bus ride to cuenca day 2

After having our souls healed in Patate, we boarded the bus early the next morning and road from 8am till 5pm to arrive in Cuenca. Unfortunately, a few of the students got motion sick and we used all the vomit bags we had on board. We´ve bonded so, that the students were great about nursing each other. We played games, sang, slept, etc. Emotions got high as we rolled into Cuenca.

Our first stop was CEDEI, the university. The parents were already there waiting. Our group of students sat in one room and one by one the parents were brought in and introduced. Then a student´s name was called, they hugged and everyone in our group clapped as if the student and parent had just won an award. It was quite spontaneous but demonstrated how our group of students have bonded. It has been nice to get to know some SU students this well. I usually just meet them in class.

I enjoyed chatting with a few of the parents and was happy that my Spanish was enough to communicate. I might add that I studied quite a bit on the bus, which was helpful.

After the students went home with the parents it was our turn to walk to the hostel, which will be our home for the next 3 weeks. Much to my surprise, we have been given the best rooms in the place and I have my own bathroom. what a treat to be able to unpack and to have my own bathroom. Most of the rooms share a bathroom that is down the hall.

After settling in all of 15 minutes, we were off again to a birthday party. It really pays to know people. Anne, you will be interested to know that Steve was there, the former director of CEDEI. He was there with his new girlfriend who seemed very nice. She has traveled a lot and spent several years living in Italy, so I could understand the attraction. Steve is now Vice President or Provist of a university in Quayaquil, so it was interesting to talk with him about the university. In fact, he remembered that my area is educational technology and asked me if I were interested in going there to do some consulting with his faculty. So who knows what will come in the future......

The party was hosted in a restaurant in Cuenca, across the river. They are famous for grilling their meats, especially steak, and we for several hours the food and wine was just flowing. They put the food on the table and everyone helped themselves. After all that the bill for everyone was $12 each. very cool!