Corpus Christi is the body of Christ and it is a week long celebration here in Cuenca. Sweet treats, parades, sweets, dancers, fireworks and oh, did I mention, sweets? Due to our busy schedule and recent recovery from colds, we opted out of visiting the huge crowds but many of our friends attended.
Check out one friend's blog - lots of photos! I think you will enjoy it!
May first, or May Day, here in Ecuador is similar to Labor Day. Not just a day off but a day of protests and marches. In Cuenca there were two groups, one that is pro-Correa, our Presidente, and one anti-Correa.
While we went into El Centro but timed it to be after the parades even though last year there was nothing violent, we wanted to avoid the crowds. But a friend, LT Murphy, captured a great video of the event.
Our normal bus had to take a different route due to road closures for the demonstrations, so we had several blocks to walk to our destination. We saw a lot of folks headed out of El Centro, both by foot and car. We also saw the remnants of the extra police brought in - just in case.
{Sorry for the poor quality of some photos, most were taken with my iPhone 3s. Remember you can click to see a larger image.}
We decided to eat lunch at Cafe de Ñucallacta since we needed to buy coffee beans anyway. This was their first day open in their new location and they were offering an expanded menu. What a treat! Three times the size (or maybe more) than their old location, spread over two rooms, it is now open, airy and bright. The furnishings were quite comfortable and the new menu offered a lot of choices. They even had the WiFi working!
I opted for what they call the Wet Burrito with chicken. A flour tortilla, tomato, black beans, cheese, pico de gallo (although it's not what we typically find in the US), chicken and a special sauce. Absolutely delicious and very filling.
Stu opted for the chicken fajita and enjoyed that as well. The little side dish of hot sauce made him sweat a bit, but he loved it.
They also had a dessert counter. We didn't indulge but it looked tasty.
From there we walked down the stairs where a lot of folks were selling jewelry and bags.
Then over to Parque de la Madre where 24 artisans were showing off their wares. A lot of food products, some household decor, toys, clothing, jewelry - it was a feast for the eyes. I was good and didn't find anything that I couldn't live without so we left empty handed.
We took a walking break in the park, enjoying the sights and sounds of children all around us. One family especially enjoyed rolling down the small hills, their trek started by mom pushing them over.
A bus back home and a few final shots.
We ended up with over 7,000 steps although the day ended up over 10k after a twenty minute walk up to meet new friends who had just arrived in Cuenca. Oh, and although it looked like rain off and on all day, we barely got a drop. A good day for sure!
I know, late again. But really, it's been an extraordinarily BUSY month. Honest! Here is a bit of a photo journey to prove it...
Stu went to Florida for his retired Firefighter reunion.
Stu stopped in to see my brother & his wife before heading to Key Largo for some scuba diving.
While he was gone, I got sick but was finally well enough to attend a Newcomer luncheon at Don Colon's Restaurant.
I had to visit Mall del Rio to pay our Internet, Telephone & Health Insurance. While there I finally got a good photo of this tag on a sweatshirt.
Valentine's Day brought flowers to almost every street corner.
Stu arrived home on Valentine's Day with this beautiful bouquet.
We met up with some motorcycle friends as well as a local, great lunch at Don Colon's.
Our favorite 2-story artisan shop is closed for renovations so many of them have set up shop alongside the cathedral, opposite Don Colon's.
More artisans....
Another meet 'n greet with Moe and her mom, Winnie. Moe plans to move to Ecuador and Winnie will visit during the frigid Boston winters.
A little excitement at the end of our street...glad I have a camera with a good zoom!
The flowers lasted almost two weeks, blooming beautifully!
A new print magazine was launched in town, you might recognize the name at the bottom?
The launch party for the magazine...over 500 people attended. It was a nice mix of locals and expats with several news media folks as well.
So yes, it's been a busy month. Oh, and I've gone to yoga almost every Monday and Friday, written a short story for an anthology to benefit a friend, helped 4-5 friends look for a new apartment, attended a steering committee meeting for a writing conference, started my own writing group, "Writing Our World (in Cuenca)", created a newsletter and website for that AND created the start of a website for our good friend, Simon Cordero, for his restaurant and jewelry business at Magnolia Caffe.
Not that Ecuador ever needs a reason for celebration, but today, Feb 14th, we have two! First is the one most Americans know, Valentine's Day. They do celebrate it here in Ecuador as well, it's called Feliz día de San Valentín. And since the country is known for its flowers, well, you can just imagine.
I walked to our local grocery store and there were several folks set up to sell flowers by the bouquet or a more formal arrangement.
But at the same time the locals are celebrating Carnaval and the same folks selling flowers are probably selling cans of spray foam. Water balloons, water soaker sprayers and cans of foam are the weapons and anyone out on the streets (especially in El Centro) is at their mercy. So what can you do? Simple. Stay home or join in as my good friends, mother & daughter Pat & Dale did.
Banks and government offices are closed until Wednesday and many other local businesses will close on Monday and Tuesday, although many workers have to show up on two Saturdays to make up for it.
There will be parades, concerts and more all weekend long. Wanna party? C'mon down!
Oh, and last night I was awakened at 3 am by the sound of LOUD singing. I looked out the bedroom window and there was a van with the doors open and at least six men outside singing loudly. VERY loudly. Knowing they were serenading for a sweetheart or maybe just for Carnaval, I closed my window, turned on the fan and went back to sleep. Feliz Fiesta!
I'm not sure where to start - what a fantastic evening we had. As mentioned in our post, Busy Holiday Season!, we had our little frog effigy set to burn away our 2014 troubles and woes while sending out wishes for a good 2015. We had a pretty sunset to set the mood.
We watched from our window as the folks at Joe's Secret Garden set off their effigies, just down the street from us..
We finally headed downstairs about 10PM to light ours. Little did we know how LONG it can take for even a small effigy to burn...maybe would have been faster if we had several as we saw in later photos, all stacked up in a teepee type pile as the folks at Joe's did. But, burn him we did, on the sidewalk across from our building...here are a few photos of the process. We set him up against the wall but finally had to lay him down to get the fire going better. Yes, it does look a little creepy....LOL!
Burn complete, we each took our turn at jumping over the ashes (no way were we going to jump over the live fire). Okay, so we stepped over them...but we each did it the requisite three times!
Once the ashes were no longer a danger, we headed back to the apartment to get a couple of beers and go up to our rooftop terrace. The light show was starting although sporadic. We love the view from up there...day or night! There was a halo around the moon and already there was a haze of smoke settling over the city.
By quarter of twelve it was getting more regular. At midnight for a full 20 minutes we had fireworks in a full circle around us. About a dozen folks joined us and we all ooh-ed and aah-ed over the display. We have never seen anything like it anywhere! It was hard to get get photos because of the need to set my zoom and then focus, but I did get a few.
We also watched dozens of lantern bags (luminaries?) set off to fly away...a gorgeous sight.
Friends have shared photos and videos of the scene in El Centro, our downtown area. Chaotic sensory overload - lots of fires from the effigy burning, loud music and fireworks. Too much for these two old farts but we sure enjoyed our evening. HAPPY NEW YEAR 2015!
