Llapnigachos and horses rides

Its been a great week here at Insituto Superior de Español, where we have had some great cultural events and activities organized for us.

First was the weekly cultural cooking evening, when the students and the Spanish teachers hang out to make one of Ecuador's favourite fayres. This week we made the bizarely named Llapingachos (sounds like a small dog barking!) which are in fact a fine mix of local ingredients to make potatoe cakes; Andean potatoes are cooked and mashed and mixed with achote, a plant dye used in food and then is molded around local queso de mesa, a simple but tasty cheese found all over Ecuador. Fry them up for a tasty tasy accompaniment for any dish.

Then we headed out at the week-end for horse back riding which took us through some beautiful secenery and a great chill out at a country hostal. For me the great thing about these events is to pratice my Spanish with the teachers and locals in an informal environment, with lots of stimulation from the new world we found ourselves in here in Quito Ecuador.

Pete, Ecuador 2009