McDonald's Opens in Cuenca

Dear Family and Friends,

In the years since we have lived in Cuenca we have seen many changes.  The most recent change is the opening of a McDonald's.  There has been a lot of controversy amongst the expat community about whether this is a good thing or not.  Chuck and I did not eat at McDonald's in the U.S. and do not intend to do so now.

Today (Sunday) we were without our dear friends Rich and Nancy.  We chose to walk but in a different part of town.  We saw that McDonald's was open as we drove by and decided to check it out before we started our walk.

Our new McDonald's is very nice.  One of the nicest McDonald's we have ever seen.

There is very nice outside seating.

The one thing that really caught our eye was their coffee bar.  We will try their coffee when it is not so crowded.  Good coffee is hard to find in Cuenca.

People were lined up eager to try the menu offerings.

And two out of three happy customers is not too bad I suppose.

There is the play area just like in the U.S.

The potted trees are lovely and add a nice ambiance to the building.

In the process of building they cut down two trees to make way for the drive though.  This was done illegally, without permission from the city.  McDonald's will now have to plant 1,000+ trees in restitution for not obtaining permission before demolishing the city's trees.  I wonder if these potted trees will count as part of the restitution?

The drive through appeared ready to go, but is not open yet.

Since acres of asphalt for parking is unusual for Cuenca we were surprised to see that they have a parking garage.

So there you have it.  Cuenca is now home to Ronald and Co.

We will return after the crowds subside to try the coffee and probably use the outdoor area to enjoy it.

Love,
Nancy

FOTO FRIDAY - 11/08/13

Dear Family and Friends,

This Friday photo was taken just last weekend.  We met this interesting young man while touring the artists' market.  He spoke to me in English when I asked if I could photo him.  He told me his is from South Dakota and is Sioux.  He said him mother is from Ecuador and speaks Quechua.

Cool dude!!

Love,
Nancy

A Day in the Cemetery

Dear Family and Friends,

This past Saturday we went on a tour of the cemetery in Cuenca.  November 2nd is celebrated here as a day to spend with your deceased relatives.  Some call it the Day of the Dead.  Families come together at the cemetery and clean up the burial sites and spend time with their loved ones who have died.  Some bring food and drink and picnic there.

I had only seen the cemetery from the outside.  It is surrounded by a tall wall so I did not really know how pretty it is inside.

This is part of the original cemetery and it is quite old.

Beautiful statues...

Another....

This is the family area of the mayor of Cuenca at the time the cemetery was created.

Not all of the graves are in the original part of the cemetery are grand.  There was an area that was used to bury people who did not qualify for the Christian area.  This is where people of other faiths were buried...Buddhists, Jews, and prostitutes, murderers, etc.  

The newer part of the cemetery is also lovely.

This is our tour group following and listening to our great guide.

This is the very first hearse that was used in Cuenca.

The cemetery was bustling with people.  It was wonderful to see families coming together remembering their loved ones and enjoying this beautiful day.

Chuck and I hope to go back soon and take more time exploring this very interesting part of Cuenca.

Love,
Nancy

FOTO FRIDAY - 11/01/13

Dear Family and Friends,

I was looking through some of our old pictures and I found a trip that Chuck and I made across the United States about seven years ago.

I want to share some of the pictures from that journey.

We started our adventure on the Oregon coast.

We drove south through the Redwood Forest.

Even the ferns were giant size.

Sedona, Arizona is a spectacular and magical place.

Here is Chuck being dwarfed again.  This is a giant cactus near Tuscon, Arizona.

I'll share more pictures from that trip on another Friday.

Reliving this trip through the pictures makes my heart sing "America the Beautiful!"


Love,
Nancy

Making Aji in Cuenca

Dear Family and Friends,

After returning to Cuenca we had a very empty refrigerator because I had cleaned it out a couple of months ago before we started traveling.

One thing I really like about living in Ecuador is the aji.  Aji is a hot sauce made from tree tomatoes.  The aji I like the best is made by Lourdes.  She agreed to let me tag along and photograph the process.

 We walked to the market to buy the ingredients.

Lourdes selected the produce and we came home to start production.

Here are the ingredients:

Tree tomatoes (as far as I know these are not available in the U.S.)
Tiny peppers
Green onions
Cilantro
Red Onion (not in picture)

The first thing she did was washed the produce.

Then she put the tomatoes de arbol (tree tomatoes) to bring to a boil.

She covered them and removed them shortly after they came to a boil.  The reason for this is to make them easier to peel......just like real tomatoes.

While she waited for the tree tomatoes to heat, she thinly chopped some purple and green onions.

She did not chop the peppers, she set them aside to be put in the blender with the tree tomatoes.

She removed the tree tomatoes from the stove and peeled them before putting in the blender.

She added the peppers and blended on high.

She used a strainer to get any pulp out of the mixture.

She added chopped cilantro and stirred it in.

As a final step she added a little salt.

And there you have it....Aji Lourdes style.

Lourdes just checked this post out and said that everything is correct.

Keep it refrigerated until you use it.

Love,
Nancy (and Lourdes)