At breakfast we were served two different fruit juices, neither of which I recognised. I was told that the orange one was made from "naranjilla". I looked this up in my dictionary and found the English translation. Naranjilla. Apparently my exposure to exotic fruits has been somewhat lacking as I have never heard of one of these. The second juice was a thick white substance which had a taste that is hard to describe. It was very sweet and may have had a hint of coconut to it, although that may just have been my imagination because I was drinking something white. When I enquired about it I was told that it was juice from a guadanaba. This time the dictionary was no help at all. When I eventually discovered one in the supermarket it was large, green, prickly and more than a little intimidating. Not something I would ever have dreamed of picking up in the past, but perhaps now that will change. Along with the juices we were served croissants and home made jam.... I didn't dare ask what they were made from but perhaps I will be slightly better educated by the time we leave.
Because we are staying for almost six weeks there was no pressure to rush out on the tourist trail on day one, so we decided just to sort out a couple of practical issues such as finding an adaptor and changing some money into dollars. Sadly our search turned out to be fruitless on both counts. For some reason banks will not change more than 100 euros at a time and no-one seemed able to tell us where we could find a bureau de change. We had no luck on the adaptor front either. If such a thing exists in Quito it was not anywhere obvious. This is slightly tricky as it leaves us unable to use our laptop. More drastically for Saskia she can't use her hair straighteners - a situation which could lead to a nervous breakdown if left unresolved. Still, we managed to purchase a sandwich maker for $16 which we hope will go some way towards compensating for our lack of an oven.
Everywhere we go we are the subject of intense staring and much discussion. Although the area we are staying in is full of hostels and places to stay for backpackers we find that we are frequently the only obvious foreigners around. Women in particular are fascinated by Luca and Niko and frequently touch them and comment on their blond hair. We hear the words "lindo" "hermoso" and "muñecito" (little doll) at every corner, which of course is lovely for any Mum to hear in relation to her own children. More than that though, the attention the babies are attracting means that we have lots of opportunities to talk to local people, and I can see that this will be a real advantage in terms of getting to understand Ecuadorian culture. The more the babies are with us the better!
When asked about their ages we say that they are 2 and 7 months respectively. The response on every single occasion is one of surprise. "Son grandes...." (they are big) says each person emphatically. They are not big at all by European standards...in fact Niko is even slightly small for his age, but here they seem to be perceived as enormous...but then I guess so are the rest of us compared to the locals. In fact maybe the stares are nothing to do with our colouring. Perhaps we are just interesting because we are so large. Ah well.
Because we are staying for almost six weeks there was no pressure to rush out on the tourist trail on day one, so we decided just to sort out a couple of practical issues such as finding an adaptor and changing some money into dollars. Sadly our search turned out to be fruitless on both counts. For some reason banks will not change more than 100 euros at a time and no-one seemed able to tell us where we could find a bureau de change. We had no luck on the adaptor front either. If such a thing exists in Quito it was not anywhere obvious. This is slightly tricky as it leaves us unable to use our laptop. More drastically for Saskia she can't use her hair straighteners - a situation which could lead to a nervous breakdown if left unresolved. Still, we managed to purchase a sandwich maker for $16 which we hope will go some way towards compensating for our lack of an oven.
Everywhere we go we are the subject of intense staring and much discussion. Although the area we are staying in is full of hostels and places to stay for backpackers we find that we are frequently the only obvious foreigners around. Women in particular are fascinated by Luca and Niko and frequently touch them and comment on their blond hair. We hear the words "lindo" "hermoso" and "muñecito" (little doll) at every corner, which of course is lovely for any Mum to hear in relation to her own children. More than that though, the attention the babies are attracting means that we have lots of opportunities to talk to local people, and I can see that this will be a real advantage in terms of getting to understand Ecuadorian culture. The more the babies are with us the better!
When asked about their ages we say that they are 2 and 7 months respectively. The response on every single occasion is one of surprise. "Son grandes...." (they are big) says each person emphatically. They are not big at all by European standards...in fact Niko is even slightly small for his age, but here they seem to be perceived as enormous...but then I guess so are the rest of us compared to the locals. In fact maybe the stares are nothing to do with our colouring. Perhaps we are just interesting because we are so large. Ah well.
I also checked the fruits from internet. Narnjilla = "little orange"
ReplyDelete-"Bright orange fruit about the size of tennis ball. The leaves and fruits are covered with numerous fuzzy hairs. The fruit pulp is green, acid, and of excellent flavor. It is commonly used to do delicious drinks. The taste is similar to peach"
- "Ripe naranjillas, freed of hairs, may be casually consumed out-of-hand by cutting in half and squeezing the contents of each half into the mouth. The empty shells are discarded. The flesh, complete with seeds, may be squeezed out and added to ice cream mix, made into sauce for native dishes, or utilized in making pie and various other cooked desserts. The shells may be stuffed with a mixture of banana and other ingredients and baked. But the most popular use of the naranjilla is in the form of juice. For home preparation, the fruits are washed, the hairs are rubbed off, the fruits cut in half, the pulp squeezed into an electric blender and processed briefly; then the green juice is strained, sweetened, and served with ice cubes as a cool, foamy drink. A dozen fruits will yield 8 oz (227 g) of juice."
The GUADANABA was not a word which the net would have recognized. Maybe the spelling is different.
but isn't it kind of fun eating and drinking somehting one does not really know what it is? Fruits can look really funky but taste delicious.
Love, Anne-Maarit