The last few weeks my Mom was with us in Cuenca

We moved into our new home in Cuenca on December 1st, and then we left for Florida on December 8th for the holidays.  We returned to Cuenca on January 7th and my Mom came to Ecuador with us.  We had lots of "house" things to take care of; get our internet set up, coordinate our utilities, delivery of furniture (more on that in a later blog), you know, life as it needs to be dealt with.
So to take a break from the normal day to day things, we decided to take a trip out of the city, we scheduled a tour to Ingapirca.  We had been there with my cousin Dan in August,  this time we decided to take the trip with a different  tour company, we thought we might learn additional history regarding the Inca's and the site. 

Our tour started at a Sunday market in a town named Canar, Canari's are the original people of the area, they pre-date the Inca's. The market was crazy busy, people selling grains, fruit, clothing, hardware, EVERYTHING.  We watched in awe at the activity.  

PIC's FROM CANAR:

These women are wearing the traditional Canari hat.  The hats have little "balls" hanging from them, if the balls are worn on the front, it means the woman, or man, is married.

Young Canari ladies, the "little balls" are on the back of their hats, which means they are not married. It reminds me of the tradition regarding the proper way to wear a Claddaugh ring.

The fruit and vegetables in these kinds of markets are amazing, the cabbages are the size of basketballs!!

What a great face!!

We thought the hats were so cool we bought one for a "decoration" for the house.  I am not sure what happened to the exposure on this pic, but I thought it was funny.

ON TO INGAPIRCA:

We traveled on to Ingapirca, the ride was beautiful.
 My Mom took this pic of the scenery along the way.

Our tour guide was great and we learned alot, those Inca's were amazing.

It was a beautiful day, but every so often during our tour,

the clouds would roll in.

This "road" is acutally part of the Inca Trail to Macchu Picchu, young men would travel this path to deliver messages back and forth.

Mom and me at Ingapirca



Temple of the sun, the main structure of Ingapirca



Mom, "chilling" at the Temple of the Sun.

Mom took this nice picture of us.

We learned that some of the stones have a greenish hue due to high Copper content.

Truly amazing how the stones were put in place and remain perfect.

My Mom's hat traveled around Ecuador, she looked great in it. 

We had lunch at Posada Ingapirca, great trout.  We had considered staying at this "Posada" = hotel to get a chance to see the sunrise over the ruins, we have since learned that the place is FREEZING at night.  Oh well, the lunch was good.

A pic of some young women strolling around the ruins.

We got back to life in Cuenca and decided we needed some additional plants for our patio, so we called our trusty friend and taxi driver Manny.  He took us to a nursery and negotiated the prices for us, our plants were delivered the following day for $3.00.  My Mom, Michael and I got busy potting plants. 

A few pics.

A NEIGHBORHOOD PARTY:

Michael and I are the only Americans living in our little community, and we were invited to a neighborhood barbecue while my Mom was here.  Our neighbors are really nice and super accepting of our very limited Spanish.  We had a great time and met some nice folks.

Pics from the party:

My Mom was going home on the 7th of February, so we headed out for the three hour bus ride through the Caja's to Guayaquil on the 6th.  When we got to Guayaquil we knew we would only have one more day together, so we went exploring.  We found a beautiful Cathedral that was only two blocks from our hotel, on a Monday afternoon, people were praying in the church to the various saints, it was amazing and inspiring. 

After exploring the Cathedral, my Mom and I sat in the park across the street, it is known for the Iguanas that live there.  Apparently at some point in time, this park was the city limits and the Iguanas came in from the surrounding wetlands and took up residence in the park, they are beloved residents of Guayaquil.  I didn't carry a camera with me that day, so I "borrowed" the following pictures.

The Cathedral in Guayaquil

We strolled around the Malecon and ran into a friend from Cuenca, she was also an extra in the short film Michael was in last summer.   Small world, she was on her way to Macchu Picchu!! 

Parque Simon Bolivar, also known as "Iguana Park"

When my Mom checked in at the airport, she was informed that she had been selected to have an "additional" search before she could board the plane.  OK,  you have seen my Mom's pic's.  No ugly beard, no flowing white robes, she doesn't look like a drug mule or terrorist to me.  Oh well, Ecuador, who knows why they do the stuff they do.

I am so happy that my Mom came to Cuenca, now she understands why we like it so much.  She has decided that she wants to learn Spanish so that when she returns, she will be able to communicate with the lovely people here. 

My Mom went home, and I miss her.

Life is short, cherish the time you have with the people you love.