Cuenca Updates: 2012-05-27

Saturday, June 02, 2012

Saturday June 2, 2012

Saturday June 2/12 update

Bella saw the man across the street today, the one who got hauled away in the ambulance. She says he looked weak and he got in the passenger side of their vehicle with a young person driving. We suppose his condition precludes him from driving but it is gratifying to see that he is still around.

Exhaustion took over last night as I crashed at 10:30, up at 5, crashed again at 7:30 until noon. I am glad we had nothing scheduled for this morning as those old batteries definitely needed recharging.

Today the Internet is painfully slow and I even had to use the Basic HTML setting to see my Gmail.

I thought it funny that an Ecuadorian has commented on my YouTube videos, and subscribed to me, because he says my videos make him homesick. That is OK with me.

I have said I would join an expat fan club of the local soccer team even though I have yet to go to a game. I figured this would be a good way to be in touch to find out when the games are on. I went their first meeting in the west end today at 4:30 at the Mocha Cafe. The purpose of the meeting was to determine the scope of the club, and to watch the 2014 World Cup qualifying match between Ecuador vs. Argentina, which Ecuador lost 4-0. The meeting was informal but quickly got way over my head when they expect everyone to kick in $400 for 18 games, getting some of the better seats in the stadium. What was shocking is that there were about 10 guys and 10 women at this inaugural meeting.

I then met Bella and Chris at Joe’s Secret Garden, about 10 blocks away, for a 6:30 fried chicken supper.

On the walk there I went by this little shack for sale on Gran Columbia. It would be interesting to see what it sells for.

Then I saw a house with a very big black dog inside the gate which was being tormented by 3 small dogs outside the gate… See http://youtu.be/xUbLKR_m6xs

Bettye is still not feeling well so we were only joined by Chris, along with another houseful of people. We haven’t done this in a while and we went there hungry so we all ate lots of delicious fried chicken followed by an apple-peach cobbler. At our table we were joined by an Iranian-American couple and an English fellow who was breathing through his neck. We all certainly demolished every plateful of food they brought to our table.

At the urging of my sister Yvette I had to get Chris to take a photo of Bella and me to prove we still exist. Then one of our hosts, Joseph, asked me to photograph every table and send him the original size photos as they may use them on their website. I hope they all turned out.

Chris mentioned he saw our South African con-lady downtown and he recognized her scam right away and gave her a real short shrift. I can’t get over the nerve of these scam artists.

I also finally spoke to my little buddy Juan (Gilligan) today and we will probably do something together tomorrow.

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

120602 You know her and you know him

120602 Joe's Secret Garden guests 1

120602 Joe's Secret Garden guests 2

120602 Joe's Secret Garden guests 3

120602 Joe's Secret Garden guests 4

120602 Joe's Secret Garden guests 5 - our table

120602 Joe's Secret Garden's garden

120602 Joe's Secret Garden front (I added the name)

120602 Joseph and Joe, our hosts

120602 Ecuadorian outdoor BBQ

120602 Little shack for sale on Gran Columbia

120602 Soccer group meeting 1

120602 Soccer group meeting 2

120602 Soccer group meeting 3

Friday, June 01, 2012

Friday June 1, 2012

Friday June 1/12 update

Would you believe we got invited to a Stampede Breakfast in Quito, Ecuador??!! Yeah, the Canadian Embassy is putting this on for $15 adults and ½ price for kids. I am assuming we would get more than pasty flapjacks and sausages for that price. I really wish that was happening in Cuenca instead.

It is June and it is winter here, without the snow and the cold, but the trees know that it is time for them to shed their leaves. It seems so weird to have our seasons reversed. Today was cloudy and cool, Hi 63F and Low 48F. Tomorrow is supposed to be 68F/49F. At least that is going in the right direction.

Today’s agenda was supposed to be busy but some of our plans got cut off. Bella played bridge at Linda’s and had a new person who quit early so that negated my plans to meet Bella at Big Kabudas for supper. There is a Symphony concert up the hill at 8pm in the Banco Central Auditorium above the Inca ruins so that got wiped out too. The good thing is that Bella brought home some wonderful roast pork sandwiches for supper.

Chris and I met at Parque Calderon, had lunch in a Mexican restaurant (forgettable enchiladas) that I remembered from two years ago because of the neat revolutionary photos on the wall.

I had already returned my Photo CD and got my refund this time. Chris did some banking and I hunted for new slippers as we made our way to Rotary Market to catch the #50 to Monay Mall. We helped Chris get his own Coral card and we picked up a few items before coming to our place.

Chris was quite amazed at Tom Thumb showing up on cue as soon as I opened my window a second time. I have fed Tiny Tom every half hour since.

There is supposed to be a live music celebration at 10pm at Parque Calderon to kick off a Film Festival that runs for several days but we are definitely not going to make that.

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

120601 Revolutionary

120601 Female Revolutionaries

120601 Tree losing leaves

120601 More trees in Autumn mode

120601 Pretty fall leaves in June

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Thursday May 31, 2011 Update

Our sincere apologies to all the readers of GringoTree! Please, the blog you should be directed to is
cuencaresidency.blogspot.com

Thursday May 31/12 update

GringoTree subscribers PLEASE go to cuencaresidency.blogspot.com instead.

This particular blog is only meant for family and friends who know and understand us.

To friends and family:

I screwed up and I am terribly sorry. I submitted this blog address by mistake for inclusion in a list on GringoTree which has more than 3,000 subscribers. We really don’t want 3,000 people reading this particular blog, so we hope the GringoTree people will be understanding. I was going to delay submitting today’s blog but I figured the worst is probably over already so here we go.

Bella went to a book sale at the Carolina Bookstore, and to collect her money from the alpaca store lady. Then she bought a small freezer at Coral for the house which will make our grocery storage much easier.

I went downtown to get a refund for a piece of Corel photo software that I had bought yesterday but which was corrupted. He gave me a different version instead so I brought it home but this one would not accept the serial number. These cloned programs are very frustrating.

On arrival downtown I heard sirens and ahead of me was a pumper firetruck lazily spilling out hose toward an underground parking garage, but they didn’t seem to be in much of a hurry. Almost next door they were also treating a woman on her back. It was all very strange indeed. Maybe she had smoke inhalation from a fire that was extinguished before the fire truck's arrival??

I did get a few shots and a video from the second floor of the city building south of Parque Calderon to give you a better idea of the size and scope of this central square which is always a treat to visit.

http://youtu.be/wvDNvpzRPmI EL CENTRO VIDEO

The flower market (not in view on the video) also brightens a person’s day, even if we aren’t buying, as do the musicians alongside the main cathedral.

There were several tents set up along the south side of PC and they were taking group photos of the staff from this psychiatric hospital so I got a shot too. Where do I sign myself in??

I stopped by the Jewelry Mercado on the way to catching a bus and bought 3 cheap magnetic hematite bracelets for $2 each. I swear I could feel the difference as soon as I wore them even though I know the magnetism is weak.

When I got home I set up my small camera on my shelf unit and managed to get 2 pretty decent videos of myself feeding Tom Thumb while talking to him. WATCH THESE

http://youtu.be/hQEkObLN9Ag TOM THUMB 1

http://youtu.be/K3zwZQ10p_w TOM THUMB 2

He is getting to be such a Greedy Gus that he may need a new name.

Then I called Bella up to witness this phenomenon as she had never seen him up close and personal before. She certainly hears him chattering at my window when I am not home though, really giving us the gears. I usually just have to leave my window open slightly so I can hear when he arrives on the wire and chatters to get fed. He really is quite the little character, coming for several feedings per day.

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

120531 Crowd watching fire pumper truck in action

120531 News people on the scene

120531 Pulling out hose for what??

120531 This was happening 2 doors down!

120531 Trimming flowers at the market

120531 No Harleys for these cops!

120531 Panorama shot of New cathedral (l) and Old cathedral (r) with Parque Calderon in between

120531 Immaculate Conception 1

120531 Immaculate Conception 2

120531 Old Cathedral

120531 Parque Calderon and Old Cathedral

120531 Parque Calderon with booth tents

120531 Booth for psychiatric hospital. I applied right away!

120531 Painters at a Catholic school

120531 Parque Calderon Palm

Thursday May 31, 2012

Our sincere apologies to all the readers of GringoTree! This is embarrassing!

Please, the blog you should be looking at is

cuencaresidency.blogspot.com

Our apologies to all our friendly readers of this daily blog which will take a short sabbatical until this sorts itself out. This blog was not meant for the general populace and would be most boring to those folks that don't know us personally.
Cheers.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Wednesday May 30, 2012

Wednesday May 30/12 update

I spent all morning uploading photos to 3 different sites and then almost completing my photo wall. There is still room for more but that will have to wait until I have some money again

Bella got word that the alpaca store lady will pay her for our shipment of Eleggant Hooks on Thursday.

I have enrolled in a new five-week Spanish class on Mondays and Wednesdays at 10:30 called Communicating in Cuenca with teacher Christine Magee, with assistance from Martha Mays. I ran to the Carolina Bookstore to obtain the textbook (Margarita) Madrigal's Magic Key to Spanish $10. I took one of their only 2 copies but they expect to have more on Friday. This class is supposed to prepare students for the advanced Street Spanish class in August. The Madrigal method emphasizes use of cognates to build vocabulary rapidly and is an excellent choice for mature learners. Christine is a fluent Spanish speaker and language teacher and has lived in South America for many years.

I called Chris to see if he or Bettye was taking the class, in case he needed the other textbook. He said no, they were sticking with the class put on by the Carolina Bookstore. He did however see my switchblade in the blog so I went to get him one at Almacenes Ochoa. I will deliver it to him on Friday when we go to Coral.

Bella hung around as Rosa was here housecleaning today.

Tom Thumb continues to be brave with me as he zooms up to the window when he hears it opening, then he hovers impatiently until I extend my arms with the feeder. I’ll have to video this for you all soon. He has done this five times in a row today.

We have been watching the Season One of the Good Wife. I knew nothing about it previously but I am now totally addicted. There are 6 DVD’s of 4 one-hour episodes each and we have watched 4 of them already. I guess we’ll have to keep our eyes open for subsequent seasons.

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

120530 Immaculate Conception south side

120530 Mariano Cueva Jewelry Mercado

120530 Map of locations in El Centro

120530 Who was that masked man? Is he gay?

120530 My photo wall almost done.

120530 Tropical foliage in a chicken joint

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Tuesday May 29, 2012

Tuesday May 29/12 update

Happy 96^th Birthday MOM !!! You are an inspiration.

I am up very early this morning, doing laundry and watching a little excitement across the street. At first I thought the lady said something about a child and various neighbors stopped to help but nobody went anywhere. Finally an ambulance from the hospital 2 blocks away showed up and they eventually hauled off a person, followed by the woman and a couple of friends. That older couple is usually up early and they drive the grandchildren to school. I strongly suspect the husband has had a stroke or something. We all need to count our blessings every day.

I was up very late watching a video on the inhabitants of this hemisphere before Columbus. It was extremely enlightening, whether you live in Canada or Ecuador. It is 1 hour and 40 minutes long but it is extremely well done and touches on subject matter we would never have dreamed of. Bookmark it and look at it when you have time. http://www.forbiddenknowledgetv.com/videos/indigenousnative-americanfirst-nations/america-before-columbus.html

I called Chris to see if he wanted to meet me at a children’s concert at 10am at the Museum Of Modern Art in San Sebastian Square. He was downtown, so yes, he would meet me, but he had to leave early for a Spanish class at 11am then a raw cooking class. We both showed up at the same time and the concert started a hair late so Chris only got to see about 3 songs out of about 16. The concert ran until 12:30. There was this cute little girl next to me with her grandma who was playing shy, but once she saw her picture she was always watching to see if I would point the camera at her again. Naturally the lady standing next to me had a daughter in one of the eleven groups so I got a shot of the two of them as well.

The concert was in recognition of International Children’s Day. There were no major surprises, just typical kids, but there were some nice moments of solos, motions and actions. The special needs kids were touching.

http://youtu.be/3hJGR2G3Z9c

http://youtu.be/MvjdDgZA_WY This is the Special needs group with teachers and staff.

http://youtu.be/7jpX9cG7hOQ

http://youtu.be/7eHDEvm0AIE

http://youtu.be/vgeLZJMHdrg

http://youtu.be/qEm_KGgbptY

http://youtu.be/lCj8w0nQwP4

http://youtu.be/3SGigB-5NSw

Then I checked out San Sebastian Square and a few shops on the way to El Centro. Beside Immaculate Conception there was a singer who appeared blind and had an amazing vocal talent. He was mesmerizing.

http://youtu.be/ZfLzAKNh_wo WATCH THIS GUY!

I found nice hardware/appliance shop called Almacenes Ochoa and I poked around for a bit. I spotted some nice switchblades so I got myself a dandy for only $5.

As I was passing Parque Calderon I was hailed by a couple of ladies who turned out to be from Kelowna. I gave them a few pointers on the best places to eat and made certain they would be sure to see Turi. I gave them my new business card so they would be sure to check out my other blog for information too.

Oh, and Bella still has not collected from the alapaca lady for the crochet hooks we got her. We are still batting 0 on extending credit to Ecuadorians.

And to all our faithful readers, we want to sincerely thank you for the encouragement to continue with this daily blog. Your little notes of appreciation make all the work worthwhile.

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