for PIES employees to buy something. She usually has a pretty good selection: empanadas de pollo, or cheese, tostadas, some other fried dough shaped like a log with meat or beans. Other days she has chicken sandwiches, tortilla with sausages, or ham sandwiches. She also has an Atol, or Arroz con Leche - hot rice or corn based drinks. Whenever she arrives, Emilia the Admin Assistant, calls everyone in the office to let them know that she has arrived, and 90% of the people in the office buy something. They then all sit down to eat it in the office kitchen.

On special occasions, birthdays and good-bye parties, the staff makes refracción. My most memorable refracción in the office was on the Director's birthday. I was sent out in the morning to buy the food for it. We were making ham and cheese sandwiches, on white wonder bread, with tomato and onion, mayo, ketchup, ham and processed sliced cheese (yum!) with chips on side. I was taken with how much care went into making these sandwiches and how crucial they were to the celebration. They almost seemed like the center of the party. It doesn't seem like you can take a morning break from work without eating a big, hearty "snack." For my despidida - goodbye party - Emilia's mom made chicken tostadas with an awesome, not too spicy, chili sauce. It's always amazing to me that after all this food, people are still ready to eat a giant (also homemade, in the office kitchen) lunch around 1:30.


Refra is equally as important when we are in the communities. During the trainings with the midwives, there is always a midmorning break. While the food is not as elaborate, mainly cookies or bread with highly sugared "coffee," it would never not happen. Even if the workshop is running way behind schedule, you have a long break.

Even though refra isn't elaborate during the workshops, lunch is. They all end with lunch for the participants, and the lunch is not a boxed sandwich with an apple and bag of chips. Just like the Refra lady, a woman arrives with lunch for all. She comes armed with a giant pot of whatever she's made - soup, chicken or beef is sauce, etc... - rice, tortillas, tamales, spicy sauce and coffee. She brings real plates and silver wear and everyone gets served one by one. I think this meal is part of what gets the women to come each month, this is probably one of the few times a month they eat meat. I wasn’t able to figure out exactly how much these cost, but PIES is accountable for all the meals provided. The main reason we register people is so that we have a name for each meal provided. As most of us probably do, while these lunches and refra are really time consuming, expensive and a often a long distraction from work, I wish that the US cared just a little bit more about meal time.