Well to say that today was exciting and overwhelming wouldn't be enough of a description. We started out our morning relaxing and trying to determine the best approach to Cuenca. It was finally decided to take a personal driver who could accommodate our totes and luggage. I felt a little embarrassed at the hostel with all our luggage and kept trying to explain in my, VERY broken Spanish that there were three of us traveling and for 3-6 months. The young "kids" with their packs made it look so easy, while we had packs, strollers, totes, computers etc...
The van finally arrived only 45 minutes late which I guess is pretty normal. It does kind of fit Jared's and my typical schedule, lol!! So while we sat and waited at the hostel, the host said why don't you walk to the coffee shop, which of course made us happy as can be. Coffee's in hand and Coco with her Leche we boarded our van for our 3.5 hour ride OVER the Andes...
The van finally arrived only 45 minutes late which I guess is pretty normal. It does kind of fit Jared's and my typical schedule, lol!! So while we sat and waited at the hostel, the host said why don't you walk to the coffee shop, which of course made us happy as can be. Coffee's in hand and Coco with her Leche we boarded our van for our 3.5 hour ride OVER the Andes...
The drive started out beautiful driving along gorgeous fields of sugar cane and markets filled with huge watermelons, oranges, mangos and huge "pod" looking things, which I can't wait to research more. The abundance of fresh food is incredible. As we started to look ahead the Andes began to loom in the distance, lets just say they looked MASSIVE!!! It was a beautiful (HOT) sunny day when we left Guayaquil but you could see the clouds hovering over the peaks! As we started our assent up the mountains it was incredibly steep and VERY windy. I could do nothing but grip the hand rail and look straight ahead for fear of getting car sick... Coco on the other hand was napping and waking up occasionally to read her "Dora Map" and shout out a few directions, which she believes really guides our steps... Lol!!
As we assumed we were nearing the top and now becoming engulfed in rain and clouds and having a 5 -10 foot visibility, we were sadly mistaken, this type of driving continued for an hour or more. Our ears popping, many prayers being muttered and a huge sigh of relief when we started to make our way to clearer visibility. The landscape became dramatically different and was absolutely stunning!! The jungle which we had been through on the other side had changed to dry and barren mountains with beautiful hostiles embedded in the landscape. I was shocked to find Llamas running free as there were signs along the road to be careful of wild Llamas.
As we began to get closer to Cuenca we entered an incredible river valley that had beautiful lodges on the sides and had signs for trout fishing. The people were wearing Mayan or Inca type clothing and cattle and horses were lazily grazing on the hillside meadows, it was BEAUTIFUL! It was like stepping back in time.
We could see Cuenca in the distance sitting at the base of the mountains with gorgeous cathedrals looming on the hillsides. It was remarkably clean and peaceful. The driver began to curve through the streets and began to bring us down to the historic district where our hostel would be. The cathedrals and markets were on each street and you could smell the fresh flowers from the vendors. We hadn't said more than two words to the driver the entire time and as he pulled up to the hostel we could tell he was in a huge hurry. We began to quickly unload our stuff onto the street and push a buzzer on a huge green door which said our hostel's name. As we entered off the busy street we were enthralled by the elegance and beauty of the old mansion. Which it turns out we are the only guests.
We were able to search between the many rooms to determine which one would accommodate our family for the next two nights. An old senora owns the home and it has been in her family for 3 generations. She has offered for us to rent out the back to rooms if we wish to stay here for the next 3 months. However, our contact Luca we had met on the airplane has already arranged for us to meet with some Realtors who specialize in working with ex-patriots. We will film each location so you guys can help us pick. On the Brown's House Hunters International, lol!! Though it may take a few days to upload the videos as we don't have the best internet at this hostel and will be moving to another in a few days.
After arriving to the hostel we received a phone call from the van company saying that the driver had taken off so fast he had forgotten a piece of our luggage in the van. Talk about honesty, it was the bag with our computers in it. Jared took a taxi to the van center and was able to pick up our bag with NOTHING taken or stolen. Wow!! We were seriously impressed. Thank you LORD!
After a huge sigh of relief we went to find a bite to eat. Prices for food is amazing we got a huge amount of rice, shrimp, steak and beans which Jared and I split and Coco had Chicken and french fires for $8.00. Not too bad. She wanted a milk shake as it was on the menu, the server was quick to say "Nada Milk Shake", Coco looked across the room and saw people drinking the red juice drink Mora and she pointed to it and again the server said "No Mas". She was so disappointed and we tried to consul her with getting ice cream after dinner. Then Coco points across the room at the counter where the same server sets a red juice drink of Mora. We are shocked and try to calm Coco down saying that it must be a misunderstanding and it was probably the last one for someone else. Coco was in tears. Thankfully, the drink WAS for Coco.
We have seriously been so lost in translation. No one speaks English!! I know we wanted immersion, but we are seriously overwhelmed.. Our hostel doesn't have anyone that speaks English and we are at times on the verge of tears from frustration. Unlike other countries where we could get by with our "broken" spanish and small phrases this doesn't fly here. They don't understand even the simplest words we say, I am almost wondering if they don't ever come across different dialects of Spanish or foreigners like previous places we've been like Guatemala, Spain or Costa Rica... We had no idea it would be this hard!! We went to bed a bit deflated.
1/4/2013-
We woke up this morning refreshed from our day yesterday and decided to meander the streets and try to get better acquainted. We first tried to call realtors but for some reason land lines can't call cell phones and our hostel has no way for us to call anyone. Then she informed us that the advertised breakfast wouldn't be available as she didn't have "help" and yet we heard the Senora upstairs making food for her entire family who was visiting and creating a bunch of raucous. Yep, now we can see the cheap price for lodging here.
So moving forward we had to find a place that sold cheap phones and tried to get a sim card with minutes. We then began to search out other Gringos. We heard of a cafe that was a hot spot for them and were again disappointed when there was a sign on the door saying they had shut down for a month and wouldn't be returning until the 6th. As we began to walk down the streets, we couldn't help but see the beauty in this city. Cotton candy being sold on each street, the authentic Native dancers playing their flutes, the city was a buzz with families and college students. Truly Amazing... Pictures to come in the next few days.
We found a quaint little cafe and decided to rest and grab a bite to eat and as we were sitting there we began to notice a bunch of expats coming in. We were so excited and began to chat them up! They were SOOOOOOOO helpful and we were welcomed into the community of Americans living here. They gave us so many resources and phone numbers, business cards of people to work with, how to use our phones, how to find lodging, where to live etc. They even looked at me and asked if I was suffering from altitude sickness, because I looked so fatigued. They shared that its a huge struggle coming here from sea level and to try and rest and drink lots of water. It was such a relief to have contacts within the city. Seriously God answered our prayers when we were about to break...
I came home after our encounter and decided to rest, Jared took Coco to an amazing park and they had a beautiful time :) This evening we encountered another hiccup when we tried to pull cash from a couple ATMs and found that Wells Fargo only uses certain ATMs, but they can't tell us which ones are available in Cuenca. Luckily we had another bank that did work. We found ourselves back at our hostel trying to spend time with Coco and reflecting on why we chose to embark on this journey.
I know I've had many people write me saying they wish they could do an adventure like this but I just want to share the honest truth that this has been a CHALLENGE! Though I trust God in everything and that there is a silver lining to this adventure.
We shall see what tomorrow brings! :)
After arriving to the hostel we received a phone call from the van company saying that the driver had taken off so fast he had forgotten a piece of our luggage in the van. Talk about honesty, it was the bag with our computers in it. Jared took a taxi to the van center and was able to pick up our bag with NOTHING taken or stolen. Wow!! We were seriously impressed. Thank you LORD!
After a huge sigh of relief we went to find a bite to eat. Prices for food is amazing we got a huge amount of rice, shrimp, steak and beans which Jared and I split and Coco had Chicken and french fires for $8.00. Not too bad. She wanted a milk shake as it was on the menu, the server was quick to say "Nada Milk Shake", Coco looked across the room and saw people drinking the red juice drink Mora and she pointed to it and again the server said "No Mas". She was so disappointed and we tried to consul her with getting ice cream after dinner. Then Coco points across the room at the counter where the same server sets a red juice drink of Mora. We are shocked and try to calm Coco down saying that it must be a misunderstanding and it was probably the last one for someone else. Coco was in tears. Thankfully, the drink WAS for Coco.
We have seriously been so lost in translation. No one speaks English!! I know we wanted immersion, but we are seriously overwhelmed.. Our hostel doesn't have anyone that speaks English and we are at times on the verge of tears from frustration. Unlike other countries where we could get by with our "broken" spanish and small phrases this doesn't fly here. They don't understand even the simplest words we say, I am almost wondering if they don't ever come across different dialects of Spanish or foreigners like previous places we've been like Guatemala, Spain or Costa Rica... We had no idea it would be this hard!! We went to bed a bit deflated.
1/4/2013-
We woke up this morning refreshed from our day yesterday and decided to meander the streets and try to get better acquainted. We first tried to call realtors but for some reason land lines can't call cell phones and our hostel has no way for us to call anyone. Then she informed us that the advertised breakfast wouldn't be available as she didn't have "help" and yet we heard the Senora upstairs making food for her entire family who was visiting and creating a bunch of raucous. Yep, now we can see the cheap price for lodging here.
So moving forward we had to find a place that sold cheap phones and tried to get a sim card with minutes. We then began to search out other Gringos. We heard of a cafe that was a hot spot for them and were again disappointed when there was a sign on the door saying they had shut down for a month and wouldn't be returning until the 6th. As we began to walk down the streets, we couldn't help but see the beauty in this city. Cotton candy being sold on each street, the authentic Native dancers playing their flutes, the city was a buzz with families and college students. Truly Amazing... Pictures to come in the next few days.
We found a quaint little cafe and decided to rest and grab a bite to eat and as we were sitting there we began to notice a bunch of expats coming in. We were so excited and began to chat them up! They were SOOOOOOOO helpful and we were welcomed into the community of Americans living here. They gave us so many resources and phone numbers, business cards of people to work with, how to use our phones, how to find lodging, where to live etc. They even looked at me and asked if I was suffering from altitude sickness, because I looked so fatigued. They shared that its a huge struggle coming here from sea level and to try and rest and drink lots of water. It was such a relief to have contacts within the city. Seriously God answered our prayers when we were about to break...
I came home after our encounter and decided to rest, Jared took Coco to an amazing park and they had a beautiful time :) This evening we encountered another hiccup when we tried to pull cash from a couple ATMs and found that Wells Fargo only uses certain ATMs, but they can't tell us which ones are available in Cuenca. Luckily we had another bank that did work. We found ourselves back at our hostel trying to spend time with Coco and reflecting on why we chose to embark on this journey.
I know I've had many people write me saying they wish they could do an adventure like this but I just want to share the honest truth that this has been a CHALLENGE! Though I trust God in everything and that there is a silver lining to this adventure.
We shall see what tomorrow brings! :)
"we also glorify in tribulation knowing that tribulations produce perseverance and perseverance produces character and character produces hope" Romans 5:3-5
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