La Comida y Las Bebidas (Food and Drink)

A post dedicated just to the food.

One of the volunteers, Angela, described cooking here as "similar to college, but honestly, more limited". I am grateful that ramen is universal.
At first, I wondered where people even bought their food, as there didn't seem to be many grocery stores, although there are some pulperias around whose food selection I would compare to that of a gas station market (limited packaged snack-type foods). Luckily we happen to be staying only two streets up from Pali, one of the major supermarkets. The other is La Union, which is air-conditioned, has more American selection, and is slightly more expensive. But it seems like most people shop in the outdoor market which is just one street down from us, and covers a couple blocks. It is always packed and crammed with people and stands with fruit and vegetables, cheese and eggs, electronics, shoes and clothes, and really anything you might need from knives to tupperware to toilet paper and soap. The market is not necessarily cheaper, especially for us tourists who sometimes are given a higher price. However, the difference of a couple of cordobas is pretty minimal (26 cordobas to the U.S. dollar). I was pretty excited to have bought a pineapple and three fat mangoes for one dollar! And not only that, but the fruit here is extraordinarily sweet and flavorful.

The selection is pretty much limited to bananas, mangoes, pineapple, onions, potatoes, avocados, tomatoes, cucumbers, and carrots. Other fruits and vegetables (berries, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, etc., are both rare and very expensive, at least in comparison) I love the fruit for snacking, but have been trying to get creative in terms of what to make with these ingredients. Suggestions? 

Besides the limitations of ingredients, the kitchen is somewhat limiting as well. The knives are the dullest I've used, even the new one I bought after getting frustrated with the one here. They are also shaped like mini machetes, curved and pointy at the end, which is not ideal for dicing or mincing or bread-cutting. We can't seem to find scissors either, so we put our keys to work to pierce open the bags of salt and spices, rice and beans, and oatmeal. Even the milk comes unrefrigerated in rectangular boxes that require scissors (the dairy's not great here) so I had to use a very dull knife to stab a hole into the top. I suppose I just have to be thankful that there is a fully-equipped kitchen here for us to use. Along with the other twenty-somewhat people living here...

At the beginning of the week, I made a big pot of rice (without a rice cooker??!) and we have been eating a lot of fried rice since there is no microwave to heat it. Today we had the rice with a salad of lettuce, bell peppers, tomatoes, and onions with some lime juice (we're too cheap for olive oil or vinegar :/) along with some pan-fried...tiburón! Aka, shark. It is best described as chicken-y fish in both taste and texture. They sell it commonly at the stores here, so we had to try it. Not bad at all!

We're still reminiscing about he first meal that we ate here, when we sat outdoors at Parque Central and were blown away by the gallo pinto and eggs. Gallo pinto is very popular here for breakfast, and like this one, can be fried until crispy. The eggs are also crackly and crispy at the edges, and every single egg we've had here has a deep orange yolk that makes the sad yellow ones at home pale in comparison. Literally.

 Even when cooked through, they were some of the most flavorful eggs. But when the yolk is drippy and runny, mhmmmmmmmmm
We've been so good and have only ate out twice in Granada with the meals costing about $5, and done the rest of the cooking ourselves to save money, but I would love to try some more of the local food here! Especially the street food, although there are some risks with doing so...

I also get to talk about the drinks here. The drinking age is 18, but I doubt that that law is often enforced. Nobody has ever asked our age, and the luxury of a casual beer, the local Toña or Victoria Frost/Classic for just over a dollar, will be missed. The national drink here is the Nica Libre, rum and coke with lime, and most happy hours will offer these 2-for-1 for 3 dollars.
Every Wednesday at 7:30 la Esperanza Granada hosts pub quiz, and in a team we compete to answer trivia. It gets dark here by a quarter after 6, so the night life is already thriving by then, and 9:30 seems late. We sat with two French girls, a Spanish girl, and an American, and attempted to cheat our way to the grand prize, a bottle of rum.

I loved the night life here! The pouring rain stopped just in time, and the night was warm enough for us to not need a jacket but finally stop soaking through our shirts in sweat (tmi, tmi). On La Calzada, or "Gringo Street", since it is frequented by White tourists, people sat outside the bars and restaurants eating and drinking, laughing, smoking cigarettes, and talking. A small mariachi band performed for the table behind me. A group of young boys did a breakdancing routine which I found highly impressive although TC laughed at me for being easily impressed. The scene was all so sweet and pretty and I enjoyed it a lot. When all of the vendors clear out and the park is lit up at night and you don't have to worry about being hit by a car, Granada is a beautiful place.