Pescadores

On Saturday, we visited El Museo del Banco Central, the country’s most famous museum with elements of both the culture and the history of Ecuador. We enjoyed looking at the artifacts from different native civilizations that inhabited Ecuador at one time or another. My personal favorite was a round vessel with two arms rested upon its chest and a triangular head with a simple, smiling face. Next, we went to the second floor and viewed some of the colonial artwork. It was mostly religious, and we were surprised to see Mary portrayed in so many different ways: as a child, as a pastor of sheep, pregnant, part of the holy family, mother and child, and also breast feeding (indiscreetly).

After the museum, we had lunch at a Mediterranean restaurant, walked past a “Trout Pro Shop”(shout out to Uncle Kendall), saw a shop selling large slabs of marble (Dad, if you break any more windowsills, I can help you out), saw a pair of soccer boots selling for $530, and bought a Micro SD card reader at the Radio Shack for the outrageous price of $30. At least now you can enjoy a few of our photos. Later, we returned to Giovanni’s for dinner and a lesson on preparing green papaya. If you wish to try it:

Green Papaya
Recipe by Giovanni Onore, adapted from the nuns in the Congo


1 green papaya
1 C red wine (optional)
2 lemons
½ C sugar (or honey)
Water for cooking
Grand Marnier cognac (optional)

Add one cup of red wine and a few cloves to the pot to begin boiling. Remove the skin and seeds from the green papaya, cut into small pieces, and add to the pot. Take the juice of two lemons and the zest of one lemon and add to the pot. Add a splash of water to keep moist. Cook for 30 minutes until it is ready, then add ½ C sugar and cook for a few more minutes. If you wish, add a splash of Grand Marnier. Let cool overnight, and enjoy like applesauce in the morning.


We woke up early Sunday morning to join Giovanni on his trip to the fish market. Fishermen from the coast drive their catches to Quito in order to sell them at the market starting at 5 AM every Thursday and Sunday. They sell tuna, swordfish, hammerhead shark, and many other kinds of fish with Spanish names that we didn’t recognize. After returning home, we enjoyed a huge breakfast that was crowned with a bit of swordfish prepared cerviche style (“cooked” in the acid of lemon). It was, actually, quite tasty.

After our feast, we set out to attend Sunday mass. At Giovanni’s suggestion, we first went to El Girón near PUCE’s campus. We understood a little bit of the readings and prayers, but we got about as much out of the homily as we would have in a Quantum Physics lecture at MIT. Having enjoyed our first liturgical experience of the day, we set out to find the beautiful Guapulo church. We reached a view point, and saw the church sitting in a valley on the eastern slopes of Quito, some 500 feet below us. A man sitting nearby got up to tell us that it was the church we were looking for, and that we could take the steps down, and did we want to buy a bracelet from him? We made it there just in time for mass to start, so we figured we’d give ourselves another chance to understand the day’s church service. This time the homily continued for 25 minutes, and I found myself contemplating how I would go about conducting a taxi chase if someone were to steal Chelsea’s backpack and hop in a getaway car. In between the words and phrases that Chelsea understood, she was contemplating the best places and modes of transportation for family and friends to visit here. Maybe next time we’ll do the readings in English before going to mass.

We continued on our way in search of the Museum of Guyasamin, an artist famous for his abstract works on some of the recent challenging times the Ecaudorian people have endured (many of which you can buy inexpensive, handpainted replicas). We endured our own challenge both navigating and hiking up, up, up only to find out it is closed on the weekend. Oh well, I suppose it was good training for the mountains. Afterward we stopped by El Maple for another delicious lunch and returned to Giovanni’s for a nap before dinner.

Our next update should be from Cuenca! We wish you all the best, and would love to hear your comments on our blog and what everyone is up to back home. Ciao!