Day 16: Can´t I just get an I.V.?

The food situation of traveling has always frustrated me. I just don´t enjoy eating long drawn out meals and especially not alone. I was looking at the Quito guide book and realized that you could eat your way through this city, but well that would be torture for me... I just like to eat so I don´t pass out. My mom is the same way... eat to live not live to eat (don´t get me wrong, there are foods I like, but only when I don´t have to put in much effort). In Quito there are tons of fast food places, but I´ve been trying to avoid them so I don´t look like that super jack ass from the US that goes to a foreign country and eats MacDonalds...

Well let me fill you in on some of my food adventures.

Next to my school there is a local place called Cafe Libro and it looks super charming and cool and sounds like it might have a nice cup of coffee... well, it´s not. It´s a buffet of traditional food. When I say traditional in Quito I mean soup (oh god not more soup), rice, and some sort of beat thin piece of meat. Oh and some juice. When I say buffet I don´t mean that you can just go get what you want, I mean cafeteria style where you move your tray along and someone dishes out the exact portion from the handbook. So, ok, it´s fine, and it costs $3.50, which is pretty good. So I´ve been a few times, on my lunch break from school. Well the other day I got my food and sat down at my table by the window, when I notice something on the bench by the window... wait, what? Damn, it´s a cockroach. When I told my teacher that afternoon, she said, yeah, but it was a small one, right? 

Ok, it´s time to branch out. I must try and sit alone at a different place. Ok, I´ll wander around the neighborhood, oh look, there is a little place called Cafe Tree. It has outside seating (even in this frigid weather many places have outside seating and it´s always full) looks nice, ok, I´ll sit down. I order some chicken, fries and a juice. This time my bill is $9 and the food tastes bland and boring. Damn. In the back of my head the chain fast food restaurants are calling my name. I will resist!

In the guide book they mention Magic Bean. Sounds cool, and gringo like. They guidebook mentions that the sandwiches are very good. A little pricey, but good. Resist the Big Mac and head toward Magic Bean... ok, I´m there and see they have an iced coffee drink, my expectations are low and when it comes it looks very good. I even snapped a photo while I thought no one was looking. Sip. Damn.
I order the Magic Bean chicken sandwich expecting a nice meal by the guidebook standards... It was the blandest meal I´ve ever eaten. Tasteless. I really don´t like ketchup and here I was dipping my tasteless chicken into ketchup. That was $14 later...

My favorite meal so far... it´s embarassing to say, but true, that my favorite meal was the cheesy gordita from Taco Bell in the mall. Yup, sorry to admit, but it had tons of cheese, and a delicious sauce with lots of flavor. I got a gordita, soda and chips for $3.50. It´s no wonder that people love fast food. The two big malls have big food courts. I had this thought that maybe I should eat my way around the food courts...