Sugar Shock

On June 24th, I turned a milestone birthday. Now I'm 10 years older than the minimum age for an antique! (Figure that one out!) Feeling old, my sweet hubby decided we needed a romantic lunch back at the "House of Angels" restaurant where we spent Father's Day. The sun was shining and the garden was just beautiful! All of the staff came out and brought me a special dessert with a candle and sang Happy Birthday. For those of you who know me, I'm not a big dessert person, yet there have been some frequent mentions of this waist expanding activity! I can say in all honesty, that since this new change in lifestyle in Ecuador, i.e. walking just about everywhere almost daily, Ken and I have lost quite a bit of weight. We are currently looking for a tailor because our slacks just don't want to stay up. Unfortunately, I didn't bring a belt, but smart Ken did!

We recently discovered a nice, well equipped, clean gym with new equipment just a ten minute walk up the hill from our home. Talk about a great warm up! We've begun our weight lifting regime, and we feel great! (Well sort of..) The cost for the two of us? Thirty dollars per month and no contract. Diego, the owner, is a nice young man who lived a few years in the States. His degree is in education, and like the young lady who made our curtains, his salary as a teacher was so low, he couldn't survive. He had to look for alternatives. He's weight lifted most of his life, and owning his own gym has always been a dream, that's now a reality. We're glad we're able to be a part of his success.

It's Corpus Christi festival time in Cuenca! This religious, week long festival includes marching bands and processionals that include young girls dressed as angels, priests, nuns, and faithful followers carrying lighted candles, singing, in front of a float depicting the Virgin Mary, as they weave their way around the city. Fireworks are shot off every night around 8:00pm, sometimes in the middle of a crowded street. Ken and I walked to El Centro, the location of Cuenca's most beautiful park, Parque Calderon Saturday night, and couldn't believe our eyes as we saw row after row of tented stands, around the park, next to the cathedral loaded, and I mean loaded with all kinds of baked goods and candies. This is what Corpus Christi is most known for. The confections are not covered, much to the delight of the honey bees that appeared out of nowhere!

Since most Ecuadorians are short, tall folks have to duck to get through the maze of tents!

Sunday, we decided to walk back to El Centro and buy some flowers from the flower ladies near the cathedral.

We found just the perfect flower arrangement for our living room! One of the luxuries of living here is fresh flowers all the time. They are beautiful, plentiful, and very affordable. I love getting up each morning and enjoying their beauty and fragrance. Here's what we selected for $3.00.

Later, we stopped at SuperMax for some groceries, and couldn't resist when we found these for $3.00 also!

They look great in our kitchen!

Monday, during our daily walk, we found a little shop selling hats. Ken left his hat in Murrells Inlet and needed one to protect his scalp from the Ecuadorian sun. Here's a bit of trivia. Did you know that Panama hats are actually made in Cuenca Ecuador? The name "Panama hat" actually was coined by Teddy Roosevelt. While visiting the Panama canal when it was being constructed, he noticed the workers' hats, liked them, and decided to get one for himself. When he returned to the US, his hat caught the attention of the media, and he referred to it as his "Panama hat"! I think Ken probably looks better in his than old "Teddy" did!

He's my white haired "sugar"!