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. 

Mi casa es su casa!



6-30 Manuel Vega



As we searched for apartments, we were confronted with the dilemma – do we stay near “gringo town” on the west side (Meaning suburban new high rises filled with ex-pats) or do we choose to stay in the city with Cuencano neighbors and businesses right out our front door. The city life won out!

 While the traffic noise is a bit higher in the city, I have enjoyed the short walks to El Centro (downtown) and easy access for running to Parque del Paraiso, a beautiful forested park where two rivers meet.   Our new apartment is a 3 bedroom, 1 bath totally refurbished place about 6 blocks from El Centro.  It is on the second floor overlooking a nice park.  We get to see sunrises over the park in the morning, and observe kids and dogs enjoying the park during the day I have attached a few photos of our new apartment and also views from the apartment where we stayed temporarily during our first week here.  

Linda's office/ 3rd bedroom

Our guest Bedroom awaits your visit

Not a man-cave yet, but just wait!



Lots of good Ecuadorain cooking will occur here



An unexpected added bonus to this apartment it has the premium direct TV package, which has every NFL game on Sundays. .  Aye, karumba, I have better NFL coverage here than I do at home!  The ESPN package has mainly Ecuadorian and South American soccer, so off to the Inca lounge I go to catch Buckeye games.

A perfect climate

Fortunately, Cuenca is much warmer than Quito, the Capital city where we flew into for our first few days, because Cuenca is at a lower altitude of 8,000 feet above sea level.   I no longer look at weather.com for the weather forecast because the weather is the same every day.  The temps are consistently in the low 50’s during the night and high 60’s to mid 70’s during the day.  The amount of sun will impact how hot it gets.   The degree of cloudiness is always changing.  Can be sunny when we wake up and by lunch time it is cloudy or vice versa.  Although we have had rain 2-3 days of the 15 days we have been here, it is good to carry an umbrella for the short unpredictable rain shower. Some may desire warmer temps, but I just love these cool evenings and warm days. I can already tell who is a native Cuencano based on what I call the “Tucson Effect”…people who wear winter coats and scarves in the evening are the locals while I am often wearing short sleeves or a light jacket.  Since we are so close to the equator, the length of sunlight is very consistent. Sunrises at 5:30 am and sets at 6:30 pm…13 hours of sunlight all year round.   



View from Mary's apartment in Gringo Land



Our first stop in Cuenca

All the makings of an idyllic paradise, including fresh fruits and vegetables on every corner!

Fresh fruits and vegetables are being sold everywhere in Cuenca and the surrounding towns.  Most Ecuadorians buy local, either at the major markets which set up every day or a small “tienda”, which is like a family owned, neighborhood, 7-11.  There is one supermarket chain, Super Maxi, which is often frequented by the gringos, because it looks so much like our supermarkets back home.  Fortunately, Wal-Mart and the other big corporate stores have not been permitted to enter Ecuador.  This country is filled with entrepreneurs, which we enjoy supporting.   There are lots of vendors selling anything from sun glasses to coco tea on the street.  They don’t hassle us as I have experienced in Mexico.  And it seems that people here work long, hard hours.  I have gotten to know Mario, the owner or our  neighborhood bakery.  He and his wife operate this bakery from 6 am to 10 pm, 7 days a week, because as he says “not open, no money “.  I purchased 4 breakfast rolls there yesterday and paid 60 cents total for it. I understand now why so many Ecuadorians are living and working in US.