A different culture

Well, we've made it to day 5 I think it is now. So far so good. I have managed to communicate with a few people back home and the one thing that they really wanted to know was how I was eating. If you know me well enough, you know I am so picky when it comes to this! I made a vow the first time I saw a menu here to at least try everything before ruling it out or changing it around. The food isn't much different than ours back home just made differently sometimes. Everyone told us that Argentina has GREAT beef and they have been right. We've had some pretty decent cuts and dishes of that. We've tried'Empanada's' which are like calzones with minced meat in them but the breading is more flaky like a crescent roll but thicker. Was very good but had too many green olives in it :P One thing that we noticed about the sandwiches is that they put egg on everything! I was thinking like a fried egg or an egg patty like you get on a breakfast sandwich. But, Brad and I ate this HUMONGOUS sandwich the other day and it came with hard boiled egg slices...ah! Ok, it was an awesome sandwich with the egg, beef, a thin slice of ham, melted cheese, some lettuce...oh..my..gosh. To top it all off it was the size of the dinner plate! Of course I didn't even eat one half of it. Another thing that they put on different is Ketchup. I actually had a grilled ham, cheese and ketchup sandwich one day...interesting but still edible. Their vegetables down here are amazing too. We usually go out to dinner with the other engineers. This is the only way I leave the hotel restaurant! The hotel has a menu that is printed in Spanish but translated as well and their staff can speak decent English. We leave the hotel and all that is gone and we are lost without the engineers who speak Spanish. So, we ate along the river last night and had wonderful food. The spanish speaking engineer ordered this 'spread' with our bread basket. It looked weird but he told us it was mushrooms and cheese...I wish I could make it myself!!! We had these bread pieces to put it on and I had to stop myself before I filled up on that. When my dinner came I am glad I wasn't full. I ordered the grilled vegetables and they came in their own mini cast iron wok...I had pepper strips and mushrooms (SOOOOO good down here) squash and broccoli but also a WHOLE onion, tomato and potato! The onion was so good but the potato was a little hard for me. I was unsure about the onion but cut it up and savored it! Things are so different here and so delicious too. I am enjoying trying everything. Good thing I have to walk everywhere! But with the way I eat I don't think it will make a difference! Plus it doesn't help that I love my bread and the hotel serves a kicking bread basket. If my hips get any wider you can blame it on the little garlic toasts and seasoned butter they put on my table at every meal. I love them! In terms of food this country so far gets an A! But, my stomach also is being true to home...we bought some snacks at the local 'supermercado'...even though they're in Spanish...this junk food addict is very happy!