Cuenca Updates: Monday April 23, 2012

Monday Apr 23/12 update

I was up early because I was determined to walk all the way to the Chamber Of Commerce building for my Street Spanish class this morning. It took me 50 minutes of brisk walk with only minor stops to take the odd photo. There is a spectacular piece of art on the plywood wall surrounding Parque De La Madre that is signed by the artist so it is in stark contrast to the surrounding graffiti. I envy such talent so much.

Part of our homework from last week was to have emergency contact information for a wallet card. I hurriedly had made a few cards for myself before leaving, including contact info for Bella in Cuenca, Yvette in Canada, along with confirmation that I have no allergies, nor medications. When Bella gives me her information I can make cards for her too.

Our Spanish class today consisted of terminology related to a hospital or doctor visit if you were ailing or hurt. Since our teacher had just been through this experience due to a dog bite, she realized that they used many different terms than her normal translation. This is always good information to have.

I am in a class with 4 other guys and a lady and I was amazed at the medical emergency stories they told. One fellow blacked out backwards on Super Bowl Sunday and cracked his head knocking himself out for over 20 minutes. He came to, just as they were running him into a scanner which was quite a shock to his system. He was 6 days in hospital, had several consulting doctors and neurosurgeons, every test imaginable, and his total bill was $5,500.

I ran into Orilla on my way to El Centro and she indicated that they were returning to Edmonton next week for about 6 weeks to arrange for their container to be shipped here.

I stopped for lunch again at the Sabor Latino, a small bar/cantina between the Wildhorse café/Book Exchange and the Coffee Tree on Calle Larga. We had raved about our last lunch (almuerzo) there so I wanted to try it again. Most of the soups you find in Ecuador are very bland and pasty potato soups. This lady makes the most flavorful soup I have had in Ecuador, followed by a great lunch. Today I had soup (sopa), orange juice (jugo), a plate of rice (arroz), tomatoes (tomates) and chicken (pollo), followed by a dessert (postre) of crackers and jam. It was totally yummy for the princely sum of $1.75.

As I was the last person trying to get on the #3 to head home, I heard my name called along with a tug on my sleeve. It was Leona, and she wanted to know if this #3 would take them to the Monay Mall. I said Yes, this is the bus and hurriedly had to hop on before the driver left without me. I had to be home by 2pm in case Etapa does listen to my request for a service call so I couldn’t wait for a later bus. I wish I told them to pop by for a visit after shopping. I checked with Bella and we don’t have their phone number so I can’t apologize for being so brusque.

I got home just as Bella was leaving to go to the afternoon Street Spanish class.

Enjoy the pics. That was today’s excitement. Hugs to all.