Sunday, Feb 7, 2016

It’s Superbowl Sunday! Since kick off isn’t until 6:30pm my time, I get to look forward to watching the game for the better part of the day . Easton and I plan on going to the H Bar and watch the game on the TVs there with some friends. Heidi is planning on watching it at the condo since she doesn’t want the distractions of noise, conversations, and people getting in the way of her view of the screen.

We went on a hunt for coconut oil today. Wouldn’t you think with all the coconut trees around here that getting coconut oil would be easy? It’s not. We’ve been asking around and finally found a source. It’s a B&B at the far end of town from us. So we decided to take a nice long walk there and go see if we can get some.

Success! We have scored coconut oil so Heidi can make chocolate with the organic cacao she bought the other day. The cacao is a dark, bitter chocolate, but with the coconut oil and some local honey we have, it is going to be turned into a tasty treat! About a quart sized jar of the oil cost us $31.00. Dang, the chocolate better be good!

We walked back into the middle of town to the Tia (a local small grocery store) and as we entered the store I realized I left my Hydroflask water bottle back at the B&B. Uuuggh! I left Heidi and Easton to shop for some things at the store while I headed back to get my bottle.

Again, this is the problem with not being able to speak the language. I can’t just call them and say, “Hey, I left my water flask there and I will be by later to pick it up. Would you just hold it for me until then? No. Calling someone at the B&B was out of the question.

I didn’t mind the 2 mile round trip walk. I’m glad to get in the exercise, and the reality is, what have I really got to do until kick off time anyway? On my way back to catch up with Heidi and Easton at the Tia, I ran into Paul and Janet, a very friendly ex-pat couple we met several days before. It was fortunate for me, because Heidi, Easton, and I have been trying to locate a little tienda (very small store…think large walk in closet) somewhere around the farmer’s market that sells fresh butter by the pound. We hadn’t been able to find it, and Paul and Janet are the ones who told us about it. So after a quick chat, and some better directions, I now know where to go for our mantaquilla.

It’s Carnaval this weekend, which is a huge celebration by the locals with music, singing, festivities, and a lot of partying. One of the things that happens to people walking on the street during Carnaval is having flour thrown on them, or water balloons smashed on them, and/or eggs thrown at them.

Supposedly this has been outlawed locally, but Easton and I were walking and saw an older man standing in the median of the street get hit with eggs as a truck filled with young people drove by. He started laughing, and I thought, “Guess that’s the culture!” A bit later we saw three 20 something year old adults walking toward us on the sidewalk. The person closest to the street got sprayed with a white foam substance of some sort by a car passing by. He started laughing, as well as the people he was with, and just tried wiping the stuff off as best he could.

Easton and I just looked at each other and decided we needed to get off the street!

The H Bar was busy as Easton and I showed up. It was filled with a mix of gringo ex-pats and local Ecuadorians. The gringo’s were 50+ and the locals I’m guessing are mostly in their 20’s and 30’s. There are small kids in the bar laughing and playing too. It was a fun atmosphere and I like the diverse mix of people and ages.

We ordered wings and soft pretzels, and H Bar now has locally brewed beer on tap. One of the things that is so cool about H Bar, is that I get to enjoy “American” bar food in a place with a lot of locals giving it an Ecuadorian feel.

And what a great game too! Guess you now know I am a Broncos fan.

Chao!