LUGGAGE:
My Mom's luggage didn't make the journey to Cuenca, she had a sort of premonition that her bag would be lost, she mentioned that even before we left Miami due to the way her luggage was handled. When we got here, our six bags arrived, and the one with my Mom's stuff was missing in action.
After messing around with paperwork and officials, we finally left the airport at 11:00 p.m. our friend Efrian was dutifully waiting for us, so we made the journey through the mountains at night, we arrived at our house around 2:00 am and crashed.
In the morning Michael started the phone calls to American Airlines trying to track down my Mom's bag. After two days, they finally found it and said they would deliver it the following day. WHAT!
The Airline wanted to send it with a courier through the mountains, we said absolutely NOT, we had to have the bag THAT day. Hours went by, Michael made lots of calls, and the airline finally agreed to send it on the next flight to Cuenca, Michael had to meet the "guy" at a local hotel to pick the suitcase. The bag was supposed to be there at 4:00, well around 5:15 the dude showed up with my Mom's suitcase. Oh well, that is Ecuador time.
At least my Mom got her stuff.
CUENCA:
Before we left for the US we had only been in our new home for 8 days, so we were still learning our way around the Cuenca bus system. There is a MAJOR intersection that is now under construction, so the very little we knew about the buses, has gone right out the window. The bus system here is really great and dependable, it costs 25 cents to travel, the problem is, now we have to learn the new bus routes.
Since my Mom has been here, we have jumped on lots of buses, the bus drivers are almost as bad as the taxi drivers. The driver hits the gas pedal the moment you step on, so it is a matter of trying to get to a seat before the driver speeds up so you don't break a tooth on the darn handle straps or bars. The whole ordeal of getting off the bus is also interesting, you cannot get off in the front, it must be in the back, so we try to get seats in the back of the bus so we don't have to push and shove through the other passengers. The bus drivers barely come to a stop to let you on, and then getting off is like a carnival ride, - the doors open, the bus chugs along, and hopefully he will stop long enough to let you off. It's a gamble depending on the driver.
My Mom has silver hair, and has never failed to be given a seat upon getting on a crowded bus. Mom has mentioned about the courtesy of the people in this city.
My Mom's luggage didn't make the journey to Cuenca, she had a sort of premonition that her bag would be lost, she mentioned that even before we left Miami due to the way her luggage was handled. When we got here, our six bags arrived, and the one with my Mom's stuff was missing in action.
After messing around with paperwork and officials, we finally left the airport at 11:00 p.m. our friend Efrian was dutifully waiting for us, so we made the journey through the mountains at night, we arrived at our house around 2:00 am and crashed.
In the morning Michael started the phone calls to American Airlines trying to track down my Mom's bag. After two days, they finally found it and said they would deliver it the following day. WHAT!
The Airline wanted to send it with a courier through the mountains, we said absolutely NOT, we had to have the bag THAT day. Hours went by, Michael made lots of calls, and the airline finally agreed to send it on the next flight to Cuenca, Michael had to meet the "guy" at a local hotel to pick the suitcase. The bag was supposed to be there at 4:00, well around 5:15 the dude showed up with my Mom's suitcase. Oh well, that is Ecuador time.
At least my Mom got her stuff.
CUENCA:
Before we left for the US we had only been in our new home for 8 days, so we were still learning our way around the Cuenca bus system. There is a MAJOR intersection that is now under construction, so the very little we knew about the buses, has gone right out the window. The bus system here is really great and dependable, it costs 25 cents to travel, the problem is, now we have to learn the new bus routes.
Since my Mom has been here, we have jumped on lots of buses, the bus drivers are almost as bad as the taxi drivers. The driver hits the gas pedal the moment you step on, so it is a matter of trying to get to a seat before the driver speeds up so you don't break a tooth on the darn handle straps or bars. The whole ordeal of getting off the bus is also interesting, you cannot get off in the front, it must be in the back, so we try to get seats in the back of the bus so we don't have to push and shove through the other passengers. The bus drivers barely come to a stop to let you on, and then getting off is like a carnival ride, - the doors open, the bus chugs along, and hopefully he will stop long enough to let you off. It's a gamble depending on the driver.
My Mom has silver hair, and has never failed to be given a seat upon getting on a crowded bus. Mom has mentioned about the courtesy of the people in this city.
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| Mom and Michael at Pumapungo |
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| Mom and I walking around the Pumapungo ruins in Cuenca |
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| The HUGE staircase we had to climb to back to street level after seeing the ruins. |
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| The view from Pumapungo |
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