Update on the last week's adventures

Another week has gone by with the usual high points.  One day last week (I don't remember which one),  Esperanza & I made quimbolitos:

cleaning the leaves

making the leaves flat

Quimbolitos ready to be steamed

Quimbolitos ready to be eaten!

Thursday I went with Esperanza, her friend (& my friend too) Lia, and Lia's son Pancho to Gualaceo to have lunch & do a little shopping.  Lunch was in the big market, where we were served pork straight from its carcass.

Here's what my plate looked like:

Here's the view looking down from where we were eating:

Gualaceo is known for good quality, inexpensive shoes.  We went to many shoe stores.  Lia bought a pair of shoes, but neither Esperanza nor I found any that we wanted.

Thursday night was the 20th anniversary party celebration of CEDEI, the school where I teach.  It was a formal affair in an elegant reception/party hall.  Some dignitaries, including a U.S. consular from Guayaquil, a person involved in the foundation of CEDEI, & others.  Dinner was gourmet, starting with champagne & toasts.  Mine wine glass was never empty as they were very attentive in keeping the glasses full.  Then there were fireworks and little hot air balloons going off into the sky.  Quite the festive event.

Friday night was the last concert of the season (I didn't know there was a season) of the Cuenca Symphony Orchestra.  It was all Tchaikovsky, with a solo pianist, who was fantastic.  After the concert, Nancy, with whom I went to the concert, and I walked around Parque Calderon, the central park area of Centro Historico where the festivities were well underway for Corpus Christi, which began on Thursday.  Apparently there is a bigger celebration of Corpus Christi in Cuenca than anywhere else in Ecuador.  Fireworks, more little hot air balloons than I could count, these paper-wired castles that when lit, sort of explode with quite the fanfare, and mountains of everything sweet:  cookies, candies, sweets of all sorts sold by hundreds of vendors all over the area.

sweets

more sweets 

and more sweets!!

On Sunday I decided to swim again at the U. of Cuenca pool.  It's so therapeutic!!  My friend, Meredith arrived not longer after I did & invited me to have lunch at her apartment after swimming, which of course I did.  She's great.  It's wonderful having so much in common to talk about with her.  We chatted for hours.  Not long after I got home, Esperanza arrived & suggested that we go to Parque Calderon to see the fireworks.  So I went again, this time with Esperanza, her daughter who is home visiting, her sister, and niece & nephew.  Lots of fun and great to go back.  It looked like there was more candy & sweets than Friday night.  Esperanza's niece & nephew (in their mid-20s at least) want some English tutoring, so I will meet with them for an hour tomorrow morning.  I think it will be fun.

Last, but not least, I took photos of my the English beginner's children's class in front of their project.  They made a 'city' and practiced using there is, there are, there isn't, there aren't, and next to, on, under in working on this project.  They did a good job with the project and with their developing English skills.

my students posing behind their 'city'

a closer view of the city they made