Spondiluz and TLC

Tiled rooftops, cobblestone streets, Cuenca is gorgeous. The river that runs through the town is a brook more than a river. Grasses line the riverbanks, as do all sorts of trees and flowers.

Women and their children wash clothes in the river and leave it all on the grasses of the banks to dry. Cuenca is a combination of quiant English country-side and tropical paradise. It's similar to Savannah too, but bigger, wider streets, more people. Colonial, that's what it is. And when I read that it's a colonial town, I expected an old-world feel, but with colonial, one has to remember, at which mother country's hand the city was originally colonized. Spain, Spain indeed. I've yet to visit, but a woman on the street today made mention that Cuenca is more like Spain than Spain itself.

The owner, Dueña Laura, of a three-floor postcard shop took it upon herself to give me a lesson in local culture today. The chosen topic was spondiluz, a conch, the shells from which local artisans make all sorts of jewelry and crafts. Laura also recommended a couple of tourist trips but they sounded more like traps than cool, fun adventures.

I visited the main cathedral today that stands unfinished. It's a grand accomplishment as it is, but I read that the grandeur wanted and expected was even greater. Two towers were to house several huge church bells but the towers were deemed unable to support the weight of the bells. So the cathedral stands unfinished, two tower levels high with no bells, the third level to remain a dream in the architect's mind.

I also spent about an hour today looking for the cinema. One is rumored to have movies in English with Spanish subtitles at one cinema here, so I sought it out. It's now a car park.

Like New York, graffiti is quite popular throughout Ecuador. Here, however, the messages are usually either expressions of love or political statements. I first saw a "No TLC" tag in Baños and first thought of the hip hop group from the 90s, then, thought of tender loving care. Neither is correct, of course. It's a statement against free trade, technically "No Tratado Libre Comercio." A movement against US politics, particularly against the capitalist idea of free trade, it stands for locals against signing a free trade agreement with the US.

A bit more graffiti, I guess in Ecuador, punk has died.