Did you ever eat alåguan growing up? I never heard this term in my childhood, but hot rice or wheat porridge was a common breakfast food (and comfort food!) for me. On a couple of occasions my mother cooked me champulådu (rice porridge with chocolate), but I didn’t like it as much as plain porridge. When I mentioned the word champulådu to Jay’s mom, she had never heard of it. But once I explained the dish, she immediately said, “Oh, we call that alåguan.” While champulådu comes from a Mexican dish called champurrado, alåguan is a more general term. So to kick off our morning practice group for the new year, here is a cozy story in Chamorro that centers around pumpkin porridge, which I found in the UOG Digital Archives and Exhibitions site. This post incudes the Chamorro text, a Chamorro audio narration by Jay Che’le, and an English translation. Happy reading!

Updated 1-13-2025: Added a Chamorro cooking vocabulary worksheet for practicing new words from the story. Un dångkulo na si Yu’os ma’åse to my fellow learner for putting this learning resource together and sharing it with everyone!

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