Feb. 1 Bus Tour of Cuenca and a Day of Rest

This morning, we walked in the light rain up to the city center (Parque Calderon), spent a few minutes in the cathedral reflecting on the strong connection the majority of the people have to the Catholic Church, and then caught a tour bus going through Cuenca and up to the highest viewpoint above the city (Turi). On the way out of the city there was a large religious parade, whose theme I did not catch, but it filled several blocks with floats and people in costume. When we returned from the trip, the cathedral services were just letting out, and there was an absolute river of people leaving the church. The mass was massed with people, I'm guessing coming from the parade.

Cuenca as seen from Turi was an amazing and amusing site, spread out on the green landscape like a smear of strawberry jam. It lasted about an hour and 45 minutes and gave us a new perspective on this attractive city. As we went around some of the places near to the center, we realized we had already seen a lot more of Cuenca on foot than we thought! It stopped raining as soon as we got onto the roof of the bus. The city looked different from the top of a double-decker--not as much graffiti, for example. There were quite a few places where tree branches and electric wires were hanging low enough to be a threat, so we had to look sharp.

When we got to the top, some people went inside to try canelazo, an alcoholic drink here. We shot photos as fast as we could from the viewpoint. There are a lot of artisan markets and stalls there (in Turi), but because it was Sunday, they were closed. A few women were selling food to the bus groups.

We came home for lunch, took a nap, and prepared the report for our first artisan interview. Turning in early--we fly to Quito tomorrow. I think we are going to miss this place, rooted in history, the warm hospitality of our host family, the teachers at the school, whom we found to be very simpático, the beautiful vistas, the sense of sacredness we drew from the Inca ruins, birdsong, the relaxed pace, the markets full of fresh fruits and vegetables, the many people we pass in the street who say hello, the beauty of the environment, sound of the river rushing over its stones, you just don't feel like you're in a big city of 600,000.