Cuenca Independence Day

We spent most of the day in the downtown area yesterday..  We went in around 9:30 to get a spot for the big parade.  It was supposed to start at 10:00. We got a nice spot on a raised walkway area. In front of us was the sidewalk.  People were sitting on the curb.  An Ecudoriano couple (about our age), sat next to us. They struck up a conversation with us. This was a little unusual, as normally (we have found) they tend to be a little reserved, at first. We enjoyed the visit. Not long after, a nun with about 10 young boys (7-8 years old) sat down near us.  The Ecuadoriano woman next to us explained that the boys were orphans and were under the care of the catholic orphanage. They looked well cared for and we assume are getting good schooling, but it was sad, nonetheless.  Family is so important in Ecuador (all Latin America).  The boys will have to make their way without the customary support network.

At 11:00, there was no sign of the parade. We began to speculate about the actual start time. As the hour approached 12:00, we feared it would be 1:00 before it got underway. It did start around noon. The parade was, primarily, floats, dancers, music etc., from the various barrios of Cuenca. I think there are 29 barrios. By the time the parade got started, our prime seating location no longer existed. People were standing in front of us. There were thousands of people. So we moved back and stood.  This provided a fairly good vantage point.  But photography was difficult. With everyone standing, could not get full shots. Also, the sun came out - then the umbrellas came out. A lot of the women use umbrellas instead of hats. Good for the hairdo but it ruins the viewing for a lot of people.  So I spent much time cropping the photos to get rid of umbrellas, etc. The parade was very colorful.  The dancing is always  great to watch.

After lunch, we wandered around and watched and listened to music and street shows. There are a million artists in town. There is much down by the river.  We plan to go there soon. Later we went to watch my guitar teachers' group play. We had to wait a while for them as well.  Not their fault.   They were set up and ready to go. But the announcer started giving away stuff to audience members who would come on stage and answer some questions about Cuenca and Ecuador. This went on forever. At one point he asked for an extranjero to come up. Of course, we didn't budge.  But then he asked the crowd if there were any extranjeros present. And, being the only ones there, people started pointing at us. So I ended up being the extranjero representative. The group finally got underway and the music was great.  Pablo acknowledged me, again, to the crowd - very nice of him.

On the way him, we passed another plaza where another group was playing. Besides the instruments, they had four singers (tres hombres y una mujer).  They played uptempo music, but did a choreographed routine a la Motown. They like that kind of thing here.

Crowd beginning to swell

Balloon guy

Smurf guy

Cotton candy

Balloon lady

This smurf lady had her daughter with her (maybe 3-4 years old). When the girl got tired, mom would put her on her shoulders and carry on.

Dancers

Mayor of Cuenca

We couldn't figure this out

Mare balloons

Parasols

Float 

Dancer

Float

Float

Kids on a float

Muchachos on a float

Dancers

Masked dancer

Mas bailadoreas

Military colegio (high school)

Riding in the semi pulling the float. Best seat and best cotton candy in the parade.

On a float

Demonstration on a float.  Most floats had a traditional life type of theme.

Barrio reina

Young dancer

On a flaot.  Not sure what this one was about.

Colonial formal wear

La misma

Cuy on a stick

The payback to Becky for this will be painful. Thats Boris on the drums.  He is a great guitar player, as well.

Dancing in the square in front of the bandstand

Colorful costume

The band.  Boris is hidden behind the led singer.

Pablo on keyboard

El grupo

Pablo - he is usually not this serious

Another shot

Becky has come down with a cold.  It is going into her lungs and she sounds like she has bronchitis. Not good as her history with bronchitis usually means a trip to the doctor. Not sure how much we will do today.