I'm back from Cuenca! It was absolutely stunning, a well-preserved World Heritage city. To top it off, the fiestas for the festival de Cuenca (celebrating 190 years of Cuenca's independence) were amazing, even if everything seemed slightly unsafe. As a slight preview, first, imagine a tower made of bamboo wood with fireworks that are likely illegal in the US. Now imagine that there's a crowd of probably 1000+ people crowding around the precarious tower as it spews out fireworks. Second, imagine a (likely drunk) man with a paper machê cow costume (vaca loca) dancing around a crowd circle- also spewing fireworks from his cow costume. Third, imagine beautiful lanterns being set on fire (kind of like hot air balloons, the fire helps them rise up and doesn't destroy the lantern- yet) and launched into the night sky- as fire balls drop down on the observing crowd.
Truly an awesome opportunity- I'm really glad I went. I also got to hike around the Parque Nacional Las Cajas, which I'll definitely be posting pictures of- hermoso.
More updates later with pictures- I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm back in Quito without any burn injuries and ready to become a studying machine.
FGQOTD
ReplyDeleteShantaunu (a boy): Ms. Stoler, Arnav kissed me!
Arnav (a boy, giggling): No, I just TRIED to!