Let me set the stage……. Its the first night of the big crusade in Nicaragua…. Excitement is high. we have spent all week canvasing the neighborhood, praying with people in the streets and in their homes, and making all the necessary preparations. With so much to do, there is not much time before the event begins and Ed is working hard getting all the powerpoints set up (he speaks no Spanish mind you, so this was extra impressive).
We have 2 options, rice and beans…. again…. or scout out the town for some local fair.
Erin and I put our best detective shoes on (basically, whatever shoes we were wearing at the time….. we travel light here people…. dont judge), and hit the streets!
Our first 2 options were a bust, one was over budget and would take too long, the other was not open yet. So debating if a few bags of chips could suffice for dinner, we decided to keep asking around. After following a 'lead' to what seemed to be a residential area, we had to ask people in the street multiple times to see if we were getting close. Finaly, a man looked at us oddly and pointed as if to say 'its right there you crazy gringos…. you just passed it'. Lo and behold, nestled away in what looked to be a house, we saw a glimmer of hope! A glass case with what appeared to be some kind of fried food. Upon furthur inspection, it was a ball of fried mashed potatoes with meat and rice inside! Heaven began to rejoice! We had not seen anything so tasty in quite some time.
Well this episode of Diners Drive-Ins and Dives became a big hit, and because the name of the restaurant is far too complex to remember, we dubbed this fine establishment 'Fritas'.
Frita, we love you, thank you for frying mashed potatoes!
PS- drinking soda out of a bag is a big thing around here. Basically, the glass bottles are worth money, so if you want to take a soda to go, they dump it in a bag, give you a straw, and call it good! The drink poured from a glass coka-cola bottle was anything BUT! It tasted like a watered down version of generic cola. Note to self, for fried mashed potatoes, go to Fritas….. for a drink, go somewhere else :0)
