I have been on many Jesuit social immersion trips: Guatemala, Guadalajara, and China. Each of these trips was one of a lifetime, and some of the most memorable experiences of each trip was the food. Each place had its unique cuisine and culture, clearly reflected through each of their respective dishes.
Guatemala
In Guatemala the summer after freshman year, I ate many traditional dishes. The Guatemalan cuisine us students ate the most was traditional latin food such as tortillas, avocados, rice, salsa, beans, pepian (stew), beef, and chicken.
In the picture depicted above, I’m seen eating rice and some sort of stewy chicken. While I did not necessarily always think that the Guatemalan food was seasoned very well, I still always ate all that was on my plate.
Here, it was a tradition for me every night to have a cup of coffee. At the retreat camp that we were at, there was not any milk, so I had to drink the coffee straight black with a lot of sugar. Guatemalan coffee tasted very rich with a balanced flavor, so I never minded that there was no milk to pair with it.
Here, the group made marshmallows by the fire. They were normal marshmallows, but the moment was so special because we were able to make friends with the local kids from the surrounding pueblos. We all tried to communicate and even played some games by the fire.
1st Guadalajara Trip
In Guadalajara, there was a wider array of food, especially food that I eat here in Dallas.
Here, I ate huevos, or eggs, with chilaquiles. Chilaquiles are fried corn tortilla pieces, covered in salsa, and sprinkled with cheese. They are often served for breakfast with eggs and a side of beans. In the picture, I also put creama mexicana on top, almost like a sour cream. They did not have fried eggs to go on top, so I settled with scrambled. This was one of my favorite meals on the trip because the light and hearty salsa was not too spicy. My dad makes these at home for breakfast every so often, so it was interesting to eat them from the heart of Mexico.
At the same restaurant, I also ate a crepe. A crepe is made from unleavened batter or dough that is cooked on a frying pan or a griddle. It has a hint of sweetness and is normally eaten for dessert. I added nutella and strawberries, so there was a perfect amount of sweetness in every bite.
I also ate lots of ice cream on my trip. Here, I am eating mango and coconut ice cream on top of a special ice cream cone that was more thick and flavorful than a normal one. The flavors all combined in a very interesting way and it was a perfect snack for the hot day outside.
At the same spot that my host family bought me ice cream, they wanted me to try this wafer like snack. It did not really have any flavor, so I did not like it.
We also had a couple of homemade meals. In the picture above, my host dad made torta ahogada. Torta Ahogada is one of the most typical and representative Mexican dishes of the state of Jalisco, particularly the city of Guadalajara. the sandwich is submerged totally or partially in a sauce consisting of vinegar, cumin, and chile de arbol. The meat in the middle is carnitas, pork. The bread is called birote bread, a more salty type of bread and its thickness allows it to be submerged in this sauce. The sauce is not depicted in my picture, but I put a bunch on my sandwich.
We also went to a bakery. On the big plate, there is a sweet bread called “Concha” or “Pan Dulce.” Conchas is a Mexican bread that is served at panaderÃas. This concha bread is a soft, enriched dough that has a lovely buttery and sweet flavor. You can have it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You can find them anywhere in Mexico, and even in a lot of places in Dallas. On the small plate, there is a mini loaf of banana bread and a couple of sweet cookies.
The staple dish of Mexico is obviously tacos, a culinary icon that represents the heart of Mexican cuisine. Tacos are much more than a simple street food; they are a cultural tradition, showcasing the diversity and richness of regional flavors. Eating authentic tacos from a street vendor for the first time was amazing. I got the simple bistek, or steak, tacos. Tacos are normally topped with cilantro and raw onion, as well as a squirt of lime on top. There are many varieties of salsa, from salsa roja to salsa verde. The drink in the top left of the picture is called “agua de pepino,” also known as cucumber agua fresca. It was one of my favorite drinks of the trip and I drank at least one bottle a day.
This was another home cooked meal. The bowl in the back was peanuts with a tangy sauce. On the right was a plate of avocado and mango. They both tasted more fresh in Mexico than in the United States. In the front is a simple bowl of white rice and some chicken.
This pink cup of desert was from the school that my host brother attended. It looks like ice cream, but it was a kind of frozen strawberry yogurt. There was also a filling of chocolate to give it more flavor.
On one of the last days of my stay, my host family let me choose wherever I wanted to eat, and I of course chose sushi, my favorite food. I do not remember the exact kind that I ate, but they were out of the ordinary flavors that I took a liking to. There were not many traditional sushi flavors, but ones with lots of toppings. This was one of my favorite meals of my stay.
This is oreo ice cream. It was very good, but it did not taste the same as it is here. It was more creamy and flavorful, probably from the mexican oreos.
I was also very excited to try out the exclusive flavors of American brands in Mexico. These are called Sabritas, Mexican lays chips. It was interesting to taste a very spicy potato chip.
This is a kind of quesadilla like meal, with melted oaxaca cheese and chicken over a grilled corn tortilla. It tasted like a more rich quesadilla because of the oaxaca cheese.
My host family really liked cheese. For breakfast one day they made me toasted and buttered bread with melted cheese and chorizo. Chorizo is not my favorite kind of meat, but it paired well with the cheese and bread.
2nd Guadalajara Trip
These next depictions of food are from the second time I went to Guadalajara, this time with a different host family.
This is fried tacos with carne and the sauce of torta ahogada. It was my first meal back in Mexico and it was a very good surprise.
My host family took me out to eat this tacos around one in the morning, which was very surprising since I normally don’t eat that late at home. Upon walking down the street to the taco stand, there was a crowd of people waiting to get tacos. It was worth the wait, especially because of the salsa verde.
This is desert from an Asian restaurant we went to. Basically dessert sushi, it was a hard coat of chocolate around a light strawberry ice cream and strawberries on top, with chocolate sauce.
My host family also took me to one of their favorite dessert spots. They had traditional American fair food and I ordered fried oreos. I figured out I did not like fried oreos once I took a single bite.
This picture is of pork tacos with corn tortillas. The drink in the picture is strawberry agua fresca which reminded me of the pepino agua fresca from my earlier trip. It tasted very good when paired with the savory tacos.
China
China was one of the most unique and amazing experiences that I have ever had. The opportunity to immerse myself in a culture so different from my own was both eye-opening and transformative. Every moment felt like an adventure. The trip challenged me to step outside my comfort zone, especially through Chinese cuisine. Witnessing iconic landmarks like the Great Wall and experiencing daily life in bustling markets deepened my appreciation for China’s cultural diversity.
The first meal I ate was a mini croissant (left), steamed buns (middle), and dumplings. The steamed buns and dumplings are the staple of Chinese cuisine and we ate these two every single day. They are normally filled with a variety of savory ingredients like pork, beef, or vegetables. Both are served with dipping sauces like soy sauce or black vinegar, which add a tangy flavor to the dish.
Here is dumpling soup. This soup in the picture starts with green onion, garlic, and ginger sauteed in vegetable broth. After this, dumplings are added to the broth. My favorite part of this was definitely the broth.
On one of our bullet train rides, they offered American food for breakfast. Here, I am eating some fried chicken and a chicken sandwich. They also gave me some sort of orange drink that reminded me of Sunny-D. The american version of KFC is far better than the Chinese.
I had breakfasts like this for a couple of days when we stayed at a Chinese college. Starting from the left, the drink was some sort of fruit juice. In the back left, there were two fried eggs. Next to it is an ube (purple yam) pancake. Underneath in the bowl, there are grilled dumplings. To the plate on the right, there is a normal steamed dumpling with a piece of fried chicken and some sort of waffle. I did not take a particular liking to any of these foods we got from the cafeteria. It all tasted mass made and lacked any sort of flavor.
After descending the Great Wall of China, there was a man on the edge selling ice cream to the natives as well as tourists. It was a very hot day, and there was nothing better to quench my hunger than an ice cream bar. It was a very good coconut flavor.
Food was normally placed on this clear, lazy-susan turntable so we could easily access the food. Here, there was salads, friend park, fruit, beef, and white rice with scrambled eggs in the middle.
We also went to some convenience stores. Here is a wall of special oreos and chips ahoy. I thought it was very interesting that China had all of these special foods that America doesn’t have. I ended up getting the strawberry oreos.
In the front of the lazy susan was my favorite dish, kung pao chicken. It definitely resembled Chinese food here in the United States. Kung pao chicken is a spicy, stir-fried dish made with chicken, peanuts, vegetables, chili peppers, and Sichuan peppercorns. I requested this dish multiple times on the trip because I liked it so much.
I was also allowed to experience how to make decorative bread. In the picture, I made a traditional woven loaf, two flowers, and a three peas in a pod. Once baked, these got very big and tasted like normal loaves of bread.
Last of all, the teachers treated us to hot pot. A hot pot is a big bowl of boiling soup with an array of meats and vegetable to cook inside. In this picture, there was a spicy broth in the middle with meats such as chicken, meatballs, pork, crab meat, eggs, and mini sausage. This was also a very interesting experience and I felt very immersed in the Chinese culture.
Conclusion
Tasting diverse cuisines has deepened my appreciation for the cultural significance of food and its ability to bring people together. From savoring handmade dumplings in China to enjoying freshly prepared tamales in Guatemala and authentic tacos in Guadalajara, each meal has been a window into the traditions and values of the communities I visited and still makes a lasting impact on how I see culinary culture today.
