New Friends, Acquaintances and Encounters

We've been settling into life here in Cuenca.  It has been an amazing week here! 

On Saturday we woke up to another beautiful day and decided to meet our new friends Rich, Jen and their 5 year old daughter Clara.  Rich & Jen are PhD professors in philosophy working for a college in Indiana and are on sabbatical in Cuenca.  They are two VERY interesting people and have been in Cuenca 3 months, with another 3 more months left on their visas.  We had great discussions, enjoyed chatting about philosophy, state of Ecuadorian politics and life in Cuenca.  

They brought along their friends Jessica and her hubby (oops, I forgot his name), their daughter's 3 year old Evangeline and 8 month old, Piper.  They're both veterinarians and also decided to take a "time out" from the crazy life in the states.  Jessica's father is an expat, bought a hobby trout farm outside of Cuenca and has apparently become enthralled with South America, and is purchasing more property.  Their family will be returning to the states in 3 months, something that Jessica is sad about, and yet her hubby is pleased.  He shared that he's had a hard time fitting into the culture here as he doesn't speak Spanish and said they may move to Europe because he's fluent in German.  

Coco was  excited to meet the girls and could barely sleep the night before. She had so much fun and honestly we had a blast meeting up with the other couples.  I'm posting a link that Rich made of his daughter which has our days shared in the park as well.  On a funny note the girls went paddle boating and I didn't realize that our sweet, but ever mischievous Coco was splashing the other kids and had even stuck her toe in the water (while daddy wasn't looking) until Rich caught her antics on film, lol!! I couldn't figure out why here feet were all wet...  Busted! such a little stinker!! :)

Link to Rich's video:  https://vimeo.com/83996381

After the park we all grabbed lunch at Cafe Austria which had great curry and coffees and continued to chat and plan future play dates.  

We went back to our hostel and Jared decided to "run errands", get batteries and get his computer looked at.  Unfortunately, while he was out, it began to rain heavily and he was forced to wait it out standing under a building's overhang.  He was surprised when the owner of a restaurant asked him to come out of the rain and gave him a free cup of coffee, saying sit and relax.  :)  The people here have been sooooooo wonderful... 

We've spent a lot of time recently doing "normal" daily living things like going to the main supermarket called "Super Maxi", it was actually fun, as Jared, Coco and I meandered the isles looking at all the different foods and ingredients.  We couldn't figure out where to find the milk since it wasn't in the cold produce area, instead it was found in a bag on a shelf in the dry goods area.  We're always blessed to have some kind stranger help us out when we least expect it, the marked was no exception, a nice "gringo" lady kindly stepped in and explained many things about the market.  :)

We then spent time trying to find a place to do laundry and were excited to find one a block away called "Gringo Laundry", lol.  It was so relaxing as it had Wifi and TV, in Spanish of course, my friend Paula who I met in the states, and is originally from Columbia, made the suggestion that Spanish TV will help Coco with her Spanish. Coco loves watching any TV as she gets very little these days and is enthralled no matter the language.  It was great spending time as a family doing all our laundry at once and then being forced to fold it, something we didn't have time for before, lol :)

Again, I can't describe how interesting hostel living is.  We get to meet the most unique, interesting and sometimes weird people.  A couple nights ago was no exception, I looked out my window to see this guy playing with swords.  He is a street performer who travels the world juggling swords, balancing them on his tongue and playing guitar.  Hmmmm?  Interesting.  

Yesterday we woke up and went to church at Calvary Chapel and attended their English service.  There were maybe 20 people there and everyone was at least 30 years older than us.  Coco was the only kiddo in the service. :(  It was a great message, but as we were leaving the English service, the Spanish service was starting and there were so many kids and young families, we may be looking for a Spanish service from now on... :)

  

We spent the rest of the day at the park and were again amazed at how beautiful, clean and amazing this city is.  I'm not just saying this because we are here, but it is truly stunning.  We are awakened each morning to beautiful church bells and beautiful birds singing in the garden. We walk the cobblestone streets filled with families and of course parades (see the pictures), there's so much life here.

We come around a corner and... yep another a parade... There is seriously a parade each day and we really have no idea what is being celebrated, but one thing I know is they love to celebrate!! :)  

We strolled along the river and sat along the bank and watched people kayaking down it.  

Coco rode the zip line at the park and had fun swinging with the kids. I am so impressed with how much more confident she is here with trying new things.  I wonder if its that she's spending so much more time with us than she has ever had in the past and that this is bringing out more confidence. 

I think its interesting how the kids face each other when they swing.  :)  

We came home and I did work and enjoyed the beautiful breeze blowing through the hostel.  I enthralled in great conversations with a girl from Australia and another from Peru, hearing about their travels through South America, dreams of their futures, and life in general.  I can't get over how exciting and enriching travel is and how many life altering conversations you can have.... if you allow yourself time. 

We won't be moving into our apartment today, however it will be ready tomorrow... I am actually going to miss our crazy hostel living... :(  The staff are so kind to us and don't charge us for things like most people or even us when we first arrived.  They allow us to store food in the restaurant refrigerator and the cooks are so warm and inviting explaining what each ingredient is and how to prepare the amazing restaurant food.

This past week I can't even begin to share all the people that have entered and exited our lives! Our little journal (thanks Clay & Natalie) that we also use to take notes in and write down contacts is filling faster than any previous journeys we've been on.  Jared and I are continually in awe of this adventure and when Coco was asked tonight by the sweet girl from Australia, if she likes this journey? Coco said "YES!! I don't ever want to leave Ecuador!"

This experience has been increasingly fruitful having Coco with us.  In our twenties Jared and I had traveled a lot, but having Coco creates a different experience entirely....  in a way a more exciting experience.  She has no fear talking to people, smiling and engaging conversation (don't worry parents we are ALWAYS with her)! We were reminiscing today and realized every great interaction or person we've met along our way has been linked to Coco's vivacious personality and willingness to talk to people... Even when Momma or Daddy wouldn't have engaged a conversation. She's our sunshine and as one gentlemen said today at breakfast, you can tell that kid is LOVED by the hostel! :)

I'm going to leave with this quote from a restaurant we visited:

"Success is not the key to happiness.  Happiness is the key to success.  If you love what you are doing, you will be successful." 
      (Buddha)