Food, food and more food

Tuesday, 10/26/2010. Some of you may be wondering, knowing how I love food, how I am eating down here in this third world country. Well, let me tell you, I am eating very well, thank you very much. Ecuadorian food is very similar to the pure, unprocessed foods we had in the States years ago, with a heavy emphasis on rice. Almost every meal is served with it. Now, I am not a very big fan of rice, so a lot of it is usually left on my plate when I am done eating. However, portions of everything are large, so I fill up on the other parts of the meal.

Today I went to the Market to pick up a few things and when I got back, I looked at the menu board on the hostel’s Swiss restaurant. I couldn’t read all of it but what I could read said it cost $5.90. So I went for it. It turned out to be a lovely pasta salad with ham and pineapple to start, tasty fish with a hollandaise sauce peppered with bits of shrimp, glazed carrots and rice (of course). Included was dessert – a wonderful and creamy chocolate mousse. Ummmm! It was great! While I was eating, we had a hail storm. The waiter explained that since the altitude was so high, hail storms were not unusual.

I was so full when I got back to my room that I laid down and took a two hour nap. I eat like this every day and I think I am losing weight because of all the walking I am doing.

Then, at night, I just have a light snack while I’m watching TV on my computer. Yes, I couldn’t stand going without my favorite TV shows, so I learned how to download them and watch a couple every night. Next I’m going to try to download movies.

Well, tomorrow I am off to Panama. After a great amount of struggle, I finally found a hostel I could afford. Panama’s supposed to be cheap, but not in Panama City apparently. However, I won’t be staying there long; I only booked for 3 nights, as I want to head off to the beaches. I am looking forward to the warmth after the chill of Quito.