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Published: April 20th 2011
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There are some really interesting things that you just have to get used to when you live in Cuenca. Getting hit by a car is always a possibility, getting sick from something that you ate the day before and random rainstorms. I don’t want Cuenca to sound like a bad place, because I really do love it, but shit happens. For example, today it was somewhere around 80 degrees outside and then within a matter of fifteen minutes there was a torrential downpour with thunder and lightening and then came the hail. At the moment we are in the rainy season, so small storms like this happen randomly all the time. You literally cannot go anywhere without a rain jacket or an umbrella. The trick is layering your clothing. Wear a lightweight shirt under every sweatshirt or jacket, because in 20 minutes it might be hot.
The other part of the weather that makes things here a little difficult is doing laundry. Our apartment has a nice washer, but there is no such thing as a dryer in Cuenca unless you take it to a Laundromat. In order to dry your clothes in Cuenca you have to hang it
up on a string. This is wonderful because your laundry smells so great after it dries naturally. However, getting it to try can be the challenge. The other day my roommate and I decided to wash our laundry and then hang it up because it was such a nice day. Then we went to our school to print out a few assignments for class when we heard thunder. At the same time we realized that it was going to be a race against the rain to get back up to our apartment and take down our laundry before it was soaking wet again. In the end, our laundry was dry, but it was also lying out all over our backyard because of the wind. Moral of the story, doing laundry in Cuenca takes a lot of patience and attentiveness.
The weather is not the only unpredictable thing in Cuenca. On April the 12th there was a holiday, the holiday was for the foundation of Cuenca. Well, the holiday landed on a Tuesday and therefore we all had work off on Tuesday, but had to work on Monday. Well, I guess this was inconvenient for the people of Cuenca, so they
Me
This is for you Mom! A picture of me. decided to change the holiday from the April 12th to April 11th. This was great, but they didn’t tell us until the Friday before. So, basically none of our students came to class on Monday or Tuesday. Good stuff!
As for the good parts of Cuenca, there are a lot! Most people who know any Spanish know that almuerzo means lunch. Well, in Ecuador almost every restaurant has a special almuerzo menu. It is a set menu, so everybody that orders it gets the same thing. However, the almuerzo includes juice, soup, an entrée (most of the time this includes rice with some kind of meat and a salad), and some dessert. You get all of this for about $2. Some places are cheaper, like the Columbian restaurant I went to the other day it was only $1.60, but there are also really expensive options at the Gringo places for about $5.00. Today my roommate and I were planning on getting lunch at a restaurant that we heard was good, but when we walked by we saw that almuerzo was $4.50. We have gotten so cheap that we refused a 5-course meal for less than $5.00. Ha ha, I don’t
know what I am going to do when I am back in the states.
Talking about food, I actually tried guinea pig for the first time about two weeks ago. It was probably the most interesting meat I have ever tasted. It has the consistency of chicken but it smells like seafood. As far as the taste, every part of it tastes differently. Some parts taste like chicken, but other than that I cannot even describe what it tastes like. I suggest that everyone try it, because it is considered a specialty in Ecuador, but trying it once was probably enough for me. Oh, and just a heads up, when they serve it, they serve the entire thing. So while you eat it you have to look at his teeth and his little tiny feet. L In addition, some restaurants let you choose which guinea pig you want before they cook it. They will actually bring out a bunch of live guinea pigs for you to choose from.
If you like anything fresh, Cuenca is such a great place to be. There are bakeries everywhere and they all have bread, cookies, cakes and everything else that will lead to me being morbidly obese when I go back to the states. There are also several places to get fresh fruit and vegetables. There are stands that serve fresh juice and fresh fruit that is already cut up for you. My favorite juice so far is coco (coconut), but they are all good.
Cuenca is also full of celebrations. I have only been here for three weeks, but there are parades every week. A few days ago was the celebration of Cuenca’s foundation and it was huge. They celebrated for a full week. On Tuesday night, my roommates and I went to go check out some of the events and we got to watch a firework. I swear, they set off more fireworks than I have ever seen at any Fourth of July party in the US. It was pretty amazing. There are also a lot of concerts and they are all free. In Ecuador the government pays for art and this includes painters, musicians, and graphic designers. So, this means you can go to concerts, museums and art galleries for free.
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