These are my last days in Cuenca. I leave on Friday (I’m actually going to play hooky from school…) to head down to the coast of Ecuador for a few days. It should be nice… some warm weather and the beach.
Last weekend was a sight to see. Although I’m very happy to have Carnaval over. I’m very tired of being wet all the time. It sounds like every region has their own way of celebrating – some crazier than others. But here in Cuenca, Carnaval is defined by water. So I headed out with a few friends to Gualaceo, since that is where the action was supposed to be. And we found it. Nothing like being a group of white girls to attract attention. So we hung out by the river for a bit, and got covered in water and some sort of foam stuff. I had a water gun, so I was somewhat prepared. Although, a little 1 dollar water pistol against a bucket of water is no match…
Afterwards there was a parade through town. It was interesting with the dancers, old and young, musicians, the works. And everyone in the parade was covered in foam and water. Even the police escorting the parade. So there was no discrimination. It seemed as if the whole town was just waiting for the parade to finish, because once it did, the water was really let loose. Everyone on the balconies and the roofs of the buildings that lined the streets were ready and waiting. It was essentially a torrential rain of hoses, buckets, and water balloons let loose on the streets below. We ducked under an overhang, and saw a bus passing just behind the parade. We all looked at each other, and dashed for the bus. So for the rest of the way down the main street, we watched the chaos from the comfort of the back of the bus. Craziness.
So, no surprise that on Monday we were ready to get out of town. This time we headed out to El Cajas, the national park outside of Cuenca. This is my kind of way to celebrate a holiday. A hike in the Andes. It was amazing. Of course, as always, we thought we would leave at 9, but we were in the wrong place, and then we had to get on last, since we were getting off first. But, all things considered, we made pretty good time getting there. It was only about 2 hours to get 30km, not bad. Everything said that you are supposed to have a guide if you want to hike more than just around the lake, but it was a clear day, and you could generally see the road and where you wanted to end up, so we struck out through the park. It would be my luck that we would end up on the wrong side of the park, or someone with a broken leg. But the gods were smiling on the Europeans (and I just happened to be along for the ride) and we had a gorgeous four hour hike.
The last day of my long weekend was pretty quite. The good thing was that we had dinner at my friends apartment, and it was time to retaliate against the Ecuadorians. We had our water guns from the fifth floor, and let loose on any hombres carrying weapons of their own. Good old fashioned fun.
I got a few pictures up, but it seems that the connection is tired, and won’t let me do much more. So, until next time and (hopefully) a fast connection…
lots of love to home…
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