4/29 Photo- Wee Little Ones

They just keep getting younger and younger! Last week Eri and I worked with a lot of kids in the first grade doing some workshops/activities, and today we finally got to the youngest age- around 3 years old! I think that is about the youngest we can go trying to do origami and arts & crafts without essentially doing it ourselves.

Explaining how to make an origami dog

Yes, I am doing the "peace" sign...I am in the Peace Corps after all

But I did discover that working with kids at that age is so much fun. They are just so adorable and cute, and they enjoy making flowers and dogs out of paper. The boys don't care if they get pink paper and the girls don't care if they get black. So maybe I do like working with kids after all- just little tiny ones!

Oh, and something that was just too cute the other day was when the primary school teacher introduced Eri and I and said we were going to be their teachers. One of the kids thought his teacher was leaving for good and burst into tears. After getting comforted by his classmates and after the teacher explained she was not going anywhere, he cheered up real fast and really had a great time.

We also have been working with a school the past few days, starting with the 1st grade and working our way up to 7th grade. I am still trying to figure out if 1st grade is our equivalent to kindergarten, and 7th is like 6th grade in the U.S. because the ages seem to be more aligned with those grades because here all the 1st graders seem to be 5. Either way, we have worked our way from 1st through 4th, and will go through 5th-7th next week. It was great walking through the school today and having a bunch of 1st and 2nd graders yelling "Hola Eri! Hola Emily!!" (And to Eri's relief, no more yells of "China!").  Like I said, tiny little ones are great fun to work with!

And a happy birthday shout out to my big sister Susan!!

Free time food blog stalking

Lately I have been doing a lot of workshops in schools and different centers around town. This morning I stood out in the rain waiting for Eri so we could start our arts & crafts activity with a bunch of adorable 5 year olds. This afternoon we went to the Centro Comercial to make origami whales with the kids (some with VERY sticky hands from eating candies and taking them in and out of their mouths- needless to say after our workshops I usually have to wash my hands well with soap!).

However, in my free time, I am reading food blogs (and scrapbook blogs as well). And today I received a lovely email from our friend Jason with another blog to check out!! So here is a list of some of the blogs that I enjoy going to (to discover new recipes or just to gawk at all the yummy pictures!).

The Smitten Kitchen (as recommended by Jason)

Bakerella (I want to eat her cake pops!!)

Food People Want (this is where I got the peanut sauce recipe!)

Exclusively Food (gotta say, I am annoyed that I can't seem to figure out how to go back and forth between recipes, but there are some good ones on this website)
Laylita's Recipes (for the future when I want to make Ecuadorian food)
Simply Recipes (some great recipes on here too)


I am hoping to try out the cinnamon roll recipe on Bakerella's blog this weekend, and then Broccoli Slaw recipe from Smitten Kitchen when I get a hold of broccoli this week. 

No pictures that I have taken today because I am too lazy to upload them. But perhaps tomorrow you will see some pictures of the little 5 year olds and their paper tulips and hand drawn butterflies!

4/25 Photo- Riding the Bus

Adam and I probably ride the bus at least once a day. When we go into the center of town for work, we usually take the Sauces Norte-Argelia bus and it takes us anywhere between 10-20 minutes to get into town (depending on how slow the driver is going to get more passengers). It costs us $.25 per ride so easily in a day I will spend at least $.50 if I go in and out of town. 

On days when we start late, are only heading to town to get food at the market or to check mail, or the weather is really nice, we will walk in. That takes about 45 minutes.

We have gotten used to the "Suba-suba-suba" that gets hollered at us (it pretty much means "Get on, get on, get on!!" or "Come up!") and the "Siga-siga-siga" (which pretty much means to continue going/getting out of the bus). And we have become pretty good at yelling "Parada!" or "Gracias!" to get the bus to stop and drop us off on the street by our house. 

Inside the bus- this was on a particularly slow time of day but often in the morning and at the end of the day (when kids are getting out of classes), the busses are packed to the brim!

4/24 Photo- Exotic Pizza in an Underwhelming Food Culture

Today Jason invited us over to his house for "exotic pizza in the context of an underwhelming food culture" (as stated in his text). We went shopping at Supermaxi after having lunch with some of the new volunteers that arrived today into the province (congratulations Omn 103!!) and decided on some nice little dishes! Goat cheese and asparagus pizza, bbq chicken pizza, Thai chicken pizza, and a nice margarita pizza, along with a caprese salad and garlic knots, followed by a dessert of almond tea cake and brownies! Yum! I made the peanut sauce for the Thai pizza and it was delicious!!

Jason adding a dash of oregano

Look at that delicious caprese salad to start us off!

We also had garlic knots as an appetizer (these are before being baked)

Jason (new volunteer), Chris, Adam and Janet watching JO's Food Revolution on the laptop

Homemade pizza dough

Goat cheese and asparagus pizza (pre-oven)

Thai chicken pizza (yummy peanut sauce recipe- just ask me for it!)

Stacia drinking out of an olive jar (not enough vasos!!)

4/22-23 Photos- Earth Day and Riding in the Garbage Truck!

Yesterday was quite a long day so I crashed as soon as I got home and didn't end up posting a picture. But here are a few from our Earth Day event-

Woman reading the posters designed in part by Adam!

Stacia sharing about Earth Day and Loja Trash

Students from  one of the local schools who were totally great- I work with the student on the very far right every Tuesday at the Centro Comercial (his name sounds like Jympsom but I have no idea how it is spelled!)

Drawing pictures of things in nature that they want to protect

Not pictured is me flipping a lid because a student in the afternoon group drew a swastika on the poster. I totally lost it, ripping the swastika off and demanding to know which kid drew it and how it was a terrible symbol and on and on. Yikes. I was beyond mad. Stacia said that at least the students took something away from my flipping out because a lot of them were asking what that meant and Stacia used that as a teachable moment (way to go Stacia for looking at the positives!!). I have to say I am a little embarrassed that I totally lost my cool so fast- Adam had spotted it and asked who drew it and when I saw what he was talking about, I was going off. I kind of hope I don't do any workshops in their school in the future. Crazy enough, swastikas and "NAZIS!!" are graffitied in many places throughout the city- probably from totally clueless teenagers. 

Today was a really interesting day. We were invited to do a ride-along in the trash trucks to see how it works, take photos, and identify problematic areas and ways to improve. Stacia and I met bright and early at 6:45am and were on a truck by 7am with a driver, inspector (who was going to write fines for people who separated their trash incorrectly since Fridays are organic days), and the 4 workers in the back. After 5 hours with the guys, we learned quickly that 1) people put all their organic trash in plastic bags so it isn't just organic waste but plastic waste too, 2) the trash employees will pick up all trash on the side of the road/parks just to keep the city looking clean, even if it isn't organic waste and 3) the 4 workers in the back are in amazing shape from running and gathering the trash- they work really hard. Overall Stacia and I had a great time (and learned a lot and had a lot to share with the director of the trash program in Loja)!

Here are some photos, not sure where the video option for blogger went...:

Stacia and the inspector Cesar getting ready to jump in

The guys in the back hanging on, jumping off, and running all over

Poorly organized organic waste- as in it was definitely not organic at all (plastic bottles in the bin, etc.). I think the inspector fined them for it

Street lined with their green organic bins

One of the guys trying to manage all the excess bags

People also toss their trash wherever because they know somebody will pick it up. But it sucks for the workers because the dogs get into them (as pictured above)

Handwashing station/break for the guys at around 10am

4/21 Photo- Mochiko Chicken and Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

So it probably seems like a contradiction that I am posting about Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution and the deep fried goodness that is Mochiko Chicken! Lol. But that about sums up my day! Really! I mean, other than seeing an absolutely gorgeous rainbow after a quick downpour this afternoon and witnessing a car accident where this guy in the middle lane makes a right turn directly in front of a car in the right hand lane.

Adam and I have been watching JO's Food Revolution on YouTube but since our internet has been inconsistent lately it takes forever (it keeps going in and out so it takes hours to buffer a short portion of the show). I think everything he is doing is great and it is sad when kids haven't ever had a really good homecooked meal that didn't come from a pre packaged box. There is nothing better than freshly made foods versus frozen or packaged processed stuff. Something that you also might find interesting is this blog about school lunches in America. http://fedupwithschoollunch.blogspot.com/
Now, I admit that on occasion I do like processed things (um, like that Jeno's pizza I had at Betty's on our first night of our trip to the U.S. and Jack Links Peppered Beef Jerky) but in general Adam and I cook foods from scratch.

The video, loading every so slooowly

For example, tonight we made mochiko chicken, which is a typical dish from Hawaii (usually comes with some yummy mac salad). I made it from scratch essentially using sweet rice flour, soy sauce, garlic, green onions, ginger, eggs and sugar. The thing that makes it very unhealthy is that it is fried. It is so delicious though, and ok once in a while. And we did eat it with salad! Full of bell peppers, lettuce, tomatoes, red onions and cucumber! Tomorrow I will cook up some zucchini. Found some at the market the other day but they are getting a little soft.

Measuring out the mochiko flour (you can find it in the asian section of your local grocery in the U.S.)

And the final product. Look at all that glistening oil!

4/20 Photo- Gaby's Empanadas

Tonight Adam and I made Chilean empanadas, courtesy of a recipe from Gaby. We have made it once before and we made it again tonight for dinner. I do have to say that Gaby's empanadas that she made before we left for our PC Staging in Miami were much more delicious, more flavorful, and also looked beautiful. I think part of the flavor problem is that I am missing the black olives. They are a tad expensive here (more common are the green ones- not the same!). Here is the recipe she gave me! I made half, because clearly there is no reason for Adam and I to eat 15! And they are not golden brown as the instructions indicated because our oven doesn't have a top element, so the top part never browns and we didn't want to burn the empanadas!

Filling

4 yellow onions, chopped (or 6 medium sized onions)

1 lb. ground beef

1 tbs. oregano

1 tbs. paprika

¼ tsp cumin

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

1 tbs. oil

1 tbs. shortening

3 hard boiled eggs

Whole black olives

Raisins (optional)

In a skillet, warm the oil and cook the ground beef until brown. Set it aside. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan (and using medium heat), combine the onions, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt, pepper and shortening. Stir mixture occasionally and add more shortening if the bottom starts burning. Cook until the onions look kind of transparent (~10 min). Add cooked ground beef into the onion mix and set aside to cool.

Dough

6 cups sifted flour

1/3 cup shortening (warm)

1 tablespoon salt

Warm water (~ 1 cup)

1 beaten egg

Combine the dry ingredients and make a hole in the center of the mix. Add warm shortening and water (not all) into the center and carefully knead the dough from the inside out. Knead the dough and keep adding water until feels wet but not sticky (knead dough for ~10 - 15 min). Separate dough into little golf balls or slightly bigger (~15 balls), cover with a plastic bag.

Roll the dough balls into a thin circle. Put ~ 2 tablespoons of filling, one slice of hard boiled egg, one olive and one raisin in the center of the circle. With a brush, wet the corners of the circle and fold it into half leaving about a ½ inch around the edges. “If baking” fold the 2 ends of the semicircle, and then the top (make sure the folds are well sealed) then brush the empanada with beaten egg. “If frying” fold the corners by making little waves or U’s (same design as a typical pie crust).

To bake prepare the oven at 400 degrees and bake the empanadas for 15 – 20 min or until golden brown.

To fry warm vegetable oil in a deep saucepan and cook the empanada until it is golden brown on both sides. 

(Makes ~ 15 empanadas)  

New Favorite Flavor of Yogoso!!

Ok, this is a pathetic excuse for a photo- but I currently don't have a picture of the deliciousness that is a yogoso. They are sold by the Bon Ice folks that exist on almost every street corner in the center of Loja. Before, I was a big fan of the guanábana flavor...but big news! They have a new flavor and it is piñacoco yogoso. At first I was thinking that it tasted like a piña colada (which it does), but then Adam identified the flavor spot on. It tastes like a Dole Whip. My favorite treat in Disneyland. And for 15 cents a pop, it is my new guilty pleasure. YUM!! If I get a chance, I will post a new photo of us actually EATING a piñacoco yogoso, but until then...you get this:

4/18 Photo- Beef and Broccoli

Sorry for the lack of photos the past few days- haven't really been on a photo taking spree.

This one is from a while back- I think we had Stacia over at our house for dinner and decided to make some beef and broccoli, since we had both on hand.

For all you folks out there wanting to try this recipe at home- we got this recipe out of our Chinese cookbooks that we got from my uncle in Taiwan. It is a series of cookbooks called Pei Mei's Chinese Cookbook Vol I-III that has the recipe in both English and Chinese and they have some really great recipes. So here it is (slightly adjusted for my tastes- you can make more sauce or add more ginger/green onions if you want):

Ingredients for Dish
1 lb of beef
1 head of broccoli
1/2 onion (or whole onion if you like onion a lot! I love it so I put more in!)
Green onion
Garlic
Ginger
Oil

Ingredients for Beef Marinade
1 tsp sugar
2 tbs soy sauce
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 tsp cornstarch
2 tbs water

Ingredients for Seasoning Sauce
1 tbs soy sauce
4 tbs oyster sauce
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp cornstarch

Directions
1. Slice beef across the grain into square/rectangular slices. Place in bowl. Add the beef marinade, and then add 1 tbsp oil. Mix well and marinate for minimum 1/2 hour
2. In a small bowl, mix the seasoning sauce
3. Cut the broccoli and boil in water for about 1 minute. Drain.
4. Slice onion, chop 3-4 pieces of green onion (more if you want), chop finely the garlic
4. Heat the oil in a frying pan. Stir fry beef until cooked. Remove the beef. Heat additional oil in the same pan and stir fry green onions, garlic, onion, and ginger (I grate about a tsp). Add the broccoli and stir fry for 1/2 minute. Add the beef and then pour in the seasoning sauce. Stir quickly on high heat until mixed well. Remove to a platter and serve hot.

This makes enough serving for about 4 people. Serve with rice (of course!). And yes, all of these ingredients are available to us in Ecuador (though I do use Oyster Sauce that I brought from the U.S., but you can purchase the Oriental brand in the Supermaxi here).

Emily's Mr. Hyde (and maggots too)

I think I am going to have to pass on a photo today- not particularly in the mood (but perhaps if I take a photo before the end of the day, I will make a photo post). But I will do a post about how going to the Banco de Guayaquil brings out the "Mr. Hyde" in me. It seems that almost every time I enter that place, I am suddenly transformed into an angry human being. Yesterday Adam and I waited patiently in the long line at the bank to figure out how to transfer money from our PC accounts to pay for part of our trip to the Galapagos (btw, did I mention that we are planning to go at the end of May with our friend Renee?!). Well, as it turns out, the teller lets us know that we have to come before 12noon in order to make a transfer.

Moving into today, Adam and I are at the bank at 11am (yes, we should have gone right away, but Adam had a meeting at the university and I had work in my office). The line is incredibly long- the bank recently implemented a number system which is awesome (before you would have people push you aside and cut in front of you in line- now you just have the person cutting in front of you at the number machine...in fact, an old man totally pushed Adam aside today when he was in the middle of swiping his card in the machine to get his number! Adam was like "Disculpe!" and the guy didn't even bat an eye).  Anyway, we finally get to the front of the line and the teller (same guy as the day before) says, "Oh, you have to go to that big window over there. We can't do the transfers here." Yeah, thanks for telling us the day before. It turns out the big window had NO line whatsoever. By the time the lady at the bigger window attends to us, she tells us it is too close to 12noon so we will have to come back tomorrow. I was fuming because we wasted an hour and there is NO signage anywhere telling you where to go for XYZ business. And the lady just looks at us like morons- as if it should have been obvious to us not to stand in the long line.

It is exactly the same thing that happened to me last time when I got pickpocketed and had to get a new card. I stood in the line for 45 minutes and then was told that I needed to go upstairs. There is no reception or anyone to ask questions to, so you either have to ask the customers (who don't seem to know either), or wait in line and find out too late. It is not like in the U.S. where there are big signs (like New Accounts and Loans) and where there is usually someone free who can tell you where to go. Oh, and I saw a lot of people at the bank totally confused by the new number system since suddenly there were no lines and just a bunch of chairs.

I know that it is not their fault that I don't know where to go to get certain stuff done or at which unmarked window or floor to go to, but that is the one thing I absolutely HATE about Ecuador. For someone new in town, you would have no idea where/how/when to get things taken care of. It is like the bus system- you just know because you live here, but for the newbie, it will take a good while to figure out the system. Mostly through trial and error. I mean, how in the world would you know that the bus to Riobamba doesn't REALLy take you to the bus terminal- it drops you off on the side of the road a good 3 miles from the terminal. So if you are transferring elsewhere, you have to catch a taxi there. Or that there are two bus terminals in Quito (north and south) that will cost you an arm and a leg to get between (or a cheap 2 hour metro ride where you have a very good chance of getting pickpocketed). This country really is one of the planner's worst nightmares- and sadly, I am a planner. I like knowing where I am going, what I am doing, and having minimal surprises.

So, I was furious that I wasted an hour this morning and accomplished nothing. Adam and I decided to pay by credit card and not bother with the hassle of going back tomorrow and discovering some other step that we didn't know about. Rant over. =D

P.S. We had maggots in our kitchen today, crawling all over our floor. I think they were from our potluck we had this weekend- someone threw away chicken in our trash can below our kitchen sink (usually we throw meat products in the trash bin outside) and we took the  trash out today and it was nasty. And then I ate rice at lunch and could only think about how they looked like little maggots. Seriously, today is just not our day!

4/14 Photo- School visits and playground games

We don't have any pictures for today, so you will have to be satisfied with an old one from a few weeks ago. I went out with a few of my co-workers to do some home visits with families dealing with abuse/neglect, but we also visited a school with some really great kids. We did about a 2 hour workshop with the kids on children's rights, as well as some arts & crafts activities. These kids live further outside of Loja (about 30 minutes by car northwest of downtown Loja. so much longer by bus) and they clearly didn't encounter many foreigners. They were baffled by my accent (asking why I said my phrases differently) and when they found out I was from the U.S., they wanted to know what "Pablo" or "Juan" would sound like in English.

Notice those benches in the back precariously piled high? Yeah, they almost toppled onto the group of kids below them. YIKES!

Oh, and I have no idea what kind of playground game Jeny and Paulina were doing with the kids (I still haven't been able to figure them out. There are ones about wolves getting ready in the morning and such, but I still don't know them. You would think that after several months of doing school visits, I would know by now!).

Why I will probably never be a teacher...

Wow, I am just exhausted. Eri and I have been teaching manualidades (aka arts & crafts) on Tuesday afternoons to the kids that wander about in the Centro Comercial (usually their moms are selling produce, bread, coco juice, or random products like socks out on the street) and normally there are just a handful of kids (max 10) so it is super tranquilo (calm).

Today was a whole other story though- we had a group of 20 of the most rowdiest, noisiest kids EVER. It didn't help that some of the kids were maybe 3 years old, and that some of the kids kept taking other people's papers and discarding their own because they didn't like how their work turned out, and we had no extra paper...just enough for the group. So some kids started bawling because they weren't keeping track of their sheets of papers and someone had stolen it. To add to that, I just about lost my patience with all of their "No puedo"s (Their "I can'ts") without even trying and "Senorita, ¡¿cómo, cómo, cómo?!" (Miss, how how how?!) while tugging my arm. But these kids aren't often taught patience, waiting their turn, or paying attention so they can attempt to do the work so the fact that in the end, all of them walked away with little origami Pikachus was an accomplishment. Oh, and no pictures from this adventure because it was way too chaotic so there was absolutely no time to stop and say cheese!

On the other hand, the kids at the orphanage are used to us by now and are fairly well behaved and easygoing (except when they don't get their way and start forcing tears...wow, talk about getting trained on being parents! Selena, who is about 12, pulled that on me on Monday when she wanted to have a 2nd turn on the computer but it was time for their dinner. She brought those waterworks out so fast). On Monday we got them on the "new" used computers that the orphanage just received and they were so excited. They don't really get a lot of time or have a lot of experience on computers so we just had them playing around on Paint. Next week we are going to try and get some educational programs on the computers, like Mi Primer Encarta, Pipo (a kids educational game here) or something.

4/12 Photo- A Little Bit of Heaven...

Last week Jason mentioned to us that one of his fellow cyclists had opened up a new Mexican restaurant in town (there is one that exists in Loja, but it is...underwhelming and expensive). His friend is from Mexico but married to a Lojana, so Adam and I decided to check it out. When we got there, we ordered a couple tacos each (pork and beef) and waited while it was getting prepared. Adam got to chatting with the guy and noticed the dried red chili peppers hanging in the kitchen. Turns out the guy can't get them here in Ecuador, so he grows them in his garden and dries them out. Which meant that we ate our tacos with some of the best hot sauce in town! Yummmm!!

Also, portions were huge. We ordered 2 tacos each, but he gave us 4 homemade corn tortillas each, and a mountain of filling. So it was like we had 8 tacos and 2 drinks for around $6. I had to take one of the four home (which you see in the photo below). I think Adam and I have a new place to go to when we aren't feeling like cooking! 

For you folks in Loja, the restaurant is located on Olmedo, between Catacocha and the small street right after Lourdes. I can't remember the name of the restaurant (doh!) but it starts with a "Ch-" and says Italian Mexican food on the outside (Italian because he lived in Rome for 8 years and worked in a restaurant there). ETA- I think they are only open in the evening Mon-Sat.

4/11 Photo- A visit from Chamico Alberto

Today we got a nice visit from our dear friend Chamico- aka the inbred crazy dog.

Our landlords have a dachsund named Chamico (middle name- Alberto) that we sometimes swear is inbred because he doesn't always recognize us and often goes beserk when we are coming and going from the apartment (our apartment is connected to their home on the second floor but we have a separate entrance). We always leave our front door open in the daytime to get fresh air and a breeze in, and every now and then he escapes from the house and walks up the stairs and finds his way into our apartment. Today was one of those days. I was reading on our couch/futon thing when I suddenly saw something brown and furry moving close to the couch. I sat up totally startled and Chamico starts barking. We didn't even hear him come in (which is usually how it goes- we will suddenly see something move in the corner or hear a slight click clack on the tile, and then realize it is Chami wandering about and we just hope he didn't pee on anything). So today when he came to visit, he hung out at our apartment for a few minutes before Susana, our landlord, hollered "Chamico! Ven!" (which means "Come!").

Oh, and normally he wears a camisa (shirts that are specially made for him, some look like a cape) but today was an especially hot day so he went without.

Adam petting Chamico after he finally recognized we weren't predators.

Chamico checking to see if we have something better to eat than what Susana was preparing downstairs (he usually eats rice with some veggies and leftovers I think- no Pedigree dog food for him!)

4/10 Photo- Our First Passover Seder

Well, it has been over a week since our first experience of Passover at Liz's house, and I finally got around to resizing the pictures to post. It was a very interesting and educational experience (where I discovered I knew nothing about Passovers, Haggadahs, seders, matzah balls, or anything else related to the whole evening!). It was a pretty long evening, with the reading of the Haggadah where we learned about the story of the Exodus from Egypt, ate bitter herbs, made matzo/charoset sandwiches, enjoyed Jason's Hebrew (as well as the singing voices of Liz, Elana, and Jason in Hebrew), and hoped that the part where we ate dinner would arrive soon. ;) We ended the evening with an entertaining game of charades (Justin's "spell" will forever be in my Peace Corps memories). Props to Liz for a very enjoyable evening!

Jason and Elana starting us off with a mini debate (described as typical of a Passover Seder- debate, discussion, different interpretations, etc.) as the rest of us perused our very thick Haggadahs

The Haggadah, brought to us by Maxwell House Coffee and xeroxed by Liz in a Lojano copy shop (where they were confused at why it was backwards)

The Seder Plate, with the bitter herbs and all

Jason holding up the matzo after the middle piece was broken in half

Jennifer and Justin asking questions about the Exodus from Egypt (not pictured- Ethan making hungry faces and hoping people would stop asking questions) 

Hooray, filling matzah ball soup!

We also had a game of hide and seek- whoever found the hidden pieces of matzo won their very own box of Israeli Matzah (I believe it was purchased by Mollie at the Isreali Consulate in Gquil). Winner is...Stacia!

4/9 Photo- Wonton Wrappers in Loja!

On a recent trip to Supermaxi, Adam and I were pleasantly surprised to discover that they had begun selling wonton wrappers in the frozen food section (which is very small, by the way- nothing like the frozen aisles in the US). Since things often appear in the tiendas and markets once, and then are never to be seen again, we decided to stock up on a couple packages. I used them last week and they were pretty decent (had a decent texture and flavor), however they were torture to get apart. But at least I can get them here in Ecuador now (maybe, as long as Supermaxi chooses to keep restocking them!).

4/8 Photo- Ecuador's First Olympic Medalist

I realized that I never posted about our Reconnect Conference held by Peace Corps in Cuenca this past January. I guess I will share about that another time. In the meantime, here is a photo that I took in Cuenca of this statue of Jefferson Perez, the winner of Ecuador's first Olympic medal in the 1996 Olympics. He was a speed walker and got the gold in the 20km. We visited this park and I was fascinated because I don't think I have ever seen speedwalkers in action, and there were lots of them at this park, speed walking around the track and the statue of Jefferson Perez, surely their Cuencano hero. But really, those speedwalkers can move!

4/7 Photo- Loja from Jason's House

This is from last week and I am sure you agree- Loja looks good from Jason's apartment window! This is right before sunset with the light reflecting on the nearby hills. 

4/6 Photos- Homemade Tortillas

Before Peace Corps, Adam and I always bought our flour tortillas in the store because it was easy to get decent ones in Southern California. Since moving to Ecuador, we have been making our own homemade tortillas, which is so surprisingly easy! We can get tortillas at Supermaxi but they are a bit on the expensive side and don't taste all that good. So I thought I would share our recipe (modified from the PC Ecuador cookbook "Buen Provecho" with less oil!).

Ingredients
3 cups of flour
1.5 tsp salt
1-2 cups of warm (almost hot) water
1-2 tbs oil

Mix the flour and salt. Slowly add in the oil and mix around (the recipe in Buen Provecho called for more oil, almost 1/2 cup, but I find just adding a little bit here and there is good enough for me...I don't like super greasy tortillas).

Add 1 cup of warm water to the mix. Knead the dough until elastic, adding more water or flour depending on consistency.

Once the dough is well kneaded and elastic, separate the dough into golf ball sized balls.

Let it sit for about 10 minutes under a damp cloth. Then roll it out into the best circle shapes you can (clearly I am not great at this part!). I try to get them as thin as possible.

Heat pan on the stove over medium heat. Once it is hot enough for a water droplet to sizzle, add the tortilla (one at a time). It should bubble up like in the picture below, and then you flip it over. Do not add any oil. Your tortillas should not stick at all to the pan.

Heat the other side, taking care not to burn it.

And tada, you have homemade tortillas! This recipe yields about 9-10 tortillas. Just double or triple if you want more! We had tacos and quesadillas tonight with homemade salsa and guacamole! Yum!