We have had a relatively quiet week. Just getting on with life here. School is actually quite taxing & takes up the majority of my time.Ady was asked if he was a missionary the other day so not sure what he's up to while I'm at school ! Last day of school tomorrow & we will leave Cuenca on Saturday.

Last week in 2 separate visits ( we were allowed to re-use our $3 tickets ) we visited the Museo del Banco Central in Cuenca.

It was so impressive. Especially the ethnography exhibit which was enormous , taking up an entire floor & showing the way of life of different groups of inhabitants of Ecuador in their diverse zones of settlement. i.e the inhabitants of the coast, of the Andean foothills, the highland natives and other tribes. One could enter into the models of their dwellings & paricipate in their traditional & current social behaviour ( such as head shrinking ! ) & see their craft making in ceramics , textiles , tin , stone , wood , leather , straw etc.

Outside there were more Inca ruins, beautiful gardens & a wonderful aviary housing brightly-coloured parrots , eagles vultures , owls etc.
The museum is owned by the Central Bank. Obviously the banks have lots of money ! There is also a floor dedicated to art from 18th to 21st century& anotherfloor housing the man archaeological pieces discovered in what was the 2nd city of the Incan Empire , Cuenca , previously known as Tomemamba , which is still the name of the river which flows through the city. The 1st city of the Incan Empire was Macchu Pichu in Peru. More on that much later !

In 1999 Cuenca was designated by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage Site due to its architectural buildings & surrounding environment.

Christmas is just around the corner but the weather here makes it feel like mid-summer. However Papa Noel is in his grotta & there are numerous religious processions through the streets. The Christmas trees & decorations somehow seem to be out of keeping with the ethos of the country.

We almost wish we had decided to stay here for Christmas as on 24 December there is a nativity parade which takes over the city , brings thosands of people , includes 500 floats/decorated cars & lasts for 6-7 hours. Apparently it is the envy of all Ecuador. We watched some of last years procession on Tv so that will have to do as on saturday we will leave here & head north into the Andes mountains for Christmas. So this is my last posting from Cuenca.

My christian name is well-known over here not for its scottish derivation but from La Princesa Fiona. Those of you who have not seen Shrek won't know what I mean !

Although my Spanish speaking has improved it's not good enough ! On 2 separate occasions now we have taken taxis & asked for El Multicine ( the cinema ) & ended up at Mount Sinai hospital ! Es la vida !