I learned today that the proper way to buy tortillas is by the kilo. My previous forays into tortilla purchasing had always revolved around requesting a certain number of tortillas, but apparently waltzing into the tortilleria and ordering 10 tortillas is akin to walking into a McDonalds and ordering one McNugget.

So today I bought a full kilo of tortillas ($1). I can safely report that tortillas can also be eaten by the kilo.

They had to change out the dough in the tortilla machine while I was there, so I got some extra time to observe the magic that is the tortilla maker. They plop about 100 pounds of tortilla dough in the top, and out the bottom come perfectly stamped tortillas which ride on a conveyor belt through a flaming oven and out into two neat, hot stacks. The woman in front of me was buying tortillas by the metric ton, so I had a good 10 minutes to watch the machine work.

I walked to the grocery store around noon today, which was very hot, but it gave me a chance to take photos of some of the sculptures on the malecón. I also saw a huge flock of magnificent frigatebirds soaring over a local fish restaurant. That’s the actual name: “magnificent frigatebird” — apparently it’s a bird with one helluva public relations department.

The grocery store was smaller than the MEGA, but still had everything I needed, if by “everything I needed” I were to need octopus, frozen whole pig heads and a world-class selection of sugar cereals. I picked up a few odds and ends and caught the bus back to Zona Romantica.

I spent the rest of the day working, then went out for a walk around the neighborhood at night (first burro sighting!). I also cooked up a batch of pollo con random spices found en el apartamento. It was surprisingly delicioso.

A sand sculpture: