Moody Matters

DISCLAIMER: I always get nervous publishing posts like this because I think people might interpret them as us being ungrateful for this experience. But we're not. We're very grateful. This is just part of the experience. We'd be lying if we didn't post things like this, because as everyone knows it's not always rainbows and sunshine! 

Remember a while ago when I referenced the 'W' experience of being abroad. Well if there's anything I've learned about living, traveling or studying abroad is that it's not all roses and that you should pay attention to how you're feeling. Ryan and I are certainly doing that right now. The danger is that one of us gets into a funk about being here and then both of us end up negative Nancy's for our last two months here. That's what we're avoiding. For us, the process of avoiding this is to talk about how we're feeling but not dwell on it. And most importantly not letting one experience shape the way we think and feel about a whole country.

So here's how we're feeling... tired. We're tired of going against the grain with people constantly. I'm tired of being charged $1 more for a taxi driver. I'm tired of being charged 20 cents more per pound of avocados. Ryan is tired of 'most of the people here, except for our friends.' This ordeal with our landlady is taking a toll on our emotional determination and our sentiment towards people similar to her, which unfortunately for us, we have encountered quite a few.

Now, don't hear us incorrectly... we signed up for this and we love this lifestyle. But, after living in a place for almost 15 months we're allowed to make some judgements. One of our judgements is that there is a certain group of people in society in Quito that just want to rip off Americans because they think we have money. And we're tired of these people. Not so much annoyed with them, because we know they aren't going to change. But tired of constantly being on guard and defending ourselves from them.

For the first time, we both feel ready to come home. We're going to REALLY live it up these next two months but we're ready to not live here anymore. We'll certainly miss the amazing friends that we've made here that have become our make shift family and we certainly want to come back. But when we return, it will be as tourists and as visitors, not as residents!

MULUB,
Taylor

Pumpkin Scones

I know we're a little past the fall season but here in Ecuador we buy pumpkin just about every time we go to the store. We use it for all sorts of things... Chuki's food, added to mashed potatoes, instead of butter in a baked good. Anywho, we had some left over pumpkin and some left over cream a couple of weeks ago and the only thing that I could think of was pumpkin scones.

Now, I have a bit of a history with pumpkin scones. I've tried many a time to get the perfect scone and have never really succeeded. To me the perfect scone is the walnut scone from Starbucks with just a tad less sugar in the frosting. It's crunch on the outside, cakey in the middle and sweet on top. Perfect! These scones come pretty close to what I think of as the perfect scone.

The recipe is adapted from Love and Olive Oil. Here's what I did:

3 cups of ap flour
1 1/2 tsp b powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
3/4 tsp allspice
3/4 tsp ginger
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp oil
2/3 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup of cream
6 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla

Glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp cinnamon

I did exactly the same instructions at Love and Olive Oil. Which are, basically...
Combine wet with stand mixer. Combine dry (and butter) in food processor until you have coarse crumbs. Combine wet and dry. Knead slightly. Shape into a circle, cut the circle into 8 and back for 15 minutes at 425 degree oven.

For the glaze, mix all ingredients and drizzle on top.

Beware, you might want to make these if you are going somewhere for breakfast where there will be other people. Or you'll end up like us and eat all 8 in 2 days.

MULUB,
Taylor

Ibarra

Sorry it's been a while, we've been busy, actually and mentally. This weekend we went to Ibarra. The mental and physical list of everything we want to see and do in Ecuador is certainly getting shorter and day trips like the one we took on Saturday are really helping.

Here's what we did: We took the Elloy Alfaro bus to Carcelen (the bus terminal in the north) and from there caught a bus headed towards Ibarra. Cost - $5 for the pair of us. We asked the bus driver to let us off at Cotacachi, which he did. This is always a little nerve racking, because the 'caller' just kind of yells to the back of the bus and you can never quite hear him. We've found that if you make a point of going us to the caller after the bus has left the station and say, 'can you please tell us when we're at blah blah blah town?' that usually does the trick. Anyways, so we get off at Cotacachi which is a teeny tiny town in between Otavalo and Ibarra that's known for its leather goods. UNESCO has called this town 'the city of peace' because literally nothing happens there. My student had told me that you have to get off at the PanAmerican and then get another bus into the town because it's not right there. So we waited with some guys and a priest for the bus into town, got off at the park and mosied our way to the street that has all of the leather shops. I'm glad that we got off at the park because we got to see some of the town that was indeed peaceful. But when we got to the leather street (10 de Agosto) you would have thought we were in the Wisconsin Dells. There were so many gringos, with big hats, talking loudly, being your typical American. Ryan and I, of course were there just to look so it made our trip quite short. In fact the longest part of the trip was trying to find choclo con queso. Choclo is a type of corn, served on the cob in this instance, with cheese. I really like it! Usually it's served with mayo and then rolled in crumbled cheese, but the place we ate it left off the mayo and served it with slices of cheese instead. I thought this was a much better option! Anyways, after our $1.50 snack we were back on the little bus that took us to our next stop: Autuntaqui.

10 de Agosto (the leather street)

The plaza in Cotacachi

One of the many leather stores

Choclo con queso

Cute and colorful houses in Cotacachi

What I'm assuming to be the crest of Cotacachi

Autuntaqui is another little town, not like Cotacachi peaceful, but more like a super small city. They are known for two things: clothes and fritada. We were suposed to stop at Fritada Amazonas, but we got off the bus too early and ended up going to Fritada Mama Miche. This place was actually in the town so we got to see all the clothing stores, instead of Fritada Amazonas which is on the highway and you don't enter the town at all. I don't like fritada, it's official. I've tried a couple of times and its just not for me. Ryan on the other hand, loves the stuff! What is fritada? Let me just show you:

Here we have tortillas (also known as llapingachos or fried potatoes), salad, avacado, tostado (crunchy corn kernels), and mote (a type of corn and the main reason I don't like fritada), plus a side of cheese. 

The place that we ate: Fritada Mama Miche

After fritada we were back on the bus to San Antonio de Ibarra, another teeny tiny town. This one was just outside of Ibarra (about 2 kilometers). This town is known for wood carvings. The master woodcarver, Luis Potosi, is from San Antonio de Ibarra. You probably think you don't know this guy but you know some of this wood carvings as everyone copies him. We got off the bus on the highway and walked into town, peeking our heads into lots of tiny stores jam packed with different carvings. Then we found the mega studio, showroom, store and we met the master himself. His stuff is amazing. Seriously, amazing. And, all things considered, really cheap! If I were in Ecuador as a tourist, you better believe I would have bought at least one piece of his original work and brought it home with me.

All of the wood stores had a different speciality. This one's was religious ornaments.

This one's was candle stick holders

The Master, Luis Potosi's workshop.

Notice the carving in the middle of the photo, he's the originator of carvings like this.

A furniture shop. We peeked our heads in and got to see the carver in action.

Then we were back on the bus for our final destination: Ibarra. We got into town around 5 and wanted to  leave around 7 (Chuki was at home), so we were on a mission: see the sights, get a feel for the town, eat ice cream and various other treats Ibarra is known for and then get out of there. And that's exactly what we did. We walked past the market, saw a handful of fine churches, explored gorgeous parks and plazas and ended the visit with paila ice cream in the park while we watched the sky change colors. Then as it was getting dark we headed back to the bus terminal and caught the 7:15 bus.

Cathedral of La Dolorosa

Beautiful Plaza

Beautiful sun on the mountains

Another church

Ryan and I having a great day exploring!

Supposedly the originator of Paila, a famous ice cream here. 

Me with both of our cones. On the left (mine), Mango and Mora and on the right (Ryan's) Maracuya and Tamarind.

Sitting in another plaza at sunset, eating our ice cream.

This photo doesn't do the colors justice!

At the end of our trip!

We made it back to our apartment around 10:15 with $5 still left in our pocket. It was a great trip! Its days like those that make me so thankful I live abroad. But they also remind me that there are adventures to be had anywhere and everywhere. Even if it's just an hour or two away from home!

MULUB,
Taylor

Success in Quito

Yesterday was a really productive day. For having two pretty stressful 'issues' going on simultaneously, I've been really proud of my level of calm. Those two 'issues' being the landlady and Chuki's hurt leg. Anyways, back to yesterday. I had two classes in the morning then Ryan and I took Chuki back to the vet because he had eaten his whole bandage off during the night. We were hopeful that our regular vet would be there and we were so thankful that she was. She happily changed his bandage and called around to locate a vet in the area that had a cone collar big enough for Chuki. She found one and Ryan was able to pick it up that day. Plus it cost $10 less than we were expecting!! Success #1: Chuki now has a cone collar! While Ryan went to the other vet to get the cone collar, I went down to Old Town to get a universal charger so we could finally charge the camera. I wasn't sure where to go exactly, but I had an idea. The first place I popped my head into had a charger that worked and I bought it for $5! Success #2: We now have a camera charger! I guess it doesn't take much for me to deem a day productive any more!

Things you have to look forward to: a post on Chuki's craziness with this injury, photos from Papallacta, a dinner party post, and maybe the most perfect pumpkin scone recipe.

Things we have to look forward to: free LIGA game tonight, Ibarra this weekend, the beach (hopefully!!) for Carnival, funesca and and Oscar party!

MULUB,
Taylor

PS. I forgot about this success. I finally made friends with the maid of one of my kids classes. She has never been very nice, blah blah blah. But yesterday, I stayed an extra 30 minutes so her husband could drive me home. She made me a snack (bread and cheese) and hot chocolate. PLUS, an added bonus, it was amazing cheese. It tasted like brie! Success #3: Making friends with the maids!

To Do List

1. Bake bread
2. Pick up the apartment
3. Do the dishes
4. Sweep and mop the floors 
5. Blog
6. Upload photos
7. Catch up on emails
8. Run
9. Shower
10. Class
11. Free LIGA game

This is my day. You'll be hearing from me later! 

Before I go, I just thought I'd tell you what Chuki is doing RIGHT NOW. He's looking in the mirror with his cone on, just staring at himself. And he's been there for about 5 minutes. I don't know if he thinks there is a strange dog in his house with a strange thing on his head or if he just feels bad for himself. Either way, it's pretty pathetic and precious, all at the same time.

Weekend Recap

We were in Quito this weekend, which is always nice and relaxing. We've developed a lovely Saturday morning routine that I really look forward to whenever we are at home on the weekends. Since Chuki doesn't really 'sleep in' all that much, we're up around the same time as normal (usually more like 7:30 instead of 6, but still). Saturday morning is a futbol morning. So Ryan will turn on the TV in anticipation of the Chelsea game, while I make coffee and catch up on blogs. Saturday morning is really the only time I allow myself to read Pioneer Woman, so I always look forward to that! (Her recipes always look so yummy but are never healthy and usually contain ingredients that we don't have.) While Ryan is watching the game before Chelsea, I look for something new and yummy to make for breakfast. This past week I made Banana Whipped Oatmeal! OH MY WORD! So good!

A side note about oatmeal: I grew up eating oatmeal for breakfast, especially in the winter. My mom would always say that it would stick to your ribs. I think she meant it would keep me warm. Anyways, I grew up eating the stuff from the package with all the flavors mixed in. You know, the add water and put in the microwave stuff. While I really liked that oatmeal then, I wouldn't really dream of ever buying it now (especially in Quito)! Regardless, we've been rediscovering oatmeal and eating it more and more. We always have oats here in the house because we usually always make our own granola (thanks to Ryan's mom). But just recently we've started using the stuff to make oatmeal instead of just granola. And boy is it delicious, so so so versatile and SUPER DUPER easy.

Anyways, I digress! This Saturday morning's oatmeal was inspired by Kath over at Kath Eats Real Food. Make it! Seriously, probably this week. Especially all of you back home that are freezing in your snow and ice storms! It's seriously yummy, filling and takes about 10 minutes from start to finish.

Here's what I did:
1 cup milk
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup water

Bring these three to a boil.

Cut up a banana. Cut 1/2 of the banana in really small pieces and the other half in bigger chunks. Add to the boiling oats and whisk, whisk, whisk until banana is dissolved and oats are fluffier than normal.

Add a splash of vanilla and cinnamon.

Divide the oatmeal into 2 bowls. Top with homemade granola (recipe coming soon), homemade almond butter (recipe coming soon), frozen raspberries, dried cranberries and a spoonful of honey.

ENJOY with a great cup of coffee!

Then once breakfast is ready, the three of us watch the Chelsea game together. I'll admit I come and go while watching at least the 1st half of the game, between the computer, the kitchen and the couch! Then usually, we take Chuki for a nice long walk after the game. (You all know what happened to Chuki on this week's 'nice long walk'! It wasn't so nice, instead it was more bloody. Poor bear.)

It's really a routine that I've come to look forward to on the weekends!

MULUB,
Taylor

Chuki's Boo Boo

Yesterday we had quite the adventure with Chuki. We decided to go to the park yesterday morning, all three of us. I have found this new entrance into Metropolitano but instead of being forestlike, it's all prairie. Chuki loves prairie type fields, so whenever I have extra time I try to incorporate this part of the forest into our walk. Anyways, Ryan has taken him up there once or twice but I wanted to show Ryan what Chuki and I do. So we walk up there and Chuki's off the leash running in the prairie and LOVING it. I love it too because it's like a mini-hike and Chuki seriously is so happy up there. Usually it's a great way to start the day. There is this small ravine in the park that I've never let Chuki go down into before but for some reason when he went over there yesterday I didn't call him back. He jumped down into the ravine a couple of times and then loved climbing his way out until... bah bah bah. He came out the last time and Ryan and I were a bit behind him when I thought I saw blood on his paw. We called him and he wouldn't really come all of the way, which isn't like him. That's when I realized he was gushing blood from somewhere on his front right leg.

Ryan took off his shirt (he had a sweatshirt on too) and wrapped it around Chuki's paw then we put a plastic bag over it. But that was covered in blood in seconds. We panicked and after getting ourselves together we decided we had to get to the vet and fast. We knew that no taxi driver would drive us so we started the run down the hill to the vet. Luckily, we were pretty close. About 10 minutes away. Chuki bled and bled the whole way there. People were stopping on the street and staring. Ryan tried to carry him part of the way but he's just too heavy. We finally get to the vet and Chuki just collapsed. That was probably the scariest part. Luckily (again), we have extreme confidence in our vets ability whenever we take him there. So we get there and bring him into the back. They immediately put one of those things on the upper part of his leg to stop the blood flow so that they can see what happened. And then they told us to wait in the waiting room. We waited and about 20 minutes later they came out and told us he had cut a vein above his paw with a large piece of glass. They were able to remove the glass and control the bleeding but he would have to stay over night to have fluids and antibiotics administered. So away we went, shaken but not scared.

We just got home from the vet with Chuki! He has a big old bandage on his foot but no cone. He just walked into the bedroom and he's eaten the bandage off almost. So I'm on my way back to the vet to get a new bandage, some more tape and a cone! Plus some sandwiches from Mega.

We'll post picture hopefully today when our friend Ross lends us his camera charger! Cross your fingers its the correct one!

MULUB,
Taylor

PS. We were able to get a cone for Chuki yesterday. He hates it, but it does its job!