La hamberguesa de verdad (The hamburger of truth)

Passing a small restaurante that advertised its star menu item as the ´hamberguesa de verdad,´ I wondered if this was something like the forbidden fruit of knowledge in the Garden of Eden. I couldn't really express my amusement to the cab driver. Would Eve have succombed to temptation if this were the case – instead of a tree with shiny, golden apples of knowledge, a dirty Ecuadorian food stand selling hamberguesas y papas fritas? I´m not sure, but I´m guessing, at least according to popular stereotype, that Adam would have been the first to cave if this were the case. And perhaps instead of the punishment of shame and knowledge of pain and suffering, sufficient punishment could be had in getting intestinal parasites.

In the morning I get up and stumble downstairs, usually to find breakfast waiting for me (my home-stay contract states that my host family is to provide me with three meals a day). Usually there is way too much food than what I can eat in a single setting. I suffer through a cup of instant coffee, which is about all they have here. It took me awhile to figure out that you can microwave a cup of tap water for 5 minutes and then it is fine to drink. (Also to note, the ´C´ on the faucet is for caliente, not cold. I suppose that´s good enough for me).

I have a half hour walk along Rio Tomebamba (which is a Quechuan name), a shallow and beautiful river (despite also appearing impossibly polluted) that tumbles over the rocks, separating the old part of town from the new. I have class at 8 in the morning, which is a bit of a disadvantage for me. There is no such thing as to-go coffee here. This bothers me a lot more than it probably should.