a fruitful week

september 3, 2010

so i have been in palo for all of seven days (that is one week folks)! and so far no regrets! but i would like to say this…(just kidding, i’m not really going to start each sentence of this post with a conjunction, because basically that is not their function). can you tell i am tired? week one (which is actually week 2) has been a crazy intense intro to the philippine way of life including the food.

a cluster mate of mine is a fruit nut and has been bringing treats for us each day this week. today was mango-steen. very good, like a mango meets an orange but not really at all. dragon fruit yesterday. like a kiwi but not as sweet. huge and green and purple on the outside, the inside rind is magenta, and this one happened to be white with lots of little seeds (i guess some are purple instead of white). lanzones which are like grapes and oranges, but again not really. then there is papaya. sometimes a fan, sometimes not. not all papaya are created the same. some are good for smoothies and that is about all then there are some that are so sweet and good (the sweet good kind are not in season). and sadly we are just coming to the end of regular mango season… but i’ve heard rumor that there are two kinds of mangoes here and they have different seasons. and two kinds of really good bananas. this weekend i get my first banana-que (from my understanding kind of liked grilled bananas foster/flambé but without the liquor and on a stick). and for lunch today we had sandia (watermelon). it is also not quite pineapple season. apples are big here, but imported.  that is just this week and only the fruit.

more on other food and the rest of my week on a later post.