NEW YEARS EVE IN CUENCA

Like everywhere else in the world, Cuenca has its own traditional ways to celebrate the new year. Nancy has done an excellent blog on this, which also has a good link that describes the history of the tradition of burning the old year. Check her blog here: http://www.watsontravels.blogspot.com/

All over town seemly impromptu stands have sprung up selling effigies or dummies, some with heads and some without. You can also buy the heads or masks separately. We learned today from a Cuencan that you must have one of these to burn away the old year. This is done close to midnight, at the time when you should also eat 6 grapes and wear yellow underwear for good luck. We are planning to eat black eyed peas tomorrow to bring prosperity in 2009. This is a southern USA tradition that Nancy swears by. In fact, last year on New Years Day she did NOT eat black eyed peas, and look what happened to our economy!

As people have started purchasing these dummies, they display them, in preparation for the big night. Some of the displays are quite amusing.

There will be neighborhood "burnings" all over town tonight. This photo shows a set up in downtown Cuenca where there will be a communal burning.

In addition to the burning of the dummies, fireworks are a BIG thing here. Already we have been hearing large booms, usually in sets of 4. Today when we were walking downtown, there was a gentleman in the middle of the street holding 4 sticks of fireworks that were like bottle rockets, without the bottles. Sure enough, once there was a break in the traffic, he lit them one at a time. These make a boom like an M-80. All over town are stands like these selling such fireworks.
I don't expect to get much sleep tonight, but it should be interesting! Meantime, the parades have not stopped. It is not unusual even now, a week after Christmas, to see traffic stopped for a parade of floats and herds of horses.

And, as promised, I have an update on the bus situation. We are several days now into the new system of having to deposit the bus fare into a lock box which then allows you through the turnstile. There are still bugs to be worked out and it is a source of endless entertainment to watch the bus riders being educated. The biggest issue remains with children and older people who pay the reduced fare of 12 cents. Often the 12 cents just falls out the bottom of the lock box and has to be put in again, which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. Sometimes when Jim goes to get on, he just shows the conductor the 12 cents and the conductor swipes a magnetic card which triggers the turnstile to open. Some buses are very strict and will no longer make change - thereby turning some people away. Most buses are not this strict. Here is a common way for them to keep the change handy.

This is a typical thing to see on the bus. She's probably going to market to sell her eggs, though it's possible she has just purchased them.

Alas, tomorrow I catch a bus for Guayaquil in preparation for flying home early Friday morning. I will be back in Cuenca in just a few weeks, so will have more to report on then. In the meantime, Jim will have an adventure in the cloud forest near Quito, doing some bird watching. If I have time, I will write another blog about meeting the preeminent panama hat maker in Cuenca. That was our big adventure today.

Hasta Luego y Prospero Ano Nuevo,

Audrey

TEXTILES

As in many 3rd world countries, the textiles are wonderful in Ecuador. The other day Jim and I were shopping for some handicrafts to take home for gifts. We were in a wonderful 2 floor market that used to be called "La Casa de las Mujeres." (House of Women), which is a co-op of local women's crafts. It is now called Cemuarte. The story we heard is that when men got drunk they would go to the "House of Women" thinking it was a different sort of house and they would bother the women. Hence the name change. No one here calls it Cemuarte and the guidebooks still call it "La Casa de las Mujeres."

The day we were shopping we were not looking for textiles. I was looking at earrings when Jim spotted something interesting in a pile of folded cloth - it was mostly black with green stripes. The vendor pulled it out and it was a stylized poncho (with a zipper!). We got talking with her about the fabric content of different items she had. When I asked about wool the good stuff got pulled out. First was a poncho of a totally different sort than the first one. The wool is so beautiful and you can still smell the lanolin from the sheep.

Here is Jim modeling it in the tipico way.

Then we got into real trouble. The lady pulled out all the other wool things she had, including this exquisite rug made with all natural dyes and colors.


We were not shopping for a poncho or a rug but we bought them both. It was embarrasing how inexpensive they were. We bargained half heartedly and in the end we were happy and so was she. The lady we bought them from made them herself. When I asked if I could take her photograph she smiled and said, "wait." She then proceeded to take off her everyday sweater and put on an exquisite beaded collar, amazingly long and intricate silver earrings that fastened around the back of her head with a beautiful silver cord, a shawl of wool that went under one arm and then fastened with another beautiful piece of silver jewelry - a long spike with a gem stone in the top - and finished her ensemble off with a hat. All the while she was smiling and saying that these things were typical garb of her area (we wanted to but didn't think of a PC way to ask what tribe she was from). All the while Jim and I were thinking that this indio lady and our sister-in-law Carol V. would hit it off immediately because they both talk weaving and wool. Her she is in her regalia:


So today, Jim, Chuck and I had to leave the house early because the maid arrived at 7:30 am and you don't want to be in her way. We headed to the central bus station to get my ticket to Guayaquil for Thursday (we were worried they might sell out since we heard that locals go to the beach for New Years) and I have a plane to catch on the 2nd. We got our business taken care of and then walked to the Cemetery area where the market has moved to, while the city is renovating the Plaza Rotary.

The Cemetery area is lovely. The bad part for the merchants, though, is that there is very little foot traffic in this area.
This market is one of my favorites. It is the one where locals buy terra cotta pots, hardware, rope, baskets, small furniture, etc. Many stalls that sold baskets had this raw sisal. We weren't sure what they were doing with it, except perhaps making rope.



We were some of the first shoppers and discovered more "rugs" at a little kiosk that sold harnesses, ropes, etc. These "rugs" are burro or horse blankets. Here's Chuck holding up the biggest one. That's for a big horse!

Look how lovely the weave is

Jim and I (again, not in the market for rugs) fell for this little one:

It's just hard to beat that beautiful natural brown wool color.

I guess I'll have to redecorate the house now.

Next I'll have an update on the bus situation as well as sharing the New Years preparations, Cuenca style.

CUENCA MODERNIZES BUS SYSTEM

Today is a red letter day in Cuenca. To explain how truly remarkable this day is, I have to digress and reiterate our bus experiences from last year. The bus IS the mass transportation here. People take ANYTHING on the bus. We have seen wheelbarrows (it is not unusual to see vendors with a wheelbarrow full of cherries or strawberries hawking their wares downtown. Once the fruit is gone, the vendor hops on the bus with his or her empty wheelbarrow), huge buckets of items going to and from the market, children tied to their mothers by rebozo, furniture, etc.

The buses are everywhere and come frequently. They cost 25 cents for adults and 12.5 cents for children and seniors (those of the "third age"). Up until today you would flag your bus and jump on as fast as possible (as soon as one foot is on the step, the bus driver takes off like a bat out of hell) and pay the "conductor" who stands in the doorway announcing to people on the street where the bus is going, makes change for people getting onto the bus, helps people who are carrying large burdens get on and off, or helps mothers with multiple children, all the while yelling, "sigue, sigue," meaning, roughly "move it!" Buses have bus stops but also seem to stop most anywhere or pick up people most anywhere.

However, like other places, Cuenca is modernizing its bus system. Some new things: now behind the driver is a digital reader board which tells passengers what the current stop is and what the next stop is; some of the buses turn on the digital voice (a woman's) who also says aloud what the stops are. But the really big news is that you now (starting today!) do not hand your coin to the conductor/annunciador, but put it into the lock box. As soon as the lock box registers that you have paid the correct amount, it will let you through the turnstile. Sounds plausible, no? Well, some people haven't gotten the message and still get on without the correct change - and yes, the conductor will make change...and then indicate to put the coin into the lock box. Also, Jim (who is in the "third age" and pays only 12 cents) has trouble getting the turnstile to open. We think it is because the machine doesn't recognize the 12 cent fare as a full fare. The last time we rode and Jim put his 12 cents in the lock box the conductor had to put money in to make it say 25 cents and somehow Jim got 3 cents back, but the turnstile did open. The other innovation that will be starting soon is a card swipe system. We haven't seen this in action yet, but are surmising that this may be the way to go for the senior fare (and wouldn't it be better to not have to carry around pennies?)

Nancy and I had a fabulous bus experience yesterday. We were approaching our stop and discussing where to get off when Nancy said, "or we can ride to the end of the line and then come back." That's what we did. We rode about another 1/2 hour past our stop and were out in the countryside. Pretty soon we were the last ones on the bus and the bus driver was a little concerned about where we thought we were going. His Spanish was difficult to understand due to his accent (I think he might have been from the coast, where they drop many consonants) but we managed to communicate that we were going to head back the other way. He got to the end of the line and turned around on an uphill dirt road.

He told us it would be about a 5 minute wait. Then he suddenly became Mr. Tour Guide and asked us if we wanted to get out and look at the river. So, we hopped out with our cameras and went with the bus driver and annunciador across the busy highway to look down the gorge to the Rio Tome Bomba.

This is the same river that goes in front of Chuck and Nancy's condo. Down in Cuenca, the natives wash their clothes in this river, as they have done for centuries.

After several photographs and a commentary from the bus driver about how the river comes down from the mountains through Las Cajas (a nearby national park) and how beautiful it is, we got back onto the bus and headed back toward town. The driver went really slowly and actually stopped again so we could take photos.

As we got closer and closer to town, the bus filled out with people. However, when we got up to get off, the bus driver said goodbye like we were old friends. Here he is posing with Nancy.

Where else could you get this kind of an experience for 25 cents?

Animals Contribute to Christmas in Cuenca

Animals play a big role in Christmas celebrations in Cuenca. This little guy was a part of the"Paseo de los Niños."

"Cuy" are considered quite the delicacy here anytime of year, but the locals seem to be especially fond of them at this time of year.

Can you guess what it is?*


Here's another display with chickens and cuy

How about this one? Is it a civet, or coatimundi or??

And the ubiquitous pig

Now that we got Christmas out of the way, I can concentrate on the everyday interesting observations in this wonderful country. Next blog topic: Cuenca Modernizes The Bus System

Until then, cheers!
Audrey

*guinea pig

CHRISTMAS IN ECUADOR

Jim and I are back in Ecuador for Christmas. We were so amazed last year by the Paseo de los Ninos, an all day homemade parade of children and floats on Christmas Eve day, that we were really excited to share this event with my brother Chuck and his wife Nancy, who are new residents of Cuenca. Even though they are old Cuenca hands, having lived here for more than 1/2 of last year, they weren't here over Christmas.

People come from all over Ecuador to participate in this parade. Everyone is decked out in festive wear - the kids, dogs, horses, etc.

Everyone is out to have fun. We saw so many smiles and cute little girls!

Parade themes don't seem to have any rhyme or reason, which makes it really fun. We saw plenty of Nativity scenes and Holy Land scenes, including Paul's journey (complete with map), Moses in a basket, and Romans.


































































Then there were the Amazon Indian tribes and a cannibal with a spear - we think he was blackened with charcoal (and Mama was SO proud).




























































































We saw a dog dressed in Santa get-up and a guy wearing an amazing cone hat made of ribbon with a bird head on the peak. He was with a group who danced their way down the street to the beat of a excellent drum group.


















These Ecuadorians were some of the most colorful.














Here you see the Spanish influence - the toreador look as well as the "princesses" with their long trains draped over the horses.













































































































Interspersed throughout were little boy and girl angels wearing halos and little gold sandals.

Of course Jim had a great time as "Papa Noel" or Santa Claus and was probably one of the most photographed people at the parade.













He made lots of friends, not only with the kids but with the adults as well (especially the young women who were clamoring for a photo op with Papa Noel. This was accompanied by lots of giggles).

If you want to see even more photos of this wonderful event, I invite you to click on Nancy's blog

Wishing you and your loved ones "Feliz Fiestas!"

Audrey