Cuenca

I finally made it to Ecuador. Actually, I arrived last week, but it has taken a while to acclimate. I'm a flatlander. Chicago is about 200m above sea level (I didn't know that but I just googled it) and Delft is below sea level. Cuenca is about 2500m above sea level. I flew into Guayaquil, on the coast, where Carlitos met me at the airport. We spent the night there and the next morning walked around the city a bit. That's where my ailments began; I got sunburned.

That afternoon we went by road to Cuenca, only three hours away and through Cajas, the national park where Carlitos used to work. I didn't see the park. I was asleep, or maybe had just passed out due to the lack of oxygen, since the park is at about 4000m. When we arrived at his house in Cuenca I felt alright, which was fortunate, since about half his family was there to meet me (his family, i.e., parents, siblings, in-laws, nieces and nephews, are about 26 in number). I met the rest of the family a few days later.

However, that night was terrible. I was up sick half the night and spent the next day in bed just resting. I was trying to convince myself that I didn't drink the water in Guayaquil (I should know better, since I now have a masters degree in "don't drink the water"), but then remembered that my juice had had some ice in it. After a day in bed, I was ready to emerge and meet the rest of the family. Carlitos' parents have a summer home (not really a summer home since here by the equator it's almost seasonless, but what is referred to as a summer home in the US) a bit outside of town where on weekends the whole family goes to BBQ, garden, gossip, drink, play, etc. While I had a very nice time there, the affliction of the day was shortness of breath.

On Monday morning Carlitos had an interview in a city about an hour away. We drove there with his father and while Carlitos was in the interview, I talked with papi in my best Spanish (now at about a first grade level, but improving). After the interview, we drove a bit further down the road for some sugarcane juice. In the afternoon, I finally made it into the central part of Cuenca. We saw few churches, wandered through the market, and dodged traffic. I was really surprised by how many cars there were. The historic center is beautiful, but unlike Delft, there are cars everywhere (and the sidewalks are quite narrow). Maybe that's why I started sneezing.

Or maybe the cold that I woke up with on Tuesday was due to the climate. The temperature here is relatively consistent, between 10-20C (50-70F) year round. Therefore, they don't have indoor heating. And I am one of those people who is always cold. I have layers, but I just don't like wearing a jacket indoors. Also, the air here is dry. Therefore, we spent the afternoon in neighboring town of Baños, at a Turkish bath (a steam room with a cold shower). It was very very nice.

OK, this had gotten a bit long so far. Up next, how to get a drivers license in Ecuador and why I can drink the tap water in Cuenca. And photos too. I'm having a bit of an uploading issue right now. Sorry.