Eric invited his colleague from Catolica for dinner tonight. Santiago has been taking care of the truck when we are away, and we have known him and his wife Ale for years. They got married at hacienda San Jose in Puembo within a few weeks of our arrival in Quito in 2009, and I remember how late we arrived after struggling through traffic. We almost missed the wedding. We knew no one but the bride and groom, and mostly felt excluded and awkward during the reception. Later we were invited to their home in Cumbaya, where the parents, the oldest son and his family, and Santiago and Ale, all live together in a 'compound', each couple on a different floor. This is not an uncommon way for Ecuadorians to live. The mother had her own 'chapel ' in the house, and she gave me a small token to protect me while wandering around Quito. Santiago has a son Maya 's age, and Maya has played with him before, but I am not sure why we have not spent more time with them, except that we are always so busy and active. Santiago and Ale have an 18 month old son named Sebastian, whom we met last January when we came to Ecuador with the Johns Hopkins students.
After a morning of Spanish subjunctive and orders from several teachers for items through AMazon to be picked up while I am in Baltimore, I walked home from the Mariscal. I stopped on the way at a shoe store to order a pair of boots to me made to size, not inexpensive, but rather amazing. When I got home, I started cooking for the evening. Eric had bought all the ingredients that I needed for my amazing carrot cake, which had been a great success last week. I discovered a few minutes after measuring out the flour and dry ingredients that I did not have the 2 tsp of baking soda required. I remembered that we had not found it in Megamaxi last time we bought it, so I walked to Quicentro and Fibeca to restock. There I was told they no longer sell Sodium bicarbonate. At another pharmacy a few blocks away, I was informed that I could no longer purchase bakings soda, because it is used to extract cocaine. When asked how I could bake without it, I was told to use baking soda instead. I insisted that baking soda and baking powder were not the same, and learned that if I went to the Ministry of Health and requested a notarized paper giving me permission to bake with baking soda, I could procure it. Another trip to the Fybeca near Megamaxi was not helpful.
I arrived home an hour later without baking soda, and made the cake without it. It did not turn out well, but looked good and had to serve its purpose. Dinner was penne with sasiccia, but the sausage was not quite right. Everyone seemed to like it anyway, along with asparagus, salad and my home made humus. It was fun to have guests eating in our house, but of course there was not enough room for more than four people, and Maya had to sit and eat on the couch. Eric particularly enjoys having guests for dinner in the apartment. It is quite wonderful to be in a penthouse with lights all around.
After a morning of Spanish subjunctive and orders from several teachers for items through AMazon to be picked up while I am in Baltimore, I walked home from the Mariscal. I stopped on the way at a shoe store to order a pair of boots to me made to size, not inexpensive, but rather amazing. When I got home, I started cooking for the evening. Eric had bought all the ingredients that I needed for my amazing carrot cake, which had been a great success last week. I discovered a few minutes after measuring out the flour and dry ingredients that I did not have the 2 tsp of baking soda required. I remembered that we had not found it in Megamaxi last time we bought it, so I walked to Quicentro and Fibeca to restock. There I was told they no longer sell Sodium bicarbonate. At another pharmacy a few blocks away, I was informed that I could no longer purchase bakings soda, because it is used to extract cocaine. When asked how I could bake without it, I was told to use baking soda instead. I insisted that baking soda and baking powder were not the same, and learned that if I went to the Ministry of Health and requested a notarized paper giving me permission to bake with baking soda, I could procure it. Another trip to the Fybeca near Megamaxi was not helpful.
I arrived home an hour later without baking soda, and made the cake without it. It did not turn out well, but looked good and had to serve its purpose. Dinner was penne with sasiccia, but the sausage was not quite right. Everyone seemed to like it anyway, along with asparagus, salad and my home made humus. It was fun to have guests eating in our house, but of course there was not enough room for more than four people, and Maya had to sit and eat on the couch. Eric particularly enjoys having guests for dinner in the apartment. It is quite wonderful to be in a penthouse with lights all around.
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