Easter Week

Lots of activities in Cuenca this week leading up to Easter Sunday.  It appears that Good Friday is a bigger holiday than Easter itself.  Everything will be closed Friday.  I even read that taxis may be parked. The entire city will be shut down to observe an important religious holiday.  I would not be surprised if this practice occurs in all of South America.  It makes the USA look like a non-religious country.  Greed keeps most US businesses in full operation...sometimes with even longer open hours for retail outlets.  In Cuenca, there will be parades all over the city with two "main" parades.  I'm told that it is a tradition here for families to visit twelve churches on Good Friday.  Churches will be open until midnight, or later. I will share pictures of the celebrations around the city.  Should be a lot of fun!!

We ate lunch yesterday, with our friend Major Mack, at the 9 de Octubre Mercado on Mariscal Lamar.  The lunch included, hornado, llapingacho, mote, and ensalada.  Cost: $3.00.  

And...coconut juice for $0.75

While in the Mercado we heard a lot of sirens outside.  It turned out to be a fire at a nearby hostal.

Today was the last day of my beginner Spanish class.  We took up a collection and presented flowers to the teacher.  She was very surprised.  

This is considered the "rainy" season in Cuenca.  The days start off bright and sunny until about 2:30.  Then, rain showers occur for about an hour or two.  Afterwards, it remains cloudy throughout the night.  

10:00am

4:00pm

For those of you not following me on FaceBook...here is how the most current furniture purchase looks after adding baskets to the drawers. Oh, by the way, do you know the Spanish word for "drawer?"

Cojones!!