Cuencan Flags framing Pumapungo Incan ruins
 Flag of Cuenca The first weekend if November we had a real treat: the “Fiestas de Cuenca” celebrating Cuenca’s independence from the Spanish, and also Ecuadoran independence which is celebrated the same weekend. November 3rd is the date that Cuencan revolutionaries defeated the Spanish. Cuenca later returned to Spanish hands before the whole country gained independence, but November 3 is the date that is celebrated. And let me tell you, it is quite a party! The municipality of Cuenca created a list of events celebrating the Fiestas, and it is 90 pages long with over 200 events. Unlike a lot of our celebrations in the US where there is one main venue and maybe a few side events, Cuenca celebrates its Fiestas throughout the city, and with a wide variety of happenings ranging from very high quality art to more informal (and less well organized) neighborhood parties. Various organizations take advantage of the holiday to organize their own events as well. For someone like myself who hates to miss anything, it was hard to figure out what to see and what to miss! We ended up with a nice mix of experiences, despite the hard rain that put a damper on the Saturday evening activities. This post is about some of what we did get see and experience. Culinary Treats. The special treats for the fiesta include colada morada and guaguas de pan. The colada morada drink is made of a mix of fruits and grain and wild blueberries, which are only available this time of year. I’m not sure what the history is with the guaguas. Guagua means child or baby, and the bread is in the shape of a baby. A little odd, but yummy! Not a Cuencan tradition, but there was something very cozy about meal we enjoyed with three other expat families as we huddled around covered tables on a neighborhood restaurant’s patio as rain poured down around us for well over an hour. |
 My guagua with a guagua de pan |  Guaguas.... selling fast |  Enjoying colada morada and humitas, which are sweet corn-based treats not unlike a tamale. |
Artesanias. There were many different venues where artisan work was on display. We enjoyed our colada morada on the street where metal workshops traditionally are located, and enjoyed seeing their work. The Tomebamba River, which runs along the city center, was lined with artisan tents featuring everything from glasswork, traditional handicrafts, and paintings to knives that will slice and dice almost by themselves and plastic stuff from China. Overall I was impressed by the variety of high quality work available including "traditional" crafts like woven hats, carved figures and glass, ceramic and metal work, but also including things like the miniature gardens and culinary goods. I particularly enjoyed the work by award- winning artisans from throughout South and Central America invited by UNESCO and a Cuencan art center, CIDAP (Centro Interamericano de Artesanías y Artes Populares. We also meandered around an open-air art market of paintings under one of Cuenca’s iconic bridges. The artists were present showing their work, along with a number of artists offering on the spot charcoal sketches.
Music. We attended a wonderful classical guitar concert that was part of the Quinta Festival de Guitarras. There is a guitar center in Cuenca with a small “pocket” theater, and we, along with about 50 other people, enjoyed the work of Ecuadoran composers, some of it accompanied by dance and singing, Also on offer were hand-made guitars and Andean instruments from the best workshops in the region, beautifully made and considerably out of our price range. Throughout the weekend there were private music and dance concerts, and an open air salsa festival that sadly got rained out. Bands played throughout the weekend at various spots and I particularly enjoyed a Cuencan band located near the artisan tents that played a wide range of Latin music including a cluster of Gypsy Kings songs that had the crowd dancing. And of course the official ceremony recognizing Cuenca's independence had military bands, and Morlaquia parade had popular bands.
 Float honoring Cuenca's musical heritage |  Neighborhood band in the Morlaquia parade |
 Street band, by the artesanias |  Trumpeter in the military band...picture for Jesse! |
Halloween. The Fiestas de Cuenca fall around All Saints Day (Dia de los Muertos), and just after Halloween. Halloween isn’t part of the Cuencan tradition, but the region Cuenca is part of (Azuay), and the regions to the north and South (Cañar and Loja) are the three regions of Ecuador that have experienced the most emigration to the US. It seems every other person we talk with has lived in the US – usually in New York- for a number of years. And so Halloween has come back to Cuenca with them. That explains the existence of a number of costume shops in Cuenca, including the one down the street from us that was doing such brisk business the days leading up to Halloween that the mannequins in the window had to be stripped down for their costumes. We celebrated with a small group of expats families, the day after Halloween. Both kids wore Ecuadoran themed costumes – Gabe a poisoned dart frog, and Lucia a Chola Cuencana). We missed the few events focused on Dia de los Muertos, including a concert at the municipal cemetery that was rained out, but there was a lovely Day of the Dead altar at the CIDAP center.
 Altar for Dia de los Muertos |  Gabe the poison dart frog |  Lucia, pura Chola Cuencana |
Fireworks, ready to fly! Chola Cuencana. The Chola Cuencana is the iconic folkloric representation of Cuenca. Every neighborhood town and organization seems to elect a Chola Cuencana as a sort of beauty queen to represent them in the Fiestas, and there was a big culminating beauty pageant for Cuenca’s Chola as part of the festivities. When we first got to Cuenca I assumed Cholas were part of a specific ethnic group. But thanks to the final assignment for my Spanish class (an oral presentation on the topic- ugh!) I now know that Chola is a term for the mestizos born of Spanish conquistadors and indigenous women, and that Cholas don’t represent a specific ethnic group. Nonetheless, Cholas have a proud and strong cultural identity which is actively encouraged by the tourism ministry, since it is very iconic and picturesque. In addition to being identified by their dress, most Cholas live in rural areas and sell agricultural products in the markets or do other agriculturally related work. Lucia decided to dress as a Chola for Halloween, and the costume shop in our neighborhood had the full authentic outfit. Good thing since I found out, also through my assignment, that it is quite expensive to dress as a Chola. The embroidered skirts, silk blouse, woven hat, special shawl and jewelry add up to about $600 for the complete outfit!
Neighborhood events, or not. Just about every neighborhood had a party on the evening of November 2ND, and events during the day. We still haven’t adjusted to the fact that the advertised start time of any event is really just a rough – very rough- guide. We showed up to the closest neighborhood park at 9:00 AM for the Dia de los Muertos bell mass, and it never happened. The folkloric dance presentation scheduled for 10:00 AM still hadn’t started by 11:30, so we ended up coming home. But we did enjoy some local baked goods, and playing on the foosball tables that were set up by 10 am, and a quick glance at the “tuning” competition – there were some very decked out cars. The real action of the neighborhood parties seems to be in the evening, and we didn’t make it back for that.
Neighborhood events, or not. Just about every neighborhood had a party on the evening of November 2ND, and events during the day. We still haven’t adjusted to the fact that the advertised start time of any event is really just a rough – very rough- guide. We showed up to the closest neighborhood park at 9:00 AM for the Dia de los Muertos bell mass, and it never happened. The folkloric dance presentation scheduled for 10:00 AM still hadn’t started by 11:30, so we ended up coming home. But we did enjoy some local baked goods, and playing on the foosball tables that were set up by 10 am, and a quick glance at the “tuning” competition – there were some very decked out cars. The real action of the neighborhood parties seems to be in the evening, and we didn’t make it back for that.
 Cuencans love their cars. And what is a festival without a car show?! |  Just setting up well after the announced start time..... |
Pomp, Parades and Heels. On the last day of the Fiestas there was a ceremony in Cuenca’s central square during which local and regional officials present flower tributes around the statue that commemorates Cuenca’s independence. We enjoyed the military band, and I enjoyed the fact that a good portion of local officials are women - true at a national level as well. Women’s representation in governance hasn’t seemed to translate to sensible footwear, however, and I couldn’t resist taking a picture of the crazy heels the local dignitaries wore as they hurried from the central square to the start of the parade route.
Morlaquia Parade. We enjoyed the “Morlaquia” (Cuencan) parade with the neighborhood floats, and only one corporate sponsor (a pharmacy, go figure, that has a frog as a mascot). We also got a glimpse of the presidential motorcade on its way to the military parade. We skipped the military parade in order to tackle a rather inappropriately timed major homework assignment of Gabe’s, but got plenty of views of the fighter planes that were part of it. This event was a fun end to a festive and busy weekend.
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