empanadas

so, spanish school is a good thing, for the most part. the only thing is that it teaches you how much you don´t know. i, as it turns out, know nothing. any word i thought i knew is not used here in ecuador. i´ve spent the last 3 days trying to memorize the word for pen. esfero. not pluma, for those of you who are unenlightened, as was i 3 days ago. nope, the word is not pluma at all, and i was brutally laughed at for using pluma. the word is esfero. esfero. es.fer.o.

we chose our spanish school, simon bolivar, for its cozy feel. they only offer the more expensive individual lessons, which we were against at first, instead of the group lessons we were hoping for. but in the end, it might be for the best, though 4 hours of one to one conversation in a language you dont know can be exhausting. the nice thing about bolivar is that they have evening activities, which are a good way to learn about stuff and socialize. last night we made empanadas in our cooking class. after preparing and cooking them we hung out for a while and ate as many as we could, which for some of us, who shall remain nameless, is quite a few. they were delicious, see the bottom of this post for the recipe. afterwards ant and i went to dinner with a couple from san diego. they were nice, and it was good to have some company. i cant lie, i was feeling a bit lonely. well, not lonely exactly, because i am here with anthony, who is smashing company so long as he is not in a mood or farting. but more like lost and scared, being so far from home and not knowing language, customs, etc. meeting people helps with this, i find. so i was a good evening, cut short by anthony´s inappropriate-for-the-dinner-table gostro-intestinal problems, which i have a feeling he will blog about. so, see anthony´s blog for a full description of diarreha, in all its glory. anyway, spanish school is good for many reasons, and here is the recipe for ecuadrian empanadas:

i dont know any of the portions so, sorry, but experiment and see how it works out:

combine flour, baking soda, vanilla, tepid water, and eggwhites in a bowl. mix with hands until dough.
mince plantain.
mince ecuadorian cheese (which is not disgusting like guatemalan cheese. it was compared, last night, to salty mozzarella. so try mozzarella - it should work.)
combine minced plantain and cheese.
take small piece of dough, roll it into ball using your hands.
roll out ball with a rolling pin, into an oval shape.
put approx half teaspoon of cheese-plantain mixture into bottom half of oval.
close oval. pinch dough around the edges to close in filling, in a fancy pastry chef styñe (i couldnt do this part).
fry in a shit load of butter (i have never seen so much butter. we all gasped).
when golden brown on both sides, sprinkle with sugar.
eat, enjoy, and gain 200 pounds!:)

tonight is salsa night in cuenca. we have a lesson at 6 and then are going to the local salsateca to embarrass ourselves. we are not good dancers. cuencaños, brace yourselves......