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So, the big day finally arrived,... the second main reason for my return to Ecuador, the Pase Del Nino (Passage of the child (Jesus)) parade happening today.
I took a chance and just caught a bus to downtown to meet Gustavo at San Blas Church near his home. I fully expected the bus to be diverted away from where the parade would be gathering but that didn't happen. We only saw tiny gatherings of people with horses and a small group where the parade usually begins, so our expectations diminished rapidly.
Gustavo came to meet me with his Canon and we headed up Bolivar and settled in near San Alfonso church in the shade. I paid $3 for a plastic stool for us to share... If we sat on the curb, we might not get back up, lol..
The parade usually started at 10am but it was almost 11:30am before we saw any action at all, and then it was really disappointing. My recollections of the parades 2012-2014 are vivid, especially the 2012 parade where I took 1200 photos and am still posting those photos to Pixels.com. That parade had 60,000 participants and wound through downtown all day until 6pm, with hundreds of groups, bands, floats and more. This parade was barely a shadow of that great event and I barely took 130 photos and we left at 12:30pm.
I will only show you a few from today because I will save the mass processing for when I get back home and can use my PC instead of this annoying laptop, actually in my lap!
We left the parade, completely disgusted, and went to Gustavo's where he changed clothes. We were hungry so we came back near here for the $1.25 burgers. He was amazed that we both had burgers, fries and a pop for $5.10 !!!
We parked in the front yard at Billy's direction for the garden party Billy and Teresa were holding. They had invited a lot of friends and gone to a lot of work preparing, but had their doubts about how many would show up because of suspected problems on getting taxis today,... plus it poured for the requisite 20 minutes, right at 2pm.....
But the folks trickled in and mingled, and ate and drank, and the party was an amazing success. Gustavo and I mainly just stayed in the patio area outside my casita and mingled with those who ventured back.
Of interest, was a tour promoter, originally from Canada, named Ian, who just happened to look and sound so much like my new cousin Roger in Andalucia! And his daughter, Juno, was a delight, being a beautiful Canadian-Japanese combination. There were lots of lively topics for conversation and the afternoon went by too quickly.
Most drifted out at the 5pm end time but 2 musicians hung around until 6pm with family. They needed 2 taxis to leave, and we were supremely fortunate to flag these down right in front.
Then Billy, Teresa and I attacked leftovers and chatted some more. Around 8pm I worked on these photos that I am sharing below, then crashed...
I hope you enjoy the pictures. That was the day’s excitement.
Al
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Loved this painting in a small cafe 
My church, San Alfonso 
Gustavo is a good photographer 
I doubt that she rides the scooter 
One of my few good shots 
The new Cuenca Queen 
I like this one 
Pretty 
Typical 
Gustavo's house under renovation 
Street vendor 
The Tomebamba 
Group at the back patio 
Argentinian musician and family 
Lovely Juno 
Old friends, Marilyn+Roger 
Joe Spotts, Ersin Abad, and Laurel 
Gustavo and Paco Lightfoot (musician) 
I liked the lighting 
The guests rotated around
