Quila´s!

Oh Santiago Atítlan, you are so lovely without tourists. But at night, you are . . . too quiet. For the first few nights here, Jeff and I were so studious and productive because we had zero distractions. No internet, no TV, and having already beat all levels of Angry Birds, we buckled down to study medical Spanish and read Spanish literature for "study breaks". If you know Jeff, you then know he was dying for coffee shops or any establishment with people around. So you can imagine our joy at hearing about Quila's.

Quila's is a restaurant/bar/lounge in Santiago owned by a Belgium man named Martin. He has lived in Santiago Atítlan for over a dozen years. He finally got tired of asking other people to open a bar here and decided to go for it himself last year. The place is fantastically welcoming and the food is delicious. Jeff loves the nachos and spicy peanuts here. My favorite is the delicious bacon burger with some magical sauce. The prices are super reasonable so we don't feel guilty about having second dinners here almost every night. We always show up towards the end of happy hour and get two beers for $3, dinner for another $3. Sometimes, I splurge and get dessert. Martin's wife Amanda is from LA and bakes for the restaurant. I am obsessed with her chocolate chip banana bread.

Finally, drinking that double Gallo for your birthday, David!!

Martin and Amanda really created a fun place to hang out. Quila's has a dozen board games, free wifi, and very comfy couches. Every night, we see fellow Hospitalito volunteers and meet other foreign NGO workers here. On thursday night, Martin hosts a poker tournament. The buy-in is Q200 or $25. Our first night here, Jeff was slightly tipsy when he excitedly agreed to join the next tournament. He spent the next few days regretting his decision as if he already lost $25. The night of the tournament, he totally rose to the challenge and came in second place, winning Q160 in addition to his buy-in.

On Sunday nights, Martin rearranges the lounge and hosts movie nights. These movie nights make ending weekend travels slightly less painful. Martin has quite a selection of movies; agreeing on a movie is sometimes a problem amongst guests. Comedy seems to always win.

movie night set up

Because Quila's and Hospitalito volunteers are tight, they happily deliver to those who are on 24-hour call. In Santiago, this delivery service is unique and so appreciated. I know I have gone on and on about how wonderful this place is, I promise they didn't pay for this blog post. But honestly, if not for the fact that they close on Monday and Tuesday nights and that we travel on weekends, we´d be there embarrassingly much.

cards just the two of us

vocabulary cards on the table to help us learn espanol