Cumbe, Azuay Province, Ecuador is Our Families Slice of Heaven Here on Earth

Cumbe City Poster

Today is Sunday...Here in Cumbe, Azuay Province, Ecuador and it's only one of two days that the Cumbe Mercado is open.  The other day it's open is Wednesday.  While Wednesday does typically have fresher produce, we really needed some onions.  From the moment we woke up Heather expressed her desire to walk down with me and see what the market looked like.

Typically, I go alone on market trips and it was nice to have Heather accompany me.  We did stop a lot as she loves to take photos.  It's something I am going to just have to learn to deal with.

Outside Our Rental House in Cumbe

Right out the front gate

Baby!!!

Drunk Man Passed Out!

Yep...I said Drunk Man Passed Out!!!

Another Passed Out Drunk Man!

View Toward Our House

Woolly, Bully, and Baby

Palm Tree

Bambo

Yuca with Graffiti

Farm Land

We took photos of our house. We took photos of some cows. More of several men who were passed out drunk from the previous night. We took photos of some lambs and their ewe. Some more photos of a palm tree and of the Catholic church in downtown Cumbe. 

Beauty Shop

Downtown Cumbe

Common Site Here in Ecuador

Our Peruvian Bakery...Yummy

The Most Popular Place to Eat in Cumbe

Welcome to Cumbe

Main Catholic Church Here in Cumbe

Beautiful Skirts worn By the Andean Women

Family Home

Apartment Building

Beautiful Cumbe

1st Ever Cumbe Rodeo  Poster

We stopped in a bakery shop run by a very friendly man from Peru.  His pastries are divine.  We always get something from him and its always fresh and delicious.  He even makes milk chocolate like most Americans like it.  It's a nice treat as most Ecuadorian chocolate is dark or a mix of milk and dark.  So we enjoy a taste of what we grew up on.

Dan

Heather...Her clothes are getting so loose!

Heather...That shirt is Way to Big

Lantana Flowers

Lantana Flower Bushes

As we walked to the market, I admittedly lied several times to Heather.  We are at high altitude over 10k above sea level and she still has a hard time breathing during long walks. I kept telling her the market was the next block down.  She finally caught on to my deception.  By then we really were only a block away yet strangely she refused to believe me.  We finally did arrive and we shopped several places finding plenty of fresh fruit and veggies at slightly higher prices than what you get in Cuenca.

Cumbe Mercado

Fresh Produce Everywhere

Jugos Pins, Beet Spice Drink, and Fresh Rolls

Mama's Fruit Cup

Pork from Mr. Piggy and Aji

Heather was a bit tired from the 3 mile walk so rather than walk back home we grabbed a rural taxi truck for $1US and were home in only a few minutes.  Cumbe has two roads that lead in and out and are joined with a central road so the road is shaped like a triangle.  We came home on the steeper but more quiet road that we did not walk down so it afforded us both a different view on the way home.

The clouds we had enjoyed during our walk into town broke and the sun came out and the temperature jumped 20 degrees in less than five minutes.  Taking the taxi home was a good choice, it got very hot...very fast.  We unpacked and Heather put out some potted flowers she bought for her mom and arranged the bakery goods on three plates on the dining table for our breakfast.

When I got a chance to look at all the photos Heather took of our little outing something occurred to me.  We are very fortunate to live where we do.  We managed to find a large and very pretty home that feels like its in the country yet is within walking distance to plenty of small shops. Once we obtain Ecuadorian drivers license and a car I think we will break a bit out of our current shell.  We used to go for drives all the time in the U.S. and I think all of us miss that mobility.  Everything takes time and we will get there.  For our family we know we have found a slice of heaven here on earth and it's becoming very special to all of us.