This was a pretty full day.  Probably the biggest news for us was the final culmination of The Great Luggage Journey.  We went out to the airport this morning to get Pauline’s luggage… only to be told it still wasn’t here and “will definitely be on the next flight from Quito.”  Since this was our 4th trip to the airport, each time being told the luggage would be there, we stayed around about an hour and harassed the staff until we thought we had a reasonable assurance it would really arrive, then went back to our day’s activities.

We received a phone call just before 2:00 saying the luggage was there, but they were closing at 2:30.  We quickly hailed a taxi… but it had just started to rain and we had to walk about 4 blocks to a place with more taxis.  We got in and raced to the airport.  Well…. raced is such a strong word…  We somehow hailed the only conservative taxi driver in Cuenca. He waited to let cars pass (unheard of!) and actually drove slowly (never happened before!).  As we got to the airport at 2:32, Pauline jumped out of the cab and raced to the office, just in time to catch the last person leaving the office.

Pauline is all smiles as she finally reunites with her luggage

We actually started the day with catching a taxi and going out to the Mercado de Animales in Cuenca.  When we failed to see the one in Canar (see post from last week), Evelyn’s Spanish tutor told her there was one right here.  Not many people seem to know about it, but it is huge, and was a great morning of mucking through the mud and sh** and photographing the people and animals.

The first area we saw was for the buying and selling of pigs.  And I mean thousands of pigs of all sizes, from new piglets up to monsters that I could have ridden.  The air was filled with the constant squeal of pigs complaining about being pulled, prodded, and loaded onto trucks.

The next section was filled with cattle.  These were mostly meat cattle destined for a butcher shop.  We noticed that most of the regulars here were wearing what I think of as “farm galoshes” — the boots I wore as a kid slopping the pigs on a farm in Minnesota.

One truck even had a half dozen tiny goats for sale == presumably for the buyer to raise before milking or slaughtering.

As we have seen repeatedly in Cuenca, people here are extremely friendly.  A couple of men stopped to talk to us, probably partly because we where the only gringos in the area. Dave spoke very little English, but wanted to talk to us. He was selling a medium-large pig and told us it would probably fetch about $100, while the really big pigs would bring $300 or even $400.

George is a rancher on the outskirts of town with 400 acres of Holstein cows for milk, from which he makes cheese abd sells at the market.  He lived in Canada and Europe earlier, and his wife is British, so his English was quite good.

Moving further, we found a small section devoted to horses, then pockets of sheep, and even a pair of donkeys for sale.

Moving on, we came across stalls similar to those found at Mercado de Arenas, but with more variety and in larger numbers.  We found goats, chickens, ducks, turkeys, bunnies, dogs, geese, etc.  All kept in tiny cages, crowded to an extent that would probably evoke a PETA protest back home.

We then moved into the lunch area, where we saw where some of those pigs being sold ended up.

We had never seen a pig splayed out and roasted while looking like a blanket before…

The rest of the market was like most others, with lots of fruits, vegetables, then dry goods.  To keep this post from running book-length, I am not going to detail that area, since it was largely a repeat of prior mercados.

After leaving the market, we went to the airport (the morning’s failed attempt to retrieve luggage, as mentioned above), visited the friend’s house where we had a potluck dinner last week, raced back to the airport a second time (success!), then rested back home till dinner.

We had heard several times about the fabulous meals that could be had at Joe’s Secret Garden.  This is a private home that is turned into a restaurant once a week.  They had a thanksgiving dinner tonight, and we had reservations.  It opened with a cocktail hour, to meet other gringos, then a sumptuous turkey dinner with all the trimmings.  I have had many turkey dinners in the past that have disappointed me, but this was one of the best I have ever had.  Definitely recommended restaurant, and we will probably return for another meal before leaving Cuenca.