Patacon, sweet carb patties

Nothing like a meal of carb + chicken in a sweet tomato sauce, served with a side of sweet carb patty (plantain pancakes). How do Colombian women (maybe I should say SOME Colombian women) stay thin???

Ham of chicken....?

Mangosteeeeeeeen

I was told that this fruit grew in 2 places in the world: Maraquitas & a village in Africa somewhere. Upon further investigation, I find out that the fruit actually originated in Southeast Asia, but what the heck. It was banned from imports to the US until 2007, so it is about as exotic as it gets. I bought a bag of about 10 for around $6, not bad for something that sold $45/pound in the US in 2008....

Veronika the boss

This is a shot of lunch from today. Veronika, the owner & sole employee at the vegetarian restaurant across the street, is back from vacation, and I am back to heavenly, veggie lunches! Chick peas, fried rice, salad, cream of veggie soup, broccoli stir fry, and banana soy bread (?). + MANGO JUICE! Doesn't get better than this (in Ibagué, at least...)

Hidden Treasures & Hairy Fruits

Multigrain bun - apparently with raisins inside. :-/ Not the biggest fan of raisins....

Before.

After. Good grief that pit was hairy. But sure was tastey too....

Market

These are a couple of shots I took of the market area in downtown Ibagué. Seems pretty nice, with all this fresh produce, but alas, as in much of Latin America, behind these fruit & veggie stands, one finds open air (& not refrigerated) meat stalls, with animal blood running the streets, and rotting raw meat smell enveloping this would be fresh spot.

Fish fillet?

The food has been less than noteworthy, of late, which leaves this elegant sufficiency blog rather bored. My vegetarian restaurant next to the office has been closed for 2 full weeks out of the 3 that I have been back at work. A real drag, since I used to get lunch and bring it back to the office so I could chat with friends during the 2 hour break. Instead I went to a vegetarian restaurant about a half mile away, run by hari krishnas. It was tastey food, but rather small portion sizes, and the walk took almost all of the free time away from the 2 hour break, once I had gone, eaten, and come back. I went to a restaurant up the street all last week. Meat-heavy, but at least it filled me up, and it was cheap. But last week I began going to the pool during the lunch break, swimming half a mile - a kilometer, depending on my energy level, and eating was squashed into the 15 minutes in between the time I got back from the pool and 2:00, when work begins again. I have no trouble finishing lunch in 15 minutes, so no biggie.

"Fish fillet," rice, beans, platano, & a slice of cucumber with a slice of onion for a "salad" = lunch

Arepa raw material. Mmmm Mmmm good.