There have been all kinds of activities going on here during the month of December. Several weeks ago, we got in touch with our friend, Carolina, to see if we could make another donation of toys for the children in the Canar region. She suggested that this year we consider donating to Hospital Vicente Corral. This particular hospital treats some of the poorest families in the surrounding area. There is a young woman at the hospital who has created a foundation that provides toys and crafts for the children to play with in the pediatric ward. This foundation also teaches the mothers of the children skills, such as knitting, so they can help to supplement their income at home.
Lance and I had a chance to visit the hospital and saw first hand the good work that was taking place there. We decided that we would make a donation of toys to this worthy cause. Instead of buying a lot of cheaper toys, we decided to purchase fewer, but more expensive items that would hopefully last longer.
We had fun shopping at Corral for all the different items. On Tuesday, December 15th, we delivered the toys to the hospital. They were having a Christmas program that day, but unfortunately we arrived too late to see it. However, we did get to visit with some of the people, and enjoyed some cake and coffee.
Above is a picture of our friend, Carolina, holding a little girl from the hospital on her lap. Below is a photo of the director of the foundation. She is being interviewed by a local T.V. station.
More recently, we have had the opportunity to attend several Christmas concerts during the past week. Our friends, Mara and Glenn, sing with the International Chorale. On the 17th of December we went to see them perform their Christmas Candlelight Concert at San Roque Church. They sang many familiar carols in English and Spanish. It was a wonderful concert.
On December 19th, our new friends, Terry and Chiyemi, and Lance and I attended a concert that was presented by the Cuenca University at Todos Santos Church, and on December 22nd we went to see the Cuenca Symphony perform their Christmas concert. All these enjoyable events were free.
On Christmas Eve we were able to see the very popular Pase del Ninos parade that takes place every year in Cuenca. The weather for the parade was great, with a mix of sun and clouds, but no rain. I read that as many as 15,000 people participate in this event, and 100,000 watch it from the sidewalks and balconies. If you are ever lucky enough to attend, you will see children dressed in colorful costumes, dancers, musicians, Biblical characters, horses, donkeys, floats, and hundreds of people carrying different versions of the baby Jesus as they walk down the street.
We were invited to a friends house to watch the parade. The photo's above and below were taken from her balcony overlooking the street.
Our friend, Maribel, and her daughter dressed in an indigenous outfit for the parade.
Baby Jesus dressed in a military outfit.
In other news...
We took a trip to Caja National Park a few weeks ago. Chiyemi, Terry, Stan, and the two of us all took a bus to get to the park entrance. While waiting to check-in, we met a young man from New York who joined up with us for the day. Lance and I have been wanting to go to the Caja's ever since we arrived in Cuenca, so we were very grateful to Stan for organizing this trip. We all had a great time. When we returned, Stan's wife was kind enough to provide a home cooked meal for us.
Mara and I have been trying to fit in some longer walks in preparation for hiking the El Camino in Spain next fall. Recently we took a bus to a small town outside of the city. We went to do some hiking in the area. The terrain there was quite hilly, but the scenery was beautiful.
Lance and I hope all our family and friends back home enjoyed a wonderful Christmas and will have an exciting and prosperous New Year!
