Sunday, Mar 27, 2016
I spent a large part of my day studying Spanish. A big shout out to Paul and Janet who gifted us some Spanish lesson and story books to help us in our pursuit of the language. We all have been browsing through them and finding sections that appeal to our mode of learning.
Muchas Gracias Paul y Janet!
We had dinner at Don and Donna’s tonight. Heidi and Donna spent most of the afternoon preparing a traditional Ecuadorian soup that is served on Easter. It is called Fanesca. This is considered a special soup for Ecuadorians because it is served only once a year.
Personally, I get why Ecuadorians only get it once a year. Because of how many hours are involved in making it, I’m sure the Ecuadorian woman probably say…”no mas sopa para ti!” (no more soup for you!). 
It takes them a year to forget how much work it is to make. 😉
At one point during this process, Heidi and Donna had five burners going cooking rice, zucchini, squash, cabbage, corn, five different types of beans, along with adding cheese, cream, chopped cilantro, and a myriad of spices. It was absolutely delicious! 
 The soup is garnished with a hard boiled egg, pickled onions, verde banana, and avocado.
In addition to the Fanesca soup, we also had great tasting empanadas. One type was filled with cheese and onion, and sprinkled with a bit of sugar. It was a strange combination of ingredients but it was very good. There were breads and desserts too. It was a truly incredible meal.
I think what made it memorable though was being able to enjoy this feast with all the people sitting around the table. Donna’s brother Doug, and his two daughters, were part of this circle and conversation. Sharing together we got to enjoy feeding our souls as well as our bodies. It felt special.
While dinner was being prepared, there was an interesting break in the clouds and the light shone onto the ocean. I found it stunning and seemingly appropriate for today. I’ll leave that image with you to ponder upon. 
Chao.
Follow ToddTalk…in Ecuador! in the box on the upper right of my blog to get my latest post sent right to you without delay.
Thanks for this Heidi, I guess this soup as it takes nearly all day to make it , it must be special for the Ecuadorian’s. It reminds me of my mother near Christmas time making a huge Christmas cake and with all the ingredients on the table. After all of those good things you put in the soup, I cannot stand the taste or smell of cilantro, so I would have to leave this out. By the way, the picture is beautiful. Chow
Soup was great Gayla. I couldn’t really taste the cilantro so I think you would have liked it.