!Te Extraño Cuenca!

November 5^th 2010

¡¡VIVA LAS FIESTAS DE CUENCA!!

I’ve been back from Cuenca for about four days and I can’t stop thinking about what a great time I had. Cuenca is now on my top 10 favorite cities in the world and I’m already planning my next trip (maybe when Tess comes to visit in January).

Last Wednesday night I packed all of my clothes and belongings at my host family’s place in Entre Ríos and brought all my bags to my new apartment. I also baked a chocolate, strawberry and Nutella cake for my host family to thank them for hosting me for the past few months. My host sisters loved the cake and were impressed that I knew how to bake a cake from scratch. Doctora Albán teared up a little bit after reading my thank you card and told me that they would always be my Guayaquil family. It was sad to say goodbye to my home in Entre Ríos but I’m overjoyed to finally be in my own place.

Strawberry Chocolate and Nutella Cake

Wednesday morning the US Ambassador to Ecuador visited our Guayaquil Peace Corps office. The Ambassador arrived with two other US diplomats, her press secretary and bodyguards in five black suburban trucks – quite an entrance to say the least! I gave a presentation on the Municipio de Guayaquil and the resources that are provided for HIV/AIDS patients at Hospital Jacobo y María Elena Ratinoff. Ambassador Hodges seemed very interested in our work and asked each of us questions about our organizations. After our presentations, we had the opportunity to informally chat with the Ambassador and the other US diplomats. I was impressed by how down to earth they were and that they showed a real interest in our work. Overall, I was really happy with my presentation and I think it was a very successful visit by the Ambassador.

The next morning, I woke up at 5am and headed off to the terminal to catch my bus to Cuenca. I met up with three other volunteers at the terminal who had traveled over night from the city of Chone (6 hours north of Guayaquil). We took the 7:10am bus and arrived at 11:30am in Cuenca. I slept most of the trip but woke up right when we were pulling into Cuenca. We took a cab to the city center where we dropped off our bags at the hostel and then had lunch at an amazing vegetarian restaurant. For $1.60 we got a HUGE lunch with soup and a main plate of rice, beans, avocados and fresh veggies. I also got a coconut batido (shake) which was out of this world!

Coconut Batido

Classic Ecuadorian Almuerzo

We then spent the afternoon walking around the historic district of Cuenca and met up with the rest of the PC volunteers who had traveled from all over the country to spend the feriato (holiday) in Cuenca. It was so great so see all of my close PC friends again and to hear more about what they have been up to in their sites. That night we went to a local punk rock concert at a bar called Zoosociedad and then went out dancing until 5 in the morning. It was such a fun night!

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The next morning I woke up and went to breakfast with my roommates Michelle and Caitlin and some other volunteers from Guayaquil. We were told by one of the local PC volunteers that we should try a restaurant called California Kitchen. The restaurant is run and owned by a retired couple from California who originally lived in San Rafael and San Diego. I had a pepper and mushroom omelet with real coffee (not instant, which is typical here in Ecuador). The food was amazing!!

We spent the rest of the day exploring the markets of Cuenca and walking around the historic district. The city was alive with parades, music, dancing and lots of great food – all celebrating Cuenca’s 190 years of independence. My favorite market was in el parque de las madres, which is right over the river from our hostel. Hundreds of artisans from all over the country poured in to sells their art.

Indigenous women praying at an altar in the central market

 That night all the Peace Corps volunteers in town met up at a bar called Inca Lounge for a Halloween party. The owner of the bar is an ex-pat from the States so his bar is known for showing Monday night football and having killer finger food. I ended up dressing up as an 80’s workout instructor, which was really fun. I think my favorite costume from the night was a group of volunteers who dressed up as Run DMC with Adidas orange and black jumpsuits and huge bling bling necklaces. I ended up changing out of my costume and going out to a dance club called Stereo with some PC volunteers from Ominbus 103. Over the weekend, I had amazing time getting to know some other PC volunteers from Omi 103 and 102.

The next night we went to a huge fireworks show in the parque central. Three huge firework towers were set up to celebrate Cuenca’s independence. The fireworks flew off the towers in every direction and we had to duck a few times as they shot straight into the crowd.

Fireworks Tower 1

Fireworks Tower 2

Fireworks shooting into the crowd

My weekend in Cuenca was truly an amazing trip. I ended up extending my stay an extra day because I was having so much fun and didn’t want to leave.  So now I’m back in my new apartment and really enjoying settling into my new room. I have my own balcony where I love to read at night and look out onto the city. I couldn’t have asked for better living arrangements. I’m ten minutes walking distance from work and I live one block away from 9 de Octubre, which is the major street in downtown Guayaquil.

Our Apartment Building

My Balcony

My Bed

8 days away from my trip up to Quito for my Reconnect Conference!! Can’t wait to get back to la sierra.

Signing off for now!

xoxo

Leana

The view of southern Cuenca from Calle Larga