Christmas Time in Cuenca

Happy Santa at Fundacion Christmas Party

    This is my first Christmas in many, many years that I have not experienced snow at Christmas time.  The other day I was at Super Maxi and Bing Crosby was being blasted with "I am dreaming of a White Christmas" - I am not sure sure these Ecuadorians are dreaming of such.   This lack of cold and snow has gotten my bearings a little off- not that I am complaining though.  I will take 75 and partly cloudy, but only for this Holiday season.

    Linda and I have had some very meaningful experiences over the past few weeks.  Along with 3 others couples (two Canadians, and one Finish), we hosted a Christmas party for 11 orphan boys that live at the Catholic school where I teach English 2 days a week. We all chipped in and bought them new school uniforms and shoes.  Then we bought a Christmas Tree (the artificial type of course) with all the decorations, along with small gifts we stuffed in stockings.

Kelvin tops off the tree with assistance from  Paul

We joined the boys for the party on Sunday afternoon, December 11th. After decorating the tree, we played did some relay races  and had a rousing game of basketball.

Relaxing after Basketball

Then we retreated to the cocina where we sat down to eat pavo (turkey) with El Padre, the 75 year old priest who has been at the school for 50 years.

Who is Hungry?

El Padre with the Gringos

  He said some very nice things to us that bought tears to our eyes, thanking us for keeping his boys dear to his heart. These boys either have lost both parents or have been abandoned.  What a joy to see their smiles and hear their laughs!

 The following week we organized a Jingle Bell Run/Walk to benefit the Foundation where I volunteer 4 afternoons a week.  This Foundation is located in a  poor section of town, next to a huge market, Fierre Libre, where many indigenous families have small stalls to sell their fruits, vegetables, and other items.  The foundation provides an after school program for the kids of the parents that work in the market.  Rather than being on the streets after school, shining shoes or selling newspapers, these kids come to this program and get structured help with homework and other skill development.  

Participants relax after the Run/Walk along the Rio Tomebamba

The start of the Jingle Bell Run - Staff and Kids from the Foundacion EL Arenal 

 We raised enough money with the Turkey Trot and Jingle Bell Run to buy a Chancho (pig) for the foundation Christmas party.  A chancho is considered a delicacy in Ecuador, which these families have never been able to afford over the many years they have had this party. The party was held at the foundation on Sunday December 18th.  It was non stop fun for 6 hours with games, singing, dancing, theatre, and even a Mass by the local priest. Yours truly had his acting debut as "Dwarf" Timido (Bashful) in Blancanieves (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs). The most touching moment for me was when the Priest asked me to sing the English version of Silent Night with my Brit friend, Ossie.  Don't worry, I have not been asked to join the local choir!

The Cast of Blancanieves

Mass Before the Chanco arrives

Singing Silent Night In Spanish, German ,and English

The Chanco Arrives!

Carving up the Chancho

Aramndo and brother Wilman, with parents, my two favorite kids

      In between these Holiday events we were invited to the home of a new Cuencano friend, Mane, an English teacher at a local high school. Mane took us to the amazing Christmas display, put together by a family of modest means.  This is meticulously constructed over two months, and every year the display is different.  Quite a change from the huge light displays in the US.

Our Host Mane, and friends

We wish you a Blessed Holiday Season and Buena Suerte for the New Year!

If you cannot see the photos click on the words at the top of the email message and it should take you to our blog or copy linda-armstrong.blogspot.com and paste it into a browser, then you will see the photos.

Bike ride Ecuadorian Style!

We saw a poster for a bike ride through the Andes Mountains and immediately signed up.  We had already met lots of wonderful Ecuadorians who loved to bike, so this seemed to be a natural next step.  Sure, it was 100 K, but that’s just 60 miles and Mark and I ride 60 miles all the time.  Plus the route was 90% downhill!  How could we go wrong?

We started out on a beautiful Saturday morning.  To our surprise, our bikes were loaded into a van, one on top of another.

Ok, so everyone does organized rides a little differently.  We hopped on the bus that took us to the beginning of our ride, about 40 minutes away.  Our bikes arrived just fine and we were greeted with a military send off.  Now that has never happened on any of our bike rides before!

 

We start downhill through the mountains and have never before experienced such exhilaration from the beauty of the Andean countryside.  I have hiked and biked in many places and many countries, but these views were absolutely breathtaking.  The hillside flowers, the streams running down the cliffs, the farmers tilling their land all made our ride unforgettable.

We soon realized that other aspects of the ride would be unforgettable!  

After our fantastic downhill trip into Giron, we started to ride a bit up and down, it’s to be expected.  Soon, Mark has a blow-out and hops in the back of a pick-up for a ride up to the a restaurant where many riders took a break.  I climbed 2-3 miles at a very slow pace, but made it and was thrilled to hear that we were about half-way!  Yippee!  We are told there is another about a 2 mile climb, but nothing like what I just rode up.  Mark repaired his tire and off we go! 

We rode and rode and then started to climb, the air was thin and I had a hard time breathing, but made it to the top.  We rested and had some food and are again told that we are half-way.  Hmm…that’s odd.   I decide I will get in a van with a friend and take a breather until we are a bit closer to the end and when the climbing is over.   My friend and I get out when we are told we have 20 k to go.  Great!  We are rested and ready to rock and roll!   We bike on and on and on.  We climb and climb and eventually get in another van when we are told that there is still at least another 20 k left.    Mark gives up at about the same spot and we meet at the finish!

We are completely baffled about why the ride was so difficult. We are talking with an Ecuadorian about how much longer than 100 K the ride seemed.  He tells us that the rides are always billed as shorter and easier than they actually are.  Who knows why, but we will be very wary the next time we sign up for an organized ride!  


More photos from our ride  through the Andean countryside

Thanksgiving Day in Cuenca - the first annual Cuenca Turkey Trot

Linda and I decided to organize a Turkey Trot for our Thanskgiving Day in Cuenca.  We figured out a 3 mile route along Rio Tomebamba, posted a notice on the local E-Newsletter, Gringo Tree, and presto- changeo,  over 50 people showed up for the Ist Annual Cuenca Turkey Trot.  At the suggestion of my new friend, Bill Keyes, we made this a fundraiser for El Arena Foundation, which is an after school program for kids of indigenous parents that work in a huge market called Fiere Libre.  We were fortunate to have the Director, staff and some mothers of the children come to our event.  After the walk/run, we ended up at Kookabura cafe for cafe and postres. Rather than give out medals or cheesey t-shirts, we gave each participant a hand woven miniature turkey, custom made by a local women's cooperative.  This was a fun cross-cultural, community building event.  Now there is talk of a jingle bell run the week before Christmas.... all we need is a little snow!

Mark rallying the troops

The Mom's from El Arenal with posters from the children's programs

Linda, Maureen and Bill working the registration table

Walkers heading down Rio Tomebamba

83 Steps up to Kookaburra Cafe

El Arenal moms in traditional dress

Our miniature Pavos

Linda and I did the Turkey day triathlon: run, bike and eat!  After getting home from the run, we headed out on our new bikes for a few errands, only to be caught in a sudden rainfall, which is quite common in Cuenca.  We ended this fun day with a huge dinner at a local restaurant with 120 other ex-pats.  We were fortunate to sit at a table with our new biking friends Ken and Judy and their Cuencano friend Jose and his family.  A marvelous time but we missed being with our kids at Louise and Dave's house in Minneapolis.

Hiking, Biking and Running in Cuenca

  We have now been in Cuenca for one month!  This has been a month of great change for Linda and I, filled with adjusting to a new culture, people, and community.   I feel very fortunate that I am able to experience Ecuador at this time in my life.  I have never done a blog before, and my intent here is not to be boastful or a braggart; rather I hope my writings here will give you a window into my new experiences in a developing country.   Many of you have helped us get here, and I am very grateful for your support along the way to assist on this path. 

      Probably no surprise to you, when I am not volunteering at a local school or studying Spanish for 2 hours a day, I am pursuing one of many favorite outdoor activities.  I have been running more than usual, because it is easiest of the three. We live in “El Centro”, the old colonial part of town.  Some of the buildings here date back to 1500’s.  The streets are narrow, made of brick or cobblestone. Unfortunately, car and bus traffic can be overwhelming during the work day.  We walk most everywhere.  We chose our apartment because of its close proximity to the Rio Tomebamba.  Sunrise begins at 5:30 am, so I am usually down at the river by 6am and do a 4 mile loop in Pargue Paraiso.  No Caribou or Starbucks coffee shops here (yeah!) so I stop at the local panderia (Bakery) to pick up 15 cent croissants, before returning home. 

Rio Tomebamba

Return home to El Centro

 More photos of my running route are available at: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=mark.raderstorf&target=ALBUM&id=5676855609937804993&authkey=Gv1sRgCKWhrZ2OuLTu-AE&feat=email

      We are very excited about the new bikes we purchased.  No road biking here, mountain bikes are a necessity because of the uneven of the streets, some of which are potholes filled dirt roads.  We have been advised to stay off the city streets until the weekend because of the car traffic. The drivers here are constantly in a hurry, and have an addiction to honking their horns, rarely yielding to pedestrians or bikers.  One needs to be constantly vigilant on a bike when in the city. My routine now is to bike out to my new friend Ken’s house early on Saturday morning and we head up the river valley to gorgeous views.  A killer climb takes us to another valley and then a fun ride back down into the city. The city car traffic is almost non-existent on Sundays….this is a very Catholic community so everyone goes to Church on Sunday and then heads to the country for relaxation.  This allows for many bike riding opportunities in town, including the “Ciclopaseo” that just happened this morning .  We joined several hundred other Cuencano’s biking around the city for 2 hours.   Next up is a 110 km bike ride for us on December 3rd from Giron to near the coast, an elevation drop of 8,000 feet.  A $10 bus ride gets us back up the Andes and home….my kind of bike ride!  

Mark and Ken overlooking San Joaquin Valley

Ciclopaseo start at Coliseo

Biking down El Centro

New Freinds Monica and Family

       We had our first opportunity to visit Cajas National park, which is 40 km up the Andes mountain range from Cuenca.  Our local English speaking taxi driver, Fabian, drove us up to the ranger station.  We were warned that you can easily get lost in this park because the trails are not marked and fog/rain can roll in quickly.   The ranger station had run out of park maps (a common occurrence) so I took a photo of the big map on my camera and referred to it many times as we embarked on our 6 mile hike.    We started at an elevation of 11,000 feet  and climbed up to 13,000, all of this was above tree line – I think in Colorado speak, this is called “bagging a 13 teener”, although the highest peaks in Cajas must be at 15 or 16,000 elevation.   As expected, clouds and rain rolled in for the last half hour of our hike and we were happy to hop a bus for our $3 ride back to town.  We look forward to many more beautiful hikes in the Andes….much different that the Rockies for sure. 

       An entry blog from me would not be complete without some comment about social  issues in Ecuador.  My Spanish teacher, Sonia, has enlightened me with her perspective that “immigration is the biggest threat to Ecuadorian family life.”   Most families here have an immediate or extended family member living in the United States, because of the economic disparity in wages.  Most often, the dad heads to the US and finds a job in the service industry, and sends money home to the family.  But this makes for an absentee parent, and social problems ensue.  Sonia tells me that Cuenca has the highest suicide rate among teenagers in Ecuador; her view is that this is due to the many Cuencano families with absentee parents.  For example, Mario, my local baker worked in Manhattan for 16 years, and returned home this past year after his Visa expired.  Now he has his own bakery, but on a good day he can make $25-30 , while in the US he could make $100-150 a day.  A sad byproduct of the US melting pot is the social schism it leaves in developing countries like Ecuador.  I hope to share some photos from my volunteer work in my next entry. 

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Settling In, Establishing a Routine…

We have been here three weeks!

In just three short weeks we have really settled in and have a bit of a routine.  We have made friends, started our Spanish lessons, managed the marketing, ordered gas for our apartment and the usual tasks of daily living.  I am comfortable approaching any small “Tienda”  (store) and asking for whatever I need at the moment.  A fresh, ripe avocado for dinner, fresh baked bread or more minutes on my cell phone.  It all happens at the corner store.

A common sight in any "mercado"

We can find most everything we want especially fresh fruits and vegetables. The selection and quantity is amazing. Even with the abundance, shopping can still be a challenge.  Even for very simple items that we take for granted and could pick up anywhere in the states.  Today, we were looking for index cards today, and after 3 stores we gave up and asked someone to cut up cardstock in the shape we wanted for Spanish language flashcards.  

About two weeks ago we took a great weekend trip to three small towns.  All by bus!  The bus fare was a total of $2.50 per person, round trip.  As you can tell, we are still amazed by cheap prices in Ecuador.  The scenery was stunning; the bus took us through mountains and tiny villages.  We saw farmers planting corn using a hoe and a bag of seeds, fields plowed by oxen, beautiful churches nestled in what appeared to us to be the middle of no where.

The highlight of our trip was visiting SigSig and having a “roadside” lunch  and visiting a Woman’s cooperative that made the famous Papa Toquila straw hats.  You may know them as Panama hats but they are made in Ecuador and Peru.  They were exported from Panama, and that’s how they got the name.  The Women’s Cooperative provides an outlet for selling the hats and one can see women making the hats, all by hand, in every little store and market.  As they wait for a customer in their “tienda” they are busy weaving the straw into hats!  The hats are beautiful and Mark now owns one with a gray band and scarlet trim.   (OSU colors; No big surprise to anyone)

We had our first party last night.  We had about 20 new friends over, some we had just met the day before.  All were so appreciative that we offered an opportunity to get together.  We find the Gringos and Ecuadorians very friendly and willing to help.  The Gringos have a very tight community and there is always an event one can attend to meet others or just have a good time.  

Mark will have more to report on his volunteering efforts...stay tuned.