Saturday July 7, 2012

Saturday July 7/12 update

Disappointment as another possible night photography tour participant has dropped out so we are down to 7 at the moment.  I will try to drum up a couple more today at these functions we are attending as I really don’t want to have to post on GringoTree again.  

Bella had some folks in for English lessons today and I had a few visits from Tom Thumb.

I left home about 3pm to get to the papeleria near the San Francisco Market to pick up a name & address stamp I had ordered.  The stamp was there as promised but I noted they had misspelled our name as Bonrassa.  I checked the order form and it was definitely their error so I have to return on Monday.

I then proceeded to the main cathedral with prepared receipts in anticipation of meeting several photographers to collect their payments for the night tour.  3 of them showed up, and the one couple was from Edmonton!

Bella met me at 4:15 to go to Charles & Rommie’s apartment close to the cathedral to wish them luck on their departure from Ecuador.  Their 6 month visa is expiring and they must leave.   Charles is an abstract painter and Rommie is into weaving and tie-dying, etc.  They are headed for a month in Italy then back to Australia to liquidate their belongings before returning to Cuenca.  There were many familiar faces there and a few were having fun with the funky hat that Rommie had designed.

Then we were off to have some delicious southern fried chicken at Joe’s Secret Garden.  On the way we saw this family washing clothes in the river in 2 adjacent spots.   We were wondering if they did this commercially or not.  We met with Chris and Bettye, Tom and Sharon, Cindy and Brad and stuffed our faces with chicken and mashed potatoes followed by an apple-peach cobbler.  They were having trouble frying the chicken quickly because they had extra large pieces this time so that delayed the supper a lot.

I collected from two more photo tour participants while there and also took more table group photos to add to the memory stick of the great photos I took on Wednesday so Joseph can post them on his Facebook site.  Bella will deliver the stick tomorrow when she returns to play bridge.

Upon departure we went to Brad & Cindy’s apartment just up the street.  They have a very nice place with a great view, guarded by a timid Papillon pup called Jedi.   Brad also decided to join our photography tour on July 16 so we signed him up.  Now there are only 2 spots open.

Next we went to the next street to see Chris and Bettye’s new place.  They have finally moved in and got some furniture to fill this monstrous apartment.  It has 3 enormous bedrooms, 3 full baths, 2 half-baths, a dishwasher, gorgeous kitchen, and 2 social areas.  Their washer and dryer have all the bells and whistles and do everything except answer the door.  It is nice to see them settling in now that Bettye is feeling so much better.

Our taxi driver on the way home played coy and didn’t let on that he spoke English until we were ½ way home, then he spoke very good English, claiming to have learned it all here.

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

Charles' art room

Some of the well-wishers, Charles is 2nd from the right

Charles wearing Rommie's hat

Rommie & Charles

View from Charles' art room of Immaculate Conception

Table at Joe's Secret Garden

Garth & Orilla at Joe's

Our table at Joe's

More patrons at Joe's

Rick trying out Rommie's funky hat too

Washing in the river

Washing in the river 2

Friday July 6, 2012

Friday July 6/12 update

Today is a stay-at-home and catch up on things day for both of us.

I started with laundry and scrubbing the bejeebers out of my Tilley hat to get it clean, I hope, and also a couple of shirts.  I am not impressed with the laundry detergent here.   If I want anything clean I have to physically scrub it with a bar of soap first.   Soon I’ll be down at the river beating my clothes on the rocks too.

I also got caught up on my uploads to RedBubble, Fine Art America, and Zazzle.   All this stuff is very time-consuming, even if I employ many cut-and-paste shortcuts.  Putting in all the descriptions and tags takes a lot of time.

We have had three people drop out of our photography tour so there are two spots open.  In a way I am relieved and am tempted to leave things like this so we have more room for gear, etc, but I know I won’t.  I have already printed my poster for circulation at Rommie’s, then Joe’s tomorrow. 

Tom Thumb has been very active this afternoon so I have strung together more videos today.   Just look at his fantastic wing and tail action.  Unless I am mistaken, hummers have to be the fastest birds on earth.  They are certainly faster than everything else around here, and also every other bird I have seen, including eagles and hawks.   http://youtu.be/KI8zvgkoX0w

I also spent a few minutes just shooting some of the street action here.  School is out so the kids are out and having a fun time.  I noted three trees to the right are now almost leafless from our fall season while the tree in front already has its new coat of leaves.   We do not have winter here, but we have 2 summers!   How great is that!!

Our lemon trees are all thriving on the terrace.   The one plant has a ton of blossoms so we should have lemonade in time for summer…

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

Beautiful Hibiscus tree/bush on our street

There are quite a few indigenous people in this area

3 trees to the right are denuding

The tree in front has new clothes

Whoa!  Lots of lemons on the way!

Pathway scene 1

Pathway scene 2

Pathway scene 3

Pathway scene 4

Pathway scene 5

Pathway scene 6

Panorama of the street in front of us with the mountain forest of Monay in the background

Thursday July 5, 2012

Thursday July 5/12 update

Bella was off early today to the weaving store where she is an active helper and teacher for a charity project that knits or crochets teddy bears for underprivileged kids.  She provided the patterns for both and has met many new friends through this venture.   I am very proud of her for her contributions to the people here.

I have not received any more new bites for the Photography tour so now the focus is to confirm those who did express interest and collect the dough.  I slipped up to Coral to buy a nice compass, knife and flashlight combination then caught the #3 downtown. I met my first very nice semi-pro photographer at the main cathedral to collect his money.  I have a few others I am going to meet there on Saturday there before going to Rommie & Charles going away party then to Joe’s Secret Garden.

While wandering around today I got a few shots of some of the local color for you.

I also got 3 reasonable videos of Tom Thumb that I have combined.  I wish he would come easier in the morning when we have the better light, but maybe he’s like Bella, just not a morning person at all….

http://youtu.be/PYS9IGd3f4Q

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

Family snacking at Parque Calderon

Father and Daughter passing below

Immaculate Conception Domes 

Immaculate. Conception left entrance

Sellers of religious articles at the door

Little gal in a doorway to a lawyer's office

Parque Calderon from a second floor viewpoint

Nice painting of a smiling indigenous woman (giggle)

San Francisco guitar sales and card game

The river is normal.  It looks like a huge seal head???

Small part of the San Francisco clothing market

Another small part of the San Francisco clothing market

Wednesday July 4, 2012

Wednesday July 4/12 update

Belated Happy Independence Day to all our American friends.   We are going to be so darn busy all day with parties that this blog will be late.   I had six stops planned for today.

My early morning was busy because GringoTree posted my ad for the Night Photography excursion and I already had 3 bites before 9am.  That was a good omen.

My first stop was to Banco Pichincha to get money to pay for the continuation of my Spanish class for another few weeks.  

Then I was early for Spanish class and had to wait a bit.  My teacher, Christine Magee, informed us all that she can only continue for 4 more weeks for $48.   Most of us are staying on.  Christine also confirmed she wanted to come on the Photography tour too.

Next, as a gift for all my photography work for Joe’s Secret Garden, we were invited for a July 4 feast of burgers and hot dogs and a decadent dessert.  Of course I took the photos for this gathering as well and the lighting was perfect so I should have some very pleasing shots to present to Joseph.

Next we tried to get our Censo travel papers while we are in the area (the Government has sorted out their problems).  We filled in the applications, they took our photos, then they copied our passports and the residency stamps.  Because we began our immigration process in Quito they need 5 days to send those copies to Quito to confirm they are not fakes.  There had been so many rumours that the President had scrapped the Censo program but we had been told they were not true.  It certainly appears that we will be getting a card, with our photo on it, very similar to the Cedula.

Then we will meet up with Chris and Bettye at the Palermo where they will reside for one more night before they move to their new digs.  Thank God Bettye is feeling much better now.  Chris also decided to join the Photography Tour on the 16th.

Then it was time to catch a cab with Bettye and Chris to go to another penthouse terrace Fourth Of July bash at Sterling Kerr’s in El Centro.  The cab ride was painstakingly slow due to the ongoing construction at Ordonez Lasso and the Avenida de Las Americas.  Why the cab didn’t go along the river instead is beyond our comprehension, but we did arrive in one piece.   It was a trifle cool but everyone brought jackets and a dish of something, plus their own drinks.  We all had to climb to the fifth floor as there are no elevators in the building.  We knew at least 70% of the folks attending.  Bella brought a tourtiere and it was gone in a hurry.   I ate almost nothing there because I had overeaten at Joe’s.  I probably won’t have to eat tomorrow either.

There were many interesting people at this party and three ladies came to sit at the table with me in the open so they could smoke.  It is a good thing I was upwind.  It was amusing that Denise was Italian, Yelena was Ukrainian, and Yana was Russian.  We had our own version of the United Nations on that rooftop.   A good time was had by all.
When I got home I had many emails about the photography tour and enough interested parties to overfill the bus, so we are happy about that.

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

120704 Joe's Secret Garden

120704 North, Bella, Jim & ??

Joe's Tammy Faye Bakker portrait

120704 Dogs & Burgers, Mmmmmmmm

120704 Decadent dessert

120704 Joe & Joseph hard at work

Guest in the American spirit

Bella and new friends

Some of the guests at Joe's

Sterling Kerr's penthouse terrace party

Dusk with a jet over the Immaculate Conception cathedral

United Nations: Yelena from Ukraine, Denise
from Italy and Yana from Russia

Tuesday July 3, 2012

Tuesday July 3/12 update

Thank you to Jim Mola for giving me a plug on his blog http://cuencaperspectivesbyjim.blogspot.com/ and calling me a professional photographer.  While I take a lot of pretty outstanding photographs as my own hobby, I could never make a living at it, mainly because I am not confident enough to market them properly and I do not know how to charge for my work.  For those reasons I do not consider myself professional by any means.

Bella is off to the Book Exchange this morning and needs to exchange a few movies.  We watched Blue Valentine last night with Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling which has great acting but a totally depressing ending.  Why do they make such movies?

John Davila of JD’s picked me up at 10am to head to Cojitambo, one of the highest points just east of the city, 28 kms from here to the summit, about 10,000 feet high.  This is a very distinctive pointy peak with a sheer cliff on the east side.  There are signs of previous portions breaking away because the mountains here are often mostly gravel, and whole sections can just slide off.   I would not want to live in the town below.   The last portion of the road to the peak is a very narrow dirt road that could be slippery when wet.

Cojitambo has some fairly nice Inca ruins at the summit and the 360 degree view is breathtaking and we can easily see several towns in the distance.  This is to be the starting point of our proposed night photography tour, leaving Cuenca around 4pm and stay there for sunset.   Standing on the edge of the eastern cliff is scary if one has vertigo. 

Then John took me to the ritzy eastern suburb of Challuabamba where he and James live.  John bought a house there 2 years ago and property land values have doubled since then.   James rents a huge home with small pasture for 2 horses for $800 a month.

Then the two of them took me to the highest peak surrounding Cuenca which has most of the communication towers.  There is a nice view from Turi down below, but that is restricted with trees.  On the top of this mountain we have an unobstructed view of the whole city, even to our home.   It will be breathtaking to take night shots from there.

Then John bought us lunch and cervezas at Fogo’s Restaurant below Turi which again has a wonderful view.  This is where we will stop for supper during the tour before going downtown to shoot the churches and buildings lit up at night.  Then we’ll probably finish off further north to get views from the opposite direction.

We also discussed the possibility that I give them my help with their website and for organizing tours.  They also invited me to come with their tour to Parque XTremo in Yunguilla on the 21^st and I can bring a friend.

I had them drop me off at my little indigenous barber as my shaggy mane needed shredding.  She does such a great job for $2.   Then I stopped at the video store close by and bought a few movies.  The owner speaks a little English and offered his services for driving and interpreting.

Bella had called me that Joe and Joseph had invited us for their 4^th of July celebration tomorrow in payment for the photos I had taken for them.  We accepted.   They are having American-style burgers and hotdogs with decadent dessert.  After that we head to another 4^th of July celebration in penthouse terrace which should be jammed with people.

As I got home I spotted Raoul’s truck so I wandered over and saw that all of his sister’s internet and phone business had been moved over to the new building so they were now in the process of demolishing the family’s building on the left with sledgehammers.

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

One of James' horses

James $800/mo rental with lots of land

Adobe huts on the way up to Cojitambo

Little church on the way up to Cojitambo

Big church in the town of Cojitambo, way below the peak

Heading up and up to the peak

Looking up from the big church to the gravelly peak

The Inca ruins just below the peak

One of the townspeople

Country folk on the road up to the town

Full-out 40x zoom shot of a distant church

Looking toward Cuenca fro Cojitambo

The big church looks pretty small down there

Panorama from the peak looking east

Panorama from the peak looking west towards Cuenca

Fenced compound on peak above south Cuenca

This is where we will shoot our night shots of Cuenca

These Inca terraces are on a peak next to Turi, s. of Cuenca

Zoomed in shot of central Cuenca from the mast peak

Panoramic view of Cuenca from the mountain with all the masts, our home would be way to the lower right

View from the Fogo's restaurant where we will have supper

Ripping down Raoul's sister's place with sledgehammers

Finally got rid of the shaggy dog look