Cuenca Updates: Friday-Saturday March 30-21, 2012

Friday Mar 30/12 update
Boy, we didn’t accomplish much today. We are having a severe problem with our upload speed which is only .05Mps and that is just awful. I am trying to communicate with Etapa via email because trying to talk on the phone is just plain frustrating. It is at least 3 days now and makes my uploads of photos to my work sites an exercise in patience. What used to take 90 seconds now takes about 40 minutes!
I finally talked myself into getting out for a walk about 3pm but the heavens opened which scotched that idea.
That was today’s non-excitement. Hugs to all.

Saturday March 31/12 update
We walked up the hill this morning to catch the #3 downtown, across from the Monay Mall. There was some dancers/exercise group putting on a performance in front.
At noon we met Bettye & Chris Petersen, friends of Jim & Cindy Wilkins, from Atlanta whom we had met before when they were checking out Cuenca. They had just returned from Atlanta where they had liquidated everything but their house hasn’t sold yet, so they have rented it to the new defensive coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons Football team. They flew first class so they were allowed five suitcases and one backpack each. They said one suitcase and one backpack were very close to 90 pounds each so I have no idea how they ever made it, but obviously the plane got off the ground. Bella had arranged for Bettye to bring back some spices with her so they had brought about ½ of that shipment to the lunch, because they knew we had plans to hang around El Centro for the afternoon and we wouldn’t want to drag around all that weight. They would not accept any payment for this but Bella had made up a copy of the Cooking In The Andes cookbook for Bettye so she was very pleased. They are renting an apartment in GringoLand for now until they decide what they want to do, buy or rent. They are really a nice couple and very keen to learn from our experiences. Bettye even seems to want to join Bella at her bridge games too.
After lunch at the San Sebas café we walked down to El Centro and the area of the San Francisco market, the Immaculate Conception cathedral, and Parque Calderon, where we showed them the Tourist office and the various theatres and concert halls in the area. Then we walked over to the Rotary Market to show them the wonderful wooden furniture and crafts available there.
Bettye and Chris took a cab home while we wound our way over to San Blas Square to have an ice cream at Mixx to kill some time. This young lad next to us wanted his picture taken ad then insisted we also shoot his sister. Who am I to refuse??
We slowly walked back towards IC and PQ where we saw a new act along the side of the cathedral. This fellow was covered in black shoe polish and doing the mime/statue act on a precarious stool. His performance was very different than any other we had seen as he provided mechanical sound effects to his movements. Every time you put a coin into his cup he went into motion to thank you for your generosity.
http://youtu.be/AU5-eibUQpU and http://youtu.be/OXhhdvwpLNg
We had to kill some more time until 6pm so we went back west to DiBacco’s Italian Restaurant for a pasta supper. On one corner I took a video of the street vendors with what was left of their wheelbarrows loaded with fruit, along with the typical pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
http://youtu.be/HhYZDeA_-f0
We finished our meal just in time to head back to Parque Calderon where a couple of dance troupes were putting on a performance in the gazebo. We stayed, in the rain, under the umbrellas, taking some one-handed videos. The one group doing modern dance was from the USA.
http://youtu.be/qatpkQOl20A
The other group comprised of local ethnic dancers whose ladies also performed a “bottle dance”, dancing with a small-based bottle balanced on their heads. They must have learned this in Deportment 101 or some such class by Emily Post!
http://youtu.be/t4Fjff7_4Bk and http://youtu.be/Sf3jbji_qQk
The typical costumed ethnic dance is always a pleasure to behold.
http://youtu.be/kIWn_JDgEOs
After an hour of juggling umbrellas and cameras, and standing stationary on the concrete sidewalk, we decided we would skedaddle, beat the rush, and catch a cab home.
I managed to get a couple of night shots of the old cathedral through the cab window as it is beautifully lit at night, and it is bright white with beautiful brass bells.
This blog is published very late because the uploads to YouTube took all night and morning… We will probably be changing Internet providers this week!
Enjoy the pics and movies. That was today’s excitement. Hugs to all.