15 Little Pigs Go To Market

Gualaceo is a little town about 45 minutes outside of Cuenca (my destination) and I think the only reason  my little group and I were shuttled about two hours completely out of the way is because of the farmers market. To describe this farmers market I will simply say: every mother in the united states who cooks would have a coronary at the pure sight of it. There were grains...

 

There were fruits (one of which we all have never tried called Granadillas and as we were all poised to take our first bites I made the astute comment that "it looks like alien brains!" and many people were quite upset with me. But really, they do)...

And (I´m cheating a little because the following part was not technically at the farmers market, however it was at an indoor market complete with cafeteria that was just around the corner) there was plenty of meat.

For no apparent reason (though likely due to the sudden boldness and sense of adventure that becomes the source of decision making while traveling) I had no apprehension whatsoever in ordering a greasy plate of roasted pork that had been plucked with bare hands straight from the inside of a roasting pig. Right there. Right in front of me. And it was delicious.

Food is often one of the biggest challenges people run into while traveling but that should come as no surprise. Three (four, five, six) times a day you must eat and you must eat as a traveler needs to eat which is usually more than said traveler eats at home. I´ve heard that walking and walking and walking and walking burns calories. But I personally find food to be one of the most exciting parts of traveling because I believe you learn much of what you end up knowing about a culture from its food. Ecuadorian food is not shy, keeps to its natural form, and when its all put together it can be quite colorful. Much like Ecuadorians themselves.