Cuenca friends

So far in our trip almost every time we leave a city, I am left with a feeling of happiness for our experiences there, and a little sadness too, wishing I could spend just a little more time there. Generally this feeling is related to sites I did not get to see, but in Cuenca it had more to do with the people. Please don't misunderstand me, Cuenca is beautiful, and there is still so much more we could have learned, done, etc, but the biggest thing I will miss are the people we met there.

Terran, Monica, Nancy Kelsey, Maija, and Chuck Kelsey outside their home in Cuenca

As I mentioned in a previous post, while preparing for this trip I joined many Facebook groups, in hopes of getting as much information about the places where we would be staying, and in one of those groups I met my friend Nancy Kelsey.

Nancy was so kind, and open right from the start. She answered a lot of my questions regarding neighborhoods, housing, and the LDS community here in Cuenca, but, the way I will always remember her is how when we walked in to the Tarqui Ward here in Cuenca, she gave me a big hug as though we had always known each other. To me, that big hug meant the world.

After meeting us in person, for only around 30 mins Nancy invited us for lunch to her home, where our family ate our body weight worth of super yummy garlic toast, and spaghetti. I was surprised when we arrived and saw over 20 people sharing a lunch at Nancy and Chuck’s home.

Nancy and Chuck host a big Sunday lunch around twice a month, and invite so many different people, from all walks of life. They had friends from the church, missionaries, neighbors, friends visiting from out of town, it was a nice group, with good conversation. We heard a lot of Spanish, but also a lot of English as Nancy and Chuck are part of a big, and thriving expat community in Cuenca.

I don’t know if our life will ever take us back to Cuenca (I hope it does!), but now after spending time there, I can see why so many chose to move their lives there. It is a beautiful, friendly city with an eternal spring.

Through Nancy and Chuck we also met Gordon Foreman, and his family. He is a retiree living in Cuenca and serving as the Stake President of the Cuenca Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He too welcomed our family by inviting us on a beautiful family hike to El Cajas National Park (read about it here), and treating us to a delicious Sunday lunch in his home.

Wyatt, Maija, Gordon Foreman, Terran, Susan, and Ben Foreman outside their home after a yummy Sunday lunch.

The Foremans also made our children very happy by letting us borrow a bunch of books from their home library. Our kids have continued to read by using a library app called Libby, and it has worked out really well, but in my opinion, nothing beats the feeling of a real book, and I think my kids feel the same way, so thank you Foremans for letting us have that while we were in Cuenca. And just thank you dear friends for making our time in Cuenca so awesome!

Here are a few of the kids friend too...I will let them tell you about them sometime....adios amigos.

Monkeying around after church.