At 3:15pm we are rewarded with the sound of a rag-tag marching band. Ecuadorian's love music, even if it is not well executed. Soon the parade arrives at Parque Calderon with many children dressed in costume and a few very happy adults playing instruments or dancing in costume. Overall, a fun experience.
We heard that there would be a Niño Rey parade at 2:30pm on Tuesday starting at San Blas with a pagent held at Parque Calderon. So, off we went with camera in hand. At 2:15pm we are in Plaza San Blas --- the limited evidence of a potential parade is four ponies. But it set our hopes that there would be a parade. We decide to walk to Parque Calderon and people-watch until the parade arrives. Along the way we see children dressed up in costumes, their parents hurrying them toward Plaza San Blas. More evidence pointing that there will be a parade.
At 3:15pm we are rewarded with the sound of a rag-tag marching band. Ecuadorian's love music, even if it is not well executed. Soon the parade arrives at Parque Calderon with many children dressed in costume and a few very happy adults playing instruments or dancing in costume. Overall, a fun experience.
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January 1st Paul and Kara left to start their four day motorcycle tour up near Quito. Then Saturday, January 3rd a driver picked up Jim and Sally and took them to Guayaquil for their flight to the US. It is so quiet here! I feel like a new empty-nester missing the daily interactions of the family.
This morning I am sitting on the balcony reading and glancing occasionally up at the Cajas Mountains in the distance. The temperature is 70 F/ 21 C. The landscape changes as the clouds move over the sky. Beautiful. As I mentioned, we woke on New Years Eve morning with firecrackers going off. Throughout the day we continue to hear occasional booms and see bottle rockets. A tradition is for Ecuadorians to display effigies, a model of persons, and then burn them at midnight. The idea is to end the old year and start afresh with the new year. During the last few days we have seen vendors selling 2-3 foot dummies and a variety of paper mâché masks to put on them. Some people buy their effigies, others build them themselves. In addition to the effigies on display in front of homes the city has a number of larger displays prepared by groups that have been put up in the intersections or courtyards. We have a scrumptious lasagna dinner made by Jim and Sally, with them being creative in compensating with some of the local ingredients. Our friend Evelyn joins us for dinner and to explore the city afterwards. She has also identified five areas within walking distance that have the larger displays of effigies. At 9:30 pm with larger neighborhood fireworks going off in the background we leave the condo for the first effigy location. It is in the courtyard of El Vergal church, approximately a 20 minute walk along the riverfront path. The courtyard is filled with people, food vendors and larger-than-life effigies. People are setting off bottle rockets and firecrackers right within the crowd. Just as we are about to leave a firetruck pulls up with a open air truck behind filled with 20-25 clowns. They jump out and the crowd becomes even more animated. From El Vergal we walk 25 minutes to the first of the four larger displays in El Centro. Each is making what appears to be a social comment, but we're not entirely sure of the message. Interestingly one of the displays is about Barak Obama loving Castro. Another comments on healthcare. The crowd is equally as interesting as the displays. Larger fireworks are going off across the city. At midnight the effigies are piled up and the streets of El Centro (and most neighborhoods of the city) are filled with with bonfires. It almost looks like a war zone. In several cases the bonfires are just 3-4 feet from parked cars. The music and dancing continues for several hours. We tumble into bed around 2 AM smiling at experiencing New Year's Eve Ecuadorian style.
We wake on New Year's Eve to the sound of firecrackers at 6:30 am. After leisurely showers and breakfast we decide to take in Cuenca's Arte Moderno, the modern art museum. It's a stroll along Rio Tomebamba then up the 80+ stairs to Parque San Sebastián and the museum. As we approach the Parque we see floats and people lined up for a parade. It appears to be one of the local church parades - complete with floats, children on horseback, bands and dancing groups of women in local attire. We have a great time watching the festivities and then go into the museum.
Arte Moderno is a work in progress. Approximately one-third of the exhibits are drawings from local school children. There is a temporary exhibit of photographs from a South American artist and another exhibit of photographs from local Cuenca artists. A few galleries include paintings and drawings from more renowned Ecuador artists and a few sculptures dotting the courtyard of the museum. The museum is worth the one hour and the free admission, but is not a "must see". |
AuthorHi. I'm Anne. I wander around the world with William. Enjoy Some of our Favorite Links below
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