Cuenca – Page 2

Blinded by Carnival

February 15, 2018

You need to travel to Latin America as to fully experience the Carnival holiday. It´s such a unique and bewildering event, containing massive celebrations before Lent (a time of holiness and moderation). You´ll notice in the days leading up to Carnival weekend that many people are walking around the city, soaking wet, and returning the cold, wet favor to random passersby. You´ll also become much more familiar with this evil substance known as “carioca” (which is pretty much just aromatic…

Ecuadorian Yes Man

February 8, 2018

Alec Tripp

CEDEI, Cuenca, Ecuador, Study Abroad

“The limits of my language are the limits of my world.” -Ludwig Wittenstein As it turns out, journeying to a foreign country entails learning its language (quite well) and transitioning to its customs. Unluckily for me, I was hardly proficient in Spanish coming into Ecuador, and I knew even less of its unique traditions. To cope with the massive influx of new information and Spanish conversation, I had become accustomed to just replying to nearly anything that my host family…

Eating Ants in Ecuador: My First Week

January 31, 2018

Alec Tripp

Cuenca, Ecuador, Study Abroad

It’s going to be QUITE difficult to recap this past week and a half, as it’s been filled with so many incredible experiences. I’ve been blessed with a great group to make lifelong memories, and I look forward to what lies ahead. I arrived in Quito a day early (after some stressful flight delays) and got a quick glimpse of the capital city before I met the rest of my group. Ordering for myself in a foreign country was a…

Little Things are Big Things: 5 Small Differences from the U.S. to Ecuador

January 16, 2018

Kristen Sawyer

Cuenca, Ecuador, Study Abroad

Going back and forth between countries, it is often overwhelming. When you arrive in a new place, you immediately notice many little things that will eventually, with time, disappear into the “new normal.” When you leave a country, you also notice many of the small differences that you took for granted. Here is a list of five small things that you may notice when you arrive in Cuenca, Ecuador, things that you may miss when you leave. 1. Lines are…

New Years in Ecuador: Effigies, Bonfires, and Fireworks

December 30, 2017

Kristen Sawyer

Cuenca, Ecuador, Holidays

Yellow underwear. 12 grapes. A suitcase. An effigy with a mask. Men dressed up as Chola Cuencanas (Cuencana grandmothers). These are only a handful of the rituals that make up New Year’s Eve in Ecuador. Around the country, the night before the New Year, Ecuadorians will be celebrating visibly. In fact, celebrations often happen before the actual holiday. In the weeks leading up to El Año Nuevo, the New Year, shops sell masks of all different sizes and expressions. The…

El Cajas: Getting Unplugged

December 14, 2017

Martina Maya-Callen

Cuenca, Ecuador

One of my favorite parts of living in Cuenca is the beautiful mountains that surround the city. What is even better though is the ability to go visit them! El Cajas is a national park filled with magnificent scenery. I never knew that trees could twist and turn in so many directions; I honestly felt like I was in a Sci-Fi movie set with the trees. There are so many lakes and mountains that my eyes were stunned at the…

Biology and Ecology Internships: Ecuagenera Orchid Farm Ecuador

November 26, 2017

Kristen Sawyer

Cuenca, Ecuador, Study Abroad

45 minutes outside of Cuenca, down the highway toward Gualaceo, there is an unassuming building on the left-hand side. The white building has large images of flowers–orchids–on the windows. It looks like it’s just a store, a place to go and buy flowers. But to take the spontaneous risk, to ask the bus driver to stop and descend the steps to go explore this place, is one of the best decisions you can make. Cuenca and its surrounding towns are…

Cuenca-Loving Program Coordinator: Janae Knipp

November 9, 2017

Kristen Sawyer

Cuenca

Cuenca is Calling! Nearly four years ago I walked through Cuenca for the first time and felt enchanted. The river! The mountains! The cobblestone streets! I was under the spell of its South American charm. As I started my teaching contract, my feelings didn’t change too much. Sure, there were the normal frustrations. On rainy days, I really wished I had my car. I missed almond butter and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. I got frustrated when the Cuencanos’ strolling pace…

Settling Into Cuenca

November 7, 2017

Martina Maya-Callen

CEDEI, Cuenca

On a bus after the first week of adventures in Ecuador there were small bits of anxiety in the pit of my stomach as we are heading to Cuenca, Ecuador, the city in which I will be living for the next semester. We arrive at CEDEI and all of the students line up to meet their families for the first time and I am kindly greeted by my host mother. We swiftly leave CEDEI so that I can get acquainted…

Día de los Muertos

November 2, 2017

Kristen Sawyer

Cuenca, Ecuador

On the 2nd of November, the spirits come out to play. Seeking, crying, plotting, rejoicing spirits. They’re emboldened by the the time of year–Día de los Muertos. Day of the Dead. But in this conservative, significantly Catholic city, how many Cuencanos do believe in spirits? About 75% of Cuencanos consider themselves to be Catholic. And yet, even in a city so religious, Día de los Muertos, celebrated on November 2nd, feels like a small nook in time, as if something…