Grocery Shopping in a Hailstorm (October 23, 2006)

I am cooking tomorrow. And from past experiences, I know that any food I can buy the day before, makes the cooking day go so much more smoothly. So, list in hand, emtpty backback, umbrella and $20.00 from the "caja chica", I headed out to make my way to Supermaxi, the local chain grocery store. I caught the bus on Occidental at the top of Calle Loja. I had to wait a bit for the bus I needed,which states "Plaza Artigas" on a big wooden sign in the front window, among other places as well. This particular bus does not come along often, and I had to wait about 15 minutes. As I left the house, thunder began cracking overhead and dark clouds filled the sky and lightening could be seen in the distance. But storm or no, I was determined to buy what I needed!
A few drops fell while I was waiting for "Plaza Artigas", but not enough to pull out the umbrella. My bus finally arrived, and I made my way to the back looking for an empty seat. Not wanting to crawl over people for the last seat in the corner, I opted to stand. Not 30 seconds later, more thunder, lightening and the strongest hail storm I have ever been in, ensued. The sound of the hail pummeling the roof of the bus was deafening. I closed my eyes and sighed, thankful to be inside. I hoped the storm would calm down by the time I got to Supermaxi. I stood patiently for the 20 minute ride.
As this was the first time to be getting off at this particular stop, Supermaxi on Calle Gasca, I was extra careful to watch where we were going. To clarify, in Quito, there are 3 or 4 main public bus lines. The "Ecovia" runs more or less on one main avenue, "6 de Deciembre" and has regular stops with particular names. The blue bus line, which was the one I was on, stops where-ever and whenever you want it to. When you see where you want to get off, you walk to the front and say, "Aqui por favor", or the name of where you want to get off. This is the same bus I take on Mondays and Thursdays to get to school. I just ask for "Teleferico" and they let me off on the side of the highway! With that said, back to the story: I could see Supermaxi coming up, so I made my way to the front of the bus to indicate that I wanted to get off. With light rain overhead, I crossed the street and entered the grocery store, ready to shop, ready to be ready for tomorrow!!!!
Normally, at larger stores here, bags and backpacks must be checked in at the front of the store and collected on your way out. For some reason the man waved me through, without the bag check. One less step. Supermaxi might be compared to Vons on Chapala Street in Santa Barbara or like Safeway on the Mesa: not huge or super nice, but plenty of choices to get the job done. I made my way up and down the aisles, happy to be inside, out of the rain, and have time to myselft to think and shop. Having just received a wonderful care-package from my sister Molly, I was exited to use a recipe from the "Real Simple- Food issue" magazine she included. Without an oven, and a tempermental toaster oven, coming up with tasty, fairly easy meals is challenging to say the least. It is easy to get into the habit of the same meals over and over: rice, potatoes, soup, salchichas, rice, soup, potatoes, salchichas, rice....you get the picture. I was determined to make something new and different. Humorously, I decided on a "hamburger-helper-mac-and-cheese" type dish for dinner and blueberry pancakes for breakfast. Certainly, they would not have tried these before. I was right!
I searched and found onion powder, something similar to sour cream, and the other ingredients for the meal: mustard, ground beef, and the mac and cheese boxes. Plus, syrup and blueberries for breakfast. I decided to buy the green onions and tomatoes at Supermaxi as well. (Fruit and vegetables are usually bought at the local outdoor "Mercado San Roque" near our house, but sometimes it´s nice to not make 5 separate trips to 5 different places to get all we need for one meal!!!) I also shopped for house items including salsa (aji)and syran wrap. Lastly I found the things that Jon and I needed: clothespins, a new sponge, spray bottle and a Maracuya flavored Gatorade for me! (Maracuya is similar to passion fruit). I paid for the items and found a spot near the entrance to load up my backpack with the bags. Everything fit wonderfully, except the long green onions which poked out the top. Lista. Ready.
I went out to the street, umbrella overhead, into the pouring rain and waited for my return bus stating, "Tuneles", Tunnels. These buses were coming every couple of minutes, and I jumped on the second bus that I saw, paid my $.25 cents and found a seat. "That was super fast!", I thought. "I´ll be home really soon." Not so. An hour plus later, I finally arrived at my stop, incredulous that it had taken that long to get home! We started out in the direction of home, initially. Then we turned off and meandered way way way way up on little tiny streets with cobble stones, in little communities that were in the opposite direction of where I needed to go. I am now familiar enough with general directions and bus routes, that I wasn´t really worried, more frustrated that we were taking so long getting home. At one point, way up the mountain, I asked another passenger about our final destination and she reassured me that we would eventually return to the "tuneles". When, I didn´t know, but at least I was on the right bus.
At the top of the route, the young bus driver with the missing tooth, dropped his friend off at a CD store. This friend was also the guy who takes your bus fare when you get on or off the bus. All bus drivers have a buddy who takes money. Then we did a big bus length 3 point turn where 2 roads come together at a "V" and we began our trek back down the hill. We picked up the amigo, who had purchased a new disc for the driver, and the music was changed to sample the newly bought goods. I was one of three passenger for the majority of the trip (extremely rare!) and with an unclear idea of what was to happen next or where exactly we were headed, I decided to simply enjoy the scenery and new neighborhoods.
Winding down the hill, one little one way street at a time, buildings and roads began looking familiar. So familiar, in fact, that I found myself looking at Supermaxi, once again, across the street, where I had left from 30 minutes earlier! !!@~$%&$·!!? Then we headed for Avenida America, turned right, finally in the direction of Los Tuneles, on roads that I knew well. Sure enough, we made our way into thick traffic, with the millions of other trucks, cars and buses, headed for the tunnels as well. We curved around and up and waited our turn in line. Finally after the second tunnel, my stop appeared: the bridge by the San Roque market. It felt like a small miracle. I stood and made my way to the front, to indicate that I wanted to get off. The CD buying friend extended his palm, indicating that I needed to pay. "Ya pague", (I already paid), I said, and slowly a look of recognition spread across his face, with raised eyebrows, as if to say, "You´re STILL here?". I smiled as if to say, "Yes I am and I definately got my $.25 worth, and thank you for the tour of Quito." I hopped off the slightly moving bus and started home.
Backpack on, umbrella in hand and onions sticking our the top, I climbed the blue metal stairs to the bridge over the highway to Casa Victoria. One block down Calle Loja. Turn right, and one block down Calle Chimborazo, then left one block on Ambato. HOME! I saw Maria at the tienda three doors up from ours. I saw the man who sells ice cream cones, across the street...just cones, no ice cream.
I was exhausted from my excursion to the store and very glad to be home. I dumped my bags on the floor,flopped down on the bed, closed my eyes and enjoyed my Maracuya Gatorade. Man, I thought, all that for a few food items.
Cooking is always an adventure here, but buying the food is half the battle.