Viva Cuenca

The celebration of Cuenca days was quite fun, though we also missed a fair amount, since we had two papers to write.

Anyways, the first highlight was the craft markets. There were artesians from Cuenca as well as Argentina, Peru, Colombia and Spain. I loved just looking at everything that they had. There were just so many that I discovered new things every day.

Monday afternoon we went to the burro race having no idea what to expect. It ended up being a huge deal with tons of people completely circling the track. We were right on the corner and Coral was worried that the donkeys might be going too fast to make the turn and run into us. She needn't have worried. The donkeys weren't going that fast, and it turned out that they weren't the main highlight. Instead, their riders were wearing all sorts of costumes: clown, priest, drag. It was hilarious to watch, especially when we weren't expecting it!

Another highlight had to be the fireworks on Monday night. We had been warned that they were a bit extreme, but we thought it had been hyped up... until we saw them. First, there were the globos, which are similar to the tissue paper hot air balloons that I made in 6th grade, except that they used actually flames to carry them into the sky until they were almost indistinguishable from the stars. Then, there was the vaca loca, which was probably the highlight of the evening. It's a paper mache cow with fireworks attached. One guy runs around carrying the vaca loca over his head once it's lit. Basically, he runs at the crowd while shooting fireworks are shooting of it. We definitely got charged as streams of sparks were exploding from the horns. Of course, after this is a sort of tower that is also covered in fireworks, but most of these are attached to pinwheels so that they are going off in crazy directions, though of course, always towards the crowd. There was a lot of crouching and huddling in fear.

Tuesday was the actually holiday, and I went to one parade of dancers. It was nice to watch the traditional dances, and the girls' skirts were marvelous for spinning!

Oh yeah, there was lots of food for Cuenca days, most of it fried. I finally tried cuy (guinea pig). It was okay, but nothing that I would seek out.

Basically, Cuenca days were a great time to wander about town, find new places, and have fun experiences! Though I'll probably be fine if I never have fireworks shooting directly at me again.

Trick or Treat

Halloween coincides with Viva Cuenca here. Like Guayaquil and Quito, Cuenca’s independence day (November 3) is a national holiday. Of course, since we are in Cuenca, the celebrations start early, and this weekend, they’re in full swing.

In the afternoon, Jesse, Elizabeth, and I explored some of the craft markets. Artisans come from all over, not just Ecuador, but also Colombia, Argentina and even Spain. So far, I haven’t had to go to the bank to get more money, but after these expansive, I think I may have to visit the bank soon. My most exciting purchase: forks! I’ve had my eye out for an interesting fork since arriving, of course, but had yet to find any worth even inquiring about price. However, at one of the more expensive markets, a glass worker had some beautiful beaded pickle forks. There was no way that I could turn them down.

That evening, Jesse, Elizabeth, Alex and I joined our neighbor Ana Luisa in going to a performance at Cuenca’s cemetery. The performance used monologues, dance and music at various stops throughout the cemetery to tell the story of a poet who committed suicide in Cuenca. Each of us carried a lit candle, and the moon was nearly full, so it was rather perfect for Halloween.

When we returned home, we had originally planned to dressing up, but then decided that it was too late. Plus, most of the fun was in planning the costumes, rather than wearing them. (I was going to be a Shining Sunbeam. One of my favorite hummingbirds in Ecuador, where there are more than 150 species of hummers.) We still had our trick-or-treating fest with each person given out some sort of sweet. I made truffles as my gift. Then, Elizabeth gave out granadillas (a type of passionfruit) with jack-o-lantern faces drawn on them. Coral had bought popcorn balls, and Jesse got wawa-pan, a type of bread specific to this time of year and decorated by children. It was a lot of sugar! We also carved a pineapple, and drew a face on a melon, which looked like a pumpkin. When we bought the melon, we thought it was a pumpkin. It looked just like one! Funnily enough, the first time we tried to by squash, it ended up being a 6-inch wide cucumber! Who knew that squash or cucumber (sort of like cheese or font) would end up being a game for us?