Cuenca Debrief

Now that we are on the beach relaxing, we decided to close the book on our four weeks in Cuenca, and to a lesser degree our first month in Ecuador.

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By the way, we have passed the 100th post mark on the blog!  Yeah Us!

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This blog may be a bit stream of consciousness, so apologies up front.

Ecuadorian People

• The Ecuadorian people are among the friendliest we’ve ever met.  Rarely do we see anger expressed
• Ecuadorian fathers love to walk with their children, often holding their hands
• Ecuadorian boys and girls often pair off from early ages.  It is not uncommon to see them holding hands after they get our of their schools.

Religion

• Ecuadorians differentiate between catholicism and christianity.  Over 95% are catholic, more than Mexico, but it doesn’t seem to be at the center of most people’s lives.
• Most public buses, cabs, buildings, have some sort of religious iconography.  Jesus is normally represented as caucasian with light brown hair.

Churches

• Cuenca has 62 churches – many built on foundations of stone taken from Inca and Canar buildings and temples
• The churches seem to be in pretty good shape.  They are usually open, and there will be a few people using them

Christmas

• We’ve already covered several of the main events.  Christmas season starts on December 6th and ends on January 6th.
• There are parades and concerts.  There are even little mini-malls established in parks with the sole purpose of selling Christmas trinkets.

 

• Every so often we would see a truck that was decorated for Christmas.  One has to think that this has roots in the pre-European traditions.

Architecture

• Cuenca has a mixture of Spanish and French influences on its architecture.  Most of the buildings in the historic areas have courtyards, although most have been covered with translucent roofs.

Plumbing

• We have found few shower drains that actually drain in real time.  We often found our feet in several inches of water before the shower finished.
• Water pressure is highly influenced by what is being used at the moment.  This can make showering an adventure
• South America in general does not flush toilet paper, rather it is put in a trashcan near the toilet.  This has to do with the likelihood of paper causing a blockage.

Transportation

• It is very easy to find taxis.  The government has given drivers new taxis, and they need to pay them back about $50 per month.  Most drivers take good care of the vehicles.  Depending on the city, there is a minimum fare.  In Cuenca it is $1.50.
• Local buses tend to spit out quite a bit of pollution.  Most are diesel, and it costs about $1.00 per gallon.
• Buses between cities are fairly comfortable.  They rule the road, and I wouldn’t want to be caught on a motorcycle near one of them.  You can just flag them down on the road.  Express buses will blink their lights as they pass you by.  Non-express buses will stop.  There is always a conductor type of guy, in addition to the driver, who takes your fare.
• Cuenca is in the midst of building a tram system.  I am reminded of the efforts in the Twin Cities.  Everyone knows it’s a good idea for the future, but it is expensive and disruptive while being built.
• Some streets in Cuenca have a 6-inch lane marker built in.  Buses and taxis are the only vehicles allowed on one of the lanes.

Random Stuff

All-in-all, Cuenca was a great place to start our journey.