el primero

A friend of mine leaves for South America in a little less than a week. She is embarking on a semester abroad in Santiago, Chile and beginning, most likely (forgive me for not being sure), with a month of intensive language study in Cuenca, Ecuador. I did that. It blows my mind that I did that, and that it took place almost three years ago (about the same time I began blogging). It's simply amazing how many things have changed, how much I have grown, my gosh, even how many places I've lived since then: Cuenca, Santiago, Strasbourg, home, Syracuse, home, and now, New York City. So, to honor my nostalgia and just about where it all began, I will begin my quick city guides with South America.

Quito, Ecuador
Eat: La Boca del Lobo, Calama 284 and Reina Victoria
See: Basílica del Voto National, Carchi and Venzuela


Cuenca, Ecuador
Caffeinate: Cafe Austria, Benigno Malo 5-95 and Juan Jaramillo
Eat: Raymipampa Benigno, Malo 8-59 (in Plaza Mayor); Govinda's Restaurante Vegetariano, Juan Jaramillo 7-27 and Borrero; Tres Estrellas (for "cuy"), Calle Larga 1-174
Play: Wunderbar Cafe, Calle Larga and Hermano Miguel;  Cafe Eucalyptus, Gran Colombia 9-41
Dance: Blanco & Tinto, Av. Jose Peralta 2-132 and Cordero
Learn: Banco Central, El Sagrario
See: Giros (short drive outside the city)

Extra Ecuador
Eat- Café Mundi Quiroga, entre Sucre y Modesto Jaramillo -and shop in Octavlo

Sleep/camp in El Cajas

To be continued in where to go... tomorrow or Sunday :). My roommate, Catherine, and I are hosting a friend for the weekend so there's lots of fun to be had in this city until then.

ecuadorian recap, proceed with caution!

Ah, finally home sweet home... my Chilean home that is ;). My trip was incredible but absolutely, positively, exhausting! It took a toll on my camera battery too and since I didn't have a Uruguayan converter it still remains dead. But have no fear my friends. I still have my last few days in Ecuador to entertain you with, and they were surely a mouthful. Now I must warn you, what is coming next is not pretty but it was a once-in-a-lifetime taste and I am glad I was able to try it. My family even made it a point to bring me to their favorite Cuencan restaurant to commemorate the event, big since they never eat out especially not at lunch. Alright, that's enough explaining, the picture speaks for itself:

Hm, cuy, what's that? Well. It is exactly what it looks like. Guinea Pig. If that fact alone isn't enough to scare you away, how's the fact that it was staring as me as I attempted to eat it! Haha, oh gosh, reflecting on this I'm surprised I was even able to stomach the poor thing. It was surprisingly quite good with a rabbit-like flavor although there wasn't much meat. I avoided the skin because it had been fried and handed it over to my "brother." Beneath my best friend's pet was a medley of hominy and rice. That's an Ecuadorian meal for you! A combo of their favorite starches and an Andean classic. Of course, as proud of myself as I was, that's not my kind of my meal, and before I even had a chance to ask, my "parents" ordered a large salad too :).  And that large and adventurous meal could obviously only be followed by one thing, chicha, a fermented drink made from manioca root. This was quite the digestif, and although I drank it slow because it was served hot and that's what my host mother advised I still felt an alcoholic buzz. What an experience :). It was a such a treat to have a long leisurely lunch out with my family but unfortunately it was cut short by my last Spanish class! Ah well, we had oral presentations followed by an sweet and encouraging speech from our professor. Here's the beautiful square on my walk home. Since dinners weren't really a meal in my house I haven't been taking pictures of what I've been eating in the evenings. This combination was a staple- toasted tomato & cheese sandwich, steamed veggies (broccoli in this case), and tea for warmth! It never failed to fill me up!

However, this particular evening was our very special goodbye dinner with our families so I finally got lucky, too bad I wasn't too hungry after my large lunch because... ...everything was incredible! It was held at best local steakhouse but the program director had the chef make me spaghetti as my main dish :). I filled my plate with salad, a vegetable medley, hominy, baked potato, and bread before placing my special order on top. It's really too bad this taste went to waste, I hardly made a dent. And that was that, the next morning I got up bright and early, ate a quick breakfast and headed to the airport. In short, it was a tearful goodbye. My family was wonderful to me and it was so hard to leave them behind. If I can, I would love return to Cuenca one day! Our plane landed in Quito after a quick and easy flight and we got straight onto the bus headed towards Otavalo. I woke a few hours later to find myself at our hotel and famished. My group dropped of our bags and headed into the city in search of lunch. Pretty soon we landed an adorably authentic restaurant where I thoroughly enjoyed a cheese sandwich with avocado, onions, and tomato. And french fries too 0:) they were so worth it. Everything was out of this world when combined with my hunger! Following our relaxing and exquisite lunch we made our way to the market. We spent the entire day browsing through stands of jewelry, crafts, art, and clothes. I purchased a painted feather and Incan coin earrings and obviously bargained them to an incredible price. By the time the vendors were closing up shop my friends and I were in dire need of a pick-me-up. We headed for ice cream but I couldn't pass up the cappucino. Yummy. Later that night we stumbled upon another great restaurant. They had so many options but unfortunately my appetite was not in favor of eating a heavy meal. In FWDGF fashion I tried to listen to my body's cues and ordered the Vegetarian Plate. It ended up being the perfect choice. Just look at the freshness of it all! The following day we turned around to return to Quito. I did mention how busy we were the entire time right?! Before we left I had one of the best cups of coffee I've had in a while, scrambled eggs, and fresh bread and jam. My friend drank the juice, lol. It was just the right amount to start my day, although, I must admit, I've had major cravings for my oats lately.On our way back we stopped here, an active volcano. It definitely does not look dangerous in the least, I was thinking gorgeous? Yes, it was, and our visit even included a motor boat ride on the lagoon.

Before we headed back to Quito we stopped for lunch. My lack of appetite had returned from yesterday so I ordered an appetizer, Shrimp Avocado. The avocado itself was amazing but the shrimp had been doused in mayonnaise so I only tasted a few. To supplement my small meal I also had a flavorful yet camera-shy Vegetable compote.

And this is where it ends, for Ecuador that is. The next morning I came to Santiago de Chile and met my new family. My Chilean mom and I didn't get the memo the make funny pictures, ha, and my host dad, brother, and baby sister didn't make it in time for the shoot, but here's half the family. Still, I only spent a brief evening with them; in the morning that followed I began my field study seminar and haven't been back "home" since then!

I will summarize my trip in the next post but here's tonight's meal, drum roll please- Zucchini Frittata, Rice with Carrots, Raddiccio & Lettuce in olive oil, lemon, s&p. Score. As fascinating as my recent travels have been, I haven't been able to make the best food choices for reasons beyond my control, so this nutritious and cleansing meal was just what I needed. Again, score ;). By the way, my apologizes for the bad photo, my phone is just not up to par I guess. And on that note, I'm plugging in my camera battery charger and off to bed. Let's hope I can get a real night's sleep for once, be back soon!

sneak peek

Hi all! Sorry I haven't posted in a while, my internet AND blogger is simply not cooperating with me, I literally have been trying to update this post all day! At this point I'm doing a final survey of my hotel room in Quito and so have seemed to have run out of time. I suppose I'll try again to finish up this marathon post once I land in... Santiago, Chile! Ah, I am so excited :) here's a preview to hold us over:

Saying goodbyes to 2 of the best Ecuadorian sisters I could have ever asked for :( plus the other 3 equally as wonderful family members... ... and getting the final "taste" of Ecuador with the last of sightseeing trips with the group. Be back as soon as I can, hope all is well!

la última semana

Thank you all for your sweet comments earlier! I'm feeling back to my normal self again and I really owe my return to optimism to your collaborative encouragement. I cannot thank you enough! 

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This week was has been super busy! My family is getting really sentimental about me leaving so we're spending a lot of time with extended family, I've been slaving away with my 501 Spanish Verbs ;) to prepare for my exams and final projects, and finally in my spare time, haha, I've been trying to enjoy Cuenca with my friends (trips to museums, restaurants, general hanging out, and what not.)

These are 2 candies my host sister insisted that I try today, Cocita y Cheez, respectively. They second one is named for it's appearance, haha, I love Spanglish. They were both very sweet and since I'm lacking a true sweet tooth I only nibbled a bit. Didn't want to miss out though! Lunch was... bright apparently? 2 small pieces of chicken, mixed vegetable filled avocados and rice. It may not look like much but "mi abuela" is an amazing cook! The extended family got together for lunch at her house since one of my "cousins" is moving to Canada soon. Before the main plate we had a beef-based broth soup with potatoes, carrots, cilantro, yuca, etc. To tell you the truth I didn't even recognize half the things in there although I cannot rave enough about it! I had 2 large bowls, which would explain the fact that I couldn't finish my rice or chicken afterwards! This was my first meal with meat in quite some time. I'm glad I was able to enjoy it with such nice company. Oh and here's Tuesday's lunch! My host mom made a Spinach & Potato soup and a large bean and vegetable salad for me. I have not felt more satisfied, not uncomfortably full, and fueled with such nutritionally whole foods in a long time! I am so lucky that my "mom" has become aware health-conscious eating habits and cares enough to help serve me so. I hope my Chilean Mom is as considerate! And how could I forget about my favorite part of the meal? Plantains! I hardly ever have it and it was the perfect sweet fix. Yummmy! Monday night's dinner was eaten out at a restaurant that my friend's and I have been dying to try. I was disappointed that my appetite wasn't large enough for me to try more but that was certainly swept away with best bowl of Locro de Papa soup yet! This is it's third appearance, I just can't get enough! I'll be missing this Ecuadorian specialty soon :(.  Lunch that day was also eaten out. I lost track of time studying and before I knew it I only had an hour until my class and I was nowhere near home... what's a girl to do?! Go 'round the corner to Govinda's Restaurante Vegetariano, of course! This time I ordered the Menu del Dia which began with a savory Lentil & Corn soup.

Followed by Vegetables and Rice. I know, I know, it doesn't sounds, or even look, as good as I'm about to tell you it was, but really, it was! The combination of flavors from the spices was just incredible. This meal practically made my day! I wish I could bring this place with me everywhere. Speaking of, allow me enlighten you on my fun-packed next two weeks as I'm on the move :). Friday we have our goodbye dinner at a nice restaurant downtown. Our entire families are invited and there'll be speeches, a slideshow, and tears. The last part is obviously not planned but I know how sentimental I am, it's just expected. Saturday evening we depart Cuenca and return to our original city, Quito for the weekend. We're visiting the biggest market in Ecuador where I'm planning on buying the majority of my souvenirs and then drive to Otavalo for our final city tour. The big day is Monday, at which point we will say our farewell to this wonderfully accommodating country and head to our second destination, Santiago de Chile. Not for long though! We only have enough time to meet our host families, have dinner with them, drop off our bags and then we'll make our way over to Buenos Aires. We have about a week planned in Argentina and another few days in Montevideo, Uruguay. This trip will be the required field study section of our Contemporary Issues of Latin America class with Syracuse. Finally, at the end of the month we will return to Chile where we can finally settle down, attend our orientation, and actually begin our classes. Who's excited? I know I am!

holiday weekend without a holiday

Welcome back, everyone! If you were in the states, I hope you had a fabulous time celebrating America's Independence Day! I wish I could say that I had an equally as thrilling time in Ecuador, but unfortunately I found myself dreadfully sick on July 4th. I could not keep any food down :( And sadly, this seems to have been a trend among some of my favorite bloggers; I hope you all are feeling better! In addition to feeling quite under the weather, I also found myself suddenly home-sick. Being patriotic alone just isn't the same, I guess. No worries though, I'm starting to feel better already, and considering the way I was feeling it actually turned out to be a pretty good weekend...

I spent the majority of my sick day at the library working on a project for class. I had been drinking water all day, and then finally at 4:30, I started to get sleepy. To my surprise, a Cappucino actually sounded appetizing so I ordered just that. Later that night, my friends that were staying around for the night invited me out to dinner. It was around 8 or 9 and I was feeling better than I had all day, so I took some medicine and headed out.

I had a slight appetite so I ordered a Mexican Vegetarian burrito and drank it with a Corona. Yep, us patriotic Americans went for Mexican, lol, but what can you do? It was actually quite good although I couldn't finish all of it. I did, however, drink all of the beer. I don't know why, but it felt settling on my stomach. Afterwards, we went to the river to let off fireworks. I wasn't my usual self but it was still fun and quite the funny sight since all the passerbys had no idea what the occasion was!

The next day, I slept in and was feeling a lot better so my host family took me to Giros. It was gorgeous and this is just one of the waterfalls that we hiked up to see.

After many photo-ops. we crept back down the mountain to a small restaurant by the river. They had fresh trout so that's exactly what we all got, a complete fresh trout! It was actually delicious and filled me up very nicely. I had a few bites of the potatoes and that was all for me. I think my stomach was still adjusting at the time because looking back, I probably could have been fine almost cleaning my plate.

I was exhausted when we got back so I got in a quick nap before heading to my "cousin's" grad party. I was happy to find they served an actual dinner, but once again, I could hardly make a dent. Oh well, I needed to listen to my body and for some reason food just wasn't the answer. I can attest that what I did eat was quite tasty though.Once it ended, we all headed out to a dance club. I still wasn't feeling quite right so I only could manage a few sips of the drink I'm pictured with but I managed to enjoy myself. Everyone was dancing up a storm!

Sunday was laid back. I did some reading, rested more, didn't eat much... until dinner time. By 7 p.m. I was finally starting to feel better! The family and I went to a pizzeria where I got the Pizza Vegetariano. It wasn't as big as it looks, I promise! Still, if my stomach weren't so empty I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to finish it like I did. Being hungry for real food was such a blessing.That night I went to Supermaxi (grocery store) with my sister to pick up a few things for the week. I was all out of my green tea so I re-stocked with an Ecuadorian brand. I had a tea bag with today's breakfast and I can only say good things. Now back to working on my final project. Our last day of classes is Thursday so I have a lot to prepare for. Wish me luck! I'm wishing you a wonderful week ahead. Happy Monday!

veggie ventures of self-reflection

Prompted by a comment the other day, I figured I'd share some recent thoughts... It's been quite the interesting challenge trying to keep my vegetarian lifestyle intact. There are almost endless reasons why I strive for it: my health, the environment, and animals. I simply feel better, cleaner, and more at ease with myself when I eat a plant-based diet. However, at the same time, I also understand those who can not fathom a vegetarian lifestyle or even a vegan one (I'm with you all in the latter.) I have read literature on the unfortunate consequences of dairy and eggs in those 3 broader topics as well and as much as I can stay away from eggs, (I've never really been a fan,) to think of living without my beloved milk, and Greek yogurt, and cheese! I hate how selfish this sounds, as I pride myself on being a compassionate person, and I don't mean to offend anyone, but honestly I take pleasure in consuming the products above, I cannot help but do so. My eating philosophy is largely taken from that of Mireille Guiliano, author of French Women Don't Get Fat. I love food, delectable, nourishing, wholesome food. Futhermore, I love knowing that I am fueling myself with food that nutritiously sound. Then again, I'm not perfect and sometimes the two points don't mesh, especially when it comes to, say, Italian gelato.

Luckily, I believe there is a balance, and this balance is individually based. From time to time, especially in the near future, I may very well have a piece of Argentine steak, a seafood-based Chilean soup, even a delectable French pastry made with dairy products I'm sure. But I think that's alright. I have to eat what is right for me and sometimes that means stepping outside my boundaries to try something new. It doesn't mean that I care any less or will suddenly forget about my usual healthful, largely vegetarian eating habits. There's simply no room for guilt when it comes to food, it should be fun, and right now, now that I'm able to be on such a once-in-a-lifetime culinary adventure, I'm not going to hold myself back with such feelings. I hope you can understand where I'm coming from. I've given this subject a lot of thought and I think I'm finally at ease with my decision. Bon appetit!

Whew, okay, I'm all outta words. I think I'm just going to give a brief title to each of the photos and if you have questions ask... deal? :) Most recently I went with my friend Courtney (above) the La Govinda's, a vegetarian restaurant where she had a Jugo de Tomate de Arbol.

I was cold so I got Mint Tea and a Small House Salad to start.

Followed by Una Hamburguesa de Lentejas (Lentil Hamburger). I didn't eat the fries...

... but only because I saving room for half of the dessert I couldn´t refuse, Ensalada de Frutas.

The previous night I shared a Pizza Vegetariano with a friend from Roma Pizza. So many veggies!

Lunch that day had also been eaten out, out at Cafe Eucalyptus. I enjoyed a spicy Eucalyptus wrap, vegetarian Mexican burrito.

I was satisfied after my meal but between 5 hormonal girls at one table we could not pass up their incredible dessert menu. We all split the Flourless Chocolate Cake O:).

And last but not least the lunch the day before. At home my "mom" made me a large salad with Romaine lettuce, Onions, Green Peppers, Peas, and Corn.

It was so big though that by the time I got to my Fritatta with Peppers and Potatoes I could only finish half! I think I've eaten my share of veggie-licious meals these past few days, don't you?

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By the way, HAPPY 4TH OF JULY AMERICA! I hope all my American friends have a wonderful holiday weekend, make sure to celebrate for me, I'll be missing you!

fulfilling international cravings

Considering that a lot of our (USA) best coffee is from South America, it's a shame that Ecuador, among other countries, doesn't take advantage of it. As a result I choose to have tea with breakfast as opposed to hot milk and instant coffee. To be fair, I suppose bad coffee isn't the only reason I opt for tea. I'm actually in the habit of my a large morning cup of green tea and I believe strongly in it's health benefits. I just figured I'd share my two cents :) most mornings begin like this:I add a lot of peanut butter to my toasted PBBJ sammy so that it will hold me the 5-6 hours until lunch. Usually it does. And usually the banana stays in the sandwich as well :P At about 1 pm Monday afternoon, the table was set with bowls of Crema de Espinacas (Cream of Spinach soup), toasted bread, and... popcorn. You have no idea how big of a thing it is here, like huge, Ecuadorians love it. Most restaurants serve you popcorn instead of bread before a meal and my host dad insisted I add it to my soup, cracked me up.

The main course was grilled chicken, a combination of eggs, hominy, and spices, and a cold mixed salad of beans, broccoli, and carrots. Well, that may have been what I was served but I can assure you that I hardly ate all of it. My "mom" made sure there was a lot of extra salad for me... so... I ate about 3 more servings of that and was able to satisfy myself meat-less!

Later that evening I was wandering with the 3 closest friends and found Cafe Austria. After my dismay with the lack of good coffee I was more than thrilled to be able to order a latte. Oh, how I've missed thee! It was amazing, so much so that I couldn't help myself before remembering to take a picture. It was visually more appealing before I started to make my dent in it, take my word for it :).

The next day I took a trip with my group to the Banco Central. It's the largest museum in Cuenca that houses an excellent ethnographic exhibit on the cultural and ethnic diversity of Ecuador. Furthermore, it was built on Pumpapungo ruins, so after our time inside we were given an tour of them. My favorite part, though, was the very end as we made out way through the gardens made up of native Ecuadorian plants. Nearing the end we came open a budding plant that our guide explained had been used by the indigenous people to for toothaches. She picked off a few of the "numbing" flora and enticed us to try it. I did. Hm, it was really weird. It had a minty taste to it and then made my mouth tingle. With enough of them I'm sure it would've had the same effect as novocaine. Interesting...

Afterwards my friends and I decided that we preferred to stay out and explore downtown a bit more. And so, as lunch time rolled around we found ourselves at Wunderbar Cafe, a funky German-owned place that serves international fare. I was all set to order La Ensalada de Aguacate but they ended up being all out of avocado. Now I was in quite the predicament ;) because I wasn't really too hungry and had wanted to eat something light and vegetarian. I finally ordered the Eggplant Primavera sandwich. It got the half-size of grilled eggplant and onions and an Italian tomato sauce with just the right amount of cheese with a glass of the house red wine. Mmm, mmm, good.

But after eying my friend's dessert, a yogurt parfait, I knew I wasn't done yet. She had ordered the Menu del Dia, a $2.50 4-course meal so it was brought out immediately as she finished her main course. I wanted one too and as soon as I could I ordered the same. Fresh fruit, plain yogurt and granola. Wowee, I missed this too!

And finally. To complete my nearly perfect lunch we walked over to our new favorite Cafe Austria where I enjoyed a real cup of Espresso. I couldn't have asked for more!

That is, until dinner time. I had 3-hour Spanish class, listened to an interesting but long speech, learned to salsa in dance class, and was hungry again. Another friend suggested pizza so we headed to La Fornace, an Italian-owned Cuencan pizza "chain." I devoured a Spinach personal pizza with a glass of the table's Sangria. Hm, that rhymes, I suppose all this happy eating is getting to me. Well, I'm off again to make the most of my second to last week here. There's going to be a few vegetarian restaurants in my future so stay tuned for those reviews! Hope everyone is having as lucky a week as I am!