When I travel I am always interested in what the local people like to eat.  At the Hilton Princess  hotel, they told me THE place to be seen in San Pedro Sula was right down the street at Power Chicken.  So, it was off to Power Chicken for lunch.     PChick. is Honduras’ answer to McDonalds.

the outside of the Power Chicken restaurant

  The place was packed!!  It was assembly line cooking and service at its finest.  Very efficient.  I ordered chicken fingers, fried yucca (yum), white rice and a Diet Pepsi for $6.  I thought the price was a little high, but they gave me a lot of food.

Fried yucca fingers (yum), chicken fingers, rice and a Diet Pepsi at Power Chicken in San Pedro Sula

Needless to say, I was the only gringo in the restauarnt.  It is always fun to go into the local places.  Reminded me a little bit of Pollo Campero in Guatemala.

After lunch I had to hoof it back to the hotel to get ready to leave San Pedro Sula by bus.

Next-Taking the Hedman Alas bus to Copan Ruinas

Steve Barrymore ssb11@prodigy.net

To read about my other travels click here

The fruit and vegetable markets are co-mingled, but for purposes of illustration, I thought I would separate the photographs and just show the vegetables in this post.  It probably makes it more interesting. 

The produce market of San Pedro Sula, Honduras-steve barrymore

Santos walked through the markets with me for the entire time.  Having a Honduran with me seemed to give me more credibility with the vendors.  Santos acted more like a bodyguard than a taxi driver.  He was always staying close by, looking around, watching the people, etc.  I finally asked him about it.  He said he used to be a security guard and it was just second nature to him to be watching the crowd to make sure no one tried to pick my pocket, or grab my camera.  OK with me.  Later, he told me I should never go into those markets alone.  Said lots of pickpockets were there.

fresh vegetables in the produce market of san pedro sula, Honduras-steve barrymore

While we were strolling through the markets, I could occasionally hear comments in the background about the American guy taking photos, but could not discern exactly what they were saying.  A number of the vendors just flat-out asked me if I wanted to take photos of their produce.  I think I was just an oddity there.  I was probably a break from their normal Saturday market routine.  Every time I spoke with one person, (3) three others would come up to listen just because they were curious.  Fine with me.  The more the merrier. 

Peppers in the produce market of San Pedro Sula, Honduras-steve barrymore

Ok, check out these photos.  Pretty good looking stuff, huh?

Yucca Plants in the produce market of San Pedro Sula, Honduras-steve barrymore

Radishes in the produce market of San Pedro Sula, Honduras-steve barrymore

Onions in the produce market of San Pedro Sula

I think these may be Garbanzo beans in the San Pedro Sula produce market

Avocados in the produce market of San Pedro Sula, Honduras

After a few hours in the markets of San Pedro Sula, it was time to return to the hotel to get ready to leave for my 3 hour bus ride to the west to visit the little town of Copan Ruinas.  But first, lunch!!

Next: A trip to Power Chicken for lunch!

Steve Barrymore ssb11@prodigy.net

To read about my other travels click here

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect in the meat market of San Pedro Sula.  I was prepared for anything.  I actually found it to be reasonably clean.  It was one booth after another.  All selling varying kinds of meat.

Hanging beef in the meat market of San Pedro Sula Honduras

Hanging beef and sausage in the meat market of San Pedro Sula, Honduras

Hanging beef in the meat market of San Pedro Sula, Honduras

Beef and sausage in the meat market of San Pedro Sula, Honduras

I think these may be something like Pork rinds in San Pedro Sula, Honduras meat market

hanging meat in the market of San Pedro Sula Honduras

Fish in the market of San Pedro Sula, Honduras

One of the meat stands in the meat market of San Pedro Sula, Honduras

Shopping for meat in the market of San Pedro Sula, Honduras

Again, like in the tortilla markets, the people were friendly and somewhat amused that I was taking photos.  I was the only “gringo” in the market.

Next-on to the produce market of San Pedro Sula, Honduras

Steve Barrymore ssb11@prodigy.net

To read more of my travels click here

 As I have mentioned in many of my blogs from my other trips, people are usually interested in seeing what you eat while traveling in foreign countries.  So once again, I will publish a few photos of some of the food I ate with the Ecuadorian family that I lived with in Quito, while attending school.

A typical breakfast with my family, fried egg, bread, coffee, ham, cheese

The mother, Zaida with a big basket of rolls

Dinner in my home in Quito, meat, beans, rice

Dinner in my homestay in Quito, Salad, soup, juice, onions

When they made coffee for me, it was always half milk, half coffee, reminded me of cappucino. Very good

A bowl of soup. The soup was always very tasty.

another dinner at my homestay in Quito. Bread, rice, cauliflower, and meat

 The photo below is of Jesús and me.  Jesús is from Colombia and has a little storefront across from the Academia de Espanol.  Everyday he grills and sells plantains and corn on the cob.  Once he found out I had been to Colombia, we became fast friends.  He would wave at me everyday when I entered the school building across the street.

Jesús and me chatting it up around his BBQ grill

That’s about all the food photos I figured you would want to see.  My next blog about Quito will be my final one.  I will just select a few photos that represent what you may see when you visit. 

Steve Barrymore ssb11@prodigy.net

Read about my other travels click here

After receiving the assignment to go to the market to buy fruits that I have never seen nor heard of; the next big challenge was to give an oral presentation in Spanish to the rest of the class about the various  kinds of fruit and what I had learned about each.  The other students all had to do the same, so we were pretty much in the same boat.    Thank God for the Internet to do our research!

I actually found the challenge of the presentation to be fun.  We were all sympathetic to each other’s plight so everyone paid attention.  It was a great exercise to help us improve our language skills.

Here I am wowing(??) the class with my presentation.

Here I am presenting my market research to the other students at Academia de Espanol

Notice the fruit on the platters in the foreground.  One of the teachers labeled each type with it’s name.   Here are some of them closeup:

Photos of the fruit from my presentation

Photos of some of the fruit from my presentation

The name of this fruit really is "Tuna"-don't get it confused with the fish.

The Tuna fruit was really sweet and delicious.  Once you understand it is not the same as the fish, you can really enjoy it!

After each presentation we all got an opportunity to sample each kind of fruit.  I thought it was a great teaching exercise and an opportunity to learn more about Ecuador.

To read about my other travels click here

Steve Barrymore ssb11@prodigy.net

I really enjoy the street markets of Latin America because they are always so interesting, plus the vendors are always willing to talk with you.

The previous afternoon,  my teacher had given me the names of a bunch of different kinds of tropical fruits to research on the internet.  Most of them I had never seen nor heard of.  My assignment the next day(Wed.) was to go to the market, buy each of the fruits, and be prepared to give a show and tell report to the other students. I was supposed to show each fruit and tell some details about each one; like how it is grown, its growing season, flavor, uses, etc.  That sounded fun.  I was up for the challenge.

 We walked 3-4 blocks to a big indoor fruit market.  The best way to give you the idea of the market is to show a bunch of photos here.  You’ll get the idea.

Quito, Ecuador-produce market

Quito, Ecuador=fresh produce market

Quito, Ecuador-fresh produce market

Quito, Ecuador-fresh produce market

Quito, Ecuador produce market, Avacados and peanuts

Qutio, Ecuador-fresh produce market

Quito, Ecuador, fresh produce market. Melons and Star Fruit

Quito, Ecuador, fresh produce market

Quito, Ecuador -fresh produce market

quito, Ecuador-they also sell some meat at the produce market. I'll just throw this in for good luck!

Pretty interesting stuff….huh?  My next step would be to put it into words and do my best to explain it to the rest of the students in school.

Steve Barrymore, ssb11@prodigy.net

Next-Making the presentation to the other students

To read about my other travels click here

We arrived at the main bus station in Otavalo, Ecuador, asked for directions, and soon were headed for the central market. 

Otavalo, Ecuador-the bus station

Otavalo, Ecuador. one of the buildings in town-interesting design

Otavalo, Ecuador. Lots of backpackers travel here. Several Hostals in town

We easily found the market . The merchandise was good quality with reasonable prices.  I bought a hat for $10. In general, I think the quality of crafts in Ecuador is very high compared to other countries.

 One of the crafts that I really like in Ecuador is the very unusual chess sets that they make.  Many of the vendors sell them.  I bought one for a friend. 

Otavalo, Ecuador-the market

Otavalo, Ecuador-the market

Otavalo, Ecuador-The market

Otavalo, Ecuador-the market

Otavalo, Ecuador, the market

Otavalo, Ecuador, the market

 The market was crowded for a Sunday.  Glad we did not come on a Saturday….they say it is really crazy then!  The vendors love to bargain.  All  were very friendly.  Several of them wanted to hear the story of why we were in Ecuador.  It was a great opportunity to practice our Spanish. 

We walked around for 1.5 hours, then found a little restaurant for lunch. No English spoken here!  I had a large piece of grilled chicken with carrots and broccoli and club soda.  Jim had a big plate of trout with veggies and a beer.  Total cost was around $12. 

Otavalo, Ecuador-Food Picture-My lunch, chicken

Otavalo, Ecuador-food picture-Jim's lunch

While eating lunch, we asked the owner about going to the town of Cotacachi which was about 20-30 minutes away.  He thought it would be a good idea.  We could go by bus for $1 or taxi for $5.  We opted for the taxi which the owner called for us. 

Next-We move on to the town of Cotacachi

To read about my other travels click here

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So, in order to  satisfy the curiousity of my friends, I always try to take photos of the food.  A picture is worth a thousand words when it comes to food. 

Other than eating breakfast in the Panama City, Panama, Marriott Hotel, we ate the rest of our meals out ,which only consisted of 3 meals.  One of the lunches was in local pizza joint across the street from the hotel.  I don’t remember the name of it, but it was very good.  We had a huge pizza, salads, cokes and mineral water.  With tip it was about $24 USD.  A little pricey.    

Our two dinners out were both eaten in local restaurants that I had read about on Trip Advisor.  They were within walking distance of the hotel.  Many of the restaurants in the area were open air or at least had an open air part to them.  If you wanted the air conditioning, you could sit inside. 

The first dinner out was at the Costa Azul , just a block or so from the hotel.  It had good reviews.  Stephanie had steak and fries, and I had the Corvina fish in a Creole sauce.  She had a Balboa beer and I had ice tea that was heavily laced with lemon.  We ordered tap water.  The place looked clean so we figured the water was fine.   We also ate a big order of Calamari plus a couple of salads.  Total tab was around $25-a good value.    We ate outside under an awning.  It was an interesting place.  There were a lot of locals, 3-4 Americans,  and a mix of other foreigners.  I got the impression it was a hangout for ex-pats. 

Here are some of the pictures from the dinner at the Costa Azul restaurant. 

The placemat from the Costa Azul

Steak and Fries from the Costa Azul in Panama City, Panama

Corvina in Creole sauce in Costa Azul-Panama City, Panama

Calamar in Costa Azul Restaurant-Panama City, Panama

salads and drinks at the Costa Azul in Panama City, Panama

Fish from the other table

If you wonder where this whole  fish came from, it was actually another customer’s meal.  He saw me snapping photos and wanted me to take a picture of his fish……whatever!

We ate our other dinner at a restaurant named The Terrace.  I don’t have any pics of the food because it was so dark in the restaurant that we had to use the lights from our cell phones to read the menu.  We split a hamburger and some chicken fingers.  I didn’t figure you needed any photos of either of those.  It was more of a bar than a restaurant.

Next-Leaving Panama and headed south to Ecuador

Steve Barrymore

ssb11@prodigy.net

 Part of the Huashi night market

Some Dinner choices in the night market

 I asked him to select some shrimp for my dinner, but I don’t think his hands are clean

 Ok, here is my dinner-half eaten!  That is one big shrimp!

I am not sure this little guy is going to survive the night!

The highlight was a demonstration at a store front where there was a highly animated pitchman screaming about a red liquid in a glass, claiming it was snake’s blood, and would do great wonders for our health. Even though he was speaking Chinese, I caught the drift.  

For effect, three large boas lay in a glass cage in front of him.    I was the only Anglo in a group of perhaps 100 Chinese spectators.  I was 6,000 miles from home, by myself, and watching someone drink snake’s blood!!  I passed on the purchase. I remember thinking, “how cool is this!  A little more than 24 hours before, I was sitting in Will Rogers Airport in Oklahoma City”.    

Next-Is there enough time to buy a t-shirt?

                 The street surrounding the market of San Juan de Chamula

                   The Market of San Juan de Chamula

Teresa introduced me to one of her personal friends who ran a small food stand. The lady was interested in my life in the U.S. I told her about my vegetable garden that I tended as a hobby.

                                            Check out the fresh vegetables of the San Juan de Chamula market

Soon, other vendors began to gather around evesdropping on my story, until there was an audience of (9) nine vendors encircling me listening intently to my description of my garden. Of course, this was all in Spanish.

We suddenly were no longer tourists in their market, but had evolved into their friends sharing information about our life in the U.S.

Teresa finally told us it was time to go. One of the vendors, a woman,  followed us to the car. She spoke to me very quickly in a Mayan dialect. Since I don’t speak Mayan I asked Teresa to translate. She said the woman was intrigued by my garden stories and wanted to come to the U.S. with us and work beside me in my vegetable garden!

It was at this time that Carol gently whispered into my ear “your stories of your vegetable garden are over lover-boy—you are not bringing  any strange women back with you to help in the garden.  No new wives!”.  With that, we hurredly left San Juan de Chamula. It was a fun day.

Next-A special visit to a school on the outskirts of San Cristobal de las Casas

If you want some great Mexican food holiday recipes I notice that Dave Cathey, The Oklahoman’s food editor has some great recipes on his web site. You can find it here: http://blog.newsok.com/fooddude/category/mexican-food/

BTW-If you want to check out some really neat stuff about what is happening on the redesigned Newsok.com then you need to check out Alan Herzberger’s update here

View my other travel blogs on NewsOk.com:                                            Colombia:                                                                   http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/colombia/

Mexico:                                                                          http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/mexico/

Caribbean island of Barbuda:                           http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/barbuda/       

San Juan with a 5 hour layover:                                  http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/san-juan-puerto-rico/     

Fly around the U.S. for the day:                                    http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/day-trip/