Get Your Parade On!

It wouldn't be Christmas Eve without El Pase del Nino Viajero. You saw it last year and we couldn't resist returning for another go this year. We went a little bit earlier this time and got some better photos. (At one point, I perched myself up on an electrical or phone service box to see over the crowd.) Like last year, we went back a few times, as it's exhausting being buffeted by crowds for the full 8-9 hours it takes for the parade to pass. I wish I could tell you where all the different styles of traditional dress are from, but I'm just not the well educated, I'm afraid.

Without further ado, the festivities:

Dressed to the 9's even on the sidelines.

Black face is new to us this year, don't know what that's about...

Diablos de la Carnival

The Unknown Flautists?

So many different generations participating!

Check the modern push car...old meets new

If the children look mildly disgruntled, tired or just plain peevish, it's because we're at the end of the parade route...they're all just tuckered out.

 

Clown a la Ecuador

We think that this poor guy carried the pig the whole route! Exhausting!

 If you think it's just the girls, think again, the men get involved, too!

More crazy masks and llama skin pants...can you say overheated?

"Are we there yet??" (Ya llegamos?)

Angel with a toque, must be Canadian!

You can barely see, but the horse is laden with food of all types...

...including a chicken in a sombrero (PS that's a real chicken)

One little guy actually waved at me, most are too stoic, or too tired.

The sun has been breaking through the clouds, can you imagine how hot this guy is?

May pole...or should I say December pole

The guys in the centre are champions...they could barely keep the pole still.

Heavy Spanish influence on the little principesa - huge horse, huge dress, tiny girl!

I have two videos as well, one of the December pole and the other a general street scene:

 

That's it for the wild and wacky world of Christmas in Cuenca. Come down and visit one year to experience it. Next up: New Years Eve meaning bonfires, burning effigies and fireworks!

Street Art, Cuenca Style

I find that public art, authorized or not, says a lot about a place; what's important, what's controversial, what's taboo, the whole lot. The very first thing we noticed when we came to visit Cuenca in May of 2013 was the tagging. There wasn't a lot and what we saw were mostly messages of hope and love. Sure there were a couple f#*^ the police, but for the most part it was so and so loves whosey-what, make love not war and the like. It was kind of nice, since you can't eradicate tagging all together. Murals are very popular on the walls of schools, as shown in the next few pictures:

Once we came back the second time for a longer stay, we noticed the tagging had increased, but that street art (or graffiti if that appeals to you more) was blossoming. There's been a government promoted project to beautify empty wall around the city and the results can be stunning.

We're very excited about a project in the works to paint one of the under passes, that's having a broad range of styles of street art painted as I type this.(Shown in pictures above - post completion). The artists had set up a whole stage with huge speakers in the middle of the street which had been blocked off and were blasting South American Rap music while the prepped and painted. It was pretty cool, but I'll have photos about that later. So here's all the wild wacky and creative art we've come across in our wandering.



I think about the murals of whales in Vancouver, the fake brick wall tenement in Quebec City and for the life of me, I can't remember any street art in Prince Edward Island...tagging, sure, but huge works of graffiti, it escapes me. I'm sure someone will educate me!

Back of a bus stop

We hope you enjoy the enthusiasm, talent and whimsy of the Ecuadorian artists.

One of my favourites!

One more note about art (good or otherwise), my next book is almost complete (at least the first draft), so I'll hopefully have it available for summer reading. (Fingers crossed!)

 

One more photo just for fun, in the vein of Human's of New York (look it up, if you've never seen the site!) Today in Microfashion:

Domenica, our resident Chola Cuencana

The pose just kills it!

 



Christmas Comes to Cuenca

I'm not quite sure how we missed it last year, but apparently the 22nd of December is when the Christ Child arrives in Cuenca. It seems that stores, neighbourhoods and towns outside of the city plan a manger recital as part of a competition. Most include Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus (sometimes a doll baby; sometimes a real one) plus many angels, shepherds and the Wise Men. Many displays also include additions not found in the Bible, like snowmen, elves, Santas and other more commercial Christmas symbols.

The Magi arrive

Note the donkey in a box (bottom right)
I think she was making the body from cardboard and newspaper.

For those of you who wonder how Christ disappeared from Christmas, come down to Ecuador one year and bolster your spirits. The Christian (mostly Catholic) spirit is alive and well.

Warm, but ungainly!

Petulent elves, fake sheep and dog dressed as Santa

"Christmas" trees around the fountain

What we enjoy the most is the participation of all ages; families, friends, co-workers coming together to celebrate an important time. Most of the costumes and sets are hand made from items found around the house. (Large plastic shopping bags converted into capes and dresses, CDs used for "bling" in stars or gowns, moving tape is heavily featured in the creation of seams for clothes, keeping on animal ears attached to hair bands, and the lowly plastic pop bottle cut to resemble stars, flowers and decorative candle holders) It's all haphazard, despite much planning, I'm sure, at least on the part of the participants, and that makes it all the more charming. There's little pretense here and everything is done in the spirit of fun, coloured with sense of reverence and that, as has been said often, it priceless.

While the weather makes it hard to believe that Christmas is only two days away, the spirit of Christmas is building quietly. (Abetted by creepy doll commercials, on TV. The dolls have hard plastic faces, but can do all manner of things; crawl, stand up, talk, somersault etc. To be honest, they kind of freak me out.) I'll assuage myself with El Pase del Nino Viajero, tomorrow. Nothing like an all day parade to buoy the spirits. Hope this also lifts you up!

With Christmas so fast upon us, let us wish you the very best of the season, however you celebrate. May the light of hope shine brightly on you and yours and may we learn to accept each other with respect, dignity and, above all else, peace.

Attaining Satisfaction: Putting English Aside

We've made quite a few friends here in Ecuador; all really great people with good attitudes and a general zest for life. Most have embraced the lifestyle here in Cuenca and have attempted, on one level or another, to learn Spanish, which, of course, is a good thing. Not everyone has a good capacity for language, but locals really appreciate the attempt and are generally kind and patient.


This has brought me to a new thought, based on people's success (or lack thereof) in learning Spanish.I'd never really thought about it before, but there are definitely levels of language: travel, survival, passing knowledge, conversational and fluency. (I'm sure there are also stages- within each, but that's too much to ponder at this moment.) I know, you're thinking to yourself, of course there are, Danica! But when someone says they're learning (fill in the language) I always assume they're shooting for fluency. This is not always the case, some people are happy with "getting by". (Who knew?) Anyhow, here's my personal list of language levels:

Saying something louder, or speaking English with a Spanish accent is pretty ineffectual.

Travel Spanish allows you to order food, book a hotel room and find key tourist spots. It consists of several memorized phrases and the hope that whoever answers you speaks slowly and uses a lot of hand gestures or, better yet, advanced charades techniques.

Survival Spanish is a step above Travel. You might be able to tell a pharmacist what hurts or make a passing comment about the weather. This is also characterized by the hope that who ever answers your query, again, speaks slowly and is a charade champion.


Passing Knowledge of Spanish (or PKS) is one of the more dangerous levels to practice. You know enough to make compound sentences, if you get enough time and practice in before hand. The usual result of PKS is a rapid barge of Spanish in answer to your well formed question. Unfortunately, you're still hoping the responder will speak slowly and utilize international hand signals as well.

This is me, quite frequently

Conversational Spanish isn't terribly different from PKS, but you are more comfortable speaking off the cuff, can indicate past, present and future tense and when you're really on your game throw in a subjunctive statement every now and again (Don't know what subjunctive is? That's okay, that's why we have the internet!). When conversing, you can catch a good portion of what most people are saying, regardless of speed, but it also requires that you already know the context of the conversation, which often requires the much hoped for slow speech or the ever popular hand gestures, pointing out the topic.


Fluency, for most of us, is a pipe dream. That moment when you get mistaken for a native speaker and beam with pride will likely never happen. That being said, some people can get to the point where hand gestures aren't required and you have a large enough vocabulary to pick up the gist of the conversation with out visual cues.


What's my point in all of this? Achieving at least a level that reaches near conversational Spanish is going to make life in a Spanish speaking country much more pleasant. You don't have to wait for the only English (or choose you're own native language) speaking person at the business, who might be highly in demand. You'll save money by not needing to hire a translator to conduct basic business, like setting up internet and cable TV, getting a hair cut or negotiating for that much desired window seat at a popular restaurant.

I honestly believe that many people here get frustrated for those reasons. It's hard to wait for half an hour until the English speaker is free, or to have to have people redo things, because there's been some confusion with what you really wanted, or just not being sure if what someone is saying to you is important or not. You also get to talk with the locals; those that don't speak English and while the prospect is daunting, the outcome is almost always rewarding. (Be prepared to repeat yourself, they're almost always surprised to hear Spanish out of a foreigner's mouth.)


Consider this when planning on relocating to a country with a different language than your own. It's well worth the struggle, occasional embarrassment and time. And remember to get a really good grip on a language it takes a good four years and that's when you're immersed in it.


Finally, I'd like to give a shout out to Charity and Ana Luisa of Coffee Club Spanish. Ana Luisa is my actual teacher and she has brought me to somewhere between PKS and conversational - a pretty good achievement for a year of study and I'm giving all the credit to their program. If I can do it, so can you and it's well worth the effort. Just wait for my first Spanish blog post!