Come with us to the Coopera

Dear Family and Friends,

We have been home a little over a week now.  The best part about coming home is hugging family and friends.  We missed everyone and are glad to be back home.

You must think we disappeared from the earth after we returned from Spain since we have not posted to the blog.  It was a fun challenge to post every day for six weeks during our trip.  Actually it wasn't that hard because we were having neat experiences each day.

Now we are back home.  Everything here is familiar so it is more difficult to find something new or interesting to post about.

Yesterday, Chuck suggested we walk to the Coopera (co-op) for some fruits and veggies.  I picked up my camera and documented our trip. 

Here is Chuck headed out of our building.  We live right on the river as you will see.

When we walk to the Coopera, we first have to cross the bridge.

When we cross the bridge, we always stop and observe the river and look at the people washing their clothes.  Today, the river is extremely high, I always cringe when there are people washing clothes in the river when it is raging.

Here is a closer look....

There is a long park that runs the length of the other side of the river.  Here is Chuck blazing the trail.

While we were in Spain, all the playground equipment has been refurbished.  A kiddie zip line swing was also repaired.  New plants have been planted.  Things are looking real nice these days.

After we crossed the street, we pass an empty lot.  It is always fun to look and see which animals are grazing.  Usually it is a calf or two or baby sheep.  Today it was a cow, and I think she is pregnant.  We told her "hello" and continued on.

When we got to the Coopera, they had plenty of crabs outside.  These are red crabs, a common variety here in Ecuador.  There is a restaurant in Cuenca called "The Red Crab" that serves red crab and other delicious seafood. 

Chuck grabs a cart and we go inside.

Here are some pictures I made inside.  I wasn't sure if I could make pictures inside, but no one asked me to stop so I followed Chuck up and down the aisles.

One of the first things you come to are the eggs.  You can get them in any color you want as long as it is brown.  They also have quail eggs.  A little further along they have yogurt, cheese and further on chicken, a small amount of frozen seafood and smoked pork and chicken.

They have a lot of grains and dried beans to choose from.

They have a very small section of jams and sauces.  You will notice that all the products are labeled with the Coopera label.  No brand names here...all locally made. 

There is a very large fresh fruit and vegetable section.  This makes up most of the store.

They have a large variety of greens, onions, tomatoes and peppers.

They have a small counter of fresh meat.  Except for the ground beef (which is extremely lean), I do not know what the cuts of meat are.

They have a small fresh seafood counter.

We bought several items but could not find what we went shopping for........fresh ginger.

Here is Chuck, patiently waiting his turn in line.

While we were waiting, I noticed a nun filling out slips of paper to enter a contest.  I teased her and asked if she was hoping to win the yellow moto.  She smiled and pointed to the car.  I hope she wins. 

Chuck finished checking out and we started back home.

We waved bye to the cow....she didn't even give us a nod.  

We have found the perfect place to rest if the load is heavy.... a nice big rock under a shade tree.  Today we were carrying light loads, but Chuck is demonstrating how to rest.

Just across the river is where we live.....just a short walk and we were back home.

Just an ordinary experience for us....but today it was a little more special because we had you with us.


Love,
Nancy and Chuck