My husband Lenny is an excellent photographer. He is making short movies of many of the things/people/places he sees around Cuenca. everything from the crazy traffic circles where buses/cars/trucks play chicken in rush hour traffic to the peaceful cow and calves who graze across the river from our apt building (that would be Violetta and company - Len decided she needed a name). check it out at Faces Of Cuenca
I mentioned in my profile that I've always lived near a city but never IN a big city. Now, I am living in Cuenca which is reported to be more than 400,000 so its a fairly big city (Ecuador's 3rd largest). However it feels like a small town. The people who are ex-pats (living here from other countries) tend to hang out together and do some things together. They all seem to know what is going on in each others lives. Then when we walk, we run into Cuencanos we know, again making it feel like a small town, rather than a city. Some of the smaller city feeling must come from the friendliness of Cuencanos themselves. They always greet with a warm hug and cheek kiss (or air kiss). They greet everyone, for instance if you are new but sitting with a family gathering and a grown son arrives, he will go around the table giving this traditional greeting to each person, including people he is just meeting. It is very warm and quite wonderful.
I love that there is a laundry service a block away and a bakery a little less. A short bus ride or taxi gets me to most of the places I want to go, if it is too far to walk. I have not visited the library yet but there is more than one.Cuenca seems to be a very nice "small city". In the words of my former neighbor Jamie B, "Its all good!"
I mentioned in my profile that I've always lived near a city but never IN a big city. Now, I am living in Cuenca which is reported to be more than 400,000 so its a fairly big city (Ecuador's 3rd largest). However it feels like a small town. The people who are ex-pats (living here from other countries) tend to hang out together and do some things together. They all seem to know what is going on in each others lives. Then when we walk, we run into Cuencanos we know, again making it feel like a small town, rather than a city. Some of the smaller city feeling must come from the friendliness of Cuencanos themselves. They always greet with a warm hug and cheek kiss (or air kiss). They greet everyone, for instance if you are new but sitting with a family gathering and a grown son arrives, he will go around the table giving this traditional greeting to each person, including people he is just meeting. It is very warm and quite wonderful.
I love that there is a laundry service a block away and a bakery a little less. A short bus ride or taxi gets me to most of the places I want to go, if it is too far to walk. I have not visited the library yet but there is more than one.Cuenca seems to be a very nice "small city". In the words of my former neighbor Jamie B, "Its all good!"
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