I enjoyed visiting Maggie. She was a little bit more laid back. However, every house I went to stressed the importance of chinaware. I did a whole lot of washing dishes…and breaking too…(shhhh!).
The second time I visited Juan and Maggie, we ate, ham, rice and potato salad. Ecuador has over 500 types of potatoes which is probably why her salad is yellow…one of the 500 must be yellow.
It was mmmm delicious…however, by the third day I started to wonder, where is the green salad?!
One of my favorite meals was pollo y arroz. Most meals were served with soup. This is chicken soup…at least that’s what I call it.
Saute the vegetables (onions, garlic, red and yellow peppers) in olive oil
Blend a green pepper to add color to soup. Use the water from the blender to cook the rice.
Next, add the baked chicken (that was previously done)
Add uncooked rice
Add chicken broth to use as water
In the other plate is also chicken and rice done another way. Together it was one meal.
It’s about time for me to list some of the food I ate while in Ecuador.
This meal was served the night one of Ana’s nephew’s came over. He was dying for some eggs and rice…and of course, he wanted Ana to fix it.
I never had this meal in New York. Apparently it’s a staple in Azouges. Rice, sunny side up eggs, and tomato’s (with salt and vinegar). I forgot how the chicken nugget got on my plate. I think he brought chicken nuggets to go with the meal. I enjoyed it.
I am at the market where a bunch of bananas cost only 25 cent! I really only wanted wanted one but got a whole bunch. The bananas were extremely sweet.
Ana and her family wanted to know if I could taste the difference between the Banana’s in New York and Ecuador. They are better here right?
I couldn’t really answer though because I don’t frequently eat banana’s. I just told them what they wanted to here, Banana’s are totally better in Ecuador!
Oh, and you see the lady selling tooth brushes? The hustle was real. The market was very loud. There was a constant chatter. While vendors were compromising with buyers, peddlers were nagging them, showing off their items. If you look close, you can see there are more peddlers in this photo.
I was trying to hold on to each dollar but I ended up buying from a child peddler who was selling 10 sweet kiwi for a dollar.
One Sunday the congregation went on a church trip and while I was in service the Sunday before, I missed the announcement…I actually missed most of everything since I could translate very little!
Anyway, when I showed up the next Sunday, the church doors were locked and the Pastor’s daughter who lives nearby (and apparently did not go) met me at the gate to tell me (as best as she could) that there was no church today.
I walked across the street to the chicken spot I was eyeing for a long time.
The owner was very kind and spoke a lot of English.
Where are you from? He asked me.
I am from New York.
Oh, America. I live there as well.
You do?
Yes, I am originally from Azogues but my family lives in Chicago. We live next to President Obama’s house.
Oh. Wow! That’s exciting isn’t it? (When I told Ana this story, she went on a tangent about how he was lying…I really didn’t care where he lived!)
What brings you here? He asked me. (I should have told him that I just want to eat some fried chicken!)
I have a friend who lives out here.
You like it here?
Yeah. I miss home though.
After all the small talk, I ordered french fries, chicken and salad. That’s what I got but I was very disappointed. Everything on my plate was home cooked and not my idea of fast food at all. On top of that, it tasted much different from the other chicken spot I went to when I first arrived in Azogues, Chicken Pollo (pictured below). At least their food tasted like Roy’s in the Bronx, a Spanish Restaurant.
While I was in Ecuador, I was invited to Maria Paz’s graduation party. I didn’t pack dressy shoes and actually planned to wear sneakers but Ana talked me out of it (and lent me a pair of her shoes) and I was thankful she did!
Below you can see my (really Ana’s) shoes. In the middle of us is her very hospitable brother Franciso. He took us around Azouges mostly every weekend, and along with his wife, Angela, (pictured at the top) made me feel welcomed.
A selfie with Juan and his wife, Maggie and the Band!
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