I know I have said it before, but heck...Ecuador! I freakin' live in Ecuador! It is like a dream that I am not waking up from. It is like falling through a rabbit hole. It is wonderful!
We arrived in June of 2017 and have finally settled into a routine of shopping, socializing, walking on the beach, and cooking. Always cooking.
Upon our arrival I set out to taste the local flavors and develop my own take on those. So far, the exploration has been a delight.
First, the fruits and vegetables available are so fresh and so local that it is hard to decide what to carry home with you. Pineapple - 3 for $5. Avocadoes - 3 for $2 when in season. Onions, so many that you have to figure out new and innovative ways to use them for only $1. Grapes, apples, corn, lentils, beans, broccoli, cauliflower - old friends but so much better! New friends like Tomate de Arbol (tree tomatoes), a fruit that looks like a tomato but isn't. Maracuya - kind of like passion fruit, only bigger and more flavorful. It that possible? And so many more that I can't mention them all.
Shopping for all these wonders is simple and basic. A truck comes to our door every Friday morning and delivers almost everything one could want. But, why spend the shopping dollar in one place when there is a movie-set of a market in the next village - Charapoto'?
In Charapoto' I get chickens for $1.50 a pound that are so good and so fresh! Quail eggs, a delicacy that I couldn't allow myself often in the U.S. are a weekly pleasure at $2 for 2 dozen.
The fresh fruits and vegetables alone make living in this country an adventure. It is going to be so much fun to experiment and learn.
We arrived in June of 2017 and have finally settled into a routine of shopping, socializing, walking on the beach, and cooking. Always cooking.
Upon our arrival I set out to taste the local flavors and develop my own take on those. So far, the exploration has been a delight.
First, the fruits and vegetables available are so fresh and so local that it is hard to decide what to carry home with you. Pineapple - 3 for $5. Avocadoes - 3 for $2 when in season. Onions, so many that you have to figure out new and innovative ways to use them for only $1. Grapes, apples, corn, lentils, beans, broccoli, cauliflower - old friends but so much better! New friends like Tomate de Arbol (tree tomatoes), a fruit that looks like a tomato but isn't. Maracuya - kind of like passion fruit, only bigger and more flavorful. It that possible? And so many more that I can't mention them all.
Shopping for all these wonders is simple and basic. A truck comes to our door every Friday morning and delivers almost everything one could want. But, why spend the shopping dollar in one place when there is a movie-set of a market in the next village - Charapoto'?
In Charapoto' I get chickens for $1.50 a pound that are so good and so fresh! Quail eggs, a delicacy that I couldn't allow myself often in the U.S. are a weekly pleasure at $2 for 2 dozen.
The fresh fruits and vegetables alone make living in this country an adventure. It is going to be so much fun to experiment and learn.
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