Where´s Jesus?
Trip Start
Feb 20, 2008
1
18
62
Trip End
Aug 20, 2008
Cuenca,
Ecuador
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Unfortunately, we ended up waiting around for nothing for most part of the day, after we realised there was no parade at 3pm, contrary to what a restaurateur told us. To pass time, we found a mall called Millenium Plaza and I kinda went overboard buying Nesquik and Snickers bars hehe. There was a cinema there, so we decided to watch 10,000 BC (which is known here as 10,000 AC for "Aņos Cristos"). Alas... it was all in Spanish. Thankfully, it was a movie about cavemen with stampeding woolly mammoths and giant prehistoric birds, so the visuals were quite sufficient.
Finally, after more hanging around at the main cathedral (Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception) to no avail, we headed off for dinner while anxiously peering out the window
Good Friday Procession in Cuenca
.After dinner and sick of waiting, we wandered around and finally saw a police cordon. The procession started at the OLD cathedral (Cathedral San Blas), whereas we had been waiting around the new one! AARGH! So anyway, we took pictures of the people proceeding really slowly, followed by huge crowds (Rob estimates about 6,000 - 7,000 people) carrying a statue of Mary and then of Jesus, singing tragic-sounding hymns and repeating verses. It was a very solemn affair and we were soon bored.
So we headed back to the hostel for a coke and a beer and that was our uneventful Good Friday. The most exciting part was discovering the "Supermaxi" supermarket in the mall I think.
Oh, before I forget, I wanted to write about being Singaporean/Asian in South America. Evidently, nobody knows where Singapore is or what it is. It could very well be a species of obscure plant or plankton. The immigration officer in Ecuador kept asking if Singaporeīs in China. When I try to make international calls back home, some staff at the "cabinas" (phone booths) just say No when I ask for the price to "Singapore".
And of course, I get stared at like crazy
Puerto Roto "Broken Bridge"
. Ironically, the chinese restaurants (called "chifas") seem rather numerous here. But people just stare at me like some sort of freak. Itīs not only the locals who do it, but I also got it from a bunch of rather rude Frenchies in my hostel this morning.Howīs the South American experience so far? I would unfortunately have to say itīs much worse than I expected, cos Iīm feeling under the weather (STILL!) and just in a general state of blah-ness.
We leave Cuenca tomorrow for the border. Letīs hope Peru treats me better.
Till then,
Felicia "Looking for Jesus" Wong.
