San Xavier del Bac Mission and Unexpected Fortune

Dear Family and Friends,

On another day we went to San Xavier del Bac Mission, an old Spanish mission, founded in 1692.

This is the view of the mission from the parking lot.

The interior of the church.  It is in the process of being restored and it is quite beautiful.

This is a side alter.  The virgin Mary is still in her Christmas clothing.

The frescos and architecture were awesome.

A wall surrounding the mission with a cactus garden.  I love the pink cactus.

Chuck, with his sister, Audrey outside the chapel.

Audrey and Jim live in a small community of retired folks.  Most are snowbirds but some, like Audrey and Jim, live here year round.

Quite often there are garage sales.  One morning, on the way to breakfast, we stopped at an especially large estate sale.  It was so crowded that we decided to have breakfast and return later.

Here are some of us getting ready for breakfast at a local restaurant.

When we returned to the estate sale, the crowd had thinned out.  We shopped around.  I found some miniatures of Amsterdam houses.  These are given to customers who fly first class on KLM.  They are quite small, only about a couple of inches tall.  I figured I would take them back to Cuenca.

When we returned home, I went on eBay and tried to figure out their value.  I had paid only $3.00 for all five pieces.

When I discovered the center piece had sold recently for $349.00, I decided to put the 5 houses on eBay and try to sell them.  If they didn't sell I would keep them as originally intended.

I listed them for $300.00.  Within 24 hours I sold them.  

Here is a picture from my computer screen of the ad.

I used to post things on eBay all the time when I lived in the USA.  I haven't posted anything in over 10 years.  

This was so much fun.

Next post I will share about our visit with Clarke and Brenda, and about a great adventure at the
Arizona Desert Museum.

Love,
Nancy

Family in Tucson, Arizona

Dear Family and Friends,

Chuck and I are in Arizona with family.  I really meant to blog often from here, but GOSH, we have been so busy that I haven't had time.

We have been here almost two weeks.  We have been so busy that I can't get everything in just one posting.  I am going to have to divide our activities into multiple posts.

Last week we had a mini family reunion.  Chuck's siblings and their spouses congregated in Tucson for a week together.

Early on in the week we went to Madera canyon for a short hike and picnic.

Here is Carolyn, ready to start the hike.

On another day, we went to the Presido, the original fort of Tucson.

Chuck and his two sisters checking out an exhibit.

Larry, Chuck's brother, examining a replica of the original cannon.

Carol, Chuck's sister helping the tour guide show a oven.

One day Audrey took us to the top of "A" mountain.  We had an amazing view of the city of Tucson below us.

And, one evening, we went to another reunion.  This was a reunion of some of the folks we toured China with last year.  Of course, we all met at a local Chinese restaurant.

I will share more of our adventures in the next post.

Love,
Nancy

Bags Packed for a New Adventure

Dear Family and Friends,

We have been in Cuenca for a good solid three months.  We were here for Cuenca's Independence Day, and the Christmas season, which is always a great time to be in Cuenca.

We had a wonderful visit with our daughter and grandson over Christmas and at the moment, our friends, Karen and Randy are staying with us, while they are here in Ecuador, closing out things for their hiatus back in the United States. 

We are leaving this Thursday morning, and will be traveling until the first week of March.

First, we are traveling to Tucson, Arizona to visit family.  In fact we will be participating in a small family reunion of Chuck's siblings and their spouses.  We also hope to meet up with some of our expat family, that now live in Arizona.  Clarke and Brenda, and Bruce and Charlie live nearby.

The first of February, Chuck and I are off on what is probably our most adventurous trip yet.  We are going to India for a month.  We (clarification: I) have been reluctant to tackle this country in the past.  We have heard great things and some pretty awful things about visiting in India.  We know that if we want to see India we need to see it now while we are healthy and mobile.

We are not brave enough to do this country on our own.  We booked two back to back tours through Gate 1 travel.  Gate 1 is the tour company we used for our trip to China.  The China trip turned out so great we decided to use them in India.  The first half of the month we will be touring northern India.  When that tour is over, since we are already in India, we will fly to southern India and tour there.

I will be taking my laptop as far as Arizona and will post to the blog while we are there.  My laptop will stay in Arizona while we are on our India trip, so I will have to wait until we return before I start posting pictures and the narratives.  

I can post some pictures to Instagram and Facebook from my tablet while we are traveling.

We are very excited as the first of our 2018 adventures is approaching.  

Here is Chuck tending the garden before we head out.

I offered to help, but he told me to stick to posting on the blog.  

Love,
Nancy
 

Merry Christmas to all our Family and Friends

Dear Family and Friends,

Our Christmas is made extra special this year because our daughter, Kylie, and grandson, Bryce, traveled to Ecuador to visit. 

We met them in Quito and spent a day visiting the sights.  

The next day we went to Banos for a few days of adventure before coming to Cuenca.

We arrived in Cuenca in plenty of time to catch the Christmas Eve Children's Parade.  We were so happy to be able to share this wonderful Cuenca Christmas event with them.

This year, we took plastic stools and watched the parade from the curb.  

Here are some pictures.

We have had a quiet Christmas morning, opening gifts and feeling so much gratitude.  

We wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas.  Let's spread the love.  

Love,
Nancy

Festival of Lights

Dear Family and Friends,

Last night, Chuck and I went downtown to see the 5,500 luminaries set out to honor the Vergin Morenica del Rosario (Virgin of the Rosary.)  The history behind the virgin is very fascinating.

The charter for the city of Cuenca was drawn up on April 12, 1557. The following year, a friar goes to Spain and asks King Charles V to donate three images of Our Lady of the Rosary.  One to be sent to three cities, Quito, Guayaquil, and Cuenca. The king commissioned the best craftsmen in Seville to make the three statues.  In 1559 the Cuenca statue arrived.  

After many hundreds of years of strong devotion to the virgin, because of her beauty, her reputation of being the oldest virgin statue in Cuenca, and her reported miracles, the citizens decided in 1928 that they would like to make her the Queen of Cuenca.

Permission was granted by Pope Pius VI for a crown to be made to adorn her head.  Due the the world wide depression that began in 1929, there were no funds to create a crown befitting the Virgin.

The people of Cuenca donated their personal jewels and objects of gold to be used in making the crown. Her crown was completed in 1933. The crown is so precious that it is not put on public display for security reasons.

Every year, since 2007, Cuenca has honored the virgin with luminaries on the eighth of December.  Each year the number of luminaries lit for the Virgin have increased and each year the popularity of the event has increased.

Last evening, at 6:30pm, a service was held at Santo Domingo church to bless the fire that would be used to light the luminaries.  

We arrived about 8:00pm and the luminaries were lit and there were so many people that we could hardly make our way through the crowd.

The virgin was on display in front of Santo Domingo church.  Her crown is not the precious one, but the virgin is the real one.

She has been well cared for and it is hard to believe that she is 458 years old.

Here are just a small amount of the luminaries lining the streets for many blocks.

After just one block of inching along, we decided to try and make our way to Parque Calderon (the main plaza in Cuenca) via streets that did not have the luminaries.  

The downtown streets have Christmas lights across them.

Parque Calderon is beautiful, decorated with lights.  This is the Glorita (bandstand) decorated for the season.  The luminaries were even being displayed in the park.  

We decided to walk down to the river and see the Christmas lights there. There is a nice, well lit, paved walking path along the river.  The blue lights stretched across the river go for about a mile.  

Here is a light display of an indigenous woman washing her clothes in the river. One of my personal favorite displays.

Another display.  A boy fishing in the river.

This is a view of the buildings across the street from where we waited to get a taxi home.

And, here are our plants, lit up for the season, in the front of our condo building.

We got some good exercise walking around the downtown and along the river. It was so much fun to be there for this one, special night of the year.