Dia Seis en Ecuador

We dressed and went down to our usual breakfast routine and after another rough night in the sleeping department, complained to the manager who gladly agreed to move us to a new room. I stayed to await the move and Leslie went down the street to check out the art museum. I also managed a short nap. By the time she got back our new, much quieter, room was ready for us. We gathered our belongings and set up camp in the new room only a short walk down the hall. It is smaller but still fine and, as I said, quieter. Well see.

I decided to stay in the room today instead of going to class with Leslie. It was nice not to have to be "on" all day listening to language so hard and still comprehending only a fraction of what was said. I finished "The Last Boy" the new biography about Mickey Mantle. Very well written and fascinating. Got a little caught up on my sleep and with my journaling. I'm also happy to say that I actually feel hungry for the first time all week. I have over-eaten, and more importantly, eaten way too many carbs and I'm really feeling it. This is no way to treat my attempt to loose weight or my health issues. My tummy is actually growling as I write, so I figure I'll be ready for some dinner tonight. Hopefully, it will be a good for me meal. Sadly, I haven't had a lot of control over the choices for food. It's just been what has been put in front of me. It has, in many cases been very good. I like a lot about the Ecuadorian diet. High in fiber foods except the ever present papas fritas and arroz. The cebiche! Oh my, we have got to try this when we get home. I'm waiting for Leslie to return from her class so we can head off for dinner.

She arrived full of stories to tell about her day at the symposium. She loves her colleagues Jorge and Zuly from Mexico. We were driven to Orquidea Restaurant for the third night in a row. Tonight the appie was a baked tomato stuffed with what had a sausage texture but was followed by the flavor of tuna. Interesting. The main was a slice of what turned out to be pork but with a texture and flavor of beef, almost like Swiss Steak and topped with a rich, beefy wine sauce that had been way over salted, a seemingly common trait of the food here. On the plate also were few papas fritas, a sliced cornichon pickle, a sliced baby corn and a leaf of bib lettuce. This was followed by the postre which was fresh sliced figs cooked in their own syrup with slices of a mild cheese arranged with them. It was a wonderful dessert but the rest of the meal was so so. I wish they would take us to some whole-in-the-wall Equadorian joint where we could try more of the real local foods.

We all walked home talking and laughing all the way in Spanish, English and my Spanglish! Were in our quiet little room now. Leslie is finding she has hours of work to reorganize for tomorrow. She has been told that she needs to prepare a presentation with her class for a concert tomorrow night. Only problem is no one ever told her anything about this until today and it has nothing to do with what she was planning to teach tomorrow. So, instead of teaching, she must plan for a performance her class has no chance of being prepared for. Wild! Well, either way, tomorrow is the last day she teaches.

She has hours of work ahead of her tonight. She has done so well teaching in Spanish and building a rapport with her students in a short amount of time. I am really proud of her.