All We Do Is Eat..........

I honestly think I eat 100 pounds of food a day. But today was especially a large amount of delicious comida. For lunch, we had a few hours (4) to eat, and so a group of us went to eat at this restaurant called "Verde Esmereldas". The lady who owns the place is a host mom to one of the girls in the group. The mom is from Esmereldas, which is on the coast and is known for its delicious seafood. The restaurant itself is really pretty, and very upscale by Ecuador standards. I will have to get pictures sometime, because it was beautiful. And since we have connections there, we got a free round of Ecuadorian beers and fried bananas (which I did not eat because I HATE bananas... that's rough). So, we got there around noon and sat outside on the patio eating appetizers and chatting until 1:30, when we started the 12-course meal. It was crazy. I've never eaten so much in my life. We ate empanadas, fried plantains (which I'm also not a fan of), and Ecuadorian French Fries for appetizers; ceviche, soup, some sort of fish, a bunch of different rices, and a curry with shrimp for the main course; and gelato, cake, and a cookie for dessert. They also made their own passionfruit juice, orange juice, and a special juice with some fruit that is found on the coast that I can never remember the name of. So. Full. There's a picture floating around somewhere of the destruction, but of course I forgot my camera. But, the crazy thing is that for 11 people, we each paid around $17 for this meal.

This is a picture of the "standard fruit" that we always have at the house. There are pineapples and those silly fruits that I don't know outside in the cupboard. We eat more fruit than vegetable here, which is interesting but makes sense.

Tonight is movie night, according to my mamá. She's taking an english class at the university so she can refresh her memory and become a teacher again after a 10 year hiatus. Therefore, the movie tonight has to be in english. Hallelujah. My brain hurts from all the spanish. And tomorrow we are going to a small village in the lowlands called "Nanegalito" for the weekend. Don't worry, I won't forget my camera. Just cross your fingers that I don't get bitten by a malaria-infected mosquito. Caio, caio!