Adventures at the Consulate, Or, I’m Not Leaving This Lobby Without a Visa

EST, CST, MST, PDT. These are some of time zones that exist in North America. Yet there is an additional, less known time zone and that is LAT (or Latin American Time). Turns out, the Ecuadorian Consulate in Miami runs on LAT. Latin American Time is best calculated by taking the time zone you are currently in, adding anywhere between 2 hours and 4 days, dividing by the number of people in the room, and then multiplying by 3. This is the approximate time frame it will take you to get paperwork done in a LAT time zone. Just know that going in, cancel your plans for the day, bring a book to read, and you’ll be fine.

I’ll say this, at least no one in LAT ever gets “stressed out.” There is definitely not a real epidemic of multitasking, rushing, stressing or worrying here. It’s a pretty laid back environment where things get done when they get done. 

I could write paragraphs detailing the frustration we experienced at the Miami-based Ecuadorian consulate, but I won’t. Because, as I tried explaining to my mom and Justin at the time, “Soon, we’ll look back on this experience and laugh.” And that’s exactly where I am now. So they don’t answer their phone, so their website hasn’t been updated in 4 years, so they don’t take appointments. No biggie. At the end of the day (and it was actually, the very end of the day) we left Miami with our visas and Easter baskets from my mom. And I even got a “Happy Easter” from the agent before we left. So all in all, it was a good experience that taught us a little humility, and how to slow down and smell the roses when you’re living in LAT. 

I heard about this cultural difference before going to the consulate and it sure is true. We made the decision to teach overseas and to move to Ecuador knowing that we were going to experience differences in lifestyle and culture. It's one of the main reasons we made the choice to go. This was our first experience with it and it will take some getting used to. I think I'll have a better time adjusting to those changes than Justin and he agrees, but we are ready to embrace the differences and the opportunity to learn about the new culture. We're ready.

Llapingachos

Llapingachos, (yah-peen-GAH-chos) or stuffed potato patties are a traditional Ecuadorian dish. To finally celebrate our new adventure (which was postponed due to the plague we both contracted in Iowa), we wanted to eat Ecuadorian food. Justin, the one of us who cooks in the relationship, found a recipe for these lovely little stuffed potato balls. Little did he know that such a seemingly simple dish would require a great deal of grocery shopping and hours (5 of them to be exact) of preparation. I will now simplify this process for you: First, mash potatoes and season. Next, shape mashed potatoes into balls. Then, stuff the potato balls with shredded white cheese and chopped green onions. Finally, fry them in a skillet and drizzle with homemade peanut sauce (this part sounds weird, but trust me it’s a nice pairing). Oh yeah, and then serve it with a side salad and fried egg. Fried eggs, potatoes, and cheese. What’s not to love here??

When I arrived home from work, I found Justin in the kitchen, wearing his Ecuador World Cup t-shirt, slaving over a hot stove while Ecuadorian street music, yes that’s actually a station on Pandora, played in the background. Two hours later the llapingachos were finally ready to eat and we sat down to our authentic Ecuadorian celebratory meal. We gorged ourselves on these warm and cheesy potato patties, toasted with glasses of Andre, the finest $7 champagne this side of the equator, and shared some of our hopes and wishes for our new home and jobs. It was indeed a lovely meal and a much overdue celebration.

Turns out, llapingachos also make a great breakfast the next day. And a pretty nice lunch the day after that. The recipe is enough to feed a family. For those of you playing at home, I’ve included a recipe so you too can make your very own llapingachos. Salud!

http://southamericanfood.about.com/od/saladssidedishes/r/potatocakes.htm

http://laylita.com/recipes/2008/04/07/llapingachos-or-stuffed-potato-patties/