Life in Quito
Trip Start
Feb 20, 2008
1
9
62
Trip End
Aug 20, 2008
Quito,
Ecuador
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Not much exciting has happened, but we're slowly beginning to find little things in the city that we enjoy. For instance, we went to a place that sold greasy greasy meat, including a dish called "saltipapa", which was essentially a pile of fries with 1 single hot dog for US$1.40.
Rob and I settled for the "barbecue for 2" and watched as the men working at the stall dipped 2 pieces of dubious flattened meat into boiling hot oil, then tossed them onto a flaming grill. Clearly, "rare" / "medium rare" are concepts lost on the South Americans. Everything here, except eggs it seems, is "bien comida" ("well cooked"). The result? Super greasy yet tough meat, with a side of uber uber greasy sausage
Fired up meat!
. It was so greasy that when I cut into it, I wondered aloud whether it was a cheese sausage. Clearly not. Just pure greasy not-so-goodness. Last night, we stumbled upon a tiny pizzeria called Patatus (or something like that), with seats for about 5 people along the wall. The guy was like a super pizza maestro who piled on the salami, cheese and champignons on individual slices with such delicate care. Every slice would then be put in the oven when you ordered it, so it came out piping hot, with a crispy underside of crust but soft doughy goodness everywhere else. It was really the finest pizza I've ever tasted -- for US$1.25 a slice.
Today we had our first and only salsa class, part of the free cultural program provided by our Spanish language school. It was really fun though tiring, although I don't really think Rob & I will be blazing up the dancefloor in any salsatecas anytime soon! Today also marked our last Spanish lesson, so... we're kinda on our own from now on!
On Thursday, we head 3hrs North to a market town called Otavalo. Look forward to more greenery and less drab rainy pictures!
Cheers,
Felicia en Quito.
Comments
meddymoohoo says:
the photos are so lovely - and uh, picturing oily over fried stuff isnt pleasant but you got me wanting some good pizza!! :D take care pal! you've got another language under your belt!
re: meddymoo
tee hee greasy food is tasty foooood. yeah, another language, but lots more to go. No Jap for me yet. the katagana killllls