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Published: April 20th 2007
View of Cuenca from Turi
This is the view I was rewarded with after climbing the 52,132 steps! The chico is Fernando, my guide for the day! Life in Cuenca continues on and the adventure is very beautiful! Language school continues with my oh so patient teacher, Viviana. This week, some of our topics of discussion, all in Spanish of course, included her childbirth experience, differences in health care between our countries, what would happen if a big meteor hit the Earth, crop circles, the Berlin Wall and illegal immigration.
As for my work at school, the kids still love me. This week, I taught them how to make origami cranes (I called them swans in Spanish because I don’t know the word for crane) and origami frogs! I’ve given up trying to teach them any English or the heads, shoulders knees and toes song because it is just too chaotic and they all have ADD. If there is one thing I’ve learned about myself is that teaching kids is not my calling. My hat is off to my friends Susan and Ferrell and my mom for being teachers! I have one more week with the kids and it will be enough!
Last Thursday night Cuenca celebrated its 450th year since its foundation. A lot of parades and events going on. Our salsa teacher, Francisco,
told me and my friends Emily, John and Edward, about a concert in the park with a salsa band. So, we made plans to go out to eat and then go to the concert. It was supposed to start at 8pm. Well, when we got there, the stage had fallen down! It became apparent the concert wasn’t going to start for awhile so we started wandering aimlessly around the City. After awhile, I decided to go home and do my homework. I said goodbye to my friends and started walking back to my hotel. On the way, I heard loud noises, like gunshots, coming from the park. I ran down there and saw fireworks! Lot’s of them! ´How pretty!´ I thought! So, I hung around to watch the fireworks. Afterwards, I decided to just hang out and people watch. Some man started playing an accordion and singing. An Ecuadorian family came up and made small talk with me in Spanish. I walked around a bit more and realized the band was setting up. So, I decided to stay a little longer. Another Ecuadorian girl, Reina, started talking to me. She knew a little English and between her English and my
Have Coke and A Smile on the Inca Trail!
Emily on the Inca Trail at Ingapirca. The Starbucks was just around the corner! Spanish, we had a nice conversation. She was there with her brother and cousin and introduced me to them. We talked awhile and the band started playing! It was a fantastic band from Colombia called ´Grupo Niche´, and my salsa friends may recognize that the title of this blog entry is one of their famous songs! While no one was dancing, the night was still perfect! Afterwards, I made plans to meet her cousin, Fernando, on Saturday.
Saturday afternoon Fernando took me to a place in the City called Turi. Turi sits on a small mountain that is the highest point in the city. Keep in mind Cuenca is located at 8,200 ft. It took us an hour to walk there and then we climbed at least 23,452 steps to get to the top of the mountain. I was actually quite light-headed when we finally reached the top but it was worth it! A fantastic view! We hung out there and talked for over an hour, mostly in Spanish since Fernando didn’t know much English. It was great practice for me. We left after awhile and walked back to town. Fernando was very sweet and bought me a bracelet
Me on the Inca Trail
Notice the woman wearing the hat. It is traditional headgear for indigenous women in Ecuador. from a street vendor. We said goodbye as I had to meet my friends for dinner.
Dinner that night was at one of our favorite haunts, The Eucalyptus Café. It was Eduardo’s last night in town. He was abandoning us to continue his travels through Ecuador and onto Venezuela. We will miss him!
Sunday, I went on a tour of Ingapirca, some Inca ruins about two hours from Cuenca. It was very interesting touring the ruins. Part of the Inca trail passes by the ruins and we took a short hike down the trail to see the Inca Face - a cliff of sorts that looks like a profile of an Inca face. It is interesting to know if I kept following that trail, I would end up at Macchu Pichu! Theoretically at least. I’m not sure if the entire trail is intact today.
Wednesday night was really fun! I got to check out the local salsa scene at a club called La Mesa. Salsa here is much less pretentious than in the US. The dancers are not as flashy and may not have the fancy turns and tricks you see in San Francisco and LA. But,
Friday´s Lunch
Yes, this is Cuy (Guinea Pig) I had for lunch Friday! they dance for the music with much sabor. I danced a few dances with Francisco and we even did a very simple rueda! It was very fun. But, the club was tiny, tiny, tiny. Probably the smallest dance floor I’ve ever seen. People still smoke in the bars and it quickly filled up with people and smoke. My friends and I left early. We had to get up and go to school the next day, anyway!
Today (Friday), I went out to lunch with some teachers and students from the school to sample cuy (guinea pig). It is a traditional food here in Cuenca. I ate the head, supposedly the best part. I didn’t like it very much. I don’t recommend it. I won’t ever eat it again. But, the traditional drink you drink with the cuy was fabulous! It consisted of some kind of medicinal plant, alcohol and sugar cane juice! Fantastic! I had about three servings!
Overall, my experience here has been fabulous! It’s an interesting time to be in Ecuador. In the past 10 years, Ecuador has gone through 10 presidents. 40% of the population lives below the poverty line. In January, they voted in a new President who is making big changes. This past Sunday, the people voted on his proposed referendum to rewrite their constitution to change the way the government is run and give more voice to women and indigenous people. It won by almost 80%!
I am so grateful I met Emily, John and Edward. They have kept me from getting lonely. And Emily and John have provided me with many, many hours of thought provoking 9-11 conspiracy theory conversations!
And, I am especially thankful for my encounters with local Ecuadorians. They have reinforced my belief that people, in general, no matter where you go, are good and friendly. I don’t know why they always want to know how old I am, though! I have my response prepared. I now tell them, in Spanish, that I can’t answer the questions because I don’t know the numbers yet in Spanish! Pretty clever, huh?
I am getting a little nervous as my time in Cuenca gets shorter! I still haven’t decided what to do or where to go when I finish school. I think it needs to be somewhere warm! It is the rainy season here and it is quite cool and wet!
Well, I must be off now. The school has a class tonight on Ecuadorian cocktails!
Salud!
LuAnne
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i think the head is the worst part of the cuy. i hated the cuy until i had a leg piece and it was actually good. i liked reading your blog.