My Sister Rocks!

So, long story short, my sister, Jill, is married to Rogelio, who is from Ecuador. He was here in the United States at the time and they have 2 adorable boys. The cards were not in their favor and after 14 years here in the US, he had to go back to Ecuador and file for citizenship from there. It's been a year since he's been gone and it's terribly hard on our family and especially on the two little boys who can only see their father on webcam.

Well, after saving and saving money, my sister, the two boys and my parents were able to take the trip of their lifetime to Ecuador to visit Rogelio and meet family members they have only heard about. It was rejuvenating for them and keeps their spirits up while they endure the long process of gaining citizenship for Rogelio. (You'd think it's just common sense to keep a loving family together amongst all these divorces out there, but whatever, I'll shut up).

Although I wasn't able to go on this trip, I did have one request...bring me back Ecuadorian treats!!! Boy did my sister deliver! Check out the loot:

First up we have some snacks. Cheetos are one of my favorite snacks, but I rarely buy them because, duh, they aren't good for you. Jill warned me that these Cheetos taste differently than our Cheetos and she was right. It just didn't have that distinctive Cheeto flavor.

I haven't tried the other two yet, but one is fried plantains and the other one is like a fruity cereal that you eat with milk (at least that's what the instructions show!).

Now we have the candy and boy did I get a lot of it! Jill says they gave me way more than they gave my brother, so hopefully he's not reading this :) I've tried most of these, but used some self restraint and still have a decent amount left. The candy bars at the top are made in Guayaquil and Ecuador is known for their crop production, especially bananas and cacao.

Most of the candy was chocolate, but there were some chewy and hard fruity candies too. The neatest treat was the red foil balls - the outer layer was chocolate coated rice crispy and marshmallow fluff on the inside. I've never had anything like it.

Here are a couple close ups for easier view:

This was seriously the best souvenir they could have brought. I love trying new candy here locally, and especially love trying treats from other countries (I'll have to post about our order from Japan sometime.)