Cuenca Updates: Thursday May 10, 2012

Thursday May 10/12 update

This morning we awoke to vibration as the grader and packer were back. It appears they had added a layer of black dirt and so we had mud for the moment. They continued to add truckloads of the clay and rock so we have a small hope that this will be transformed into a smooth paved road soon.

Bella was staying home all day to make tomato pickles so she didn’t want to join me.

I again had to go to Coral because they did not link my discount card to my Cedula number as requested last time we were there. This time it did work because I made a small purchase of a butter knife and it did process correctly for tax purposes.

I then walked over to our old rental place and rang the buzzer because Segundo had told us of a Canadian couple from Toronto in financial difficulty waiting for money to arrive from their family. There was no answer so as I was walking away I was hailed by an Ecuadorian in English asking “Are you looking for Terry?”, I replied that I didn’t know their names but that they were Canadians and I wanted to know if they needed help. This fellow said he was meeting Terry later, as they had now moved to a different area, and he would give him our card.

Since I was in our old stomping grounds I gave the neighborhood a walk-through. I saw a fellow “combing” the large frond plants that are plentiful here that they use as the fill for those thin mortar ceiling tiles, also in the photo. I saw the door open at the Community hall for Los Sauces. There were kind faces I remembered so I stopped in to say hello. I told them how much we missed them and their kindness. They told me to come on the 19^th at 6:30 for a procession to the church, a mass, then a return procession. I have marked it on our calendar and hope we can make it.

I proceeded to walk uphill towards El Centro and stopped at the 10 De Augusto market for a pit stop. Then I continued to Huyana Capac and turned left to go to the Banco Central and the Inca ruins and museum. The entrance was free ands the girl at the desk knew just enough English to direct people. The museum was small and had a lot of mannequin displays but photographs were not allowed. I fought off the impulse to take just one and continued outside to have a quick look at the Inca Pumapongo ruins. Here I ran into a group of 4 people with one wearing a Tilley hat. It turns out they were Vancouverites who have been here about two years.

The ruins are impressive in size, with terraced stone levels but actually the surprise attraction was the beautiful gardens and aviary at the bottom. It was great to see parrots and toucans and raptors and other tropical birds.

See http://youtu.be/eaR3B23bLjs and http://youtu.be/Mgr-4zqIJe8

To the west of the aviary they had several llamas grazing. I wasn’t going to venture down a skinny sidewalk at the edge of the aviary but a familiar movement caught my eye.

Please enjoy the following video of this magnificent peacock strutting in full regalia for his pea-hen. He just turned and turned and even flashed his bum and winked… This was from about 10 feet away and no fence to obstruct, so it was a golden opportunity, almost as gold as the plate below the tail. What a glorious sight.

This is worth a look - http://youtu.be/XotM26bLbzc

While there, I got a call from this Terry who said they had money troubles because of a delayed payment from a client. He said he is self-employed and must rely on client payments to survive, they are not near retirement age yet. I just expressed my relief that they were OK and he thanked me for our concern. When I mentioned it to Bella she indicated the names she had been given was Mike and Olivia, not a terry, so this is very strange…

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