The Cuenca Symphony had their first concert of the year tonight and, as always, it was free admission. This is a full size, professional symphony on caliber with any other city in the world. There were 54 musicians on stage, about half string and half horns. The program was varied, running from the classics of […]
Baptism Parade
Iglesia La Merced was the starting point for today’s parade celebrating the Baptism of Jesus Yet Another Parade is almost becoming a mantra around here. Seems every week (day?) we walk out the front door and find a parade under way or in the making. Today it happened again. After yesterday’s small parade and the […]
Fireworks and Parade – An Epiphany
Tonight I could see six separate fireworks shows going on at the same time from our condo office window. Though seeing fireworks is a common sight around this time of year, I think a record was set tonight! Sometimes walking around town, fireworks will suddenly erupt, as happened behind the Iglesia San Francisco Evelyn was […]
Evil Is Only Fantasy
The banner says “if there is love, evil is only fantasy” Yesterday was the annual Fiesta de los Inocentes, or “Party for the Innocents.” Originally it was meant to commemorate when Herod decreed that all male children under 2 years old should be killed, after he had heard of the birth of Jesus. Historically, the […]
La Merced Niño Parade
We left the house today heading toward a major festival (see tomorrow’s post for details). As soon as we were on the street we heard music and started walking towards it. We had stumbled upon yet another small parade. We hit these by accident throughout the year. We have never been able to find a […]
Subdued New Year’s Eve
New Year’s Eve day was warm with just enough clouds to add character to the sky New Year’s Eve this year was rather subdued, when compared to last year. All the same activities were there, but fewer of each. Fewer effigies in doorways and on car tops. Fewer neighborhood competition displays. Fewer firecrackers. Fewer fires. […]
Sleeping Is Not An Option
Boom!… Boom, Boom, Boom! That is the sound of bottle rockets going off starting around 6AM this morning and continuing several times an hour for the rest of the day. They are often followed by the sound of car alarms being triggered, so the noise continues long past the initial explosions. These rockets and fireworks […]
Dummy!
This effigy head is about 4 feet high, and will sit upon a huge dummy on New Year’s Eve Ecuador has an exciting way of celebrating New Year’s Eve, unlike anything seen in North America. (see here for last year’s report on it) Each family creates or buys an effigy, or dummy, for the celebration. […]
Feliz Navidad
Happy Holidays to all. For our annual holiday greeting, we thought you might enjoy Evelyn’s copycat of a painting by Guayasamin shown above, one of Ecuador’s most famous artists. The art scene in Cuenca is just starting to emerge, and Evelyn has been attending artist’s receptions and art exhibits at least once a week since […]
Massive Pase del Niños Viajero Parade
Niños Viajero statue is center of attention Every Christmas Eve, Cuenca puts on a massive parade that goes all day, from 8AM till around 6PM, and consists of some 60,000 participants (in a city of only 400,000 residents!). We first saw this last year, and you can read that post and see those photographs here. […]