Scenes from around town: Supporting the cause, Cuenca bus dogs, ‘Who’s your daddy?, Here’s to the Tranvía workers

I decided to return to my new West Side home from El Centro by a different route the other day. Gran Colombia is under construction for the new Tranvía, but there are sidewalks and dirt paths all the way to Las Americas.

From two blocks away, I heard the voices of excited children. As I rounded the corner, I saw about 50 small children, all in dark blue uniforms, some carrying placards, some carrying big pictures of the earth, chanting and marching down the sidewalk together. I could not understand their chant, but I did understand they were pro-Earth!

It’s been a delight to me to see people taking to the streets with their political rallies in Cuenca. Reminds me of the 60s. Stop complaining, get your butts off the couch and away from the computer screen and join a movement! What was really refreshing about this rally is that it was in support of something — in this case, Earth Day.

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The morning rain had finally stopped as I boarded the bus. Just a couple of folks were on board, so I was able to easily walk to the back bench to sit, ready for a quick exit. As I sat down I realized a mid-size, cream colored mama dog had followed me down the aisle. I said, “well hello, Mama Dog” as I do to dogs, but she paid me no attention whatsoever. Perhaps she does not speak English?

She sat on the floor near me, and when the bus began moving she would lie down. At each stop, she would stand as the doors opened as if to check for her stop. She repeated the stand-check-exit-sit-lie-down routine as long as I was on the bus. I wish now that I had not been so concerned with making it to my destination. I wonder where she was going and if this was a regular trip for her. And … what about her babies?

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I’m convinced that someday humans will converse using only song lyrics. There are lyrics, especially in country music, appropriate for every occasion in life. On Sunday, I walked along Primero de Mayo to a gathering of women and passed four puppies wiggling out from under a weathered wooden gate. They were obviously siblings. Two resembled one another; one was black and one was white. The other two were not the same breed of dog at all. The lyric that came to mind at that point was: “Who’s Your Daddy?”

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As I lay awake tossing and turning at 2 a.m. last night, I realized that I had company as I heard clunk, clunk, clunk. Far below my window, working all night in the cold and rain, a Tranvía construction worker was digging up concrete using only a shovel and his strong back. It is a backbreaking work building our new Tranvía! I have a completely new appreciation for these workers.

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When asked where she is from, Kay Davis says “lots of places”, but most recently Albuquerque, NM. When asked what she did in the states, she says “lots of things.”  When asked why she came to Cuenca, she says “I was approaching my 70th birthday and still working. I decided I wanted to take a breath between work and death, and moving to Cuenca was the only way I saw to do that. No regrets!”