FUNS SIGNS AND ART AROUND CUENCA

One of the reasons I love to travel is that I love to try new things, meet new people and experience other cultures. You have noticed from my blogs that one way I like to learn about a new place is through its food. Another way is through its arts and crafts. Also, for some reason, when traveling signs and symbols seem much funnier than they might at home. Here's some wall art (or maybe graffiti) on our local stairs from town to the river.


I like to think of him as the "Cuy Bandito" or Guinea Pig Bandit. Or maybe he is a revolutionary rat?

Shopping in the grocery store in a foreign country is nearly as much fun as shopping in the local market. You see all kinds of fun labels.

This sign was posted in the unisex bathroom at our favorite Colombian restaurant.

Loosely translated it says, "Socrates says, and Plato confirms, that the last drop always falls in the pants."

In this same restaurant are these large posters of stylized sculpture.

When I asked the owner if they were somewhere in Colombian she stated that they are in Medellin. They would be worth a trip there (I hear Colombian is very beautiful as well).

On the topic of food, I love things which translate like "beef jerky of pig" or "ham of chicken." This one is "hamburger of shrimp" and it's only $1.75.

One time we were in Paris and a friend ordered a soft drink. It turned out to be called "Schitt." Here one can order:

I also delight in literary references such as this nod to Don Quixote and his idealized love, Dulcinea:

One day we were shopping at a little tienda I often go to. The owner has just about every kind of Ecuadoran craft in her store. There is so much in there it is impossible to see it all. In fact, three of us had purchased hats from her and left when we spotted a revolving glass case with this excellent representation of an Andean woman roasting cuy.

Another, more upscale crafts gallery had this delightful chicken, as well as fish, horses and other animals.


And this whimsical roof ornament is located on a roof near the Dutchman's house.

He's a whole story in himself. If you want to read more about him, I have copied my story about meeting him in our first year.

THE DUTCHMAN, THE DOG AND THE CHICKEN

Today Jim, my brother Chuck and I were in the area of town along the Rio Tombebamba.  This is
lovely, with old colonial buildings overlooking the river.  As we walked up the hill toward
downtown, we noticed a really interesting looking modern art museum.  I was taking photos of
the exterior of the museum, which was quite interesting all by itself, and intended to go in.  By
the time I was done, Jim had made fast friends with a gentleman who was leaning out of a dutch
door next to the museum. 

Chuck went into the museum. I was waiting for Jim, who now was not only talking to the man next door, but also petting the man's golden retriever. Finally I just went into the museum (which is another story altogether - it was called "prohibited" and this was for a good reason).

When Chuck and I emerged from the museum, Jim was still talking to the man, who now was
inviting all of us into his house.  It turns out he is from the Netherlands and spent most of his
life as a ship's carpenter, traveling all over the world.  He met his Ecuadoran wife in Amsterdam
and they are now living in the house his wife inherited from her  mother.

What a house! We could have moved right in!  The foyer was a little showroom of antiques from
all over the world that they have for sale.  We got to tour the whole house.  Here is a unique
use for a piano that got eaten by termites.  

The bathroom had an antique Delft toilet that is now used as a pot for a beautiful plant. Beyond the living room was a wonderful open air, enclosed courtyard. The Dutchman indicated that we should go up the stairs in the courtyard to the upper level to meet his wife. He says, "I don't go up the stairs." We don't know if this is because he can't or because upstairs is her workshop, and therefore her domain. The wife has a wonderful workshop where she creates unique dolls. I believe he told us that she also creates the porcelain for the faces, but we did not see a kiln anywhere. Her dolls were quite lovely. I am not into that sort of thing but even I could appreciate the craftsmanship and artistry that went into these dolls. The wife (Laura) has two shops where she sells them.

The wife has an excellent and fun decorating style.  Lots of antique dishes that were sent over
from Europe got broken, so these items, plates, tea pots, cups, etc., got incorporated right into
the walls of the kitchen.  She had also taken long sections of halved bamboo and placed them
over every doorway, full of succulent plants.  Everywhere you looked, inside and out, were
interesting displays of oddities.

The courtyard was home to chickens, doves, canaries and other cheerful birds.  Here you will see
 the hen all settled in to a pot near the outdoor kitchen -

she's not at risk of being cooked since she is still laying. While I was photographing her, the rooster was really kicking up a fuss!

The Dutchman (we never did learn his name) and his wife converse mostly in Dutch.  His Spanish
 isn't too good and his English is passable.  He was so proud of his house and said, as we were
 leaving, "I am not a rich man but I have everything I need.  After all, you can only eat one piece
of bread at a time."  We felt so fortunate to have met these people, have a tour of their house
and get a glimpse into their lives.

Audrey & Jim

CHUCK AND JIM ON TV

Even though this is our fourth trip to Cuenca, we have never taken the time to see the famous orchid propagation place in Gualaceo. Jim really wanted to do this and Chuck volunteered to pick us up in his car, puff-puff. There is only room for 5 in the car, so Nancy stayed at home. We went on the autopista to the outskirts of nearby Gualaceo, to the Ecuagenera orchid plantation. Ecuagenera is a business leader in the research, preservation, and conservation of orchids and is the largest orchid exporter in Ecuador. A small group of us were there to see the orchids that day, and we had a guide who only spoke Spanish. However, one of the Ecuadorans in our party volunteered to translate for us so we had a delightful time learning about the propagation of orchids and the many, many varieties and sizes, not to mention colors, that they come in. Here is our guide showing us a miniature orchid.

And just a few of the beautiful flowers we saw:


This one has a lovely Latin name but is commonly called "mono" or monkey orchid.

Jim is examining another miniature orchid.

The tour lasted about 1/2 hour and afterward we were invited to stroll through the lovely gardens. They have a large aviary with these gorgeous parrots (maybe Macaws?)

Then we drove into Gualaceo and explored a little, driving up to this unique looking church.

It was a very steep road but the view of Gualaceo was stunning.

This is the steep road.

Jim and I had been through Gualaceo several times in the past, but always on the bus, so we didn't really see the town. We discovered that the town square is as lovely as any, with its beautiful church.

After some hummingbird watching, we piled back into puff-puff and headed for Chordeleg, the jewelry town a few minutes more up the hill. Of course, Lynda and I set out to "do the square" shopping for jewelry, while Jim and Chuck headed for a bench. I looked back and noticed they had made friends with the locals already.

It's a very nice square to hang out in, with nothing much going on.

A bit later I looked over and there was a TV crew surrounding Chuck and Jim. We found out that they were interviewed for a local station which was featuring Chordeleg. The interviewer wouldn't let them say anything about Cuenca, as it was a show only on Chordeleg. A birdie tells me their show will be aired tonight.

Jeff tired of jewelry shopping pretty quickly and joined in the people watching.

Shopping is hard work and we were hungry, so Chuck took us to a roadside place near Gualaceo.

Like many, many places in the Andes, they were roasting a pig outside the restaurant. First they use the blow torch to blacken the pig skin and then scrape that off along with the stiff bristly hairs.

After the scraping is done, some more blow torch work gets the skin golden brown.

This place was amazing - it is not in a town but everyone knows it is there and you can get LOTS of food for not much money. Here is one of the ladies stirring her pot of potatoes.

I was intrigued by this item on the menu as it is obviously a local dish and I had no idea what it was.

Turns out it was a sort of whipped potato, deep fried. Yum!

Here is the size of our meals, which cost $3 for my chicken...

and $7 for Jim's platter of sausages, chicken, pork and beef, which turned out to be enough meat for 2 people.



We were groaning before we were even half way through. I looked around and noticed the Ecuadorans (even the slender young women) were eating ALL of their lunches. It was likely the big meal of the day for them.

After this grand day out we had a lovely sunset to celebrate another great day in the Andes.

Audrey

INDEPENDENCE DAY IN CUENCA

Yesterday was Cuenca's 190 anniversary of their independence from Spain. This is one of 3 national holidays celebrating independence - the other two being Quito's and Guayaquil's. This 4 day celebration culminated in many activities. We got caught up in just a few of them. We were walking downtown near Parque Calderon when a motorcade with sirens and motorcycle police raced by, down a street lined with military. We later learned that the President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, was there to attend a "solemn session" with other government officials. Earlier that morning he had officiated at the military parade, which we missed even though it was in our neighborhood. There are so many things going on all over town it is hard to get in on even half of them.

As you can imagine the square was thronged with people. Everywhere you turned there were dance troupes and music ensembles.
and these "women" whose role seemed to be similar to our clowns.


The government offices were decked out in their finest.


BUT, the true highpoint of my day was the RUNNING OF THE BURROS.

Here they are waiting for the starting flag.

More of them, with their "women."


The donkey run was preceded by a go cart race.

And while we waited we were entertained by a devil who posed for pictures with the crowd.

And they're OFF....

And, yes, I got to pet one of the burros on the nose.

Audrey

CUENCA GEARS UP FOR INDEPENDENCE DAY

After nearly 20 hours of plane travel, Jim and I arrived in Guayaquil, Ecuador to discover there were no planes from Guayaquil to Cuenca (a 1/2 hour trip) later that day or the next day. We decided to bite the bullet and take the bus, which can take up to 5 hours depending on the bus. After a truly hair raising ride from the airport to the bus station (lanes, what lanes?) we encountered a mob scene. The Guayaquil bus station is absolutely enormous and it was packed with thousands of people. Of course the area we needed to go to buy our ticket was at the opposite end of the station. We waded and elbowed our way through, bought our tickets ($8 each) and made our way to the 2nd floor from whence the buses depart - only to encounter another mob scene waiting for the buses.
We did arrive with no incident in Cuenca to find that where we are staying is in the heart of the party zone for Cuencano Independence Day, November 3rd. The street fairs, crafts, music, dancing, fireworks and general revelry were in full swing by October 30th.

Vendors take over a large park, Parque de Madres, and sell their hand crafts. Here are some of the many, many paintings displayed around the perimeter of the park.


We saw lots of local Andean art and couldn't pass up this beautiful blanket and scarf made of Alpaca wool.

It didn't hurt that the Otavalo woman selling them was very personable and cute. (We also bought 4 more scarves that we didn't intend to but got away before buying a poncho).

Tonight as we set out for dinner, we saw these folks setting up fireworks displays.

Later, at dinner, we saw and heard them being burned. Quite a nice display!

At an area nearby a different market was set up which has vendors from all over South America. I was captivated by a booth with many retablos from Peru. Retablos are little tableaux, sometimes religious, sometimes not, created within boxes with closing lids. This one seems to be a village festival, with some villagers in masks and others playing local instruments.

The figures in this retablo are made of corn flour and water. The vendor told us that the tradition (and old style) retablo figures are made of potato flour and water.

And this is the gorgeous exterior of the retablo.




In this market we saw many interesting things - items made from tin, figures imagined from found tree branches and fitted with real rat jaws and teeth, beautiful leather work, jewelry, fabulous textile art from Columbia and Peru, wool goods, wooden toys, clothing, and on and on.

We barely scratched the surface of all there is to see and do during this festive time, so tomorrow we'll check it out some more!

Audrey