Ode to Food (I had a classier name in mind but this one just fits.)

All in all this week was less than eventful…not a near-death experience to be had! Tuesday was a little taste of late onset culture shock. At breakfast, Ximena told me it was Fabián’s birthday and that my sisters would be coming over for coffee around 7. No big, hope you can be around, yadda, yadda, yadda. After class, Bruce, Summers and I hit “Verde y Carbon,” a teeny little hole in the wall burger joint they found. My friends, I have seen heaven and it is in the form of hamburguesas with unidentifiable green special sauce. Anywho, headed home around 7:10, slightly grumpy from five hours of sleep, a headache and yet another fight with a cab driver when lo and behold, SURPRISE! There are 17 people in my house! Oh and surprise, there is not only coffee but dinner and dessert to be served by us girls and eaten amongst lots of rapid fire Spanish conversation. As I fell asleep in my nest of textbooks, I contemplated a country where things made sense to me (and that’s saying something!). A few hours of sleep and three cups of coffee later, I was over it.

Thursday was just what the doctor ordered. The public schools here open today so Jenna, Summers and I (who will all be teaching on Tuesdays and Thursdays) decided to play hooky and take a little trip. There is an indigenous market about two hours away called Saquisilí and its big day is Thursday. Quichua class or first-hand Quichua experience?…you do the math. OK, so technically, first hand Quichua meant recognizing one word and celebrating that victory by buying entirely too much stuff. But hey, when you bargain a blanket from $20 down to $12, who’s counting?

Thursday night just topped off a good day. Jenna had homework and Summers was experiencing a bad reaction to Saquisilí corn bread, so that left Bruce and me to experience the wonder that is “La Bodeguita.” It’s a Cuban bar/restaurant with live music on Thursday nights and fried plantains (also known as my greatest weakness in the world). What more could a girl ask for? AND (Warning: moment of glory exciting to no one but me.) I had a Cuban espresso! I’ve been trying to acculturate myself to the wonders of coffee so that maybe by December, I would be ready for the ultimate caffeinated test. But why wait? Mmm, espresso – two very jittery thumbs up. In any case, Cuban music is one of the sweetest things to fall upon these ears and I’m all set for a Thursday night tradition.

The weekend consisted of seeing “Monster” in the theatre on Friday and spending Saturday evening at Summers’ watching La Liga (a Quito team) beat Cuenca in futbol followed by “The Best of Will Ferrell” and “Ocean’s 11” with a bunch of friends. While “Monster” was very well done, I’ll take Saturday’s lineup for laughs not to mention Summers’ mom’s amazing chocolate cookie cake of which I ate half. Do not for a moment think I’m joking. Calories don’t count in Ecuador.