Guatever Ep. 5: Frijoles vs Habichuelas Guatever

Episode Notes
[This episode was recorded during Latinx Heritage Month back in the month of October.]
[“Volví,” by Aventura and Bad Bunny]
Maria & Natalia: Hi! Welcome to “Guatever.” 
Maria: A year later!
Natalia: I'm Natalia Camino.
Maria: And I'm Maria Caamaño.
Natalia: And we're back.
Maria: Yes, after a year.
Natalia: This is going to be our re-introduction...
Maria: Rebranding!
Natalia: Rebrand! Rebrand! Season Two.
Maria: Yes, we are back. So, life update. Um...
Natalia: We've changed a lot since the last release of an episode. 
Maria: Yeah. And, um, I mean, me and Nat went through COVID. We went through living together again, but this time it felt like prison?
Natalia: For context...So last year, Maria and I were in a dorm together, but because of COVID that is where we slept…
Maria: We had breakfast. We had classes. We had lunch...everything.
Natalia: We had dance class in there. Keep in mind, this is in the same confinement. And we saw a total of two other people that entire six month period.
Maria: I still don't know how 1) we found things to talk about.
Natalia: We always found things to talk about. For six months. 
Maria: I don't know how.
Natalia: Nothing was happening in our lives.
Maria: Literally nothing. Nothing. And also, I don't know how Nat and I just stayed friends. Truly a miracle because I don't think anyone could go through that and, like, not drive each other crazy.
Natalia: This can be seen in the increased amount of divorce rates during the pandemic.
Maria: I-What? 
Natalia: Did you not know that?
Maria: Yes!
Natalia: But we didn't get divorced. 
Maria: Okay.
Natalia: We did not break up. But yes, Maria and I did not break up. We're still roommates. We’re still friends.
Maria: Yes, very much. So for kind of like the start, or kind of like our reintroduction, we wanted to do a special edition episode for Latinx Heritage Month.
Natalia: Yeah. In case you didn't know Hispanic Heritage Month starts on September 15th. And this date is significant because it's the independence of many countries in Latin America, including Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Then, on the 16th, Mexico and Chile celebrate their Independence Day. 
Maria: Yes. 
Natalia: And I made Maria watch El Grito with me. 
Maria: Yes. 
Natalia: On the eve of the 16th.
Maria: But yeah, because we wanted to get into Latinx Heritage Month, me and Natalia were talking about this. And in the nature of how our podcast started, whenever she and I start talking about something continuously, we just decide to set the microphone on and start talking. So...
Natalia: This is an ongoing debate. 
Maria: Yes, it has been going on since freshman year. We've had fights. We've threatened each other with physical fights over this. Do you remember that? 
Natalia: Um, Maria brings this up when we meet other Latinos, and she's like, “I need to ask.” 
Maria: Yeah. 
Natalia: It's for scientific research.
Maria: So the big question today is: is it frijoles or habichuelas?
Natalia: Both translate to “beans” in English. 
Maria: Oh, yeah. 
Natalia: For our non-Spanish speakers out there. 
Maria: Yes. 
Natalia: We're talking about the word for beans.
Maria: Yes. I feel like beans is like the...I guess like if you were to say the “Latino food” that like all of the countries share. I feel like it has to be beans, right?
Natalia: It’s rice and beans. 
Maria: Yes. 
Natalia: Both very good.
Maria: I love it. So much. So much. I miss it so much.
Natalia: You just need to learn how to cook it. 
Maria: STOP!
Natalia: They sell beans here. And rice!
Maria: I know! But I'm terrible at cooking.
Natalia: I know. You're learning, though. 
Maria: But um, essentially…
Natalia: Maria wanted to introduce this debate and have us debate it on air, per se. Is that the correct term? 
Maria: Yes. 
Natalia: Okay.
Maria: It's not because of that. It's because I don't think that there is anything more Latinx than L