A Stroll Down Primero de Mayo

Sunday is definitely family day in Cuenca.  Primero de Mayo ( the street I live on) is fairly busy but on Sunday it looks like a Ghost town.  The movie below is a recreation of a walk back to my condo from Tres Puentes( Three Bridges).

A Short Walk On The Yanuncay River

Our rental unit is 20 meters from the Yanuncay River.  Everyday I walk along the river to get to El Centro.  Today, I had my video camera and I saw something unusual. Washing clothes in the river is almost always a family event. Today, an elderly woman was washing her clothes alone.  Seemed very sad to me.

Further down the walk I noticed 4 German Shepherds being trained what seemed to me to be "search and rescue' techniques.  Enjoy the video

Shopping At The Mercado

Every Saturday morning Sharon and I go to breakfast at Bananas Cafe and then to the Diez de Agosto Mercado on Calle Larga.  Just before we got into the Taxi we noticed a lone Campasino woman doing her laundry in the Yanuncay River.  Notice how swift the river is flowing.  Today's bargain at the Mercado was 30 great looking limons for a dollar.

The Journey Is The Reward

Sharon asked me to walk to Cadelaes, her favorite spice store. I read on the Ecuador Expat Facebook page that there was another branch of Cadelas on the east end of town. So off I went camera in hand to find the store.  The video below depicts the journey. It was a 3.6 mile walk there and after finding the the store closed for their 90 minute lunch break I decided to make the trip on Monday. On the way back I stopped at San Blas for an eighty five cent durazno (peach ) ice cream cone. I took Mariscal Lamar to Benigno Malo and then to Solano and stopping off at Mt. Sinai Hospital Farmacia for a medicine that I could pick up without a prescription that would have cost $30 in the States and cost $10.82 here. I found Violetta my favorite cow grazing 50 meters from the apartment on the other side of the Yanuncay River.  Life Is Good In Cuenca

No Cambio

"No Cambio" is roughly translated into English as "no change". No change as in handing a Cunecano merchant currency and he/she has no change in the till.

I think all of you who read this blog know that Ecuador as well as Panama and El Salvador use the American Dollar as their currency.  Ecuador mints their coins but relies on available paper currency for circulation.  Cuenca also heavily uses the gold Sacajewa coins.

I have learned from experience to always carry gold coins, $5 and $10 bills because going to the local tiendas (stores) you have almost no chance of getting change of a $20 before noon.

One of the perks of living in Cuenca is that you can buy fresh fruit and vegetables from the local tiendas, food coop or from the campasino vendors on the street. My first score was 10 large madirinas(tangerines) for a $1. I've purchased fruit from this street vendor before and he always starts off with the "Gringo Price". I'm confident with my numbers and we quickly negotiated the right price.  The "right price" is also in different parts of town. I can get 15 tangerines for a $1 if I go the Fiere Libre Market but that's a bus ride away and very busy.

My next purchase was a 1/2 kilo of fresas (strawberries) for $1.50. The third purchase was a 1/2 kilo of freshly ground cafe (coffee) for $3.00. I gave the jefe (manager) a $5 bill and his reply was "no cambio". The woman next to me had made a purchase with a $10 bill and she had the same predicament. We waited for 5 minutes until the next customer came. In the interim she started talking to me in Spanish.  The usual conversation entails if I'm visiting or living in Cuenca? Do I like Cuenca? Where am I from? and am I renting or buying?  You always get a big smile from Cuencanos when you speak Spanish.

The video below is my walk into town and some of the interesting sites in front of my apartment building on the Yanuncay River.

Churches, Stilts, Soldiers, PlantMan, Rivers

I had good intentions when I started this video. I was going to shoot video of at least 10 of the scores of churches in Cuenca. I easily became distracted with students on stilts, soldiers guarding the Provincial Government building and the rivers. But the most interesting distraction has been the "Plant Man".

Cuenca is a city of 400,000 people. I walk everyday and I have seen this man 5 different times. Yesterday, I saw him in two different locations. Next time I see him I'm going to buy a plant.

8 Weeks In Cuenca

Sharon and I are fortunate that our move from Oregon to Cuenca went so smoothly. We rented a beautiful apartment 20 meters from the Yanuncay River. On our walks we can experience the daily mood of the river.  A new Cuencana friend's son one day described the river as "angry".  We see people washing their clothes and fishing almost every day. I'm also fortunate to be able to walk everyday into El Centro ( Old Town).  I see the beautiful churches, the ongoing construction and the street entertainers.

In the next couple of posts I'll try and paint a picture of the city's entrepreneurs.  Enjoy the video.

Violetta

My condominium rental on Primero de Mayo is 20 meters from the Yanuncay River. 3 or 4 times a week mostly during the afternoon a herd of 6 Holstein cows graze across the river. Each cow is chained to a spike allowing them about 5- 7 meters of grazing area. The smallest calf I've nicknamed "Violetta".

You can see them graze in this short Youtube video below. The cows seem to be unaware of the river or the traffic noise.