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!!

The Canadian House Center

This is the language school where I teach English Monday - Friday. 

Mercado

A few items purchased at the Mercado today:

Fresh flowers and herbs for my Horchata tea, chocolates to make hot chocolate, fresh butter, yellow uvillas, an un-named fruit on the left, peanuts in brown sugar, and roasted corn kernels. All of this for $8.00!

Horchata Tea

On my trip to Saraguro the locals served the traditional Horchata tea at lunch. Today, I decided to make my own.  My Spanish class took a field trip to one of the local mercados this morning. I expressed an interest in making the tea so my teacher helped me select the flowers and herbs I would need. The herbs and flowers include chamomile, mint, lemon verbena, lemon grass, rose geranium, small roses, violets, begonias, carnations, fuschias, and malva blanca. The plants that give the tea its red color is ataco, or red amaranth, and bloodleaf. The pictures below show the process of brewing the tea.

Fresh flowers and herbs from the mercado. 

I then separated the bundle to make sure I got a bit of each of the flowers and herbs. On the right you can see that I chopped them up into smaller pieces. The remaining flowers and herbs are hung to dry. The tea can be made from either fresh or dried ingredients. 

I added the ingredients just as the water came to a boil. I then turned off the gas, covered, and let steep for 10-minutes. You can see that I added two small limes to this batch. 

This is the finished product. It can be served hot or cold. Sugar or lemon can be added to taste. 

Founder's Day & Palm Sunday

Cuenca's Founder's Day Celebrations and Palm Sunday coincided this weekend.  We had lots of fun.  Saturday started with a traditional lunch of Fanesca.  We joined our friend Dea, and a bunch of her friends, at a local restaurant for the traditional meal.  If you are Catholic then you know what it is.  It is basically at 12 bean soup, representing the 12 apostles of Jesus.  What is added to the soup is at the discretion of the cook.  This version had salted cod, among other ingredients. Needless to say, I had Coconut Shrimp!

Afterwards, we spent several hours walking along the Tomebama River looking at the local Arts & Crafts.  It reminded me a lot of Atlanta's Dogwood Festival, also this weekend, without the baby strollers.  

Last night we enjoyed listening to traditional music and watching traditional dancing at Santo Domingo Church.  The church, iglesia, is right around the corner from our apartment.

Today, our friend Juan, treated us to pizza for lunch.  Afterwards, we walked through the vendor booths again.  Look at this precious little girl we saw with meringue on her face!

Ecuador takes Palm Sunday very seriously.  Lots of parades and celebrations all over the city.  Most of the locals, men and women alike, were walking around today with palm leaves, flowers, and herbs.  I enjoyed seeing people expressing their beliefs so openly and without shame.  Large crowds gathered in local parks to enjoy time with family and friends.

I leave you today with a few more pics from around the city.  Please be kind to one another.  Life is short. 

Ever seen a mature Poinsettia?  It's actually a tree...

 

 

 

New furniture

This piece was built by a local furniture maker in Cuenca. It is a rustic design that is popular here. We plan to use it as a bar. 

Saraguro, Ecuador

Yesterday, I went on a day trip to Saraguro, Ecuador with members from the Spanish school I attend. It was a great day with fun had by all!  

Here is the link to the complete set. Copy and paste into your browser. 

www.flickr.com/photos/howardwood/sets/72157643491316515/