This post features student writing.
Hola family and friends!
My name is Quinn. After a week in Las Tolas we have eaten delicious meals and I thought it would be cool to show a typical day of food that we eat. In Las Tolas, the food cooked by women of the town is all fresh. We all love the food and are ready to eat each meal after a hard day’s of work. We appreciate the time they put into the cooking so much as they wake up very early to make us meals. It just shows how incredible the community is here in Las Tolas. Thank you for reading!
Our Meal Schedule
Desayuno (Breakfast): 7:30 AM
While we are working from 8-12PM we have snacks that are given to us by Alvaro and Leah.
Almuerzo (Lunch): 12:30 PM
From 2-4 we have afternoon work, where we will also eat snacks. The snacks can be anything from fruit to banana chips and wafers.
Cena (Dinner): 6:00 PM
Friday the 5th
Desayuno: Emborrajados
- Eggs and bananas in a pancake-plantain style
- Fruit: guava
- Scrambled eggs
- Hot chocolate
Almuerzo:
- rice with meat, veggies, and hot sauce
- blackberry juice
- salad with lettuce and tomato
- platanos (cooked bananas)
Cena: spaghetti!
For dinner we had spaghetti with a really delicious sauce that had broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower. On the side there was a radish salad.
Our Next Few Days
That finishes off a day of our food here in Las Tolas. Today is Saturday and we have a cooking competition where we are put into teams and whoever cooks the best food wins! It can be sweet or savory. We are setting off to Mindo tomorrow, Sunday, and are back in Las Tolas on Tuesday for another week in our host Ecuadorian families.
Thank you for checking the blog!
— Quinn
Recharging Our Batteries
– by Leah and Alvaro
Today we had a late breakfast to catch up on some sleep before the “Las Tolas” cooking challenge began. On Thursday, we divided the students into three teams and asked them to create a list of items they would need to create their culinary masterpieces. Las Tolas has several stores attached to locals’ houses where you can buy basic food staples, but things like fruits and vegetables are hard to come by. Therefore, on Fridays, a fruit and vegetable truck travels from town to town in the mountains and sells all sorts of fresh foodstuffs from the bed of the truck. On Friday, Alvaro and the students took a break from work to buy their supplies from the fruit truck, which travels through the town with a loud speaker announcing the fruit specials of the week.
Even with the truck, some ingredients were missing, so on Saturday, Leah took a group to Nanegalito, a town about half an hour away, to finish shopping. It was interesting to see how many of the foods and ingredients, which are easy to find at home, are difficult to find when they’re not in season. We loved watching how the students were creative and flexible with ingredients.
After a fun session in the kitchen, our teams were ready to present their dishes!
The creations made by the three teams were:
- French toast and banana, strawberry and pineapple smoothie.
- Pesto pasta with tomato and sautéed vegetables with fresh hierba buena lemonade
- Sweet apple empanadas with brown sugar butter sauce.
After enjoying the meal, the judges deliberated for a few minutes and determined that…EVERYBODY WON! They really enjoyed all the dishes and haven’t tried food like the one they were served today!
During the afternoon we cleaned up the kitchen and rested to let our bodies enjoy the after taste of our delicious dishes!
Later on, we packed our bags for our adventure in Mindo and we announced the homestay families to our students! With much excitement, we took our remaining luggage and walked to each hosting family’s house to greet them and share some gratitude before we leave. When we’re back on Tuesday, our homestay will begin, and we can’t wait to see how awesome this experience will be!
Here are Myles and Ben with Rosario, their host mother!
Hasta la próxima!
— Leah & Alvaro