CELEBRATIONS CONTINUED.....

The Fiestas de Cuenca celebrations continued until Tuesday night,   so it was really a 5 day weekend celebration....  lots of activity all over town and it was fun to see how the people of Cuenca enjoyed their fiestas....Yolanda took Monday and Tuesday off so that she and Juan Gabriel could participate - we were so glad she did  because she works so hard and they don't have much money to spend on festivities...

We for the most part stayed home...there were a lot of cars parked on our street because one of the main carnival areas is about 1 block from us,  next door to the TranVia construction....

But Monday evening we went downtown to celebrate Geovanny's birthday -- we wanted to take him somewhere special so we went to Mastranto Restaurant a couple of blocks from the Cathedral...

Geovanny is the dearest, most considerate man and we wanted to do a little something to show we appreciate him.....

One of the things I find amusing here is how hard it is to get people to SMILE for a picture,  ESPECIALLY THE GUYS......I usually have to yell "teeth" at them or do something silly so that they smile and take a good picture....haven't figured out why,  but that's the way it is!

Tuesday was an especially GORGEOUS day so we went down to El Centro,  the Parque Calderon, in front of the cathedral....

Had lunch at El Cantaro...

The large jugs/vases are "cantaros" and hense the name...

Ricardo had the "Almuerzo"   -- or "Menu" as some places call it,  but I think the "menu" is served all day,  not just for lunch...anyway....Locro de papas soup,  juice, fried chicken with rice, and beans,  and strawberries and cream for dessert..for $3.75...I had the Ensalada Aleman  (German salad) and it was super good....lightly dressed with olive oil and vinegar...yum....about $6.75

Then we took a stroll thru the park across the street....

And then around the area looking at all the booths with things to sell:

AND on to the flower market.....

 The most astounding orchids I have ever seen -- prices range from about $15 up.....

 

These 2 ladies are very knowledgeable and I love to buy from them!!

Rick stopped for a minute with this young fruit seller......everyone here has their own business...

There were a lot of  policemen on the streets and in the park.....but I only saw one with this riding/walking machine....and some people think Ecuador is a third world country! ......they don't even have these in Omaha, as far as I know.....

We found out that the president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa,  was due to speak in the park so we got our things together and headed for the hacienda....

I brought home 4 beautiful rose bushes which Yolanda planted on Wednesday.....

This in the front of the house near the  door....
And the others in the park behind our house....


We sit here in the grill/patio area and have breakfast,
and I am working to improve the view.....

Have planted about 8 roses around the old tree stump - plan to put in about 4 more....

We drug an old tree stump about 30 feet to put here behind a little bush,  and  I planted a small purple chili plant there.....think I 'll make a chili garden with as many different plants as I can find here....and some flowers....

The park has been a little neglected -- it's kept mowed,  but flowers that have died have not been replaced,  so I'm taking over to bring it back to it's former glory!

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Later in the week the landlord came with a crew of professional electric security fence installers.....the neighbors all have electric fences so it was not good for us to have the only area where someone could jump over and get to everyone...

 The electric fence is above our regular fence with 5 electric wires....we can put the electricity on in our house with a remote control....if anyone touches the wires they will get a good shock,  and a loud alarm will go off.....guess we're really protected now as we also have an alarm inside the house.....

People here are very security conscious....non violent theft is common so alarms are a way of life....

Had a wonderful visit today with a dear friend,  Jan Stoney who lives in Phoenix with her husband Larry....thanks to a Magic Jack connection on the computer we talked like we still lived next door to each other in Omaha.....  How times have changed----when we lived in Mexico City in the early 1970's we didn't even have a phone....now here we watch American TV with a Slingbox hooked up to our daughter's cable TV in Omaha.....we talk on the video  phone via TANGO so we can keep up with the antics of the grandchildren,  and we also have Magic Jack to talk with those who don't  use Tango.....

Larry and Jan are very fond memories.....I remember Rick used to get mad  :) at Larry because Larry had the most perfect lawn in all of Omaha! .....ours was embarrassing compared to his and no matter how much we fertilized it just didn't look as good.....   A few years ago they vacationed with us in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico -- a grand trip!!   Well anyway, it's good to be able to stay in touch even tho we live so far apart.....

Dear neighbor and friend Susana is back from 2 weeks in New York.....was quieter here without her,  glad she's back because she was missed by everyone....

Looking forward to the SNL program tonight with Donald Trump  -- we are big fans of his......we believe it's time to put a successful businessman who can't be bought in the White House -- he's a doer and we think he can "git 'er done"!
What others see as bragging we see as positive reinforcement....since he grew up in the church were Dr. Norman Vincent Peale  ("The Power of Positive Thinking") was the pastor he learned Peales'  lessons well.....And we like a man who can laugh at himself and doesn't worry about making a fool of himself!



                                 Life continues to be great in Cuenca...