Saturday, Dec 23, 2006 – More walking, less working

Today we were supposed to work all day, but we got sidetracked when we went out around lunchtime to use the internet. It was such a beautiful and sunny day (the first really nice day since we’ve been here) and there were so many people out and about that we ended up walking around town for a few hours. We basically just wandered the streets, went to the market, checked out a few little shops, and used the internet.

These two pictures are from the church right outside our balcony:


































Cuenca – at least the city centre where we are staying – is such a nice city. The churches and buildings are so beautiful and the people are so interesting. I really love seeing all of the indigenous woman and children walking around in their colourful outfits. We have yet to see any indigenous men, not even one! I suppose they are working wherever it is that they live (they don’t live in the city centre, I think they take the bus in to buy/sell things in the markets). I think it’s fairly common for the women and children to go out to sell things (these ones sell fruit, other food, fireworks, clothes, and all kinds of other things) while the men do other kinds of work. Of course, this is just speculation based on what I’ve seen in other cultures. I am really curious about these people. Some of them seem rather well-off, others seem quite poor, and a few of them are obviously extremely poor (they beg in the streets). Seeing as how there are only about two people in the entire city who speak English, I’m not sure how much I can find out about the indigenous people, but I’m going to try.

We spent some time in the market right across from our hotel. It’s always hard to take pictures of the most interesting people without treating them like objects or offending/angering them. One strategy Dave likes to use is the “pretend to take a picture of Sarah but really focus on the other people” strategy. In the pictures below, you can see how he got a picture of the woman with the large child on her back. Another variation on this theme is shown in the photo that is ostensibly of birds, but is actually of the people in the hats. Ah, that sneaky David!




































One thing that has really struck me about Cuenca is how friendly everyone is. I read somewhere that greetings are a very important part of Ecuadorian decorum, and based on our experience so far, that is very true. We are welcomed very warmly in every single store, restaurant, internet café, etc. that we go into. At the very least we get a smile and a “hola” – that’s what an unfriendly person does. More often we get a warm smile and a “Buenos dias, cómo está?” They also use a lot of “por favors” and “gracias” here. And this isn’t some kind of best-behaviour-extra-politeness for the tourists; this is how the Cuencanos are with each other, too. After living in Queens for a few months, this politeness is a nice change!

After our walkabout, we went back to our room to work for a couple of hours, then went out for supper. Tonight we’re back in our room working again. Actually, I’m working and Dave is doing this thing where he alternates back and forth between 10 minutes shifts of working and sleeping. It’s kind of tough for both of us to work as efficiently as we’d like to because we have to sit on the beds in our room to work, plus it’s a bit cold so we’re usually under the blankets, plus we’re both incredibly sleep-deprived. So, naps have been plentiful, but I guess we need them. Anyway, must get back to work. Tomorrow we’re getting up early to work so we can watch this huge Christmas Eve parade (biggest parade in all of Ecuador). Apparently it’s a parade full of kids dressed up in traditional Ecuadorian outfits – it’s supposed to be quite nice. Buenas noches!

Here are some more pictures of the city.

Finally, Dave´s favorite picture ever. Take a look at this foot!