SEASON GREETINGS!

Merry Christmas and A Very Joyous New Year to Mom, to Family, and to Friends both in the States and Here in Ecuador.

 

May the Peace, Love, and Hope of the First Noel Fill Our Hearts to Overflowing in the Year Ahead.

With Affection, Love, and Appreciation to     You All.   Jim Mola

o

Palermo Part IV: Public Places

These are some photos of the Palermo courtyard and interior public places:
Simply view as they appear after you click on the link below.  If you wish to see an enlarged picture, just click on the slide.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimmola/sets/72157628492035681/detail/

Palermo, Part III: The Neighborhood

These are photographs taken in the neighborhood primarily east of the Palermo.  It is a part of the city that doesn't usually appear on various blog photos of Cuenca.  I would like to just lay all of them out for you on the post, but Blogger won't let me, so I'll need to use a link again.  I tried to type the entire narrative in the title sections, but four or five of the narratives were too long, so if the narrative ends abruptly you can read the ending in the smaller print "comment box" below the larger printed narrative.  Just click on the link, raise the photos slightly to read the narratives, and then click on "next" for the following photo:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimmola/6484970643/in/set-72157628353832827/ 

Palermo: Part II Condo Photos UP-DATED 12/30/13

I did not realize until recently that my photos on the link were not available.  At least 200 people have clicked on to this site since my computer was hacked in May of 2013, and after reading the text could not access the link photos.  Unfortunately, not one viewer informed me of the lack of access.  I found out only by accident.  Last June I experienced a major hacking of my emails.  I finally had no choice but to close my Yahoo account completely.  Little did I know that when I closed down Yahoo, I was also closing my Flickr account.  I only used Flickr for three blog posts.  I discontinued my use of Flickr, because I thought it was the worst photo system I had ever used.  I have since become quite proficient with Picasa, and since I did not have backups to my original photos, I have re-shot the entire apartment.   If you would like to see the changes to the apartment's interior or if you could not access the photo link before, I will place it just below here for you.  After you click on the link and the photos appear. click on the first photo for an enlargement, and to be able to read the commentary with each photo:

https://plus.google.com/photos/111741036841400152108/albums/5964399097072666225



It's been a long time in coming.  There have been people temporarily visiting Cuenca, who visited my condo and asked to be sure I did a post of my apartment, once I had all the furniture and decor in place.  I don't have all the decor in place yet, but it will be months before I get the job completely accomplished.  Then there are people I have never known who reading my posts about the Palermo have wondered what my place looked like to have a better feel for the real-estate market, and what you can actually get for a particular price range.  Finally, there are some of my friends and family members who wondered when I would post some photos of my condo.  In fact, they would have been excited if I posted photos of anything about Cuenca.  Slowly but surely as I trudge my way through photo posting hell, I am beginning to show signs of some success.  Now if I could just accomplish the entire photo process from beginning to end without it taking up a good chunk of my life.

At any rate welcome to my home.  I don't think the photos do it justice.  I'm proud of what I've accomplished in choosing the furniture, decor items, paintings, and the color schemes; and synthesizing them into well-defined  patterns of distinctiveness while still blending everything without clashing styles and colors.  It's been a hoot selecting, matching, and procuring all the items that have gone into making a condo my home.  There are also three links of previous posts that may prove to be very helpful to those of you who are newbies or soon to be newbies to Cuenca, in getting the help you need to make your initial run in settling in as smooth and stress free as possible.

"Making Life Easier in Cuenca"
http://cuencaperspectivesbyjim.blogspot.com/2011/05/for-those-of-you-who-are-seriously.html


"Transversing Through the Maze of Finances"
http://cuencaperspectivesbyjim.blogspot.com/2011/05/transversing-through-maze-of-finances.html


"A Potpourri of Activities"
http://cuencaperspectivesbyjim.blogspot.com/2011/06/potpourri-of-activities.html


I don't want you to think I did the buying and interior designing all by myself:

I owe a great debt of gratitude to  Fabian Bojorque, who assisted me in choosing my appliances and getting me a good price. (091 078 135)

I can not begin to express my gratitude to Martha Abril, who helped me and advised me on so many levels too numerous to count.  (099959996)

I also greatly appreciated help from a good friend, Lourdes Saneque, who introduced me to an excellent furniture designer and maker, and contributed her artistic eye particularly to spatial design and color matches.

The young ladies who are daughters of the owners of "Luriq Furniture" in El Centro were a class act, which you can read about in "Transversing Through the Maze-of-Finances".

Finally, I owe a debt of gratitude to my friends here in the Palermo, Gil and Deborah Castle, who when I had a brain freeze, and with tunnel vision had decided that a particular work of art would go on a particular wall; Gil and Deborah encouraged me to consider other possibilities that allowed me to consider a major rearrangement of my wall decor.

There are wonderful bi-lingual Ecuadorians and expats here, who can be a cornucopia of help and support to you here in Cuenca.  You can read a good deal more about some of the people I mentioned above, as well as others who can provide vital assistance to you whether you now live in Ecuador or plan to soon settle in this beautiful city by just clicking on the three links above.

While my brief career as an interior designer is about completed, the most important thing is to choose according to what makes one feel most at home.  I love my selections, because they are a projection of me and my life experiences.  I greatly enjoy how as the natural lighting outside changes, the color and tonal dynamics of my art pieces change as well.  I am in an invertible space of frequent change of visual stimulation, and it is exciting.  Yet at the same time, our possessions are only things, transitory like life itself.  They are nice to have, and to enjoy for the moment, but they are not the essence of what makes life.  Our things, even the people who make up are lives, even our very experiences are all temporary, and  ultimately are simply on loan from God.

The telephone number at the Palermo is 0774073267.  Senor Estuardo Rubio is the building administrator.  Senor Rubio is normally in his office until 4:00 p.m.  His English is limited.  One of the three security guards will answer at the security desk, whenever Senior Rubio is not present, or they will transfer you to Senior Rubio's office phone when he is present.  Once again, two of the three guards speak no English, and one speaks only a little.  To those who are English speakers only, it is best to have a Spanish speaking friend to contact the Palermo for you.  Unless you only need to give the name of a tenant/owner and apartment/condo number.

If you wish to see an condos available for sale or apartments available for rent in the Palermo, contact Pepe Ajorgudo at joardudo@gmail.com.  Pepe is the contact person for most sales and rentals in the Palermo.  Pepe lived in the United States.  He speaks both English and Spanish, and he also lives in the Palermo.  With approximately 165 units in the Palermo, there are always a few units for sale or for rent.

The Palermo: Part I

What the Willis (formerly Sear’s Tower ) is to Chicago, what the Empire State Building is to the “Big Apple”; that is what the Palermo is to Cuenca.  All of its mighty eighteen pisos (floors) majestically tower over the city of Cuenca--it displays an impressive edifice.  Yes, the Palermo at eighteen pisos (floors) is and will be the tallest building in Cuenca for some time to come, since city ordinances have been changed with its construction, and no new construction can be more than fourteen stories in height.

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Of course, height is relative.  As a high school and college-age youth, it was a big deal to ride to the observation deck at the top level of the Prudential Building.  At forty-nine stories, it was the tallest building in Chicago in the 1960’s.  We, living in Chicago, could not imagine the dizzying heights of a 102 story Empire State Building back then.  

With the 1970’s came the new observation deck in the John Hancock, which was one of the tallest buildings in the world at the time.  In my opinion, the Hancock still offers the best aerial view of Chicago, because of its location on Michigan Avenue and overlooking Lake Shore Drive.  Meanwhile, the Sears Tower was built, and at 114 stories became the tallest building in the world, which was a title it held for approximately thirty years.  Now Saudi Arabia intends to construct the largest edifice in the world, which will be about 3/4ths of a mile.  Imagine a building of approximately 4,000 feet in height compared to the Willis Tower, which is 1,450 feet in height.

So you may laugh at the height of the Palermo, but as I said height and its affect upon human perception is relative.  Take for example, the young man who when he painted my apartment, stepped out on my seventh floor balcony and became woozy from being up so high.  The same young man was here Saturday, drilling holes into the plaster to hang all my paintings and pictures, and chose to pass on the opportunity to step out again onto the balcony.  His experience is an observation that brings home the point of how so much of who and what we are, and how we perceive reality is based upon our experiences or lack thereof.

Speaking of relativity, the Palermo is at an elevation of 8,500 feet.  Add to that the approximately 175-200 feet of the Palermo, and it’s already taller than any new building going up on the flat sea-level sands of Saudi Arabia.  Sorry, can’t help myself but brag.  It comes with being a Chicagoan.  We are always boosting about our city, which is why New York journalists back in the 1800’s derogatorily nicknamed Chicago “the Windy City”.  The name had nothing to do with the wind blowing off Lake Michigan, but rather the name was due to Chicago civic boosterism.

I did an earlier post on the Palermo when I first came to reside in its environs this past May.  Rather than repeat everything I wrote before, you may click on the link below for some background:

http://cuencaperspectivesbyjim.blogspot.com/2011/05/palermo-third-stage-of-transition.html 

Today’s post is basically providing the reader with photos of the exterior of the Palermo:

                    This is a side view of the Palermo facing the east or toward El Centro, the downtown
                     business and residential area.  About two-and-a-half miles from the Palermo to the             
                     heart of El Centro is Parke Calderon.  Notice the homes at the feet of the
                     Palermo.  While numerous high-rises dot Calle Lasso (The main street on which the first  
                     photo above of the Palermo faces), the streets off of Lasso are inhabited by single and two
                     story homes.

 

                            

                     This is the home in a close-up at the bottom of the feet of the Palermo.  Like many such

                     homes in Cuenca, this home is part of a family compound of homes made up of related   

             families.  In typical South American style, you will find homes gated and walled-off

                          from the street.

                                                                                                                                                                    

                                                                                                

 

This close-up of the east-side of the building shows that the facade is not horizontally flat across the length of the building. There are indentations,   which give the edifice the appearance of more style-variety in the facade. Also, there are two separate wings on each floor. Each wing is composed of four 

 condos, with the exception of the penthouse  floor. Each wing is separated by the elevators, with one wing on the east-side to the north of
the elevators and the other wing on   the west-side to the south of the elevators. By arranging the wings in such a manner, it avoids one long, continuous hallway of all eight condos.

This is a further closeup, which is focused on my condo-rental.  The balconies are small and semicircular.  My condo is the seventh-floor condo where you see the chair.  I frequently eat my breakfast on the balcony.  In the photo, the window to the right of the balcony is where my kitchen is located; with the laundry room, maid's quarters, and bathroom with shower to the back of the kitchen.  The living room overlooks the balcony, with the dining room behind it.  The first window to the left of the balcony is the guest bedroom.   A smaller bedroom is opposite the guest bedroom, which I use as my man-cave and serves as the T.V. room.   The end window left of the balcony is the master bedroom.  There is a walk-in closest to the back of the bedroom, which leads to the master bathroom.

        A further close-up of my balcony.

 

This is what the construction of the high-rises looks like in its early stages.  Almost everything is made from concrete.  There are steel rods which run through the pillars pictured above.  The walls are of concrete blocks, over which they are then plastered.  No wall board or insulation is used.  Nor is any wood or steel frame used in construction.

The advantage to the concrete construction, as one Ecuadorian told me, is that Cuenca hasn't had a major house fire in seven years.

The disadvantages are two-fold:

One is that in cold, damp weather the concrete is not the best conduit for retaining heat within the building, particularly since the climate is mild and buildings in Cuenca have no central heating.  During the colder, damp months of  late July through August and September; one must either dress warmly in layer clothes, and/or make use of electrical heaters on occasional days and on many evenings.

The second disadvantage is that high-rise construction in Ecuador does not build on pylons, which allows tall buildings some sway in heavy winds or if a major earthquake strikes.  In fact, most of the single and two-story homes would be rubble in a major earthquake.  I observed the rubble in Beijing, China in 1977 about a year after a major earthquake struck.  However, Cuenca of the four earthquake zones in which Ecuador is divided ranks in the third zone.  The coastal region is ranked one; and Quito which is located in the Northern Andes among a number of active volcanoes is ranked as the second most vulnerable area in Ecuador for potential earthquakes.  The Orient, which is the tropical rain-forest biosphere in Ecuador ranks fourth.  Cuenca has not had a major earthquake in over 500 years.  I have not to date been aware of any information that geologists are predicting a long overdue earthquake for the Cuenca area, like the reports that frequently come out about California with the San Andreas fault-line.

The Palermo is not only Cuenca's tallest building, but is also the standard for construction and interior floor designs.  It has only been opened a year, and almost all the condos have been purchased.  Yesterday was just an example of its current preeminent status as another van of tourists were brought out to the Palermo for a real-estate tour of the kind of upper-scale, high-rise living that is available in Cuenca.

Next post will be of courtyard and interior public places in the Palermo.

Postscript:  A major thanks of appreciate to Lenny Charnoff.  He has followed my blog since its inception when he was still living in Oregon with his wife, Sharon.  Lenny has a tremendous background in software use, and his six hours of instruction in three separate sessions has made these photos possible.  This will astound not only some of my friends in Cuenca, but a number of my friends and relatives back in the states.  Needless to say, now I have no choice but to use my camera more frequently, so that everything Lenny has taught me will be reinforced repeatedly, and eternalletched into my memory.  If anyone wishes or has a need to learn how to do the various things necessary to transfer photos, upload, download, and all the pecuniary steps in between that drove me crazy, Lenny is your go-to man and his rates are reasonable.

  

No Two Days Are Alike Part II

Tuesday, November 1^st, another warm, sunny, beautiful, down-right hot day.  I had lunch with a friend at one of my favorite restaurants in Cuenca, the “Terrace Grill”.  The restaurant is like an American sports bar with large television screens everywhere.  Usually during the afternoon hours, music video concerts are being played.  This time it was Celine Dione in concert.  Last time I lunched at Terrace Grill a hot video was playing. The Queen of Disco herself, Ms. Donna  Summers was featured in video concert.  The food as always was delicious, relatively inexpensive for a more upscale restaurant, and the service is always much appreciated.

After lunch, we made our way down to the 9^th Annual Free National Art Fair of Excellence, which sponsored art not only from Ecuador, but also from Argentina, Peru, Columbia, and Venezuela.  While every type of art was on display and for sale, there was also a small fair a few blocks down by Cuenca University of primarily fabric and jewelry type crafts.  Music and food was also provided throughout the fair areas.  The dry weather had worked out beautifully for all the week’s festivities.

Wednesday, November 2^nd, I was out to Monay Mall in the evening for a dance festival.  I regretted not having my camera, but the lighting was too dark anyway.  The traditional Ecuadorian dancers were fabulous, and the young ladies were dressed in the most beautifully, dazzling costumes in which to perform.  The dances progressed to electronic rock, a couple who were very good salsa dancers also performed, and the big performance of the evening was fourteen year old Joshua Riveros, as the Zombie or alter ego, of Michael Jackson, who was performed exceptionally well by a college student whose first name was Boris. The two did a rendition from Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and as Joshua also performed as the ghost from Michael Jackson’s “Ghost" video. 


All of us went up to eat in the third floor food court after the dance performances as we sat under the behemoth Christmas tree.  Ornamented, white artificial trees seem to be the thing in Cuenca.  The food court was trimmed in Christmas decorations.  Ironically for a northerner from the Midwestern United States, Christmas in Cuenca is hard to imagine as the temperatures continue to get warmer.

Thursday, November 3^rd, an evening was spent with Martha Abril’s good friends, Cheryl and Ray Pawson.   An extended evening of conversation took place, and little did I know when Martha and I left that I next would be on my way at 11:30 p.m. for the block parties that were going on in her neighborhood as well as multiple neighborhoods across the city to celebrate Cuenca Independence Day from the Spaniards.  Independence Day was a humongous day of celebrations in Cuenca.  We made our way through the throngs of people who were listening and dancing to the music, and we walked the six block area while each concert stage was spaced about two blocks from one another.  The smell of food from beef, to pork, to chicken, to vegetable variations all grilling and at the same time filling the night air with the delightful aroma that beckoned to the taste buds and lured the crowd-goers to share in the captivating feast.

The music was blaring, but it was good.  No heavy metal, no rap, just nice variations of South American music from rock style to more traditional  music that offered something for everyone. The people danced, they drank, they ate, they walked, they stood and watched the goings-on, and like us associated with friends they met along the way.  One young man was out cold, lying in a fetal position on the curb when we arrived and was still there ninety minutes later when we left the block parties.  Yet everyone was in good spirits, considerate of one another, and if there were any problems, they were unnoticed by me and my companions.  It was about 1:10 a.m. and by now I was really exhausted and ready to head home.

Friday, November 4^th, I was invited by my Ecuadorian friends to a party outside the city, but I was way too fatigued, and pardoned myself from the invitation.  I slept until 1:30 p.m. and still wanted to sleep most of the day.  Once again at my age I need recuperation time from my high spirited moments.

The festivities of the week gathered steam by Wednesday, which was also the "Day of the Dead". (I know, that last sentence sounds contradictory and weird.) Many Ecuadorians visit the cemetery of their ancestors, and offer prayers for the dead.  The prayers, if necessary, promise a shortened time in Purgatory for their dearly departed according to Catholic beliefs; as one must be purified from the sins of this life, before one can come into the presence of the beatific vision of God in the next life. 

If you would like to know more about the Day of the Dead, which Catholics in the United States call "All Souls Day", click on the following link to "Grimm's Tales".  The Grimms participated in the event, and have an excellent post on the rituals and ceremonies of the day, with many photos

 http://grimmstraveltales.blogspot.com/2011/11/dia-de-los-difuntos.html

Beginning with the "Day of the Dead" began the five day festival in which all schools and almost all individually owned stores, and businesses were closed.  Only essential services and the malls basically remained opened.  There were also two major parades in the city during the week.  One was a military parade.  I saw part of another parade that made its way down Gran Columbia.  Parades really are not my thing.  However, if you like parades, Cuenca knows how to put on some spectacular ones.  

Yes, there are fireworks around the clock.  The fireworks are initially worth seeing if you are new to Cuenca or happen to be visiting, because they can be quite different from the fireworks displays we are accustomed to in the states.  However, Cuencanos celebrate everything with fireworks, so the explosives can be almost nightly routines somewhere in the city.  When I was in Quito, I asked the young man who took me to process my sedula and censo, if fireworks were as common in Quito as they are in Cuenca.  His response was of interest.  He stated, “Oh no, that is a Cuencano thing.  They have the money for such displays.”  

There were literally hundreds of some kind of activities of music and cultural events going on everywhere throughout the city during the five days.  Despite all the activities or possibly in spite of all the activities, there were many Cuencanos who with the extended five day holiday chose to make their way to the coast and spend it on the Ecuadorian beaches of the Pacific.  Meanwhile, their numbers were more than made up for by the large number of visitors who came to Cuenca from the surrounding areas to partake in the week's festivities.

Saturday, November 5^th, would turn out to be the most unanticipated day of all.  The plan was for me, my friend, and her two children to spend the afternoon in Parque El Paraiso, the largest park in Cuenca and very family-friendly.  Upon our arrival a fair was in process.  In the United States, we would call it a “New Age Fair”.  There were numerous booths, which offered all types of massage therapies, herbal jars filled with every type of herbs imaginable, the aromatic smell from aroma therapies, and the incessant smell of incense.  No psychics, however.

The show stopper for me was the shaman.  My friend and her two children each went individually through the ritual of holding some log-like object which while they were shaking it, the shaman would make his way around the individual chanting and shaking a rattle.  The ritual was concluded when the shaman opened a large jar of water filled with some type of herbs, took a big mouthful of the solution and spat it first in the person’s face, the second mouthful was spat on the individual's bare chest, then another mouthful on the back of the head, and finally the last mouthful was spat on the back.  That "ritual washing" was just for each of the two kids.  The mother got additional mouthfuls of “blessings” on her sides as well; whether her fortuitous sprays of water were because she was an adult, or whether they were because the shaman told her she was too stressed is anybody’s guess.  Well, what can I say, there was no way in Hades this guy was going to spew mouthfuls on me of whatever only God knows what he had in that jar, especially with it mixed with his saliva.  I’ll gladly stay stressed, thank you.

I also ran into another expat at the fair who I knew and who had just had himself injected with three syringe shots without any knowledge of what he was given nor for what health purpose.  He was standing in line for the alternative medicine colonoscopy next. Once again, God only knows what that entailed, and I don't think you would want me to describe it if I had hung around to witness it.  I won’t mentioned the well-known expat's name.  He has his own blog, and if he wishes to, he can “out” himself on these activities of which he so willingly and unflinchingly partook.  He explained to me that this is Ecuador and you need to go with the flow.  I’ll let the reader arrive at their own judgments on that bit of philosophy, and when it should and should not be applied.

I did submit to a foot massage and a muscle massage, both of which did help relieve much bodily tension, and for the first time all week I was no longer feeling fatigued.  The price was right.  There were no charges for any of the treatments.  I didn’t have time for the acupuncture and massage combination treatment, which looked promising.  Some of the other offered treatments struck me as more like magic then treatment.  At least my masseur had a doctorate (P.H.D.) in Alternative Medicine.  (Talk about pile it high and dig it deeper.)  My comments are not meant to disparage all alternative medicine practices.  Some work quite effectively, and we know how often M.D. conventional medical treatments leave much to be desired.  I have found massages to be far more helpful, for example, than an M.D. just throwing pain pills at me.

Sunday, November 6^th was “come down to earth day”.  After days of excitement and nonstop action, the festival was beginning to wind down.  The art fairs were in their last day of exhibitions, and some minor music celebration was still accompanying the fairs.  No doubt the evening ended with fireworks somewhere in the city.  Otherwise, Sunday was a day for church-going, returning from coastal vacations, and unwinding and resting up for the return to school and to work tomorrow for most Cuecanos.

Unfortunately, I am so accustomed to not having my camera on me that I forgot to take it out of my bag at the time when my friend and her children were getting hosed down by the shaman, which would have made some great comical shots,  although the participants were taking the whole ritual quite seriously.  Then when the crowd gathered to watch shamans or whoever the men were who walked on red hot charcoals, I was being massaged and missed photos of that as well. I couldn’t even get a shot of two handsome roosters together.  In the short time it took to focus, one jumped into a nearby bush and the other rooster fled in the opposite direction.   However, I do have some generic photos of the “Healing Fair”, which are shared with you below:  (Just click on the link, and follow the slide presentation.)  The photos have commentaries.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimmola/6320509121/in/set-72157628072524372/lightbox/

This is just the beginning of the festival season, which dominates much of the calendar in Cuenca right up through Easter.  By midnight, Monday morning, it was heavily raining and from what I can tell it rained pretty much throughout the day Monday.  Rainy and cloudy all day long.  Like I said, no two days are alike in Cuenca.   What a down day to go back to work or school after a warm, sunny, week of celebration.  I just curled up in bed, and spent the day nestled in the comfort of my condo, ever so thankful that I am retired.