If It´s Tuesday

August 3, 2010

 If it’s Tuesday, the power will go off.  At least that seems to be happening with some regularity in the last month or so, usually for a couple of hours at a time. We’ve gotten more or less used to it, but it can be really annoying and inconvenient at times (obviously it’s a pain when in the middle of a load of wash, or watching a movie. Less expected is the lack of hot water; our entire house water is heated by an electrical thingamajiggy mounted on our utility room wall).

Each day, seafood and snack vendors on bikes troll through town to sell their wares, and on Tuesdays, many of the “specialty” guys show up too. We always keep our eyes peeled for the cerveza truck (mostly selling to the mom & pop stores and restaurants, but anyone can buy off the truck at cheaper prices than retail. Danged if we’ve yet to convince the beer guys to circle a little closer to our street so we don’t miss them).  On Tuesdays, I’ve discovered broom hawkers, baby-shoe salesmen, kitchen-supply peddlers, and even toilet paper vendors, but my favorite truck to find is the vegetable truck of Manuel y Manuel.

We get insanely cheap prices on produce here.  Tomatoes are $1.00 for 3 lbs, a huge bunch of fresh  basil costs 10 cents, garlic bulbs are about a nickel, strawberries and moras (large blackberries) are $1/lb off the Manuel y Manuel truck.  We also buy vegetables from the various stands, and the other day in Montanita, I purchased a huge and healthy bunch of basil, 2 onions, and 3 garlic heads for 70 cents. 

We are cooking at home and having a lot fun experimenting with the local ingredients available here...I have discovered that unrequited gringo hunger cravings are a powerful motivator, and I am spending a great deal of time in the kitchen trying to duplicate some of our favorite “American” recipes.  Odd, since I’ve never been particularly passionate about cooking, and even more uncharacteristically, I am leaning towards vegetarian meals (local decent beef is scarce, chicken can be relatively expensive, and seafood has never exited me).

 I’m all over the cheap tomatoes here.   Todd is scratching his head – but is pleased – about my recent enthusiasm in the kitchen.  I’ve more or less managed to replicate my “pico de gallo” and bruschetta recipes, and he has learned how to make killer fried chicken. I’m still trying to create the perfect marinara/pizza sauce. Fortunately, our dog Daisy doesn’t mind eating my left over attempts, though those usually give her a bad case of hiccups and indigestion.

The new Olon Park
under contruction

We love our little town of Olon. Walking around town the other night, we noticed a number of new mom and pop restaurants (which are always a few tables and perhaps a grill in front of someone’s home). In particular, we want to try one across the street from the Olon Park offering a tasty looking pork chop meal for about $2.50. 







Additionally, quite a few new beautification projects here and in Montanita are underway. Olon recently razed the old park to build a new one, and Montanita finally got paved roads. The folks in Montanita began that project a little over a year ago, and paved several of the main streets before realizing that sewers needed to be installed first. When we left here last year, they had just begun the muddy and smelly process of laying those pipes. You gotta love it though.  We’ve heard that Montanita isn’t the only small town in these parts to make that mistake.

Montanita - May 2009
 I believe it was shortly after they paved
this street they realized the sewers should go in first.