LIVING LIFE IN CUENCA

It has certainly been some time since I have posted.  I owe my apologies to some friends back home who wondered if I was all right, and I ask your forgiveness for failing to respond to some of your emails.  I am doing fine.  I have just been very busy the last two months with company, with particularly studying Spanish with an excellent tutor, and with endless frustrations with Internet problems.

Otherwise, at least until today, the weather has been unusually warm for what is suppose to be Cuenca's coldest temperature averages during the year in August and September.  Compared to last year at this time, it has been quite sunny for Cuenca and the rains have subsided.  It has been reported by one climatologist (for whatever that may be worth) that Ecuador for the remainder of this year is expected to have 40% less rain than last year at this time, as well as 40% warmer temperatures.  Since I returned from the states in June, there definitely has been a fall-off in the amount of rain we have been enduring.  Well, at least until today’s rain and chilly temperatures, which led me to only the second time this year that I used my Endu-Pure heater.  Last Friday, however,  was so absolutely beautiful, no breeze, sunshine, warm temperatures—just a perfect day of paradise in Cuenca.

My biggest frustration in Cuenca has been the Internet Service.  Without going into a long tirade about Etapa, the largest Internet service in the city, a story in itself that I do not want to relive.  I will just say I dropped Etapa for Punta Net, and I am very happy with my decision.  I also dropped Direct T.V. Cable simply because I don’t watch enough television, most of the programming is in Spanish, and what channels there are in English are usually reruns.  Of course, I’m talking about the basic package.  

With Punta Net I have the mega power to be able to stream live T.V. programs and free movies.  While Punta Net is not cheap, one truly needs to buy the five mega package to be sure videos and streaming will run effectively.  The price is still ten dollars cheaper than when I used Etapa and Direct T.V.  The price is also forty dollars cheaper than what I last paid eighteen months ago in the states for Comcast Cable T.V. and Internet service. However, no more than I dropped Etapa, they came up with a much less expensive package than Punta Net.  However, Etapa's service is lousy to the nth degree, and you will never receive the megs they promise.  Much of Etapa is still phone line usage, while Punta Net increasingly is installing and using fiber optics for their lines.  To date, Punta Net’s service has been excellent.  In fact, they showed up one day earlier than their appointed day for installation.  Yes, such things do happen in Ecuador.

No more than I am getting through all the adjustments with the Internet service and how to use all the new programming, then YahooMail decided it was time to attempt to raise my blood pressure.  Someone hacked into my email, or I had picked up a virus from another email.  The virus broke into my contacts, and spread the virus to whoever received an email from me and clicked on it, which then spread the virus to all of their contacts.

Then for a week, I was unable to receive emails.  Another night-marish attempt to get the problem resolve.  I love Indians. I love India.  However, don’t put me on the phone with one more Indian who has no idea how to resolve the problem.  I read recently that we have a right to ask where the customer representative is located, and we can request and be given a customer representative in the states.  I decided to exercise this right, since the American government is busy taking away all of our other rights day by day.  I was told by the Indian customer service representative that it was against corporate policy to divulge their location.  I had it with the wasted hour and talking in circles.  I fixed and ate dinner, and an hour later decided to try again.  I received an American speaking representative, who within 45 minutes had the problem resolved and worked with me until we were assured all was rectified. 

It took days to get from reporting in type each day to YahooMail’s Help Center before I was given a code number and provided with a telephone number, so I could finally talk to a real person.  All my emails ­­­­­­during that week were bounced back to their senders.  Some daily financial and news emails were removed when my emails  were returned to them as undeliverable, and time was wasted returning to the source to get the emails restored.  For a few days I lived without any Internet problems. Of course living without Internet problems never lasts more than a few days with me.  I continued to receive emails, but suddenly I couldn’t send or respond to any emails.  That took three days to resolve.  So goes the bane of my life and electronics.

My computer problems have been a blessing in disguise, as I spend less time on the computer.  I loved spending the last few weeks late at night in my Man Cave--being the history buff that I am—watching the ShowTime series on “The Tudors”, and then the HBO series on “Rome”, which dealt with the fall of the Republic and the rise of empire.  The focus was mainly on Julius Caesar and the first Roman Emperor, Octavian.  The Tudors were filled with political and sexual intrigue, but Rome made the Tudors look like Puritans.  It sure was nice sitting in my very comfortable lounge chair, with a relaxing glass of wine, and watching two or three episodes late at night, and giving myself and the computer a rest.

Otherwise, I have not been socializing much in large group settings lately.  Rather I have been getting together with friends over intimate lunches or dinners.  I was sorry to have to say goodbye to two good friends, Jim and Carolyn Lawson, who chose to return to the states to live and are currently residing in New Mexico.  They are missed, and I especially miss Carolyn’s homemade bread.

The only exciting thing in Cuenca lately was the burning of the seminary located adjacent and to the rear of the New Cathedral.  Fireworks are very unregulated in Cuenca.  Displays are often times launched from the sidewalk in front of the New Cathedral with the crowd standing only a few feet from the action.  A balloon type of firework was launched, but made its way into an open window or space in the seminary area of the complex, and at that point folks really had something to get excited about.  Fortunately, the New Cathedral itself was not subject to any damage. Those of you who have visited Cuenca probably ate at least one meal at Ramipampa’s and possibly had ice cream at Tutu Freddo’s.  Both businesses which are also part of the block complex of the New Cathedral have been closed for what is anticipated to be about 45 days.

That’s pretty much it for the time being.  Best wishes to all of you.  I’m sure you’re glad to see the end of a very hot long summer approaching. 

OFFICIAL GUIDE TO CUENCA, ECUADOR

It was recently brought to my attention by a friend, Al Bourassa, a professional photographer, (Shameless advertising for photos we have for sale:http://saccc05.tripod.com/)  that the city of Cuenca issues a monthly calendar of events produced by "Official Guide to Cuenca, Ecuador".  

"Gringo Tree", which emails one to three times a day to those who sign up for its email list, does a fine job of listing events, rentals, items people wish to buy or sell, or people just looking for particular services.  However, social and cultural events are often times not submitted to "Gringo Tree" until days before the event, which means people are not alerted until almost the last minute about such events.  A monthly calendar allows for people to plan their schedules around any particular event that transpires in any given month. The calendar also provides the user with a graphic web page of all events in one month.

The monthly calendar offered by the "Offical Guide To Cuenca, Ecuador" unfortunately is quite sparse in the events listed for the month of July.  Certainly major city-wide and neighborhood social, athletic, and cultural events should be listed.  Workshops and other things of that nature should be listed as the sponsors present them in the prior month to the officials responsible for the publication of the "Official Guide".  Since the calendar is a computerized web page, events can be added as they are submitted, and the viewer can click on a particular event and additional information is provided.  Nevertheless, it is the convenience of early listings at the beginning of each new month that allows the viewer to make ample use of the calendar.

Officials need to work closely with the universities, the Cuenca Orchestra, and other concert venues as examples of events which should be submitted to the Guide Office well in advance, so that the events can be placed on each monthly calendar in a timely manner.  For example, I would think the Cuenca's professional futbal team and those of its two major universities, as well as the venue for the season of the Cuenca Orchestra are set months in advance.  I would suggest that somebody working in this department should have the responsibility to follow-up on procuring the schedules for these type of events from these major venues rather than wait for them to be submitted.  The monthly calendar can be a valuable asset to residents and tourists alike, but only if the events are listed.  

I know from the last two years that this is the month where I believe it is called the Church of St Carmen on the square of the Flower Market, which will be having cultural and religious activities on the square each evening for a week.  Some of these activities involve music, traditional dance, plays, etc.  It would be nice to see what is being offered each evening and approximately the time, so people can plan ahead to whatever nightly program may appeal to them.  Tourists, for example, would only stumbled across nightly activities like these by chance, and I know people living in Cuenca who are unaware that such events are even taking place.

The "Official Guide To Cuenca, Ecuador" does a very good job of offering a number of informational tabs that once again can  prove of interest to both residents and tourists.  Below is a copy of just one example on Geography taken from the "Official Guide".  The Guide includes tabs that provide information about hotels, transportation, Carnival, Handicraft Basin, history, Basic Cultural Heritage, places to visit, other activities from churches to adventure tours, etc.  There is also a tab that deals with services from the consulate, to mail, to hospitals, to laundry, and a great deal more.

If you have not already visited the "Official Guide to Cuenca, Ecuador" site and live in Cuenca, or plan to visit Cuenca, or are seriously thinking of moving to Cuenca; I would encourage you to browse this site.  My congratulations to the officials responsible for putting such an attractive and informative site together.  Make the monthly calendar more useful and complete with events, and the site will be perfecto.
Here is the link to the site


 http://www.cuenca.com.ec/cuencanew/
 

http://www.cuenca.com.ec/cuencanew/calendar 

 

Geography

Cuenca Ecuador geography & climate

Geography

The city of Santa Ana of the 4 Rivers of Cuenca is located between 2.350 to 2.550 meters above sea level, in the Southern area Ecuadorian Andean Mountain range.  It was built on the ruins of the old Guapdondélig of Cañaris, which means "great valley of the sun". This gives us an idea of the valley. 

The area is surrounded by a complex of terraces, 4 altogether, which offer a great layout to the city. Most part of the city is located on flat areas, surrounded by mountains. These terraces are bathed by 4 rivers, which give their name to the city: the Machangara (to the north), the Tomebamba which splits the city in two areas, the Yanuncay and the Tarqui (to the south) which join together in the Tomebamba River.

This valley enjoys a great climate, along with a great availability of water, and fertile ground, allowing lots of green vegetation. This is the reason why the Cañaris, Incas and Spaniards took advantage of the area.

A cliff divides the slightly elevated second and third terraces, which constitute one of the most interesting characteristics of the geography of Cuenca and it is the present boundary between the colonial city and the new city.

There are two noticeable climatic stations. The dry season affects Cuenca from June to September.  During the rest of the year it is variable rainy, with heavy rains during the months of October and December and from March to May. 

RETURNING TO CUENCA

I haven’t blogged in some time.  I was way too busy while in the states, and working through my usual computer problems, which for me is a way of life.  First, I stayed with a friend for three weeks who had no Internet connectivity.  My days and evenings were busy, so I accessed the Internet when I could visit at a commercial establishment like “Starbucks”.  Since late in the evening was usually my best time to access the Internet, these places were usually closed.  I had better access during the week I spent with my one brother, and the weekend with my son was too busy to worry about the Internet, except for quick email checks.  While in Miami, I faced more connectivity problems at the hotel I was staying, and by the last four days, my computer went into a permanent sleep mode, and I or no one at the hotel had any idea how to wake it up.  After returning to Cuenca, it took Jose Cortez, the computer whiz, less than two minutes to fix the problem.

Technology problems were not helped any when after buying time to reactivate my Trac Phone from my last visit to the states, it wouldn’t work after I enjoyed one successful call from my son.  I finally had to have the company send me another phone, and go through the whole process of reactivating, and then getting my minutes transferred from the old phone to the new phone, as well as getting a new number.  By the final days of my trip, I had all these unused minutes that will expire in seventy days and are only usable in the states.  I also managed to leave a power cord at my son’s home.  Me and technology, the miscues just never end.  Other than the usual technology problems, everything else went well.

May was definitely a summer month in Chicago.  Except on the day I arrived and the day I departed, which were extremely cloudy and rainy, Chicago had beautiful weather with no rain all the other days of my three week stay.  Oh so much sunshine, and temperatures that ranged from the 60’s well into the 90’s.  I remember five days of 90 degree temperatures, with two of the days setting new records, one of which reached 97 degrees.  The beauty of it was that it was warm or hot without being humid.  Everything was so clean-looking and green, and in full foliage a month ahead of schedule.  It was really nice to be away from the daily rains of Cuenca.  I read at the beginning of my trip that an Ecuadorian meteorologist had stated that by the end of May, Ecuador should be over its La Nina.  Since I’ve returned the fall-off in rain has been very significant.  I hope I’m not jinxing us in Cuenca by even bringing up the topic of rain.

The big event while home in the Chicago area was the surprise celebration of my mother’s 90^th birthday.  It was definitely a surprise for her, and it was great visiting with old family friends, some of whom we had not seen in years, as well as the many relatives from my mother’s and late dad’s side of the family.  The dinner was followed with socializing with out-of-state guests into the evening and over breakfast the next day, as out-of-state family members made their way back to Wisconsin and Ohio.

My mother's sister, Dorothy, and her husband Bob along with some of their adult children put together a printed family album of photos, most of which we do not have in our own family albums.  This was a really appreciated surprise.


A special thank you to my niece, Jennifer Banham, who spendidly handled the design and printing of the invitations, the mailing, and the RSVP's.


Also greatly appreciated was the gift of the Brownd's, Ron and Sandy, who did a professional job of taking the photos of the day's big event.

These are some photos from the big day:

                  Mom at age two or three.

Jim Mola and Bernice Weber married on October 12, 1943.

            Greeting Table at the Birthday Party





Gamba's Ristorante Reception Room

Mom enters with my brother, Ron, thinking she is attending dinner with just the immediate family.





Mom is one of nine children.  Her brother Harry, and Ken (Duke) Weber are still with us, although unable to attend the event due to advance age.  The youngest member of the family, Dorothy Wick, mom's sister who will be 81 in November is having a little fun with mom as the various guests approach with hugs and well wishes after having shouted "Happy Birthday",  when she first entered the room.

Mom's sister, Dorothy Wick, Mom being hugged by her niece, Carmelina Spiccia, and Mom's youngest son, Ron.

Various toasts and testimonies were offered during the dinner.

               We only made mom blow out one candle from the birthday cake.






Mom thanked everybody for their coming and having been a part of her life.  Mom was not short on words once the microphone was placed in her hands.  Her last comment was, "And I don't want to wind up in no damn nursing home."





This is my brother Leo's family with his wife, Carla; his daughter, Jennifer and her   
husband, Dominic Banham on the left; and their son Brian and his wife, Christie on the right, with their two children, Joshua (21/2 years old) and Toby less than two months.  Their son Danny, and my two sons, Marc and Chris were unable to attend the event.  

Mom with her three sons, Ron, Jim and Leo

The oldest generation and the youngest generation--Mom with the youngest of her two great grandsons, Toby.


The greatest gift my mother and father ever gave us three boys besides their love was a strong sense of family pride and responsibility, which was handed down to them and their siblings from the generations that came before them.




Like the last time when I visited home, we experienced great weather the two days we traveled into Chicago, and the day we spent in Indianapolis as well.  With my brother, Leo and his wife, Carla, we walked along the three mile round-trip canal, the countless townhouse and condos, and the new museums—all of which were beautifully done and examples of the reconstruction and beautification that has taken place in so many American cities over the last twenty years in their efforts to revitalize downtown and nearby areas.  I only wished I had a few more days to spend at home with family, friends, and an additional trip or two into Chicago.

My brother, Leo and his wife Carla, who visited me in Cuenca about two months ago managed to locate the only Ecuadorian restaurant in Chicago called, “La Pena”.  It proved to be a very good choice and the food was delicious, and so were the martinis.  Our waiter’s family lives in Banos just a half an hour from me in Cuenca, once again a small world.  He also informed us that there is one other Ecuadorian restaurant in Chicago.

I visited my eldest son, Marc, in southern Maryland for a prolonged weekend, which went so fast, I felt like I was leaving as soon as I arrived.  Our first evening together, we ate at one of the best sushi places that was on par with the best I’ve had in Chicago and Hawaii.
 

I enjoyed meeting many of Marc’s friends and acquaintances on Friday evening as about two dozen of us attended a fondue party, followed by a symphony concert by the Baltimore Orchestra, and a return to the fondue party.  The rain was down-pouring heavily and assisted by a tornado as we left the symphony, and we were soaked to the skin getting to the bus stop and then walking back to the party, but we were having fun.
  

Baltimore actually runs bus lines into the downtown city, as a way to get cars off the street and to encourage more of its residents who live on the outskirts of the city to come into the city for evening attractions.  Would you believe the bus fare is free, so that certainly beats the twenty-five cents charged in Cuenca, even at the half-price senior-citizens rate.
 

Marc and I also dined at “Fogo de Chao”, which is an upper scale Brazilian steak house chain found in most large American cities.  The meal was excellent, with a salad and appetizer bar arrayed with high quality selections.  I really went for the cheeses.  The wait-staff at various times brought seventeen varieties of meat to our table and sliced them from the skewers.  Having the opportunity to particularly eat tender meats of sirloin, rib-eye, filet-mignon, shrimp, pork, beef, chicken, ribs, and my favorite, the garlic sirloin was a feast.

I continue to hope that Marc will come to visit me in Cuenca this summer.  There are places I would like to go in Ecuador that I’m just waiting for him before I tackle the rain forests, big Banos, etc.  Marc is coming out of the Air Force this summer, and the uncertainty on whether he will have the vacation time from his current job available makes a visit unlikely.  Just hoping a miracle happens.

I arrived in Miami on my last Sunday evening in the states, and I stayed in the art-deco historical district of South Beach in Miami Beach.  It was extremely busy with tourists and extremely humid.   I ventured out for only an hour to ninety minutes at a time.  I was left very exhausted from the heat, and couldn’t wait to get back to my very nice and very air-conditioned apartment.  My hotel, Casa Grande, was located on Ocean Drive, with restaurants, bars, and clubs running continuously for blocks.  Every establishment has an outdoor eatery, with the sidewalk cafes hugging the buildings separated by a three feet space for walking down the center and then more tables and booths along the curbside.  When I arrived Sunday evening, the place was hopping.

The greenway and beach was across from the restaurant establishments on the other side of Ocean Drive.  There are all kinds of high quality volley ball courts and interesting work out equipment in the parks.  The ocean is hidden by what appears to be man-made mounds of sand covered in grass, so one has to make their way through various paths through the mounds to get out to the beaches.  I rotisseried myself twenty minutes on each side and headed back to the hotel.  It turned out even twenty minutes was too long, as my ghostly white body parts that are normally covered by clothing instantly became barbequed red. 

I had done way more than my share of eating for the past month that I had been in the states, so I was glad I had a kitchen and fully furnished apartment that allowed me to eat-in and avoid the egregiously expensive venue of food, drinks, and entertainment.  A chicken wrap with a large coke costed as much as a dinner with alcohol at Tiestos in Cuenca.  


I actually lost weight while in South Beach.  True to my luck with technology, when I returned to my home in Cuenca and got on the scale, the disk battery was dead.  It took investigating three stores before I found one that carried the disc size I needed.  It was worth it, I was actually down a pound from when I left Cuenca.  How does one accomplish such a feat after eating three major buffets, indulging shamelessly in the dessert bars, and eating all the ethnic cuisines I can not get in Cuenca?

I must say this being my first time anywhere in Florida, besides traveling in and out of the airport, the city of Miami and its surroundings is very impressive by night with swaths of various colored lights which bring a glow to buildings and in some cases stream across bridges and areas that elicits an excitement and attractiveness to the city.  The city also has some very interesting architecture, and I love architecture.  As I mentioned I was staying in the Art-Deco Historical section of the city.  I was going to show you a smathering of photos of some very impressive  Art-Deco facades as well as photos of a small section along Ocean Drive in South Beach, but as only I can do, the photos were eliminated when I tried to transfer them from the camera.  Oh well, some things with me never change.  So that's it folks.  I'm back in Cuenca, getting settled, resting up, looking forward to seeing friends, and eagerly waiting to see what unfolds next for me in my life in Cuenca, and what role this city and its people play in my future endeavors.

SEDER DINNER 2012

Easter season seems like a distant memory as time-travel moves the universe at an accelerating pace.  First, I immersed myself in a whirl-wind week of social activity, and then I have been busy preparing for my return to the states for a month, beginning May 6^th and returning to Cuenca on June 9^th.  I’ve also taken time trying to organize a great deal of paper work I’ve accumulated since arriving in Cuenca back in March of 2011, along with all the other sundry things of life that takes up ones day-to-day activities.  As a result, I haven’t posted as much, and my last post started out as a personal email in which I couldn’t stop writing, and finally decided to make the email a post.  However, there was an event during Holy Week that I attended, and did not find the time to share, and although it is out of place chronologically with my other posts,  I very much would like to share it with you today.

I was quite surprised without any prompting from me at the dozens of readers who recently read my post from last year entitled, http://cuencaperspectivesbyjim.blogspot.com/2011/04/passion-of-christ.html.  Last year I lived for two weeks in the heart of El Centro, and was overwhelmed by the numbers of people, church services, processions and activities that took place in Cuenca during Holy Week, which began with Palm Sunday and ended with Easter Sunday.  On Good Friday, I had even made the traditional visit to seven churches that so many Cuecano Catholic devotees fulfill on that day of the year.

This year I was looking for a new spiritual experience for Holy Week.  A Seder Dinner was advertised in “Gringo Tree”.  I had not attended a Seder since the 1980’s.  I thought that would be a nice, intimate way of memorializing the Holy Week.  Credit for the organization of the Seder went to Claudia Coplan, and the Seder was held in Emanuela Levin’s home in the Palermo.  The Seder meal is done in remembrance of the Passover, which was the Jewish celebration each year of the freedom of the Hebrews from Egyptian slavery.  The Passover is a reminder according to Biblical teaching of the final plague against the Egyptians as the Angel of the Lord passed over the slaying of the first-borns of the household, where the blood of the lamb had been brushed over the door posts of the homes whose occupants obeyed the injunction of the Lord.

Now the surprise was that I had no idea this was a Jewish Seder.  The advertisement in “Gringo Tree” just said “Seder”.  I assumed wrongly that Seder was a term used by Christians in commemoration of the Lord’s Supper.  Remember, Jesus and his twelve apostles were Jews, and kept the Jewish law and holy days.  What Christians call the “Last Supper”, was basically Jesus and the apostles celebrating Passover.  I assumed that Jews simply called the holy day Passover.  So after I arrived, it became clear that the Seder was intended as a Jewish event.  However, I was welcomed and treated with respect.  There was also a lady of Irish-Catholic background in attendance whose spouse was Jewish, a young Ecuadorian male with a very pretty little daughter, whose attractive wife was Jewish, and a gentleman who was half-Jewish.

 

We went through the ritual of the Seder, which was very much like the Christian Seders, I had attended decades ago.  The primary difference in Christian Seders is the addition of some prayers that tie the Passover to the Christian heritage and Jesus Christ.  Also, some Christian evangelical groups will substitute grape juice in place of the wine.  We all took turns praying and reading from the book that was provided, which I will have more to share with you at the end of this post.

Deke Castleman’s mother had baked matza bread, and it arrived just in time for the Seder.  The bread was delicious, and I can’t help but wonder if there isn’t a connection there between that matza bread and Deke’s love of Pizza and its crust.  Matza bread is the unleavened bread, for when the time came for the Hebrews to pick up and leave Egypt, in the rush of departure there was no time to allow the bread to rise.  Matza bread was also on hand at our dinner from Israel itself; but in a taste-test, Deke’s mother’s matza had it beat by a mile.  After the rituals were performed and the readings were completed, we shared a dinner together beyond the items that were used in the ritual Seder.  The evening was very meaningful for me, not only as a student of history, world cultures, and religious studies; but also on a spiritual level as well.  This is a Seder I will remember for a very long time.

I don’t know what beliefs were brought to the dinner by the Jews in attendance.  Obviously, there were no Hassidic Jews in attendance, and probably no one who might be identified as an Orthodox Jew.  These attendees appeared to be more of a liberal persuasion where their Judaism was freed from the highly ritualistic practice, for example, of various dishes having to be used and washed for various items, and someone had commented how when they were children the elders were involved in prolonged readings and prayer sessions that did not apply to this abridged edition of Seder.  This appeared to be a faith practiced without the many legalisms of traditional Judaism.  Among those in attendance, some may have attended out of deep faith; and others may have attended to simply share memories of childhood rituals and religious beliefs that may not have any significant impact on their lives today; or they may have attended simply to be part of the Jewish community in Cuenca, and to share a solidarity with their brethren over all that the Jewish people had to endure over the many past centuries, and continue to endure in the world today.  

I had the opportunity to make some new acquaintances, and hopefully some new friendships as well.  In fact, I knew three of the people in attendance from other social engagements prior to the Seder.  The Jewish people in attendance were by no means all the Jews in Cuenca.  With time, we will probably discover a significant growth in a vibrant Jewish community in Cuenca.

Below is a text that better explains the Seder, and is taken from Wikipedia:

The Passover Seder (Hebrew: סֵדֶר‎ [ˈsedeʁ], "order, arrangement"; Yiddish: Seyder) is a Jewish ritual feast that marks the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted on the evenings of the 14th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar, and on the 15th by traditionally observant Jews living outside Israel. This corresponds to late March or April in the Gregorian calendar.

The Seder is a ritual performed by a community or by multiple generations of a family, involving a retelling of the story of the liberation of the Israelites from slaveryin ancient Egypt. This story is in the Book of Exodus (Shemot) in the Hebrew Bible. The Seder itself is based on the Biblical verse commanding Jews to retell the story of the Exodus from Egypt: "You shall tell your child on that day, saying, 'It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.'" (Exodus 13:8) Traditionally, families and friends gather in the evening to read the text of the Haggadah, an ancient work derived from the Mishnah (Pesahim 10).^[1][2] The Haggadah contains the narrative of the Israelite exodus from Egypt, special blessings and rituals, commentaries from the Talmud, and special Passover songs.

Seder customs include drinking four cups of wine, eating matza, partaking of symbolic foods placed on the Passover Seder Plate, and reclining in celebration of freedom.^[3] The Seder is performed in much the same way by Jews all over the world.

Below is a link that describes in detail the Seder Dinner and the symbolism of each of the foods used in the Seder, along with some beautiful illustrations:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passover_Seder

Since I first posted this post, Claudia Coplan graciously sent me a couple of photos from our Seder Dinner evening, and I am sharing them with you below:

Once again, the link immediately above the photos helps to explain the symbolism of each of the items you see in the photos.

IN CUENCA, ALWAYS EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED

Today's blog post started out as a personal email, but as I kept writing, I decided it would be my latest blog post:


Hi Lois,

Yes Chris and Bettye Petersen are great neighbors here at the Palermo.  We've been having a good time and always seem to have something to talk about, and I have introduced them to several of my friends over various lunches and dinners.  

Yesterday, started out very warm and extraordinarily sunny. The clouds over the eastern mountain range were so white and fluffy.  There wasn't a dark spot to be found anywhere in the sky enveloping Cuenca.  Of course, Lois, when you live here for a while you will learn quickly that such mornings are illusionary, and if the weather change is not what you wanted, you may even feel disillusioned.  When the three of us left for our adventure of the day at 1:00 p.m., the sky almost on cue had changed to an overcast. It happened so rapidly, that there truly is much truth to the statement, "That if you don't like the weather in Cuenca, don't worry it will change in ten minutes."  I rationalized to Chris and Bettye that the overcast would be advantageous to us, rather than spending an afternoon of walking under the hot sun, but we all knew what was most likely to be the outcome of this overcast. 

Yesterday, was a true test of a budding friendship.  I walked their and my behinds all over Cuenca, in search of the art fair.  We would have had an easier time trying to find Carmen Sandiego. There are two major art fairs annually in Cuenca. We found the first part, which is mainly crafts that quite frankly you can find anywhere in Cuenca, and it was located where it normally is on both sides of the river near Cuenca University.  By the time we arrived to this part of the fair, of course it was raining and drizzling, which would continue for about an hour.

Also in that location is Esquina Arts a complex of about twenty art shops, and which as I later would learn, turned out to be the sponsor and heart of the festival.  I then took Chris and Bettye down to Parque Madre, which, is totally boarded up, will be demolished, and replaced with a 350 underground auto garage, with a new park over the garage, and high quality running lanes for joggers and runners as well.

So all the past painting exhibitions that were along the sidewalks of the park were not on exhibit. What new location did they move the exhibits to, I wondered?  One young lady I asked said San Blas Square, and a middle-age lady said Parque Calderon.  We walked into El Centro from the river to an area between the two squares.  From what we could see, there appeared to be booths down by San Blas Square so we walked down there, and it was more of the handicraft stuff we saw earlier. Chris and Bettye did get to see the interior of San Blas Church, and a wedding ceremony was taking place at the time. They also saw the location for one of the vegetarian restaurants, which are of interest to them in Cuenca.  I also showed them the Canadian family-owned ice cream parlor on the square.  Many believe its ice cream is better than Tutto Freddo's.  I also noticed that Tutto Freddo's moved from a larger location on the square to a smaller location even closer to its rival ice cream shop.  Either way, both offer great ice cream.  A large stage was also setup on the square with all the sound equipment, which indicated some loud rock, South American style music was going to be the evening entertainment.  I also heard that Parque Paraiso would be featuring band concerts that evening as well.

We didn't have ice cream.  We just used the ice cream shop's banos, and walked back down Simon Bolivar toward Parque Calderon.  As we walked, we were accompanied by a band playing from an open van as it made its way down the street. It is always interesting, when these traditional type of bands play in the city, all the men wear suits while performing.

The band was accompanied by vintage autos from the 30's through the 70's, and there were even more vintage autos on display on Benigo Malo along Parke Calderon.  It was 4:00 in the afternoon.  I talked to the always friendly owner in the Ramipampa Restaurant, and he showed me the Art Festival ad in the newspaper. It was then that I came to the realization that possibly because of all the construction work along Parque Madre; and along the street on the opposite side of the river where major road construction is also taking place, and which had also been used in past painting exhibitions that can run for blocks; the whole fair was just scaled back this spring.  

Bettye wanted to eat at a nice restaurant, so I suggested Mangiare Bene, a fusion Italian-Ecuadorian restaurant, which in my opinion, is one of the very best eateries in the city, and it would be in the direction of our walking back to the Palermo.  As we arrived, the restaurant was closed, which I feared, since Ecuadorians usually don't eat supper until 7:00 p.m. or later, and the restaurant would not open until 6:00 p.m. for those early gringo diners.

Ultimately, it was decided by the three of us to make our way over to the Mediterraneo Restaurant, a very fine traditional Italian restaurant. The owner who is also the chef is from Milan, Italy, but the restaurant was almost one mile from our current location.   No one voted to take a taxi, so we walked.  I also figured that if the Mediterraneo was closed, there was about a half dozen other fine restaurants in the area.  As we approached the general area I couldn't find the Mediterraneo.  I left all my address books at home, because I didn't think I would need them and I wanted to lighten my bag load.  Chris was beginning to look irritated with me, not that I couldn't blame him.  We had easily walked six miles. We walked over to Zoe's, but they were closed.  We went across the street to the Indigo restaurant which is inexpensive and serves reasonably good food and sandwiches. Bettye came up with a great suggestion that we have a cocktail at Indigo's, and by six we could walk over to Las Monjas when it opened for dinner. Well, we had two cocktails a piece, and we all agreed they were quite good and very reasonably priced at Indigo's.  

By 6:20 p.m., we made our way down to Las Monjas, another one of the finest cuisine restaurants in the city.  The atmosphere, service, and food are all first class.  We started our dinner off with chocolate martinis, which were superb to say the least. They would also become Bettye and my dessert as well.  It was early by Ecuadorian standards for dining, and only one other family was in the restaurant during our time there.


This was my second visit to Las Monjas, I had visited there over a month ago when my brother and sister-in-law where visiting from the states, we all loved the restaurant then, but there were few patrons.  I would think such an outstanding dining experience would find this restaurant over-flowing with customers.  All three of us had seafood dinners, and the chef did an excellent job of preparation and presentation.  After dinner as we departed the restaurant, the better part of discretion required that we take a taxi home and not try to hoof it.  

Chris and Bettye received a better feel for the overall layout of the city, and where various places were located in relationship to others, whether they wanted the lesson or not.  I learned not to trust that the way things were done in previous events would necessarily be done the same way again.  We never found the art fair we sought out, and we never found Carmen Sadiego either.  In the end, the drinks and dinner made the day, and were the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow of all that walking, searching, and experiencing the unexpected.  

So Lois, we look forward to the time you come to join us on another visit to Cuenca, and when you come to permanently settle here.  Thanks for your friendship, and for introducing me to Chris and Bettye.