As we have noted before, the symphonies in Cuenca are always free, and in this case, jointly sponsored by the US Consulate and the Ministry of Culture . Tonight was a special performance of “Portrait of Lincoln” celebrating 240 years of independence in the United States, featuring all American composers and music, with the Cuenca […]
Cooking With Fire
We have heard about La Yunta since shortly before we went on our Turkey adventure last March. This is a restaurant / tienda / deli that is about a 15 minute drive out of Cuenca, enroute to Loja. Being so far out in the sticks, they have to be creative to get people to come. […]
Devil’s Nose and Ingapirca
Today was a fun day, organized by Cuenca Expats Magazine Travel Club. We met at Parque de la Madre in Cuenca at 6:15AM. After visiting Ingapirca and taking the Devil’s Nose train, we were returned to the same spot at 10PM tonight. Fortunately for us, that meeting location is only a 10 minute walk from […]
Carnaval Orquídea Parade
Today was the 2nd annual Orquídea parade in Cuenca, which officially kicks off Carnaval. Last year was the first Cuenca Carnaval parade, but we were in Ambato for Carnaval and missed that one (see here for our post on the Ambato parade last year). When we first approached the parade starting area, we immediately saw […]
Godfather of Foam
Tonight was the 3rd annual Godfather’s Fiesta at Park Calderon (see our report from the 1st fiesta here). Basically, it is an excuse to buy cans of spray foam or silly string and spray everyone in sight. Don’t go near the park without taking your sense of childish delight with you on this night. That […]
New Year’s Eve 2015 – Monigotes
This year we decided to check out Salinas, on the coast of Ecuador, for New Year’s Eve. You can read our first blog, covering the actual NYE event here. This is an addendum post about the huge variety of monigotes or años viejos that we saw in town. These doll-like figures are made from paper-maché […]
Random Walk After Two Years, Part 2
Now that we have been in Cuenca for two years, we are going on a Random Walk of thoughts about living here. Part 1 of this walk was posted yesterday. We’ll open today with a collection of mosaics on walls around Cuenca, shown above. Perhaps one of the largest changes for us in coming to […]
Random Walk After Two Years, Part 1
Today marks the two year anniversary of when we first moved to Ecuador. We had visited Ecuador four times prior, and Cuenca specifically twice, but Oct 23, 2013 was the date we arrived with the intention of staying as residents. Many people since then have asked if we expect this to be our last move. […]
Madre Tierra Festival 2015
This weekend was the first Madre Tierra (or “Mother Earth”) festival in Tarqui, a town about 15 minutes from Cuenca by taxi. The eco-festival was organized by Sarah HB, a long time expat friend here in Cuenca. It consisted of 43 workshops, dozens of vendors, music and theater. The festival was very well attended, with […]
Shuar Tour Plus Car Breakdown (Secúa)
On our final full day in the Secúa area, Evelyn wanted to get more experience with the Shuar community (who were known for their process for shrinking heads as recently as the 1950’s), so Gabriel arranged for a more in-depth visit with another family. This family was far more remote than the one we visited […]
