We had a very busy day Tuesday. Fabian picked us up 9 and we started off to see several small towns outside of Cuenca. We headed out of town to the northeast. The roads in this area are not what we are used to at home. The traffic control sign like STOP or PARE are interpreted to mean slow down and look and go faster if someone is coming! Drivers are very aggressive and do not let others merge. There is no concept of right of way as we would understand it. Jack has decided that if we were to move here we will hire a driver!
Our first stop was a small town, Gualaceo, where we visited a weaver. Here is a picture of the loom she uses. Her family weaves beautiful shawls and scarves. The process is very interesting and she kept telling us it required a lot of patience. She was not happy with the thread on the project she was working on. The process is vaccinating and combines weaving with dying to produce beautiful patterns
From there we went to a large orchid green house Ecuagenera. We had a tour and they explained how they propagate the orchids. The have over 3000 species of orchids in there greenhouses!
From here continued to Chordeleg, known for the shops with silver jewelry around the town square.
Yes, I am really on this trip and here is me at the town square!Shopping was fun and prices seemed very good by US standards. We also stopped at the Market. Yes, that is a whole pig in the picture. They are cooked and you buy it right off the hog!
The country side is not what I expected. It was interesting to see eucalyptus trees, not native to Ecuador, but growing everywhere. You can see if you enlarge this picture the farms and houses on the hillsides. It is beautiful country. Oh yes, and no guard rails.
We ventured on to SigSig which is known for the weaving of Monte Cristi (Panama hats). Fabian took us to a Co-operative where the hats are made. The worlds largest Panama hat is there. You can see Jack in the picture for scale. That's one big hat!
The ladies weave the hat and then basic hats are then bleached and set out to dry. 
Next they are trimmed and then the hats are pressed by hand using irons that are heated with charcoal! 
This machine presses the crease in the top of the hat. The ladies are all so short that I feel tall here around the indigenous ladies. This gal has to stand on a block to work the press.
We did a little shopping, got Jack a hat which you will see later however there were no ladies hats my size. If it had not been lunch time I was told they could fix one for me but we had an invitation to a gathering back in Cuenca we headed home. We did stop for lunch along the way however there is no picture however, lunch was soup, rice and a stew. Lunch for the three of us was $5.70!
We had a wonderful time at Chuck and Brenda's. Chuck decided to share the cheese we brought from Oregon and it turned into quite an event . . .sorry no pictures. We got to meet many other expats and some we had met several times this week at other restaurants and expat gatherings.
Jack was pretty tired and the bad cold had him worn out. We returned home and rested. I ended going out to dinner with three other folks staying at the hotel. Walking home was a beautiful sight. All the old churches are lit at night and a site to behold.
Wednesday we slept in a little then after breakfast took a taxi to talk to an attorney about the immigration process, had lunch at Tutto Freddo. We walked home and Jack took a nap. I walked back to the flower market to get flowers as we were invited to Chuck and Nancy's for dinner. We had a fabulous dinner and met another couple from Washington who moved to Cuenca 6 weeks ago!
Turning in now. More to come. What an adventure!
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