A Day Out of the City

What better way to spend a sunny warm Sunday than to explore the nearby towns of Gualaceo and Chordeleg with two amigas?

That is exactly what I did this past Sunday. Gualaceo and Chordeleg were only a short and cheap bus ride away from the rush and noise of Cuenca. My friends and I boarded the bus in the early afternoon, and after an hour and sixty-five cents, we arrived in the sleepy little town of Gualaceo. This town is known for its shoe retailers; and we definitely saw tons of shoes for sale. Sneakers, boots, sandals, high heels, anything. Too bad I’m perhaps the only girl in the world who is not amazed by shoes (could be the summer I spent working at a shoe store as well!)

We explored the central plaza, which was reminiscent of a mini Parque Calderon, minus all of the trees. This plaza was bathed in sunlight that warmed the townspeople who were out and about for a Sunday excursion. A fountain stood in the center of the plaza, and the periphery was lined with old-looking colonial buildings (cafes, shops, etc.) My friend commented that it looked very old-style Mexican western movie, but I really have no prior knowledge, so I took her word for it.

We slipped into a church for a little bit, and I marveled at the difference between Latin American crucifixes and those of the USA. Lots of blood; they’re not afraid of depicting the story of Jesus’ crucifixion here. I asked a gentleman in the church who was depicted in the church’s main stained-glass window, and learned that it was the church’s patron, Santiago de Gualaceo. Or is it Saint Iago de Gualaceo?

After the church, we headed up a steep hill to get to the mercado. A woman in a bakery told us it was 5 blocks away. We just kept walking and walking, stopping and asking if we were near the market, and people just kept telling us it was a few more blocks. Well, eventually, we got there, and had a fabulous view of the mountains and the town below. That’s how Ecuadorians do 5 blocks! J

In the market, we saw tons of fresh produce, fish, and meat. We noted that it was once again mostly women doing the work. We entered the food court, where I purchased some typical Ecuadorian food…tortillas de choclo, an empanada de queso, and morocho. It was delicious…and each item cost 30 cents!

After lunch, we decided to catch the bus to continue our journey on to the next town, Chordeleg. Chordeleg is known for its silver jewelry and crafts, and upon arriving, we noticed that the streetlights here were decked out in gorgeous silver handiwork! Chordeleg is chock-full of joyerias (or jewelry shops) and the prices are actually very good. Despite all of the fabulous silver, I bought a beautiful white cotton dress to use as a cover-up for my future beach trip to the coast of Peru. My friend paired the dress with a colorful scarf, and I fell in love and just had to buy the pair for $19. I’m considering it a worthy investment.      

We spent the remainder of our afternoon bopping around town and enjoying the nice weather. Ecuador has been getting rather warm lately, and it’s a bit surreal to be heading into the Christmas season while baking in the sun! I feel that I should be freezing my butt off and marveling at snow for it to be Christmastime. Ah, the experiences of travelling…

All in all, my Sunday was terrific, and we’re thinking of heading back to Chordeleg (and the neighboring SigSig) in the future.

Let the Festivities Begin

It's the very beginning of November, and you know what that means.

 Oh my gosh, I've been in Cuenca for 2 months! Where did the time go? Not quite sure, but I know it was well spent. This weekend is very active for the entire city, as everyone observes Día de Todos Santos (Friday), Día de los Difuntos (Saturday), and Cuenca's independence from Spain (Sunday). And of course, the gringos and the very few Ecuadorians who celebrated Halloween on Thursday.

 My Halloween was very quiet; I was spent by Thursday night and turned in early. Lame, but whatever.

 Friday was Día de Todos Santos (All Saints Day) and the weekend festivities were in full swing. Parades, artisans, and food vendors lined the streets. Music could be heard in any plaza. Friday night, some friends and I headed out to see what the art vendors had to offer. We looked at Panama hats, woodwork, artists doing glass-blowing, and many other things (jewelry, toys, dolls, etc.) We also stopped into one of the many cathedrals in Cuenca (I recently learned that in the past, a person had to be Catholic to be declared a citizen of Cuenca!) The cathedral was actually very pretty, and even though I don't associate myself with any organized religion, I said a quick prayer in the pews. Then, I mingled with the crowd, who was being served free horchata and bread. I sat down next to an older woman named Rosaria, and we started chatting. She was extremely kind and so down-to-earth that I asked if I could take her photograph. She agreed, and her face just held so much experience, so many stories, I wanted to talk with her the rest of the night. But my friends were looking for me, and we continued on our way.

 Saturday, I took advantage of my totally free day (usually I have a Saturday morning class to teach.) Two friends and I took the bus from La Feria Libre to Girón, less than an hour away. The bus dropped us off in the city center, and we looked around for a way to get to the waterfalls. Surely there would be no waterfalls in the city center! We managed to get a ride to the entrance of the park in Girón, and after paying the $2.00 foreigner fee (Ecuadorians pay $1.00,) we began our journey. We walked to the first waterfall, El Chorro. It was gorgeous. A tall, thin gush of water that ended in a shallow pool accompanied by a sign reading NO NADAR (NO SWIMMING.) The view was spectacular and provided for some nice photographs. We sat in a dry spot and ate our picnic lunches, then explored a bit more. Too tired to make the one-hour hike to the second waterfall (the third waterfall is even farther away,) we began our descent down the mountain. It was more than 4km to the city center, and I can't do math, but it took about an hour and a half to lug ourselves down the mountain. On the way we met some animal friends, and we admired the mountain air (no diesel fumes here!) and the beautiful views of the countryside.

 And afterwards, I was dead. Not really sure how I'm even typing this right now, because I'm still dead. Kind of ironic that the past weekend was Día de los Difuntos (Day of the Dead.)

 Sunday consisted of biking around the streets and taking in the festivities. Parades, music, dancing, vendors selling art and clothes and other things…Cuenca had it all. But I’d had my fill; I headed back home and spent some downtime relaxing and reading a good book. Later on, I met up with a friend and we walked to Parque Calderon (the main park in the city center) to see if we could find some fireworks action. We got there and saw that the Old Cathedral was open, so we went in. The building itself is gorgeous on the outside, but on the inside it’s also a wonder for the eyes. Ornate and grand, we took a seat in the back row of pews and looked at a program booklet in Spanish. Once the priest started talking and the pews filled up, we figured we should sneak out before we were committed to staying the whole time; we wanted to see the action outside! We investigated about fireworks and were told by a police officer that the fireworks were “suspended” but he didn’t know why or for how long. Folks were setting up stands to sell canelazo, colada morada, and guaguas de pan, but it seemed that any party action was going to come much later on. My friend and I were both beat, so we decided to call it a night. I spent a leisurely evening curled up in a warm bed. A very chill ending to a very active weekend.