Mary what?

If someone were to ask me to tell a secret, something that not many people know about me...I'd have to say "I don't like fruit". That, of course was until I moved to Ecuador. Now I grew up in Southern California, land of the citrus fruit, not far from the agriculture belt of mid state (where they grow everything) and not to mention the pacific Northwest and apple country, but over the years I became a fruit snob.

Apples were usually too pithy for me so I stopped buying them, bananas had to be just the right shade of green, no brown spots or they'd be too sweet, and I'd deem them garbage. Realized I didn't like tartness, so that took out oranges, nectarines, strawberries, grapefruit, and pineapple. I have also over my 40plus years come to the conclusion I do NOT LIKE MELON. (Not watermelon, not cantaloupe, not honeydew, none of them) 

But fruit here, as almost everything, is different... the oranges are really only good for juice (they do not section for eating) and that's ok, because I can add just a smidge of sugar and it's yummy. Pineapple are super, not sour or hyper yellow as in the states, and of course don't come already diced in a can. Bananas have been tricky, up in Quito there is a variety of small very florally bananas, yummy, but not for everyday. I have found bananas like what I'm used to, but they are still considered edible even with some brown spots, who knew? (Plantains are most popular, they really don't ever ripen, and are used mostly in cooking.) But the star, the really crazy one we've never had anything like in this world...maracuya.

It's actually the fruit from the Passion flower vine, and native to South America. It is tart overload! If I had to describe the taste I'd say it's a mix of papaya,mango and grapefruit, very tropical and that's why I like it. I used to buy the frozen pulp concentrate and add just a squirt to my smoothies, but since I'm not going to "the big city" I've started buying the real fruit. Here's what needs to be done to it, and you'll know why I bought the frozen...

Since I was unaware how to pick "a good one", I just told Jenny at the tienda what I wanted and let her pick them. The first time she handed me the most shriveled looking ones she had, and they were great. These were not as shriveled, but still pretty ugly.

It's really not a fruit that you can just eat, maybe a little like pomegranate, where you suck the pulp off the seeds. But for juice, 

You scoop all the seeds out, add a little water and pulse a couple times in the blender.

Then you strain, I put these seeds thru the blender twice, as there was still pulp stuck on them after the first go round.

Voila! I put the fresh goodness in this little squirt bottle, store it in the fridge on the door, and use within the week or so. A little goes a long way, and sometimes I used to need to add a smidge of sugar. I've started using strawberry yogurt and the sweetness in that means I don't need to add any extra. I freeze my pineapple chunks and banana, so I don't have to use ice. And there you have it, from a fruit hater, to a daily fruit smoothie drinker, all it took was moving to another country!

So, stay tuned, you never know what I'll experience next...the adventure continues!

Gas and water delivery

After our siesta, we called Dave to meet up with him to pay the rent, and find out about gas and water. He said he had asked his gas/water guy if he wouldn't come by this morning to get us started, he was to be here at 9am. So we puttered around in the am while we were waiting, I got our make shift closet situated, and Mike worked upstairs on the seating/hammock area.

This room has an adjoining bathroom, with "hot" water, one of those where the electricity heats the water at the shower head, haven't tried it yet, but I'm sure it will be exciting. So this is the room I've made into our "dressing area". I've got our hats cloths pinned to the curtain "rod" and even a dirty clothes hamper ( open empty suitcase), works out pretty well.

Also while we were waiting for the gas/water guy, we stopped the banana man, got this and the pina for $4

And from another vegetable man, this was $2.50, we gave him .50 cents extra, and asked if he wouldn't come twice a week...

That's a bag of peppers, he told me they weren't hot, but I'll have to see. 4 tomatoes, bag of 5 limes, 4 oranges, 3 avocados ( the silky kind for smoothies) and 2 onions, all that $2.50?!? And basically delivered to our front gate?!? Yes please!! We also saw a fish guy, but since we still didn't gave any gas we opted not to stop him today, maybe mañana.

We continued to putter and wait, but by noon we were ready for lunch. After lunch we'd try to find a tuk tuk and see if we couldn't get water at least. We walked down the beach and saw several restaurants beach front that we considered, but then we saw one I'd heard rave reviews for.

Now we know why it's a favorite, great ambiance and HUGE portions. They know the gringos like papa frites (French fries), so that came with it. We get apanado (breaded) and frito (fried) pescado (fish) and share. Usually they are both pan fried, one just with a little more breading. It also came with rice and salad, next time we'll get one order, I had learned a new word last night and got to use it, para llevar (to go), so we have a good bit of both kinds of fish and about 1 cup of rice in a doggie bag. 

On our walk home we saw a hardware store, bought 7 meters of rope for $1.40 ( 1 meter is about a yard) found a tienda where I bought 2 bell peppers for .25cents ( not each! For Both!) they also have eggs 7/$1 and bags of milk. Found plenty of stores that had 5 gal waters, but no tuk tuk to drive us home...ugh ( it was siesta ) will try again this evening.

So that's been our second day at the beach house. As we puttered this morning we made a list for Dave, we'd like to borrow a shovel and rake, (maybe he'd get one for the house) so we could start doing some landscaping. There's a bag of gravel here, we'll spread out, and we'd like to plant some grass for the pups and for softness getting out of the outdoor shower. Since we can't really decorate, we might as well get the yard in order, we love playing in dirt anyway. Mike started some cuttings at the Crucita house, so we already have some things to plant. 

We planned on going to the big Sunday mercado in Charapoto, but who needs to if you've got vendors at your gate? Life is good, fresh and cheap in Ecuador! Stay tuned !!

Our weight loss plan

As we embrace "middle age" we have been trying to get healthy. Last year late summer we started walking and hiking, and much of this move was hatched while doing that. We eagerly logged miles and then would optimistically get on the bathroom scale...nothing, nada, zilch no change. We eat pretty well, Weight Watchers taught me a lot back in the day, but I decided yo check our portion sizes and cut back a bit. Still nothing, didn't gain-which is good, but I'm talking we hiked over 50 miles in a month! We swore we would give it 6 months, but winter came and even if we bundled up, it was pretty miserable. We contemplated joining a gym, using the treadmill, but in the end neither of us could imagine walking on the treadmill for 6 or so miles.

Many of you probably don't think of us as old, but we feel it. We have reading glasses all over the house, and I had to have my first cortisone shot for bursitis in my knee. We religiously take our Glucosamine Chondroitin for the aches and pains and look for supplements that we think we should be taking. Bottom line is we are well aware that our " golden years" are affected by how we live now, so we are trying to get in the best shape possible. 

Many of the blogs I've followed are retirees, 60+ years, and I've been happy to read they have all benefited from the new healthier eating and exercise of the Ecuador lifestyle. Almost everyone I've read about has reported a weight loss of 25-45 pounds! It's  not just Ecuador, a blog from Costa Rica said his father who went for a 10 day visit lost 14 pounds! Beach town, big city, or mountain village doesn't seem to matter, fresh food, fruit,( no processed/prepackaged food) and walking seem to do the trick. We look forward to the fresh seafood on the coast. Look at these shrimp.

These shrimp are half a pound each, and all these were purchased for $3!! You can buy them right off the boat, as they bring the boats onshore. Ecuador is the worlds second largest supplier of shrimp, who knew? I saw one picture ( which I can't find anymore, sorry) where the shrimp were as big as bananas! We'll find some personally and post pictures, after we get there.

This is another reason Americans will lose weight, fruit. Nan, the blogger, said she bought 8/$1 oranges, 4/$1 mangoes, misc other stuff for $1 and the star fruit were free. I personally think those bananas are straight garbage, but I think she was making banana bread. And the avocados are for smoothies, she says it doesn't add much flavor, but a gloriously smooth silky texture. I'm game! Ecuador's number one export is bananas, with shrimp and cut flowers close behind, funny I love all those things! Because of the climate, something is always in season, I recently read cherries and peaches were at their best last month, wow.

 

We will weigh ourselves before we pack the bathroom scale into the shipping container, and won't weigh again til we unpack, anywhere from 24-60 days, it'll be interesting to see what it says. It better be good!!!   Mente sana-el Cuerpo sano!   ( healthy mind-healthy body)

Here is a link to the Blog I got the photos from. Check it out to hear from a person who is already on the ground in Ecuador. >>> Finding Our Paradise in Ecuador