Neufie's Blog

Although downtown Cuenca is full of churches, the influence of the Catholic Church has waned a lot and the society is more secular. However, there is still a segment of the population that observes religious holidays. Often these take the form of parades that snake through the streets of Cuenca on Sunday afternoons. There have been three parades that we have been aware of since we arrived. The first parade was on January 15. The second was on January 29. We only got a brief glimpse of the third one which was on February 12.

The first part of the parade on January 15th had passed our street before I realized what was happening and so I did not get photos of the beginning of the parade as it traveled West along Primero de Mayo.

There was a marching band leading this float built around a large three-ton dump truck. The next float was a half-ton truck decorated with reindeer. It was followed by a group of people dressed in Santa Claus costumes. The Santas were followed by two cards draped in fabric and flowers. Often the trunk of the car was open and the interior of the trunk was decorated and several children were seated in the trunk.

It was not at all clear what the parade was celebrating. The Santas suggested Christmas but Christmas on the Julian calendar was celebrated on January 7, more than a week earlier than this (January 15).

This is a decorated truck with a crew-cab. A canopy has been built over the box to shade the riders. The truck is closely followed by a group of native women in their native costumes. This is followed by a half-ton truck with a canopy over the box. The last shot is taken from the rear to show the people riding in the truck box.

The next couple of floats emphasize more of the religios nature of the parade. Note the two angels on the first truck and the large picture showing Christ and two disciples on the second. These two were followed by several native women and men in traditional costumes.

Towards the end of the parade the vehicles were less-well-decorated. However, there were still lots of riders. The truck was followed by a group of native women from a different tribe. In the last photo we have a Ecuadorian women with her very elaborately costumed daughter. I’m not sure of the significance of the very elaborate costume, but there are numerous stores in downtown Cuenca that custom make and sell such elaborate costumes so there must be a good demand for them.

Near the end of the parade with this little girl (a niña) dressed in a clown costume. At the end of the parade was this truck with an elaborately dressed doll on the hood and an elaborately decorated tapestry on the roof. The last photo shows a closeup of the elaborate tapestry.

####### Parade 2, January 29, 2012 #######

This time I hustled outside when I heard a band playing and managed to catch the very start of the parade on Sunday, January 29, 2012. Although this parade was held long after the Christain celebration of three kings day (January 5 – January 18 on the Julian calendar) that marks the end of the Christmas season, it appears that this parade celebrates the arrival of the three wise men, Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar in Bethlehem. The children riding ponies at the start of the parade were elaborately costumed to represent the wise men.

There were quite a few riders at the beginning of the parade. This young lady was dressed as an angle complete with tinsel trimmed wings. There were two boys dressed as kings complete with crowns, long beards and flowing robes. There were other riders as well but they were not as elaborately costumed.

Following the horses and riders we had a mother pushing her youngster in a decorated stroller. This young native girl was proud to show off her fancy traditional costume. The third photo is a group of young native young people who were dancing to the music of the band of musicians.

When the parade halted for a few minutes, the native young people did an impromptu dance for the onlookers. The dancers were followed by two women carrying elaborately dressed dolls that probably represent the Christ child. They were followed by two children dressed to represent Mary and Joseph (note the halos).

This was a group of native women in traditional costumes. The different hat styles indicate that they are from two different tribes. Here is the brass band that provided music for the parade. They were followed by another group of native men and women in traditional costumes.

Here come the decorated cars. The first one had a child riding on the roof of the car. The next vehicle had a Christ doll on the hood and several people riding in the truck box under a canopy. The parade marshal, in hot pink, made sure that all the floats were in the proper order and moving along well.

Here one of the riders on one of the vehicles gave me a big smile and a wave. Towards the end of the parade, the vehicles did not seem to be decorated in a manner that was in keeping with the theme of the parade. For example, this truck was draped in fabric but had a pink plastic pig as a decoration on the hood. The last picture I took of the floats in this parade was of this decorated car. Who let the dogs out?

####### Parade 3, February 12, 2012 #######

This parade did not come down Primero de Mayo. We just happened on it by chance. We were walking along Primero de Mayo towards Avenue de Las Americas to meet some friends when we say the parade North along Av Loja and blocking traffic as it crossed Primero de Mayo. Most of the parade has passed before we got to the intersection but we did manage to get a few photos.

As we were approaching the intersection the floats were blocking traffic on Primero de Mayo. This parade included some rather large trucks draped in fabric and this truck all decked out with balloons.

In this last photo of the parade the floats have cleared the intersection and heading North along Av Loja over the bridge and under the viaduct. Since we didn’t see much of the parade, it was impossible to determine what event or festival, if any, the parade was celebrating.

This is a bit of a belated post because the guys came to install the Internet on the Saturday after we arrived in Cuenca. However, since it is fairly indicative of Ecuadorian work, I thought it was worth including.

The two installers are installing a wireless internet connection. This involves installing a small antenna at the highest point on the roof, running a cable from the antenna to where the computer is to be located, and attaching a modem controller to the end of the cable, a wall outlet and the computer.

Since the job involves stringing a piece of cable from the antenna to where the computer is to be located, you might thing the best tactic would be to climb up on the roof, measure the length of cable needed, climb down, cut the length of cable needed, and carry it up to the roof. You might think that that is a reasonable way to proceed, but you would be wrong – this is Ecuador. What you do is carry the 100 lb spool of wire up the ladder, wrestle it onto the roof and carry it to where the antenna is to be located so you can spool off the amount of wire you need. I didn’t say a word and just held the ladder when they were both up on the roof.

In order to install the antenna they had to drill a couple of holes through the roofing tiles. You might expect they would use one of the newer 14.4 or 18 volt cordless drills. But, this is Ecuador. They used a nice corded DeWalt drill powered through a long, twisted extension cord. In the second photo the installer is using a masonry bit to drill a hole for the cable past the edge of the window frame. He then pulled the cable through the hole and over to the computer.

The installers used a hot-melt glue to neatly tack the cable down the wall and then along the top of the baseboard to where the computer was located. The other installer then attached the modem/controller and programmed it.

The final step was to clean up and put away the tools. Here one of the installers tries to untabgle and wind up the long extension cord they used to power their electric drill. They really should use a cordless drill, is would save time and be much safer. However, this is Ecuador.

This is a Google map of our neighborhood. The arrow marks the location of our apartment. Our apartment is just a couple of houses off the main street, Av. Primero de Mayo, on Lope de Vega. The streets marked in red show the route of the #7 bus that we use regularly. We just have to walk a short distance to the bus stop on Isabela la Catolica.

Walking West along Primero de Mayo

On the first of our trips through our neighborhood we will be walking to the left (westward) along Av Primero de Mayo that parallels the banks of the Yanuncay River. Our journey will take us as far as Avenue de Las Americas at the left edge of the map where the bus line makes a sharp turn to the north.

At the corner of Lope de Vega and Primero de Mayo there is a small convenience store with outdoor tables for having a drink or a snack. The second photo shows a view of the establishments along this block of Primero de Mayo. There is another convenience store and a large woodworking shop that appears to build furniture. There are thickness planers, shapers, bandsaws and other large pieces of woodworking equipment.

There is a park between Primero de Mayo and the Yanuncay River. There are several sets of playground equipment for kids to play on. There is not the same concern for protecting children from all possible dangers that there is in North America. Several of the playgrounds had zip-lines for the children to use. The Yanuncay River is the second largest of the four rivers that flow through Cuenca. It is a rapidly flowing streams with a fairly steep gradient. The current is too swift and there are too many boulders in the stream-bed for the river to be navigable.

There are several multi-story apartment buildings along Primero de Mayo with more under construction. Most of the existing structures have apartments for rent. There are also several small gated communities with from four to ten residences surrounding a central courtyard. On one corner there is a pre-school that is based on the ideas of Pestalozzi.

As the well-maintained walking path along the river approaches Ave Loja, Primero de Mayo veers away from the river and there are houses between the road and the path along the river. As we approach the Av Loja bridge, the path climbs steeply and we have to dodge the traffic to continue along the path. There are several quite nice houses along this section of Primero de Mayo. Although here is a large vacant lot being used as a garden. There are a surprising number of these vacant lots scattered throughout the built-up sections of the city. It would seem that these would be ideal for in-fill housing.

Here a new home is under construction on one of the previously vacant lots. Note that most buildings are constructed like this. The main floor is a concrete slab. Reinforced concrete posts are poured about 8 feet apart along the exterior walls and the interior supporting walls. Then a concrete slab is poured to form the ceiling of the main floor and the floor for the second level. You can tell that this building will be taller because of the reinforcing rod extending up from the top of the posts holding up the second floor. The walls are then completed by laying concrete blocks between the exterior posts. The walls are finished with a layer of plaster over the concrete blocks. Note that other than the air spaces in the concrete blocks, there is no insulation used in constructing a house here. As we walked along we encountered several of these maintenance personnel trimming the grass along the riverbank. As we neared Avenida de Las Americas we saw what appears to be an English country cottage. It appears that a British expat was missing his homeland.

There is a very large apartment complex under construction at the corner of Primero de Mayo and Av de Las Americas. With so much new construction going on in the city, I have the feeling that the developers are over building and before long there will be a glut of homes and apartments on the market and real estate prices will drop. The second photo shows a #7 bus that has turned onto Av de Las Americas and is crossing the river heading towards the market and downtown. The day we hiked this route there was a fisherman trying his luck with a net in the river. This concludes the exploration of our neighborhood in this direction.

Walking East along Primero de Mayo

Our next walk takes us East along Primero de Mayo just a little past the bridge where Av Doce de Octubre (the 12th of October) crosses the Yanuncay River.

In the first photo we are looking East along Primero de Mayo from the intersection with Lope de Vega. The tall chimney with smoke coming from it is a restaurant that features chicken. They probably roast up to a hundred chickens at a time on rapidly rotating rotisseries. Since Primero de Mayo is a busy street many of the homes use the first floor as a business such as this shop selling elaborate costumes for festivals and other celebrations. In the center of the first block is this unfinished building. Apparently the builder ran out of money part way through the construction process.

The next street east of Lope de Vega is not a public street. It leads to a small gated community of six homes. One of the residents has just driven out and so the gate is still partially open. The next two photos are of one the houses in the next block. This is quite an up-scale neighborhood and many of the houses have elaborate ornamentation.

The first photo is of the next publicly accessible street east of Lope de Vega along Primero de Mayo. The second photo shows another of the elaborate entrances to homes in this neighborhood. The final photo shows the bridge that carries the heavy traffic from Doce de Octubre over the Yanuncay River.

We have not explored much further East than Doce de Octubre. However, the river trail continues and passes behind this elaborately landscaped complex of buildings that faces Primero de Mayo. This concludes our exploration in this direction.

Walking South along Lope de Vega

In this walk we will walk south along Lope de Vega until we reach The main, four lane divided street Isabela la Catolica. We will turn East and pass the bus stops where we catch our #7 bus and then explore the area around the big traffic circle there Isabela la Catolica meets Doce de Octubre.

This is looking south along Lope de Vega. Our next-door-neighbor has a very large impressive house and yard behind that tall fence. The entrance door is elaborately carved.

Unlike many dwellings where the building takes up essentially the entire lot, our neighbor has a large yard around his house. It is nicely landscaped with flowers and fruit trees. This is one of the plum trees in front of his house. In the large side yard the citrus tree and palm indicate that this is a very moderate climate. The next house up the street is also impressive with a neatly tiled courtyard with lovely rose bushes.

This is obviously an up-scale neighborhood, but there are no zoning laws, so directly across the street from these high-end homes is a vacant lot and the compound of a mechanic who specializes in the repair of Volkswagons. There is also a very small dwelling set well back on a lot that appears to be filled with junk.

Just beside the two impressive homes stands what appears to be a large office building. However, the sign identifies it as a church, the Christian Center of Cuenca (Yanuncay Annex). They hold services on Sunday mornings and small meetings and rehearsals of musical groups on a few evenings during the week. Immediately beside the church is an unpaved street running east. This street provides the only access to numerous dwellings. I’m not sure why the street is unpaved because all the other streets in the area are paved. Probably some obscure political reason.

This is the view further south along Lope de Vega. Immediately south of the unpaved street there is a large vacant lot surrounded by a tall fence. At some point there was a dwelling here but at present it is used as a garden space. Further up the street there are more up-scale homes.

When you reach the intersection with Isabela la Catolica, there is a large, new apartment block on one side of the street. On the other side of Lope de Vega there is a run-down house with a large yard. Part of the yard is used as a garden while the remainder is used as a chicken run. This is the source of my early morning wake-up calls.

Here we are looking East along Isabela la Catolica. This is a major 4-lane divided street. Here Nan is waiting for a #7 bus at the bus stop. The Cuenca city buses are not fancy but they are reasonably comfortable. The fare is only 25 cents and the buses run frequently – about every 5 minutes. After a while we got tired of having to search for change every time we rode the bus and bought a bus pass. A pass costs $1.75 and you can charge it up with as much money as you’d like. When you get on the bus you just tap the card against a reader and it deducts the fare from the amount on the card.

This large open space is the traffic circle where Isabela la Catolica meets Doce de Octubre. If we walk a short distance south along Doce de Octubre we come to a hardware store (ferretería) and a bakery (panadería).

Although Doce de Octubre is a busy street which attracts commercial development there are still some vacant lots such as this once being used as a vegetable garden. Because of the heavy traffic, those buildings that are solely private residences tend to wall themselves off to try to maintain a semblance of privacy. Many of the buildings combine a business, such as this Pizza Express outlet, on the first floor with residental space above.

Just beside the Pizza Express is this shop that rents movies (peliculas) on DVD’s. Internet connections in Cuenca are not stable enough that streaming video from Netflicks or Hulu provides much competition yet. There are numerous restaurants around the traffic circle area. This one sports a sign indicating that they accept MasterCard and Visa. Ecuador has a cash based economy and most merchants will not accept credit cards. Those that do tend to have inflated prices and will offer a 10 to 15% discount if you pay cash. As we move around the circle we come to the bridge that crosses the Yanuncay River. Note the merchant who has set up a stall on the median.

The first photo shows the median merchant selling a newspaper to a passing motorist. Note that the motorist is NOT stopped at a red light. He has cleared the intersection and was heading over the bridge and is now blocking traffic as he buys a newspaper. The second photo shows the Farmacia San Diego where I had the prescriptions my dentist gave me filled. The pharmacist charged me $32.50 for the prescriptions but when I got home Nancy noticed that the receipt in the bag was for $22.50. I asked my dentist whether the extra $10 I had paid was a filling fee but he told me that I had been ripped off by the pharmacist and should not have paid anything more than the receipt. When I asked the pharmacist about it, he claimed I only paid what the receipt showed. As a result, I would advise people to avoid Farmacia San Diego located at Isabela la Catolica 3-61 Y Av. 12 de Octubre. Nearby is a small used car lot. Cars tend to be very expensive in Ecuador because of high import duties and a prohibition on importing used vehicles. Although the cars are expensive their owners do not take good care of their vehicles (check fluid levels, change oil regularly, etc.) so the cars wear out quite quickly and you need to be very careful when buying a used vehicle.

There are two small markets that sell fresh fruits and vegetables around the traffic circle. However, we tend to go to one of the large markets such as Feira Libre or to one of the supermercados (Coral or SuperMaxi) to do our food shopping. As we complete our journey around the circle we come back to Isabela la Catolica where we see several large, stately homes. The streets of Cuenca are kept relatively free of litter by street sweapers such as these.

If we go south of Isobela la Catolica along Lope de Vega we see more highrise apartments under construction. We saw this trailer outfitted as a mobile food vendor. Since it is shaped like a whale, it probably serves fish and chips. Even in this densely populated up-scale neighborhood there are vacant lots that are being used to raise vegetables and chickens.

These are “tree tomatoes” or tamarillos ripening on the — tree. Tree tomatoes are distant relatives of potatoes and tomatoes. The plant is a small, half-woody, fast-growing, brittle tree; shallow-rooted; reaching 10 to 18 ft in height. The fruits can be eaten raw or sliced and added to soups or stews. Commercially they are made into juice. Although regular tomatoes are grown and eaten in Ecuador, Ecuadorians can not conceive of them being made into juice. Real tomato juice comes from tree tomatoes!

This is a new, up-scale neighborhood and is composed of rows of modern row houses with little space around each house. However, there are central green spaces and playgrounds for the kids.

The developer of this community has created a good mix of densely packed residences and community green space. There are a few low-key businesses in the community. For example, this individual repairs computers. Outside the “development area” the homes have been constructed by various builders and so there are greater differences between the homes on a block. Los Andes is a large private K-12 school located in this area.

It was recess when we walked by and the children were playing in the playground. When they discovered some friendly Gringos by the fence one of the teachers and her class came over to practice their English. The teacher had a multi-grade classroom with students in grades 2, 3 and 4. This is a large school with several buildings containing classrooms and a large playground.

As we walked towards home we passed a small gated community of nice, modern homes. The occasional small business, such as this local beauty parlor, did not detract from the overall time of the neighborhood. However, the total lack of zoning means that you may find your neighbor opening and running an auto body shop like this right next door!

This concludes our walk through our neighborhood. I hope we’ve given you some idea of what a rather nice, up-scale Ecuadorian neighborhood is like in Cuenca. Most of the people who live here are native Ecuadorians although a number of expats are starting to move into this area.

The Mall del Rio is a modern shopping center located in the south part of Cuenca. We are lucky that the #7 bus route that runs close to our apartment runs between downtown Cuenca and the Mall del Rio. If we take the inbound bus it goes past the huge outdoor market on its way downtown. If we take the outbound bus it is just a short 10 minute ride to the mall. The anchor for the mall is the Coral Hypermercado (hyper market).

When you enter the mall through the entrance nearest the bus stop, you find you are in the food court on the second level of the mall. There are a wide variety of fast food establishments that sell Ecuadorian food. However, for Gringos and others with a taste for American-style food there are two KFCs, and a Burger King. Near the food court is a video game arcade to entertain the younger crowd.

In the center of the mall the was a Bungee Bounce where kid could get strapped into a bungee harness and then bounced up and down in relative safety. On our first visit to the mall we stopped in at the Claro cell phone store to get SIMM cards for our cell phones and purchase some minutes of air time. Here the female technician inserts the SIMM card and then the male technician links our phones into the Claro system. Unfortunately, a few days later the holder for my cell phone fell apart and I lost my cell phone either on the bus or while walking downtown. I immediately went to a store associated with Claro and reported the cell phone as lost or stolen. They locked the old phone out of the system and issued me a new SIMM card with my old phone number. A day or so later I purchased a new cell phone and with the new SIMM card in place, I was back in business. I didn’t even lose the minutes I had paid for! Mind you, I did get some calls from puzzled friends of the person who found my old phone. They were trying to place a call to the old phone, but it was locked out of the system – the call was directed to my new phone. The old phone they had was totally useless.

This is a sign in the Claro shop. Although you can spend hundreds of dollars here on the latest in smart phones, they don’t accept and bills larger than $20. This is typical of Ecuadorian stores and even banks. When you come to Ecuador do not bring $50 or $100 bills or travellers’ cheques in any denominations. They will not be accepted. As with most North American shopping malls, there are lots of clothing stores selling the latest fashions including Lee, Adidas, Nike, etc. However, there are some mall customers who prefer to dress more traditionally.

The mall has a bright airy feel to it with large skylights. Most North American malls are dominated by clothing, shoe and jewellry stores. This mall has a much wider variety of shops including this Yamaha motorcycle dealership. There are many side aisles and passageways in the mall that lead to interesting features such as this elaborate Roman-style fountain.

This shows the two levels of the mall near the entrance to the Coral Hypermercado and, in the second photo, The actual entrance to Coral. As you step inside you realize this is no ordinary supermarket or even a SuperWalmart. There are the usual rack of shopping carts but what about that display of motorcycles for sale!

One of the first sections contains automotive products. There are racks and racks of additives, cleaners, and tools as well as a section dealing with tires and batteries. Not as extensive as the automotive section at Canadian Tire but still quite impressive. Beside the automotive section is the hardware section. The rightmost photo provides a glimpse of the variety of products in this section.

There is a huge selection of power tools available in this section. A much greater selection than Home Depot, Canadian Tire and Princess Auto combined! Many of the tools are professional grade. However, they are not cheap. There is a fairly stiff import tarrif on manufactured goods and so prices are considerably higher than they are in North America. For example, that radial arm saw sells for $3200! The rightmost photo shows some of the many sizes and types of electric motors available here.

There are racks and racks of both hand and power tools. Here is part of their selection of bench vices. They even sell large construction equipment such as this concrete mixer and power trowel. After a hard day of work on a construction project you might want to slip to the plumbing section and relax in a nice whirlpool hot tub.

There are a wide variety of plain and fancy tubs and shower units. There are corner units as well as fancy units that come complete with padded head rests. Their extensive selection of toilets is enough to make Home Depot or Lowes jealous.

They even have a small sized toilet for children. Of course they carry an extensive line of kitchen sinks. Stainless steel sinks with an integral drainboard are not common in North America. However, they are quite common and inexpensive here. A single sink with drainboard is about $70 while a double sink with drainboard is between $104 and $114.

Beside the plumbing section is an extensive display of large appliances. Most homes use gas for cooking, water heating and drying clothes. Gas is generally not piped into houses from a central utility like Centra Gas. It is supplied in cylinders taller and smaller in diameter than those commonly used with gas barbeques in North America. Appliances are somewhat more expensive than they are in North America. Those dishwashers sell for $643 and $534 respectively. Next to the large appliances are the small appliances. They stock a much wider range of models than is commonly found in North American stores. For example, this is their display of slow cookers.

Their selection of electric blenders and frying pans and griddles is much more extensive than in most North American stores. They stock several models and brands of sewing machines. There is a wide selection of electric irons for ironing clothes. They even have an automatic steam pressing machine (above the sewing machines).

Not only is there an extensive selection of consumer-grade small appliances, there are heavy-duty commercial units available as well. The electronics section has a fair selection of High Definition TV sets and accessories. There is a wide selection of boom-box type CD players and radios.

For those who feel that the output from a boom-box is inadequate, amplifiers and large speaker systems are available. If you have a musical talent, you might be interested in one of these acoustic or electric guitars or perhaps in a drum kit.

If you are looking to start a rock group, there are plenty of heavy duty instrument amps and speakers systems to ensure that your sound is loud. If your rock group is mobbed by teenie-boppers, you may need to be carried away on one of these stretchers or gurneys. They even have examining room equipment and a dentist’s chair.

For seniors there is a wide selection of wheelchairs, walkers and canes. A few feet over we come to the bedding section with a vast array of comforters and duvets

They have a good selection of regular and fitted sheets. If you are into sewing or recovering furniture, there is a good selection of upholstery fabrics and textiles next to the bedding. Beside that is a gigantic toy section. Here is a small part of the stuffed toys available.

This is a huge toy section covering thousands of square feet of space. Remember, this is a month after Christmas when most North American retailers are selling off the toys that didn’t sell at Christmas time and are busy downsizing their toy departments. In Coral, this appears to be the normal size of the toy department!

To give you some idea of the size of the toy section, look at the number of aisles devoted just to friction cars (carros fricctión). Next to the toys is a wide selection of table lamps (all priced under $10). Next to that was an aisle of wall clocks. Nearby was a display of grandfather and grandmother clocks.

One whole aisle was devoted to large aquariums and accessories. A short distance away was a large display of artificial flowers and a display of vases for holding them.

There is a large open display area between the two escalators that carry patrons between the main and second floors. Near the bottom of the escalator on the main floor was an island devoted exclusively to flatware (sets of cutlery). Nearby were aisles displaying a wide variety of cookware sets.

There was the obligatory hanging display of kitchen gadgets – but with one difference. There are no rubber spatulas/scrapers to be had. We have hunted all over town. There just aren’t any. There’s a product someone should import and market to all the Gringos. There was a large selection of individual pots and pans ranging in size from very small to large enough for a commercial kitchen. Along the side wall was a display of milk cans. Although most of the milk is ultra-pasteurized (irradiated) and sold in non-refrigerated cartons, raw milk is available at most farmers’ markets. You bring your own milk jug and they fill it up from the large jugs they have brought from the farm. No, we haven’t tried this yet.

The kitchen section in most North American stores stocks a very few types of pressure cookers. This aisle in Coral shows at least fifty different types and sizes of pressure cookers. The next few aisles displayed sets of dishes in plastic, stoneware, Corelle and china. I picked up a couple of the plastic serving bowls because there were none in our “fully-furnished”apartment.

There was a large selection of knickknacks for collectors of salt and pepper shakers and other figurines. Small plastic garbage cans are a hot seller. They sit beside the toilet in every bathroom. Used toilet paper is NOT flushed down the drain as it is in North America. Here it goes into one of those plastic garbage cans and goes out with the trash. There are seemingly endless rows of plasticware. Plastic bowls, pots, ice cube trays, storage containers, etc., etc., etc..

Here is a display of plastic condiment containers and Popsicle makers. The whole section is devoted to plastic storage containers. Just past the plastic clothes hangers we come to the women’s wear section.

The womens’wear section includes blouses, sweaters, dresses, skits, blue jeans and a wide variety of fashion accessories. There are similar but slightly smaller sections for mens and children’s wear. Off to the side is a small furniture section.

There is a small selection of fitness equipment. However most Ecuadorians lead an active lifestyle and keep fit by walking up and down the hills and steps in the city and don’t need extra equipment. The stationary department has all the necessary scribblers, binders, and other supplies for schools and businesses.

There is a large baby section with a full range of high chairs, cribs and other supplies. However, there isn’t a large selection of car seats because many Ecuadorian families with young children can’t afford a car. There is a large pharmacy area with the usual supplies of toothpaste, soaps, hair products and cosmetics. However, there didn’t seem to be a place where prescriptions could be filled.

The supermarket section of Coral looks quite a bit like a North American supermarket. However, there are some interesting differences. In the fresh produce section there is a clerk with a scale. You take your selection of produce to her and she seals it in a bag, puts it on the scale and enters the product code into the scale. The scale prints out a sticker with the product information, price and a bar code that she attaches to the bag. Similar to what is done in the deli meats section of our supermarkets. However, doing this with the produce eliminates the need for those stickers on the fruit, weigh scales at each one of the check-out tills, and the need to teach the checkers the product codes. Another difference is that there are fewer prepared foods and more in the ways of basic ingredients (sugar, flour, dried beans, etc.). Pets are an important aspect of Ecuadorian life and so there is a significant portion of the store devoted to pet foods and pet products.

Unlike Manitoba supermarkets, Coral has a large area devoted to beer, wine and spirits. It has an in-store bakery like many North American supermarkets. The cashiers are friendly and helpful.

If Coral were to set up operation in North America and be able to provide competitive prices, they might well leave many of the big chains like Walmart and Target in the dust.

The nearest major street to our apartment is Primero de Mayo (First of May). Our apartment is on the cross street Lope de Vega. Lope de Vega was a Spanish playwrightand poet who lived from 1562-1635.

Looking up the street from the intersection with Primero de Mayo our apartment is in the second building from the corner. The pillar that marks the left edge of the property contains a call button to announce visitors as well as utility meters for electricity and water. In the third photo Nancy is standing to the right of the pillar marking the right-hand edge of the property. The right hand section is on wheels and can be rolled, with some considerable effort, to the left.

It’s a bit tricky getting into our apartment. First you need to unlock the huge padlock on the gate, roll open the gate and enter. Then roll back the gate and re-lock it. Next you unlock the main door into the building, enter and then re-lock it. Then you go up three steps to a landing and then up 14 more steps to the main hall that leads to both apartments.

This is the main hallway that leads to our apartment. You pass the door into the other apartment as you walk down the hall. To enter the apartment you unlock a rather serious looking piece of hardware with four 1″ deadbolts. The entrance door leads to a rather nice living room.

All this unlocking and re-locking of doors means that you can’t get into, or out of, the apartment without three keys. We were only issued a single set of keys. If I went shopping and Nancy stayed home, I needed the keys to leave and re-enter the apartment. However, that leaves Nancy with no keys. If there was a fire or other emergency, she would have no way out except through a window! As a result, I have had a second set of keys made for the main door to the building and the padlock for the front gate. The key to the apartment door is a highly specialized one and requires the services of a locksmith not the folks at the market that make copies for $0.50 each.

The apartment has an open area feel with the dining room extending off the living room. The kitchen is to the right of the dining room. The kitchen has a large stainless steel double sink with an integral drainboard. I checked at the Mall del Rio and these sinks are quite affordable here, about $125.

There is a large pass through between the kitchen and the dining room. This helps give an open airy feel to the kitchen. There is a central hallway in the apartment. Along the South wall are the entrances to our bedroom, the main floor bath and a second bedroom. The photo above shows the entrances to our bedroom and the bathroom.

This is the bedroom we are using. It has a nice double bed. One wall has floor-to-ceiling, built-in cupboards with hanging space and drawers. The main floor bathroom has a sink, a toilet and a shower. One unusual Ecuadorian custom is that used toilet paper is not disposed of in the toilet. It goes in a waste basket and goes out with the garbage.

To the right of the bathroom the hall leads to the second bedroom and the stairs. Note the window between the hall and the bedroom. This is the only window into this bedroom. It certainly would meet Manitoba’s building and fire codes. The second bedroom has a 3/4 size bed and a full wall of built-in cupboards.

This is Gabriella Sanchez, the rental agent from whom we rented the apartment. We originally thought that Gabriella owned the building. Since then we have learned that Fabian (who does speak good English) is the owner. We have enjoyed meeting and working with Fabian and his four daughters.

The stairs lead up to a tiled sunroom. The carpeted area is the apartment’s third bedroom.

This is the apartment’s third bedroom with its en-suite bath. However, this bedroom doesn’t have any closet nor other storage. This area gets quite a bit warmer than the downstairs during the day – especially if the sun shines. That is because the covered sun-room traps and stores the energy from the sun.

Another door off the sun room leads to the open-air Ecuadorian laundry. The unit on the wall is the on-demand hot water heater. The flat area below is where you scrub your clothes. The tap on the corner controls the water which squirts out horizontally through holes along one side of the washing surface.

Well, now you’ve seen our apartment. Although it is billed as a “fully furnished” apartment, we’ve had to purchase a fair number of items to make it usable. Items such as a medium sized cooking pot, a can opener, a colander, some plastic food storage containers, a plastic cutlery holder, and a small shelf unit for the bathroom. I am still on the lookout for: wooden spoons, clothes pegs, and a rubber scraper.

As you can see, we have lots of space for company. If those cold prairie days get you down, remember that in Cuenca it is about +10°C every morning and about +20°C every afternoon.

A taxi took us from the Funky Monkey Hostel to the offices of OperAzuay Tur. We paid $12 each for a ride on the 9:00 AM van to Cuenca. The  driver loaded our two big suitcases, Nan’s roller bag and backpack, my computer case, and the computer monitor. Before long we got underway.

We drove past Guayaquil airport and the many vendors who had set up shop along the streets of Guayaquil. When we reached the outskirts of the city we started to see farms such as this small livestock operation.

Before long we came to the first of about three toll booths we encountered along the highway to Cuenca. One area must be subject to flooding because all the houses are built up on stilts. This farmer was growing bananas. Further down the highway we saw field of sugar cane that were irrigated using central pivot irrigation systems.

In some area where the land was flat farmers planted fields of rice. These must have been fairly large scale operations because I saw a large mechanical combine for harvesting the rice crop. Many farmers set up stands along the highway to market their produce. Here the vendor is lying in wait for the next customer. Before long we had crossed the coastal plain and started climbing the Andes mountains. As we got to higher elevations we drove through areas of cloud forest. The clouds reduced the visibility of the road but our intrepid driver didn’t slow down because of minor inconveniences like zero visibility – he had a schedule to keep. It is 243 km from Guayaquil to Cuenca. The driver covered the distance in just under 3 hours for an average speed of 81 km/hr. Most of the speed signs I saw indicated a posted speed limit of 60 km/hr.

We drove through a National Park as we finished the final kilometers into Cuenca. At the Cuenca office of OperAzuay Tur the dispatcher called our landlady to check the address of our apartment. They piled our luggage into a tiny taxi. Our two big checked bags more than filled the hatchback area (the back door would not close). The rest of our luggage was crammed into the front seat beside the driver and we were off to meet our landlady and see our home for the next two months.

The tarmac at the Guyaquil airport was wet when we landed so we knew it had been raining. As we left the airport and rode to the hostel, the heat and humidity hit us. It was almost midnight and the temperature was still about 27°C (80°F).

As we hauled our suitcases to our room we had to squeeze past an old VW micro bus. The door on the left led to our room. The door in the center was a bathroom. The room was very basic: just a double bed, a table and a cockroach or two. Since the floor of the room was level with the walkway outside, the recent rain had caused water to seep under the door. This meant that you had to walk through water to go to the bathroom. Since it was very hot and sticky, we were happy to see a window air conditioning unit. However, when we turned it on, we soon learned that the compressor didn’t work so there was no cooling. However, the fan did provide some relief. Truth be told, we didn’t get much sleep that night!

In the morning, we got up about 7:45, got dressed and headed through the hostel’s courtyard to the office/breakfast area. It was obvious that the hostel was a holdover days of the hippies in the 1960′s. There were the  psychedelic decorations and images everywhere. There was even an old VW microbus! No sign of Alice though.

I had ordered two breakfasts: one vegetarian and the other with Mexican eggs. Here is the hostel’s manager/chef cooking up our breakfast. The food was different but good. After breakfast our host called a taxi for us and we lugged our suitcases  out to the curb. We arrived at OperAzuay Tur, the company that provides van service to Cuenca in plenty of time for the 9:00 AM van to Cuenca.

The 3:30 AM wakeup call seemed to come much too early. However we struggled out of bed, got dressed and hauled the luggage down to the lobby. We just had time to grab a glass of juice and a Danish before it was time to hop on the 4:00 AM shuttle to the airport. It took a while to check in at the airport because one of our checked bags was overweight and we had to shift some items into our carry on bags.
Then it was off to security for a thorough screening. We arrived at gate E16 in plenty of time for our 6:05 AM American Airlines flight to Miami. The flight was uneventful. During the flight we learned that AA just provides beverage service on domestic flights, no peanuts or pretzels any more. We arrived in Miami about 11 AM to bright sunshine and temperatures of 70°F. Unfortunately, our flight to Guayaquil wasn’t scheduled to depart until 6:30 PM so we had a lot of time to kill in the Miami airport. Miami is a very busy airport with hundreds of flights arriving and departing every day. When we arrived, our departing flight wasn’t even shown on the three big screens listing the departures. They only showed the flight departing between 11:30 AM and 4:00 PM! For lunch we ate some of the egg salad sandwiches we had brought along. Our flight to Guayaquil was on wide-body Boeing 767. The flight was full and departed a half hour late. Since this was an international flight, we were served supper. It wasn’t great food but it was something to eat. We touched down in Guayaquil at about 11:15 PM. By the time we cleared immigration, collected our luggage, and went through customs, it was well after 11:30 PM. We caught an overpriced taxi to the Funky Monkey Hostel and signed in.

Brandon sunrise, January 8, 2012

As the sun rose over Brandon on Sunday, January 8, 2012 it was obvious that it has been an exceptionally mild winter with virtually no snow. We loaded the car and headed South shortly after 9:00 AM. The roads were clear and dry. After we crossed the border it became obvious that North Dacota had even  less snow than Manitoba.In some parts of North Dakota there are red alerts because of the risk of grass fires. We stopped in Fargo to do some shopping and spent the night at the Howard Johnson’s. On Monday we continued our drive to Minneapolis. We stopped in for a visit with Jeff and Pat in the afternoon and picked up the items we had ordered for Frank and Angie in Cuenca: a cordless drill, a computer monitor, and some radish seeds. We then drove over to the Bloomington Self Store facility where our car would be stored while we were in Ecuador. Then it was off to the Super 8 in Bloomington to unload the car. We had supper with Amy at Applebees and purchased a large container of chili powder for the folks in Cuenca before dropping off the car at the self-store. We walked back to the Super 8, arranged for a 3:30 AM wakeup call, and hit the sack.

We spent a month, from mid-March to mid-April, in Ecuador in 2011. In late 2011 we decided to spend two months in Ecuador in 2012. This time we choose the period from mid-January to mid-March. We have been following the Discover Cuenca Ecuador blog written by Frank and Angie. We wrote to them and they provided a great lead to a fully-furnished 3-bedroom apartment that we have rented from January 11 until March 12. The photos that we were sent look good but we will have to see for ourselves when we arrive.

We will be flying from Minneapolis to Miami and then on to Guayaquil on American Airlines. Since our flight will arrive in Guayaquil at 10:30 pm, we have made arrangements to stay overnight at the Funky Monkey Hostel near the airport. In the morning we will take a van for the three and a half hour ride to Cuence. Since we have never been in Guayaquil or travelled along this route to Cuenca, we hope to get a chance to see what the countryside is like.