A fun week in Cuenca

I have had a great week in Cuenca, and know some of you are needing a blog update.  I took some pictures, probably not enough.

Book Update: For those of you following, I’m spending a lot of time writing. It is coming along very well, but I’m hoping for about a 300 page book, because that is what I like to spend my money on. That translates to about 100,000 words. That’s a lot of words folks. This week, my characters took over and the story took on an unexpected twist. Wow, it’s just amazing when that happens. Also, you might notice, that this blog is now being published under my pseudonym Scarlett Braden.  Facebook and Twitter accounts for Scarlett are coming soon.

Social Life: I’m trying to make myself come out for some air, I’m having a lot of fun writing, but it’s really easy to become a recluse when you get too absorbed in the fictional characters.  So this week, I did get out some.

Monday, Mom and I met our friend Donna, and our new friend Sheila, from the great state of Mississippi and a fellow Bulldog fan for lunch.  We have been excited and awaiting the arrival of Harvey and Sheila, because as you all know, Bulldog fans are good people.  We met at Nucallacta Cafe. It’s a cafe run by some Cuencano coffee roasters.  We’ve been meaning to get there to buy coffee, but haven’t made it yet. They have a great little restaurant. The food was great, we all had the Wet Burritos and they were good.  Our lunch was about $5 a person and was just enough food. We did buy coffee and it’s the first really good coffee we have had since we got here. We will buy it there from now on.  I won’t mind the trip if I can eat lunch there at the same time, it might be one of our new favorite places.

Wednesday I attended my writer’s support group meeting. The group is called Writing Our World and we have somewhere between 30-40 members. Who knew there would be so many writers in Cuenca.  The meetings are always fun, and informative. We meet at the Magnolia Cafe.  Cuencano owned, good food, and absolutely delightful service. They allow our group to take over the place twice a month.  Following the meeting, I climbed the steps into El Centro for the first time. There are exactly 90 steps. I have been terrified of them as they span several stories. But I did it!  Yes, I was gasping for breath when I got to the top and it probably took a couple of blocks for my breathing to return to normal.  I guess maybe I should have climbed them a little slower?  I was headed to the post office to pick up the care package box my sister sent us. The folks in the post office are really nice, and it still amazes me that there is only one post office for a city of over 400,000 people, and the address on the box coming to me consisted of my name, my ID number, the city and country.  When I approached the window, I showed the man my cedula or ID, he turned around picked up one box, returned it picked up the one next to it and brought it to me.  I had to sign for it and pay one dollar, and I was on my way.  I have no idea what the one dollar was for, but the package was well worth it.

 The stairs. Do you see how small the people are on the stairs?  Yep, I promise those are normal sized people, not toys.

Sunday was Mother’s Day.  We went to see our friend Rick’s new apartment in El Centro. It is really cool with high ceilings, is approximately 150-200 years old with adobe walls. It’s small but charming, and the history is fascinating. And it’s only a couple of blocks from Nucallacta.  Score, I get to visit Rick and get coffee all in one trip.  We ate lunch at the Red Crab restaurant, and decided we should go to the flower market.  On the way, we discovered the New Cathedral was open, and since we haven’t seen the inside, we explored. And took pictures. My pictures didn’t turn out great, but the place is amazing.  I think the cathedral deserves it’s own blog, so I will do it later this week.  Then we had fun at the flower market.  It was as good a mother’s day as is possible without seeing my son, but he did call, and he too has had an amazing week.  There are many reasons for me to be proud of him, but I am the most proud that he called me from the pool.  I love it when he finally kicks back and relaxes a little, and I’m really proud that he has decided it might be best to not look like a vampire.

A sneak peak of the Cathedral

Selfie at the Flower Market

$6 worth of flowers. I usually like pinks, but this week I was in the mood for a riot of color. They smell sooo good.

 

Later this month I am going on a tour of four cities, I can't wait to share them with you.
 
* Gualaceo: slightly lower and much warmer city than Cuenca, famous for its textile weavers and the Orchid Farm.
* Chordeleg: peaceful, tidy town, famous for its massive selection of handmade filigree jewelry.
* Sigsig: for fine Panama Hats.
* San Bartolome: village specializing in artisan guitars.

Donations are now being accepting for shopping on my trip at #INeedJewelryandHats.  hehe

It’s Monday, so it’s back to writing the book.  See you on the other side.

~*~
Scarlett Braden in Cuenca
Living the good life!