Two lessons...

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J:

In the last two days I've learned two lessons the hard way:

1) Yesterday lunchtime we went for lunch at Mercado Central which is where all of the locals eat. Mercado Central is basically a large hall split into scores of identically sized domestic-looking kitchens, each offering slightly different local fayre from the next. Our smattering of Spanish was not comprehensive enough to translate most of what was on offer, so we veered away from outlets tempting us in with piles of raw chicken heads and diced pig trotters at the front of their stores and headed for the veggie-looking section. I optimistically ordered what I thought was potato soup and took a seat on one of the nearby Formica tables to wait for my meal, and shortly the lady at the outlet brought over a bowl of lumpy orange mush. I dug in to soon find that this was possibly the hottest dish I´d ever had. I hadn't counted on this, but thinking about it Ecuador is not a million miles away from Mexico culturally so perhaps I could have expected something spicy. Not wanting to lose face I kept at it and had eaten about half of the bowl when I heard howls of laughter from behind me, and saw the waitress bring out a bowl of what, this time undeniably, was potato soup. Apparently I´d just worked my way through half a bowl of chili seasoning. So lesson number one is to be a little more patient and maybe to see what other people are doing before diving in.

2) Today, after coming back from Otevalo, we needed dinner so were looking for a restaurant in Mariscal (Quito's Leicester Square). We walked past an Irish pub and I suddenly had a strong urge for Guinness so we went inside and after checking the prices with the waiter ('dos dollares' for Guinness, 'tres dollares' for Holly's wine) we sat down with our drinks. It took us another drink to decide on where to go for dinner, then we went to settle up and were presented with a bill for $33 for three drinks. After questioning this, we found out that the beer wasn't 'dos dollares', but in fact 'doce (twelve. Yes, fucking twelve!) dollares.' To which they had then added tax. And the compulsory 'serviso.' And they'd taxed that as well, so we ended up paying $30 for two cans of beer and consequently had no money for dinner. With our change we got bread rolls and crisps and retired to our hostel to eat crisp sandwiches in our room, washed down with free hostel water which tasted a little like swimming pools. Lesson number two: get better at Spanish!

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Comments

[Aman]

Hola...
Hola, I was absolutely pissing myself when i read lesson number 1. Funniest thing i have read for a while. What a joker. Trust you to stick to veggie food. When i read lesson number 2 i was thinking you jammy shit. I did not know you would be able to find an irish pub ou there but you did. Then you paid $33, i felt so sorry for you, but crisp sandwich is a good meal. should not knock it! Adios