Cuenca Updates: 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.