461 Years of Castilian Cuenca

Cuenca was originally a settlement for the Cañari people, an indigenous Andean culture that still exists (remarkably) to this day. Their ancestors actually predate Incans, so we're talking 6th century or 1,500 years ago, if that helps.

Traditional Cañari dress

They are a strong proud people and managed to survive the Incan invasion and one of the leaders Huayna Capac, actually rose in the ranks of the Incan warriors to become the head of the stronghold which eventually became Cuenca (really: Santa Ana de los Cuatro Rios de Cuenca. Translated to Saint Ann of the Four Rivers of Cuenca. It's just a little too much to say/write all the time, so it got shortened to Cuenca. It was named by Gil Ramirez Dávalos after his beloved city in Spain.)

Despite Cañari success with the mighty Incans, they couldn't find the same success with the Conquistadors from Spain. (Very few cultures truly survived that decimation, to be sure.) Despite this history, Cuenca has gussied itself up and is celebrating the 461 anniversary of the founding of the Spanish version of the city.

It's not a party without a sugar load

I've found their European ties to be a sort of love/hate relationship. There is enough pride in being tied to Spain that they're having a celebration (let's be honest, any excuse for a party) and also enough bad blood that many people here don't speak "español", but "castellano". It must be noted that the bigger celebration on the November 3rd weekend is in celebration of ridding themselves of the Spanish crown/government.

Crafts of all types are available

Miraculously, parts of the pre-Columbian culture remain, through oral histories, artifacts and in the faces of the people that live, work and inhabit this part of the world. How they managed to keep their spirit, their art and language through such adversity is a mystery to me. It might have something to do with their day to day stoicism or joyful abandon when it comes to celebrating.

Official Crest of Cuenca provided:

By Municipalidad de Cuenca

So, here's to you, Santa Ana de los Cuatro Rios de Cuenca, and all you've seen, experienced and survived and to what you've become today!
(The translation is basically "First God and after, you.")

On a sad note, the celebrations were cut short to honour two Ecuadorian Journalists (Javier Ortega and Paul Rivas) and their driver (Efrain Segarra). All of whom were murdered by a Columbian drug cartel, in their attempt to break an agreement between the Columbian and Ecuadorian governments to fight drug crime. President Moreno has declared a four day mourning period. May their families find peace.

In Search of a New Dentist

The one thing that Ron and I make sure to do is maintain our teeth. Dental care, in Ecuador, is reliable and inexpensive, but a bit different from what we're used to in Canada. The very first thing we noticed is that the dentist doesn't require a set of x-rays. They just poke around, prodding at suspect areas and doing a visual assessment. If something major is going on, most will send you to an x-ray technician to get the low down on what's happening below the surface. I have yet to get a dental x-ray here.

I'd hate to be afraid to smile.

Anyhow, Ron's tried out a few dentists, mostly because the one we started with tried to "up sell" him on replacing some old fillings. Another dentist he visited said everything looked fine, so Ron was feeling a bit put upon. Don't get me wrong, we don't just flit from dentist to dentist, this process took more than a year to complete. The second dentist was more expensive than our usual. Perhaps, that's why he didn't feel the need to up sell us on other services.(Besides, isn't that what whitening, braces and veneers are for?)

Recently, we heard of a new dentist from a friend. As it was that time of year again, we made an appointment and headed over there on Easter Friday. (No holidays for a young go-getter, I guess.) Anyhow, the young fellow mentioned a couple of places where I'd lost enamel (gum recession!) from heavy brushing (it's been that way for a while) and he recommended taking care of it before too much more time passed. This wasn't a complete surprise, as other dentists had mentioned this as well, but without offering a solution. The young doctor mentioned that the colour of the exposed tooth was changing which is a strong indication that attention was required. He had been incredibly gentle during the cleaning, which weighed in his favour.

Keep smiling that smile!\

Anyone who knows me really well, knows that I'm terrified of the drill. Naturally, I was gutted. He explained the procedure, which made me feel even more nauseous and nervous and, yet, I agreed to come back the next Monday to have him take care of the three spots. He promised me no drilling, just polishing. In passing, he mentioned that most people don't require freezing. That about did me in, but he seemed quite earnest and swore that he would crack out the Novocaine at the first sign of discomfort.

No matter how goofy!

Needless to say, I survived the process with only some minor discomfort and sore gums. (And one small sore where the mouth piece that kept my mouth open rubbed. This almost always happens to me.) To be honest, while those particular spots never bothered me (pain-wise), I'm glad to have filled in some gaps that bugged me aesthetically; avoiding cavities is even better.

For the two cleanings, one front tooth polishing, and three "cover ups" (for lack of a better description) it cost us $120. Not too bad. Have we found our new dentist? Maybe, we'll see. But if you're looking for a dentist, or perhaps just a change, check out Christian Brito. His office is just off Parque de la Madre. Contact: cristian.rbrito@gmail.com or call 0995 942 109. He does speak English well, so no worries for those of us with less than stellar Spanish skills.

Have a dental recommendation? Let me know in the comments!