Estamos Aquí

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After a mere eight hour bus ride from Baños, we arrived at our new hometown Cuenca. Things started auspiciously when the first driver in the bus station's cab line directed us, along with 2 other travelers we met on the bus, to a larger van taxi down the line that could fit all of us. Not one driver yelled to get our attention, and everyone was genuinely helpful. This is practically a miracle at a busy bus station.

After a quick stop at a hostel, we went out with our new friends - Jack from Calgary, Canada, with plans very similar to ours in the coming months, and Ken from Sydney, Australia, passing through Cuenca for the night as part of his round-the-world travels. For a Saturday night, things were disconcertedly quiet, but we started a little pub crawl through the bar district of town. From a middle eastern hookah spot to an outdoor cafe to an Ecuadorian diner spot and finally to a sort of international cafe called Cafe Eucalyptus, we drank up several Pilseners and Clubs. Not until 11pm did we see other people coming out, but by then we'd been out for several hours after the bus ride and called it a night.

We purposefully planned to get to Cuenca in time for the Super Bowl. There were two goals - watch the Packers get crushed and meet some fellow Americans. One of these was a huge success - Chris might say the most important of the two, but Justin would likely disagree. The Café Eucalyptus is described in our guidebooks as an expat hangout, but in our visit on Saturday night, we just saw lots of well-healed Ecuadorians. The music was great, and it wasn't a bad place for a beer. However, this didn't seem to be the place for the Super Bowl that we had hoped. So, we lucked out when we ran into an American named Paul during lunch on rainy Sunday. Not only did he offer several leads on area apartments and resources, but he had the scoop on where to watch the game - the Inca Lounge on the river. Sure enough we got there at 5pm to find that we traveled all this way to sit with Packers fans. We met people who made their way here several years ago, retirees in the area, peace corps volunteers, a few others that are new to the venture like us, and someone who looks just like Sam Elliot from The Big Lebowski. Over bacon cheeseburgers and homemade cider, we cheered for the Steelers to vanquish the evil that is the Green Bay Packers. Although the Steelers QB/chief sexual predator made that impossible, at least Justin won his fantasy football league thanks to touchdowns by Mendenhall and Wallace.

Before yesterday's game, we wandered around town and did a little hostel reconnaissance. This morning we changed it up and moved from the Casa Naranja, a dark old place run by a family that doesn't seem very interested in running their hostel at all, to the Posada del Rio. Not surprisingly located near the river, the place is also family-run, but is totally friendly, comfortable, well-lit and has working internet and a decently stocked kitchen, a complete change from our first room for the very same price. There is an English-language bookstore a couple of storefronts down and a mercado just a couple of blocks away. We're beginning the apartment hunt in earnest this afternoon, but we're at least comfortable here until that works out.

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Photos

DSCN0091
First sunset in Cuenca

DSCN0094
The river is angry at the Packers

Comments

[kenju]

I'm curious
Why did you choose Cuenca? Any particular reason?

[Carrino]

No Good Reason
We knew that we wanted to live abroad, and we love South America. It also seemed the most logical reason since we wanted to work and volunteer and learn the language. Ecuador is cheap and safe and has many interesting areas... Cuenca is the cultural center, with many universities and museums, and has a bit of an expat community, but one that's not so large that you feel like you're still in the States.

[Ganzo]

Hi
Hi justin how are you? You like my country?

[Carrino]

Very much so far... have been able to find jobs and an apt., which we move into today. The city is quite beautiful and has been very nice so far. How are things in Chicago?