Wednesday, March 17, 2021
Cuenca Perspectives by Jim: TENTH YEAR ANNIVERSARY IN CUENCA, ECUADOR
Cuenca Perspectives by Jim: TENTH YEAR ANNIVERSARY IN CUENCA, ECUADOR: I arrived in Ecuador on Sunday, March 14th of 2011 to begin my new adventure of living in a foreign country. Monday morning, I visited my a...
TENTH YEAR ANNIVERSARY IN CUENCA, ECUADOR
I arrived in Ecuador on Sunday, March 14th of 2011 to begin my new adventure of living in a foreign country. Monday morning, I visited my attorney in Quito, and on Tuesday after spending the previous day touring the historic area of Quito, I flew to Cuenca.I always thought when my ten year anniversary arrived that I would do a post on the changes in Cuenca over the ten years of life here. However, I would be writing a book, and I decided instead that I would simply post a link that captures much of the essence of life in Cuenca for me. Adventure, beautiful mountainous scenery, friendly welcoming people, a big city with a small town feel, a feeling of being alive, social life as much as anyone can handle or desire, and friends upon friends.
Maria Rosa, Mathias, Esteban, and James
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11yzKNeckS0
A special thank you is extended to Maria Rosa, who is Mathias and Esteban's mother, and who brilliantly compiled the link above of Mathias, Esteban, and me capturing the spirit of Cuenca.
Bella Ciao is an Italian song which is a favorite of ours, as the three of us were caught up in the Netflix series entitled, Casa de Papel, an exciting series of about five years running that takes place in Spain, and does a fabulous job of combining action with character development, in a timely fashion with all that is going on in the world today. Some of the predicaments are preposterous, but never boring. Mathias learned Bella Ciao on the guitar, the center piece song of Casa de Papel which was one of the songs he played at his brother, Esteban's birthday party.
Mathias 18th Birthday Party
As many of you know, if you read my last two blogs I have the two older Rios brothers living with me, and we recently celebrate Esteban's birthday in December when he turned fourteen and we had the Paella party with friend and Chef Michael Wagner, and now in late February we celebrated Mathias eighteenth birthday.
It was a surprise party. Mathias birthday was actually on Friday, the 26th of February. However, he and Esteban had English language classes until 8:00 p.m. Esteban and I deliberately chose not to wish Mathias a Happy Birthday, since his surprise party was the next day. Mathias traveled home to his mother's that evening, and disappointingly told his mother that James and Esteban did not remember it was his birthday.
Saturday, and Mathias arrives with his brother, Andres, on the pretext that I was injured and needed his help, since I had recently torn my rotator cuff. Mathias arrived to a chorus of Happy Birthdays. We really pulled this surprise off.
Mathias give his mother a kiss in appreciation for the wonderful party she planned for her son. The decorations where all her idea. Esteban was such a great help in getting everything setup, and helping his mother prepare the meal in the kitchen.
Early arrivals were Michael Jones, Loren Kuhne, Karen Braun, Nancy Kuhne, Betty Jones, and Seig Braun.
Those of you old enough to remember the old Ben Casey television series will remember how it always began each new episode with drawings of man, woman, birth, death, and infinity. Mathias, below, is displaying his infinity symbol, with the blessing of many more birthdays to come. Ben Casey would have been a great role model for someone like Mathias, who aspires to be a medical doctor.
Below is a photo of the Rios family Esteban, Mathias, Maria Rosa, and in the front is Andres.
Below are the Rios Brothers Trio
The evening began with different hors d oeuvres of crackers, spreads, cheeses, and fruit bites. When I first came to Cuenca, it was impossible to find good cheese. In recent years, many craft cheese and delis have appeared on the scene to meet the need for quality cheeses of all kinds, among them are cheese makers from Europe who have found their niche in Cuenca.
For dinner Maria Rose prepared a very inviting Chaulafan Mixto, which was fried rice with chicken and large shrimp.
Seig and Karen brought a delicious side dish of Cheese broccoli.
Loren and Nancy brought their fantastic ambrosia salad.
Michael and Betty brought a creamy potato salad that was no ordinary potato salad.
The evening was topped off, due to the generosity of the guests, with eleven bottles of wine, a bottle of champagne, and two beers.
Seig and Karen Braun
Below Nancy and Loren Kuhne
Andres Garcia and his wife Veronica.
Betty and Michael Jones
Mathias with his mother and Lourdes Guzman.
Below, Mathias and James having fun with Mathias' age.
Below, Mathias growing an alien out of his head.
Mathias with Jerry Ramos
Below Juan Garcia (UFO), his sister Belen Garcia and their brother Andres Garcia, all three family members are electrical engineers. It is not unusual in Ecuador to find many members of the nuclear family following the same career paths. Three or four members may all be engineers, medical doctors, educators, dentists, bankers, and/or identical fields in the craft industries.
Below with Mathias is Silvia and her husband Lenin Alvares. Although Lenin is not related to the Garcias, he is also an electrical engineer.
Below is Juan (UFO) and his wife Gabriela. UFO is also Mathias' godfather.
The maravillosa chocolate cake was created by a friend of Maria Rosa, and gifted by Sherry Naudeau, who was unable to attend the party.
After the cake and ice cream was indulged. Silvia was ready to get the party hopping with some dancing.
The dancing continued until midnight when everybody suddenly turned into pumpkins, and an evening of enjoyment was brought to a close. While Mathias had an 18th birthday celebration he will long remember.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
