TURI, VEGA'S, RUINS, YASUNI', MISC. - FROM JEAN

Hola Y'all
As you can see from John's entry - and the time lapse of our posting - we have been pretty busy.  We are just about to wear the rubber off of our tennis shoes.

Turi
Friday morning was such a beautiful warm and sunny day. We hopped a 12 cent bus and rode up to Turi (a small village and craft/shopping area at the top of the mountain).  There are shops, eating places, event area that is being remodeled, and a chapel - all built on the hillside.  We did a little shopping, walked UP to a leather shop and stopped in at a coffee bar for a cafe' con leche and enjoyed the view overlooking the village below.  A short walk down the hill is Internationally known ceramist Eduardo Vega's workshop/studio, gallery and home.  The beauty of his work is breath-taking - ranging from mugs,  jewelry, plates, dinner sets as well as wonderful murals that show the lushness of the Ecuadorian landscape and traditional costumes, customs and way of life.  It's a 'I want one-of-each' kind of place.  He is a wonderful artist.

 Beautiful view of central Cuenca from Turi.

UP the stairs to leather shop and coffee bar

Chapel in the Plaza.  We see this everyday from our apartment.  When the sun is out, it is lovely and white sitting on the hillside between the mountains.

Vega's Home

 

Entrance to Eduardo Vega's Gallery.

Mural at gallery entrance.

Then we had a really nice surprise!

Her name is Nina and we got to love on her.  What a great treat!

Pumapungo
When we went on our bird-watching hike in the Cajas Moutains, we met Peg Rockel.  Last Sunday she and her husband, Mike met us after church.  We had lunch at the California Kitchen (owned by Americans) then walked to the Ruins of Todos Los Santos which are only about 5 blocks from the center of the historic district.  (Also known as the ruins of Pumapungo).

The site has ruins of the Canari, Inca and Colonial Spanish constructions layered one over the other.  The only evidence left are layers of stones that formed walls and living spaces.  All beautifully kept.

Then we walked through the gardens.  All kinds of flowering and fruit trees, shrubs, bedding plants, vines, vegetables and cacti were in abundance.  Didn't see a weed anywhere.

The next area was the aviary.  There were many beautifully colored parrots, toucans, condors. 

The entire area was clean and well cared for - and free to the public.  Great Day!

Mike and Peg Rockel have been here almost 3 years.  They are from North Carolina.

Looking toward the ruins.  Vegetable garden on the right.

More evidence of the past.



Lamas grazing inside the park area.

Lots and lots of birds - too many to share on this blog.



The vegetation is so lush and huge.  Great place to come on a pleasant day.

Yasuni'
Tuesday while walking in El Centro, we came  upon a protest/parade.  Many different indigenous tribes were represented.  They were speaking out about the country drilling for oil in the Yasuni' preserve.  The government says the resources are needed for Ecuador to provide for the country.  The indigenous are afraid the preserves will be destroyed.  The group was very well organized and civil.  There was another at the same time in Guyaquil and in Quito.  The number of participants in Cuenca was in the 100's.  They chanted, carried flags and posters, and played music.  There were so many they were solid from sidewalk to sidewalk in the street and extended about 7-8 blocks.  The different style dress and hats depicts the different areas.  Very colorful.

Mercado
We then visited an exceptionally clean market in the "hood" area.  The fruit and veggies were fabulous.  We came home with 2 bunches of really fresh green beans and 2 broccoli heads for a total of $2.00.  We can attest to the freshness and wonderful taste of the green beans.  We had them for dinner last night with John's fabulous meatloaf and creamed cauliflower.  I think we may have over eaten a little.  Oh well, we will walk it off tomorrow.

Well, so long for now you guys.  We miss all of you very much and think of you each day.  We pray all your needs be met.  We ask you keep up in your prayers.

Hasta luego,
Jean

"May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer"  Ps. 19:14

Blessing to you all......

THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES HERE.

Well,  bet you thought we had fallen off the map down here.  We have just been running and staying busy with all sorts of outings of which I will now try to bring you up to date on.  I'm getting to do the first half and my sweet Jean will finish up with hers.  Wow, where to start!

 

As mentioned previously we went on a mountain trek outside of Cuenca to a remote area that was once the home area of the indigenous "Canari" tribe.  They were a large tribe and resided over much of the Southern Andes Highlands.  Encampments were usually along one of the many rivers.  Predominately cave dwellers, their homes were in cliffs and ledges slightly above the rivers.  Sometimes there were networks of caves.  Our trip was to only one such cave area.  Before we went on our trek we were taken to a local small museum that was put together by villagers from this area to remember their ancestors.  There was a local woman who gave us a tour of the little museum. It was quit fascinating.

 

 

She spoke only in Spanish and we had several people to help us with most of the translation.

They had many historical artifacts from this area know as "Chobshi" or "Morning Star". Many were dated back to 500 BC or before.

Of course a lot of the things were more current such as my Jean(circa: 1944).

 Many things were donated by local families in the area.

 

 

 

 

You can see the beginnings of some small hats

being woven from The Torquilla palm fronds.

This is the area that still weaves the famous "panama hats" for the stores in Cuenca.

 

Indigenous woman starting a straw hat beginning with the crown shape.

 

 

These are some arrowheads found in the caves.

 

More tools and axes.

 



 

 

 



                                              

Skull and teeth dating back to 250 BC.

 



Many different platforms for food prep, grinding, garment washing and other chores.  They only used certain vessels for certain things never cross contaminating the vessels use.

 

We then began the long trek across a trail that was hardly big enough for a goat in some places.

 

 

 

Some places there was a sheer drop off to valley and river below that in some places was about 1,000ft.

 

 

If you zoom on the bottom left of this photo you will see something that looks like colored paper on the green grass just above the large boulder.  It is actually some young people laying out and relaxing by the river.



 

 

 

See what I mean about narrow.  To my left is a wall I could touch with my hand and to my right is a sheer drop-off to the river.  We had one couple turn around and go back down to the trail head.

 

 

But where you could stop and look out, the vistas were beautiful to see.

 

 

 

Up here this is how a family of 4 gets around.

 

 

 

We finally made it to the bottom 2 1/2 hours later and of course it was Saturday and what do all the people do on Saturday...Yes, they do the laundry.

 





 

The men as well as the women all pitch in to get it done.  They sometimes spread it all out on the rocks to dry, or pack it up and take it home to dry on a line or their fences.

 

 

We did get to see one cave but because of past looting they had it pretty much roped off to visitors. Many artifacts were found in this cave alone.

 

 





 

This trek was most demanding and we may not have done it if we had known the difficulty involved.  We are glad we did and came home stronger for it.  We didn't go anywhere for 2 days afterwards.

 

So, onward with our stories around Cuenca.  At home Jean and I go to a wonderful dental clinic in Mineola, Tx.  Since we were coming down here we missed our last dental check up at home.  Through our Texas friends here we learned of a great dentist named Dr, Gracie.  Trained in the USA, Dr. Gracie spoke flawless English and we made appointments for check ups and cleaning.  She has a great office less than a 10 minute walk for us.  When Jean and I go at home it cost us $ 265.00 for both of us.  At Dr. Gracie's it was $ 70.00 for both of us and we both felt is was very thorough.  She is very gentle and is talking all the time to make sure you are O:K.  She is no bigger than a minute and makes Jean look tall.

 

 

She can perform any service you might need from her well equipped and modern office. Having been in the dental business for a few years we had a great discussion about evolving equipment and I checked out her office pretty well.  We are very pleased.  Believe it or not we were told afterward that she may be a little "high" on her services.  Not for us though.

 

 

O:K, we have more to share but that will have to wait til later.  We are headed to Wednesday Bible Study at our church for now.  Jean has a great post coming up about more of or fun and friends we are meeting from all over the place.





Until then we miss and love each one of you and think of you often.

May GOD bless you all.

John



 





 



MORE FROM CUENCA BY JOHN

Hey there Boys and Girls,

It's me.  The other half of the "Cuenca Roadrunners". And believe me, we've been running the roads too.  We have almost gotten the bus routes down.  We are now making transfers from one bus number to another bus number.  It is saving us a lot of transit time in getting to our destination.  Previously we just jumped on and road the full circuit of a particular bus knowing we would eventually get back to where we started.  Today we bravely jumped off and on our transfers like seasoned pros and didn't miss a connection to any of our destinations.  A completely well executed trip this time.  No long, circuitous, scary (where the heck are we...) routes today.  Boy, do we feel like we now know the ropes. We may yet live to eat our words though.  So, let's see what we have been doing!

This is the Puenta Roto, or broken Bridge. The construction was completed in the late 1800's by the Spaniards and the Incans. Of course all is hand laid stones and bricks.  It was the first bridge built over the Rio Tomebamba  that could carry heavy traffic loads.  As you can see it is now half gone. In 1958 there was much rain and heavy flooding above Cuenca and a wall of water came down the river severely flooding the city and washing away most of the bridge.  It was decided to never rebuild this historic landmark.
Instead it is now marked as a monument.


You know how much we love flowering plants.  As some of you know, we have a bank of Esperanza's along the side of our house and we love to see them full of summer blooms.  You cannot imagine our shock when we realized these huge yellow flowering trees were in fact Esperanza's.

They grow into big trees here because they never freeze like at home.  They are really something to look at.

As you can see they do get to be a pretty good size.  If only we could get them to do this at home.  What a sight to see.










Another beauty standing next to a colorful Blue Passion vine adorning a wall of a restaurant courtyard.  The flowering plants are just everywhere you turn.  Never seems to end.

Jean and I are getting in better shape each day due to the many stairs we must climb to go about our business.  These are just a couple examples.
We refer to all of them as "911" stairs.  We are almost up to making it all the way up without stopping.  That's our goal.

Me taking a few quick deep breath's before heading up to El Centro Cuenca.


On our foray's into town we pass a small hole in the wall welding artisan.  He is there every day making something.  I live to stop and watch and he is very friendly and was happy for me, the gringo, to take some photos.

He makes a lot of different items and sells it all usually within a day or so.  Really neat to watch.














                                        This one was a work in progress. 

As we may have told you, we have found a wonderful new church home at the Cuenca Christian Church. A non-denominational congregation very similar to our Trinity Fellowship at home.
It is brand new and last Sunday was the first meeting in the new church.

This is a new building and the church occupies the first floor.  The remainder of the building are apartments.  Very nice apartments and all but one is filled with congregation members.  The pastor doesn't live here but two of the deacon's do.  At least they have a short walk to services.

It is located about a 10 minuet bus ride for us from home.  We feel lucky to have found this church and the great leadership here.  We are enjoying it a lot.  And had made many new friends in Christ.


As always on our walks I'm looking at all the murals and wall paintings about town.  I find the talent and art simply fascinating and am continually snapping photos.  The art in the galleries is wonderful but the street art gives them an grand challenge.  Here's a couple more...

This is a older rendering of a ramp we often take into town on our daily walks.  Part of it has now been turned into steps so as not to be too steep. Thanks to whomever......

We thank you for joining us on our continued adventure around Cuenca.  This coming weekend we are going to be out in the country side visiting some ancient Incan ruins.  We are looking forward to the trek and the photo opportunities that will surely follow. We will post again soon after with more updates and photo's.
Til then just know we love you all and think of you often.
J&J
Matthew 18:3    "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven".