No Water = No Electricity

Dear Family and Friends,

Whatever I had while I was sick really knocked me for a loop. I am beginning to feel human again, but am still weak. However, I am thankful for the improvement.

If you follow Rich and Nancy or Planet Irony blogs, you are already aware of the water situation in the Andes. Normally, by now, the rainy season is here. For some reason (some say "el nino") the rain has not begun. Where we would normally have an afternoon shower, we are having sunny days all day long. This is having very drastic consequences on our rivers.

Here is a picture of the Tomebamba, the river in front of our condo, we made in March of 2008.


Here is the same scene, but Chuck took the picture yesterday.


Again, this picture was made in March of 2008


and Chuck made this picture yesterday.


The rivers are extremely low which means the reservoir is low. Most of the electricity for Ecuador is produced by hydroelectric generators and without water there is less electricity being produced. (Only two of the twelve turbines are producing electricity at the moment.)

The government of Ecuador has started having roving blackouts in order to curb electricity use.
Every day, for four hours, the electricity is cut in a sector of the city. Everyone shares in the blackout, but while some have no electricity, others do. The four hour blackout rotates in time, for example, yesterday our electricity was out from 3pm to 7pm. Today our electricity went out at 7:00am and will return at 11:00am.

Our condo building has a huge generator. When the city electricity goes out, the generator automatically starts producing electricity so Chuck and I are not really impacted like many others are.

Everyday we keep hoping that the rains will start. I haven't heard how this is impacting the farmers, but I would not be surprised to see the cost of fruits and vegetables increase at the market. We are experiencing first hand just how fragile our eco-system is.

Chuck and I are flying to Quito in the morning. We are meeting our sister-in-law, Carol Watson. Carol lives in Seattle, Washington. She will be visiting us for the next two weeks. Maybe, she will bring the Seattle rain with her.

Stay healthy.

Nancy

SICKO

Dear Family and Friends,

A picture is worth a thousand words.

I came down with the creepy crude the day after the independence celebrations were over.

I've had a lot of bed rest, aspirin, antibiotics and... rum*.

Something in that mix is kicking in because today I'm starting to feel a little better.

Nancy

*courtesy of Dr. Chuck

Independence Day!! Viva Cuenca

Dear Family and Friends,

As if we haven't had enough celebration, we headed out on Tuesday morning, November 3rd to see the Chola Cuenca parade. This is a parade that is similar to the parade we saw a couple of weeks ago when the contestants for the Queen of Cuenca were presented. The difference is that the contestants in this parade are all indigenous. A young lady is selected from each area and of these one is selected to be Chola Cuenca. There were 21 contestants this year.

Besides, electing Chola Cuenca, each area had a dance group to compete in the folkloric dance competition.

The parade was staging at San Blas as we arrived. I have begun to go to the beginning of the parades in order to get pictures. Here are some young ladies adding the finishing touches to their costumes.

This little one was patiently waiting on the float for the parade to begin.

A group of dancers willing to pose...


Another little beauty waiting for the parade to begin...

While I am running around taking pictures, Chuck patiently waits on a park bench.

A little entertainment while the parade is staging...


This sweet one is wearing her mother's hat...


We walked up the street to watch the parade go by and ran into Carl and Linda. Carl and Linda have spent the last couple of weeks visiting Cuenca. We met Carl a couple of years ago when he was here taking Spanish classes.

Yes, Chuck is wearing my hat.


Here are some pictures I took of the parade...




At the end of the parade the float with the 21 Chola Cuenca contestants passed.

After the parade, Chuck and I went home to rest because we were having dinner with Carl and Linda and then we were going to Parque Calderon for the main Independence Day celebration.

Carl, Linda and Chuck at dinner...


Carl and Linda headed off to Quito on Wednesday to continue their tour of Ecuador.

Things are starting to settle down and Cuenca is getting back to normal. Too bad.

Love,

Nancy

Cuenca Fair

Dear Family and Friends,

On Sunday we went to the Cuenca fair. "Cuenca fair" is my name...they call it "Com-Agri". This is held in Ceunca every year during the independence day celebrations.

Here are the fun seekers... Chuck, Nancy, Rich and Ossie.


We were the only gringos there.

I was quite amazed how similar their fair was to a county fair in the USA. There were some differences...for example, I don't know of any fair in the states that serves up "cuy" aka guinea pig.


But they had commercial displays, agricultural displays, animals, rides and lots of food.

This booth was selling hand made guitars.

This is a display showing how hydroponic lettuce is grown.


Cooking ribs the Argentina method...


An interesting ride. It was sort of like a merry-go-round, but mostly had small vehicles for the kids to ride in. I got tickled at the horses. They were the spring type horse that were bolted to the ride and the kids could rock while going around.


We enjoyed viewing the fair attendees just as they enjoyed viewing us.


Here is Nancy, the horse whisperer. She and Rich had a ranch in Oregon before moving to Cuenca.



The only people taller than Rich at the fair were the guys on stilts.


Last night, Chuck, Nancy, Rich, Bruce, Charlie and I went to the mariachi concert at the plaza de toros (bull ring). I became ill and had to leave, but what we witnessed was quite unusual. We bought what we thought were the best seats, but they were the hardest chairs I have every experienced and the spotlights behind the stage almost blinded us. They kept shining in our eyes instead of on the stage. While the musicians were playing, fireworks were being shot off inside the arena and hawkers were busy selling blinky lights, beer, chips and cigarettes. Since Chuck and I had to bail out early, we have not had a chance to get feedback regarding how the others enjoyed the evening. Maybe my version is tainted because I was not feeling well.

Today is the day of Cuenca's independence. All the festivities have been leading up to today. There is more going on today than can be attended. Chuck and I have chosen to go to the "Chola Parade" and to view the election of the "Chola Cuencana."

Tonight we will meet Carl and Linda for dinner and then go to Parque Calderon for the festivities there.

Will share pictures tomorrow.

Love,

Nancy & Chuck

Tango and Gaucho Performance

Dear Family and Friends,

We went with our friends, Carl and Linda, to a tango performance at Banco Central Auditorium last night. The performers were from Argentina and this is just one of many performances taking place over the city during the Cuenca Independence celebration. The dancers will also be performing tonight and tomorrow night for those of you in Cuenca. Last night's performance started at 8:00pm. Since there is no reserved seating, people were starting to line up by 7:30pm. Tickets were on sale at the door.

This first video is of a couple of the tango dancers.





This second video is of a gaucho dancer.




We sat in the balcony and had a great view.

This afternoon we are going to the "fair" at the Plaza de Toros and then on to the entertainment and fireworks at Parque de Madre. Will share pictures from those events later.

Tomorrow night we are going to the Plaza de Toros for Mariachi music. Tickets are on sale for this event at the downstairs optical kiosk in Mall del Rio.

If you are local and want to get out tonight and/or tomorrow night maybe we will see you there.

Nancy & Chuck