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 […]
First Cuenca Art Walk
Last night was the first official Art Walk in Cuenca. We had these in California when we lived there, and it was always interesting to browse through the artist’s open studios. The California ones were open to any artist that wished to participate, and frankly some of the art was not very good… This Cuenca Art […]
International Day of Older Persons 2015
[Post by Evelyn] It seems like there’s a celebration in Cuenca every week, and today was no different. When Burt was walking to Spanish class this morning, he was surprised to see people “pushing” several wheel chairs down from El Centro to Otorongo Plaza. Because the street was so steep, the drivers were actually in […]
National Strike — Cuenca Style
Ecuadorian president Correa has had an unprecedented 84% approval rating in his country until recently. He has improved education on many fronts, reduced crime in every category, improved infrastructure, and generally been a very positive, and thus popular, president. With his political party having an overwhelming majority in Congress, he can push through almost any […]
Excited About Potatoes
In our Spanish class, one of the people said she overheard two women talking excitedly about papa. It was papa this, and papa that. She knew just enough Spanish to know that ‘papa’ is Spanish for potato, and she couldn’t figure out why these women were so excited about potatoes? Only later did she realize […]
Corpus Christi Fireworks
Today was the first day of Corpus Christi. It began with a procession, which I wrote about in a separate blog entry. Tonight was the opening day fireworks. There will be fireworks and castles every night for seven days. Fireworks in Cuenca are nothing like in the States, where you must keep a “safe distance.” […]
Corpus Christi Procession
Corpus Christi started today, and not many places celebrate it as largely as Cuenca, Ecuador. Also known as Septenario, this was originally an indigenous celebration of the June Solstice, but was co-opted by the Catholic Church in the 1600’s and turned into a Christian event. One of the highlights for many is the booths filled […]
Wooden Car Race
Today, April 12, is Foundation Day in Cuenca, Ecuador. The city was founded 458 years ago, and there are celebrations of various types for the entire month. Last night we saw one of the largest fireworks displays from our apartment window that we have seen since arriving here. Today, there was a “Wooden Car Race” […]
Carnaval Night Parade
Music and Dance were again a major part of the night parade. The children and the congo line were new tonight We wound up our week in Ambato by watching the Monday night parade. We were surprised to discover there were two parades. Yesterday’s daytime parade, and then another one tonight, called Ronda Nocturnal. We […]
Ambato Carnaval Parade
The numerous floats looked like they came out of the Rose Bowl Parade, created almost entirely of fresh flowers and fruits We are spending the week in Ambato, Ecuador to see a different kind of Carnaval than we have had in Cuenca for the past couple years (where the week is a snoozefest punctuated by […]
