Colombian surprise

you see how happy they make

Not long ago we had two wonderful visitors: Angelica from Colombia, and Cedric from France. One evening we all went to a gallery of alternative art here in Cuenca. It is called “El Prohibido” (“Forbidden”), which at the same time is a bar, where you can chill comfortably on different styled couches (i.e. in a coffin), and drink a beer. This gallery-bar has lots of interesting art installations inside. The special impressions a visit to the toilet and washing hands leave are important to mention. Additionally, they sell clothes, patches, music etc. of punk, gotic-rock, and similar music bands. It seems a little paradise for the black music scene.

 

About two months ago in the Tourist Information center we were asking where we could find contemporary art galleries or some alternative places. The girl working there started to mention all museum, which can easily be found on the city map. Did she missunderstand what we were really searching for? In the moment that thought appeared in both our minds, she started carefully looking around, checking if her boss was absent. Then she carefully whispered the name of “El Prohibido” into our ears. We wonder why she was so careful, but it seemed El Prohibido was not supposed to end up as a sightseeing attraction for Cuenca tourism. At least not in the moment, we were making the inquiry, because only a couple of weeks later all of a sudden appeared flyers of El Prohibido on the desk of one and the same tourist information. Did we provoke the change?

On the way to this alternative gallery we passed a small shop near the market 10 de Agosto, which was selling small unnecessary stuff, including “Colombian surprises”. We came to a sudden stop. What the hell were Colombian surprises? In a laundry basket a mass of mystical paper packages priced $0.25 were collected. We immediately got attracted to this lotery and bought one for each of us. What might reveal the inside? Opening our mystic surprises brought us the great lottery win of two earings with a popular Mexican singer for Katja, and a “golden” necklace for Augustas. What a great surprise!

Life does never stay the same, thus moving on is simply part of it. Cedric and Angelica took that for granted, too. Thus after a far too short – or too long, depending on how you look at it – time of their enjoyable company, they left each one following their own little and bigger dreams. While Cedric went to Colombia, Angelica headed towards Argentina. Future tells if our roads cross again, our hearts believe they will, no matter where. By the way, Angelica has a travel blog in Spanish, if you are interested to read about her discoveries on the South American continent, follow this link:
http://angelicaporsuramerica.blogspot.com/

So much for today 😉