Cooking and Grocery shopping an adventure that involves several days and lots of energy!

I am having to relearn how to make some of our favorite dishes using Ecuadorian ingredients. Some of it has been successful and some of it has not. Nevertheless, we have not starved. For example, some foods are just not found here but if they are they taste different. Corn is not the same kind of sweet corn we are used to. Peas taste very different. Butter is made differently so baking with it taste differently. Meat is different. I don't eat beef but I have been told that hamburgers taste more like meatloaf. Bacon is not really bacon its more like pieces of thinly sliced pork chops. All cheese here is like Mozzarella even if it says cheddar it looks and taste like mozzarella. Yogurt has the same consistency as milk. You drink it not eat it.

So I have come to realize that large packages of stuff that you can get at Costco or Sams is an American thing. Take a look at some of our stuff:

It just hit me the other day on why I go to the grocery store 3 times a week. It's because everything is packaged so small. This is all Ecuadorian brand goods, you can get american brands but they are pricier sometimes ridicously pricier. We have always liked trying new things so we are trying the Ecuadorian brands to see how we like it.
This picture shows a liter of milk (can't get gallons here), package of mustard, of pizza sauce, of soup and linked hotdogs. As you can see it's all very small. I go to the open market to get a bag of eggs. Yes, I have to watch how I carry them because they are literally all just put in a bag. I get hotdogs that are hanging in links from the ceiling at the market and also vegetables. Depending on how I am feeling I will try to bargain with the ladies at the market. Then I go to the grocery store to get our canned and other grocery goods. I go the bakery to get our bread and to the fruit lady outside our door to get some fruit. This will stock up our pantry for at least 3 days. Usually I can't make all these runs in a day so it's split up between 2 days.
Your probably asking well Mari why don't you just buy tons of everything on that trip. Well, for 2 reasons: most of the time I am walking with all these groceries or I have kids and can't carry everythihg or a lot of the fresh goods won't last that long if I buy too much of it.
So that is my story of adjustment and adventure as a cook in Ecuador.

Exercising in Ecuador~

So running in this country involves some different rules than in the states so I have observed.

-Generally speaking if you are going to run you run in the park not in the street.
-Women don't wear shorts esp. not short shorts. Men can wear shorts and they can be short shorts.
-Women usually run in groups (could be for safety reasons)
-Running is measured in kilometers not miles. Very confusing for my non-mathematical mind.
-Excerise clothes is only for exercising, not running errands.

So last Sat. I was going for my normal run as I turn to go on the main street that the park is on I see about 80 charter buses. I am thinking is all of Quito going on a trip this weekend. So as I continue to walk up the road I see more buses and masses of people getting off of them (not leaving) walking up the street to "my" park. Included in those masses are policemen. Lots of policemen. So as a foreigner I begin to think there is a riot. Don't walk towards the crowds of people and police, go back home. I don't listen to the precautious foreigner thinking inside of me so I continue walking up to the park. I get to the park and it's covered every inch of grass is covered with people and vendors. So much for running. I still attempt to run my 6 miles but realize that I am getting nowhere as I dodge people so I only do 1/2. As I run I am still trying to piece together what in the world is happening. I see clumps of people with banners and different colored shirts (that represent the group their with). As I read these signs I still have no idea what is going on. So finally I ask someone. And they answer me with a very intellectual Spanish answer. So I walk away still having no idea what is happening. After circling the whole park and hearing people screaming at each other I realized this was a political rally. Unlike the states where only one group meets in one place to keep peace here everyone is together and the different stages are fenced off for safety. I decided to cut my run short in fear that this would become a riot. There were 100's of charter buses with thousands of people getting off: people of all socio-economic, ethnic background and age. It was truly amazing to witness this though I had no idea what was really going on.

My first girls nite!

No matter what country your in it is a dire need to have girl time even if it's over the phone or skype. So here we are in Ecuador and it was time for a girls nite. These are our colleagues whom we will be working with this fall. One of the girls brought over her "aunt Juanitas tortilla recipe" and she taught us how to make flour tortillas. Were making them because they are rare in this country. Apparently, Ecuadorians aren't tortilla eaters. We ordered fajitas at a restaurant and they served it w/o any tortillas.
Anyways here is our fun nite:

Ben went out with the guys so we split the kids up and he took Ethan and Aiden stayed with all the girlies. He loved it! Here he is wearing the latest in fashion hats a kitchen mitten as a hat.

Later, our party was crashed by the guys who claimed they needed our chocolate dessert. So we let them stay and we played some silly games!

Our little baby is getting to be such a big boy

It seems just like yesterday that I was holding an adorable little newborn who stared at me with such admiration. Now 16mos later I have a cute, feisty and energetic soon to be toddler.

Here they are having dinner at the kids table. Aiden is even feeding himself.

He is now in a toddler bed. Mostly because we couldn't bring our pack n play or crib to Ecuador but it seemed to be the perfect time to transition him to a big boy bed.
The school provided us with bunk beds but Ethan is terrified to go up on the top bunk so for now he sleeps on the lower bunk and Aiden on the floor in his toddler bed.

a smokey night

So we had our first experience of Ecuadorian hotels this past weekend. As you can see it's very quaint and cute. And it was inexpensive. It was $30 for each adult and it included our nights stay and all 4 meals plus kids were free. Can't beat that huh! Food was fabulous and the rooms were cute.
Well, after a long day of exploring the neighboring villages we couldn't wait to get back to our hotel to rest. That evening after dinner the waiter asked if anyone wanted a fire going in their room? We quickly raised our hand with the rest of the group. So we headed back to our room ready to have a cozy warm fire in our cute little bungalow. 1.5 later noone has come up to get our fire going. Finally, they show up and ahhhh, we have a fire on a cold windy night. Our kids are in awe of the fire so they lay in bed staring at the fire slowly being put to sleep by the crackling of the wood.
Yes, I know it sounds too good to be true. That's because it was too good because 10min later after our fire got going our room quickly fills up with smoke. Before we know it our eyes are filled with tears from the smoke and were holding our hands over our nose. We can hardly stand it. So in order to survive we decide to open up our windows and door, (remember were up in the mountains and it's cold) smoke is billowing out the door. So now we are freezing, with eyes watering and barely being able to catch a breath. Two hours later we were finally able to close the door and try to sleep. What a night. Thank God we weren't there for a romantic getaway. That would of been horrible. Other than that experience it was a nice place to stay.