Some pics from Cuenca

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If you were in Cuenca

...you would see numerous parades/processionals every weekend with children dressed up, depicting the wise men coming to adore Baby Jesus (I'm told there's parades every weekend in December and January--the common belief is that if your child is in such a parade, they will be blessed for that year)
...you would be surrounded Spanish that sounds like it's being sung (a VERY different accent than Guayaquil!)
...you would be hot one minute, then needing a jacket the next when the sun goes behind the clouds
...you would be able to try koi (sp?)--or guinea pig (it is my goal to try it while I'm here, although my stomach recoils at the thought of it!)
...you would bounce along in the buses as they drive down the cobblestone streets
...you would see the brightly coloured clothing of the Indigenous women everywhere--especially the pleated skirts: bright pinks, blues, purples, oranges, reds
...you would see the mountains in the background
...you would notice the lack of (and almost miss???!!!!) the sounds of horns honking on the street
...you would hope that the electricity doesn't go out--because that would mean a cold shower (and we're talking freezing!)
...you would be in grave danger of getting pelted by a water balloon (I've narrowly escaped twice!). Here, after Christmas, it's open season for that sort of thing up until Carnaval, a festival at the beginning of February.
...you would grumble about paying 30 cents for 4 bananas (it's only 10 cents for 3 in Guayaquil!)

ONLY 6 days in Cuenca?!?!?!?!

Wow, I´m tired! We got our classes Sunday morning and classes started Monday. I was given two advanced classes (thankfully, the same ones) called "Comparing Cultures." Basically we get to explore all sorts of different aspects of cultures from around the world--fascinating, but also a TONNE of work for me, as there is no book to follow--I get to put together the curriculum. There´s a lot of material here at the school, but I have this tendency to overdo things at times....

One of those classes also just ended up having one student and when that happens, it becomes a "tutorial"--which means less hours with the same amount of material. Added to that, he wants 2 hours a day (my other class is an hour and fifteen minutes), so I´ve got to put together my material extra fast. I was QUITE stressed out on Monday, but things are looking a lot better now. I also have a 7 am class from Monday-Friday, plus a 4 hour Saturday morning class (haven´t met those students yet).

So, the past three days, it's felt like I've been living here at the school. On the weekend, though, I got out to do some exploring of Cuenca. It really is a beaufitul city--very colonial, with cobblestone streets everywhere.

I´m living in a quiet neighbourhood with my friend Monica. We've been getting along really great. Her brother was visiting for a week, but he went back to Guayaquil today, so I'll be able to get my own room. It really is amazing how everything worked out with my living arrangements!

This past weekend was the "day of the magi" and I stumbled upon a parade in celebration of the "Christ Child." I actually didn't have my camera with me but, in good old Ecuadorian fashion, the parade got stalled for about half an hour, so I had time to grab a cab to my apartment, grab my camera and head back to get some pics of the tail end of the procession. I'll post some pics when I get the chance.

On Sunday I went with Monica to her church. She's attending the a HUGE church--has 4000 members that meet over 5 different services. I must admit at first I felt rather alone in the church--I'm so used to the friendly outgoingness of my church in Guayaquil. People in Cuenca are a lot more reserved so it will take some getting used to.

Well, that's been my life here in Cuenca up until now. It really does feel like I've been here for ages already--I'm looking forward to getting into the swing of things.

Oh, one more thing: I've got a nasty cold, so that's really been draining my strength. I'd appreciate your prayers for a speedy recovery!

Happy New Year!

Well, tomorrow I´m off to Cuenca. I have my orientation on Friday and start teaching on Monday.

The last week has been FULL of celebrations and what-not. Christmas Eve there was a program at the church, then we had a big turkey dinner at the house. A bunch of the extended family came over and we exchanged gifts and set off firecrackers. Christmas Day, the tradition is to go swimmng, so I headed off to a river and pool in a nearby town. It was actually cloudy and COOL, so we got pretty chilled, but it was still fun.

New Year´s Eve, we went to the Grandparents´house where we brought in the New Year by blowing up the old one. That´s the tradition here--they make paper-mache characters (año viejos) to represent the previous year, then, at midnight they set them on fire in the middle of the street. In the afternoon we went around the city to look at some of the año viejos--some of them are HUGE, more than 3 stories high! Actually, in the hours leading up to midnight, they set off a ton of firecrackers, so by the end your ears are ringing from all the noise.