I read an interesting article today on The Weather in Cuenca. It talks about the issue of the internet weather forecasts always being identical (and wrong), why there is no weather on the news programs here, and what makes the weather so unpredictable. Good reading at http://www.gringotree.com/cuenca/articles/cuenca-news-stories/weather.php. There are an estimated 4,000 expats living […]
Church Festivity Schedule!
We have been trying to find out the schedule of church festivities since we got here in October. Everyone we ask says they don’t know, but “you might try xxx” and each of those has come up empty. We finally had a breakthrough today, and now have the schedule! Regina responded to my GringoTree request […]
It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas…
This weekend the Christmas lights went up along 12 de Abril (the street we are living on) and Plaza Otorongo (about two blocks from our apartment), so we went over to have a look late last night. Plaza Otorongo has a super-size Nativity scene in lights which draws crowds of families The static images were […]
Fireworks!
There used to be a lot more fireworks in Cuenca, and when we arrived we had expected to be shooting quite a few displays while here. Fireworks here are some of the most dangerous we have seen anywhere in the world. They are shot up right in the middle of crowded streets, with the flaming […]
Luggage, Mercado de Animales & Thanksgiving
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 […]
One Pig, One Woman
Today started off with routine. Breakfast at home, followed by taking laundry 3 blocks to our favorite Laundromat. We then walked a few blocks to make reservations for a van to take us to Guayaquil on Friday (first stop on our trip to Salinas). The van took a couple of stops, since the first couple […]
Failed Canar Animal Market Tour
We had arranged for a tour driver to take us to Canar early this morning to see the Sunday Animal Market there, which is the supposed to be the largest in the region. Unfortunately, our driver did not understand what we were trying to photograph, and by the time we got there, it had pretty […]
Bad “Expat Day” & Good Pot Luck
This morning was the Second Annual Expat Day, in which the city of Cuenca holds a small festival (seems there is a festival every week here) for expats. The idea is to have expats meet local businesses, be welcomed to the city, etc. Unfortunately, whoever set it up is a moron… 🙁 Once the music […]
Cuenca Independence Begins!
Cuenca’s Independence Day is November 3, which is the day the city declared independence from Spain in 1820 (Quito had declared in August and Guayaquil in October earlier that same year). This is such a major celebration here that it actually covers 4 days — from November 1 through November 4 each year. Today started […]
Civil War Reenactment at Duncans Mills
This weekend we attended a Civil War reenactment at Duncans Mills, about 2 hours North of San Francisco. We have thought about going to one of these for a couple of decades, and finally really made the trip. We had originally been promised access to the battlefield during the battle, as part of a small […]
