Holiday weekend extravaganza....

I went to Cuenca for Halloween with many other Peace Corps and World Teach Volunteers. It was a great few days to relax and enjoy a fun American holiday, and luckily this holiday also coincided with three Ecuadorian National holidays. The 1st of November was All Saints Day, the 2nd was the Day of the Dead, and the 3rd was the Independence Day of Cuenca (hence, the reason for traveling to Cuenca).



The city had plenty of festivities all week to keep us busy.

We celebrated Halloween on Saturday night. There was a 10K going on through town as we walked to our party in our “Tortugas Ninjas” costumes, I was Donatello. We certainly amused the locals, or as we joke, the 4th goal of the Peace Corps. Ecuadorians do dress up for Halloween but I only saw kids costumes and it is not as widely celebrated like in the US.

We also visited a “Banos de Cuenca” with hot springs, spas and such. On Monday we spent the afternoon in thermal pools, Turkish baths, mud baths, steam boxes, and hot springs in a cave. Awesome.

Tuesday we went to a park that had a “Taste of Ecuador” fair. They also had mini-monster trucks, kids dancing like Michael Jackson, local music, rollerblading and stunt bikers shows, mini-arcades, craft fairs, beer tents, and the like. Surprisingly similar to the US.

On Monday and Tuesday nights, we partook in the local tradition of shooting fireworks into a crowd. They have these large “castles” with fireworks strapped to them...



Then a crowd of people stand as close as they dare while sparks fly into the crowds (the gringos stood the closest). Lets just say I was not the only one in the group who lost some hair or had holes burnt into my clothes.



On my way back to my site from Cuenca, I spent a night at my friend’s site. We bought and killed our own chicken, grilled the meat and made lettuce chicken wraps. We also made a spinach alfredo sauce out of the local cheese. It was surprisingly good. On our way out of the site, we rode in the back of a pickup truck (standard transportation around here), and as we were passing some beautiful views of the mountains, we noticed…



a volcano erupting in the distance!!!! This is an active volcano that burps regularly, but to see it on such a clear day and without expecting it was amazing.



Well now I am back in my site and I have another meeting with the farmers group…I have finished a preliminary design for the sedimentation tank but need to check some things and need people to help decide where the new tank will go. Coordination, the second largest challenge behind communication. Oh goody.