Cuenca, Ecuador has an urban population of a debatable 400,000. It's located in the highlands of Ecuador in the Andes Mountains with an elevation of 8500 feet above sea level. The center of the city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its Spanish Colonial architecture.
We visited here for a weekend in May 2012 (during the dry season) and were very impressed. We have returned during the wet season, and we freeze about 50% of the time.
We moved into our VRBO rental and were
not disappointed. It's located in the historic city center area right behind San Sebastian Catholic church and plaza (good job, Jim). Immediately, we noticed the loud music beginning at 8pm each night. We have learned that the Ecuadorians believe that if they like their music, then you should, too. It was loud! However, it abruptly stopped at 9pm. So it went. Nightly, from 8-9pm jarring music... then silence. We investigated. The plaza is buzzing during that time with local dancers making merry!
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| Open Market |
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| In our home now! |
Since we have such a modern kitchen with all the amenities, (except for a 4-cup Oster coffee maker, which makes 12 cups when reloaded 3Xs), we needed to visit the awesome open fresh markets unique to Ecuador. Every fruit and vegetable you can imagine is sold here, along with whole, skinned animals and yellow, de-feathered chickens, which we don't buy! The indigenous peoples wear their beautiful traditional dress and very few speak English. Some vendors have marked their prices, but those who don't, can ask a price according to accents! True! We have walked away many times.
After our first trip out, we have displayed the fresh vegetables and fruit that we bought. There is a little work involved in preparation of these. We have to soak every fruit and vegetable in a vinegar/water solution for 20 minutes, then scrub with a brush to disinfect them. After that, they can take their place in our refrigerator.
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| Guarding pastries |
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| Americans shop here |
There is a SuperMaxi supermarket about 3 miles from us. We don't have a car, so we walk there and back. There, we can pick up fresh meats, bagged lettuce, and a rotisserie chicken that will make multiple meals. Interestingly, supermarkets here, whether large or small, have security guards plus lockers in which you are required to put your backpacks or bags. When you are finished shopping, you can collect your items...not before. Hotels, banks, and even some restaurants have security guards. If we go into a department store just to have a look, an employee follows us and watches us like a hawk! Funny, when we arrived in Panama and went through customs, they took our photos and fingerprinted both of us. This definitely inhibited our ability to "lift" anything 😫while there! One bakery shop had a security guard. We bought some goodies there because we figured that the treats must be VERY good.
Ecuador is super affordable, so sometimes we don't want to prepare meals. We eat out.
These two delicious pizzas cost about $4.00...total. And the spaghetti with fresh bread cost about $5.00.
We don't drink the water, so we must invest in lots of large jugs of water, which, while a burden to carry, cost very little.
We enjoy exploring new cities and cultures. While the currency here is the same as the U.S. and the time is the same as Central Standard, we still have difficulty finding our way. We struggle finding the products we need and reading directions on our washer and dryer. The street names and menus are in Spanish. We write down where we want to go and hand that paper to the taxi driver and hope we get there.
If we ask a simple question in Spanish, the response is rapid Spanish with hand gestures. We nod and go on.
§ We were invited to attend a Nazarene youth rally on Saturday up in the mountains 90 minutes East of Cuenca. There were a lot of switchback inclines then deep descents into a valley. Keeping eyes forward helped with potential car sickness! Once there, the beautiful views helped to offset the chilly, wet weather. The temps stayed at about 55 degrees with intermittent rainfall.
§ When we arrived, we were greeted by teens from two other Nazarene churches. We played games to become acquainted. We joined in, although, all the instructions were in Spanish. We quickly learned that observation keeps you in the game longer!
I was struck by the biblical knowledge that the young people in my group had. In the story, Jesus teaches about forgiveness: two people owed two different debts - 500 coins and 50 coins. Their banker forgave their debts, completely. "Which," Jesus asks, "loves the banker more?"
