In Cuenca, settling in

We did not buy plane tickets for the trip from Quito to Cuenca before arriving in Ecuador because I was concerned that our checked bags might miss a connection, and I wanted them in my hands before boarding yet another plane. As it turned out, they did keep up, even though we had a very tight connection in Miami, so this morning I set out to arrange for our flight to Cuenca.

I did not have very far to go, as there was a travel agency on the corner less than a hundred feet from the front door of our hotel, but there was a power outage so I had to wait for the power to come back on, and thus their computers. However, we had no trouble booking our flight, and as it turned out, the flight was probably only about a third full.

When we arrived in Cuenca and entered the terminal, we were met by women handing out long-stemmed roses to all the passengers [Susan and I each got one], and live music in the form of a guitarist/singer. I don't know what the occasion was, but it was nice. The temperature here this afternoon was in the upper 70s and mostly sunny.

After we arrived at the hotel and got settled, we walked down to the market and bought some fruits and vegetables, and then came back and cooked them here this evening. We also took a few minutes to call both Gordon's and Susan's Dads, just to let them know that we arrived here and all was fine. Several of the people working here at the hotel are still here from our previous stay, and remember us, which is quite nice.

Finally, this evening we have met several people here with whom we have quite a lot in common. We just spent over an hour visiting with a couple from Atlanta who are here looking around much like we are. We are now planning to go with them tomorrow evening to a gathering of other expats [short for expatriates, people who are living outside their home country] who meet every Friday evening. Our main interest in going is to seek other information about rental units that we might be able to lease while we are here, but also to learn whatever else seems interesting. I'll write more about that if there is anything else to write.

Anyhow, we are now in Cuenca, and plan to stay in this area for most of our visit. We are well, and are enjoying the climate, the people, and the food. Our Spanish, while not great by any means, is greatly improved from our previous visit, and it is really improving the quality of our interactions with the people here. Not a surprise, but it really is nice.