Cuenca Ecuador Salsa Dancing + Allpafest
This was an unexpected Day In The Life! We planned to meet Olesya and Johnny for some Salsa Dancing lessons in the afternoon, but we didn’t have much else planned for the day.
Before lunch, we wandered down to the Allpafest event near Parque de la Madre for a quick look, but we ended up staying quite a while. Usually, when we go to popup ferias, we only stay a few minutes, but Allpafest was great! We saw lots of friends and ate some delicious goodies!
Fans of Amelia And JP
On our way into Allpafest, we heard someone yell “JP” from behind us. It was Ivan and Mauricio who are fans of our YouTube Channel!
They’re both from Cuenca, but they have lived in New York for the past 15 years. Now they’re thinking about returning home to Cuenca to open a business!
It’s nice to meet people in real life who watch our channel. Now that we have over 100 videos, mostly about Cuenca Ecuador, more people are starting to recognize us on the street and in stores.
It’s still a bit strange to meet complete strangers who know us so well and reference interesting things that we caught on film.
If you see us out and about, feel free to stop and say hi!
Allpafest by Allpa Feria Holística Cuenca Ecuador
We’ve been to lots of ferias during our time in Cuenca Ecuador, but Allpafest by Allpa Feria Holística was by far the best one yet.
We normally only stay at the ferias for 10 or 15 minutes, but we were there for almost 2 hours!
Jewelry from the Amazon
I managed to convince Amelia to pass by the shoes only to come to a screeching halt at a booth selling handmade jewelry from the Amazon jungle (de la selva).
We’ve seen this Amazonian indigenous woman at several other ferias here in Cuenca. Her facial tattoos are quite striking! These are common among the Amazonian people.
Amelia bought this necklace for $10. You’ll probably see it in a future belly dancing video!
Amelia’s Chakra Alignment
Our next stop was to get Amelia’s chakras aligned. As a man who appreciates science-based evidence, I’m not a big believer in this practice, but Amelia came out of it feeling very relaxed and peaceful.
We have no way of knowing if it was the crystal waving or perhaps the meditative state combined with the aromas sprayed into the air.
Regardless, she was able to quash a hot flash before it overtook her for the first time. She may look like she’s in her 30’s, but she’s almost 51 and she’s going through early menopause like her mother did.
Cuenca Ecuador Music Scene
Cuenca has quite the music scene. There are lots of very talented musicians that play in clubs, concerts and ferias around Cuenca. Allpafest featured several different musicians and bands.
Vegan Food at Allpafest
We are constantly surprised at how many vegan options we have here in Cuenca Ecuador. When we moved here, we had no idea Cuenca was going to become the vegan capital of South America!
Panda Cakes Cuenca
Pao and Pietro from Panda Cakes Cuenca are friends of ours. They are the sweetest, nicest people you’ll ever meet. You may remember Pao from our Cuenca Ecuador Fitness video. Pao wasn’t there when we filmed this video, but we got to see her later in the day when we went back with Olesya and Johnny after our Salsa Dancing lessons.
You may remember Pietro from our Rock Climbing in the Rain at Cojitambo Ecuador video. In addition to helping Pao make delicious vegan desserts and snack bars, he also climbs mountains! He was very surprised to see Amelia’s new hairdo.
Kiosko Vegan
Kiosko Vegan is a vegan food kiosk that sells veganese, sausages and falafels here in Cuenca. We were too full after eating Pao and Pietro’s delicious desserts so we’ll have to try out their food on a different occasion.
Lupuna Organics Soap from Khatu Organic
I have very sensitive skin so I like to use this Lupuna Organics soap that can be found at natural stores around Cuenca, including Khatu Organic. We filmed their store through the window when we went to lunch at Yuraveg. We still need to go back again when they’re open.
Cuenca Ecuador Salsa Dancing with Salserios
Yes. It’s true. I did, in fact, agree to take salsa dancing lessons. WHYYYY????!!!! ?
When my friend Stephen came to visit before our trip to India, we took him to a Cuenca salsa dancing hotspot and Johnny was there cutting a rug with his mad salsa dancing skills. That’s when Amelia gave me a couple drinks and tricked me into taking salsa dancing lessons when we got back from India. She’s very sneaky!
You may remember Olesya from our Yoga In The Park video. She’s also a dance assistant with Johnny, helping him teach his salsa dancing classes.
Dance classes start this week! Wish us luck! If you watched the video, you know I really need it!
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Hola todos! Welcome to my author bio page! Let's see. Where to begin... I grew up in the country on a lake outside a small Kansas farm town. As soon as I could, I got the hell outta there! Since then, I've lived and/or worked in Kansas City, Washington D.C., Denver, San Francisco, and Ecuador. I started and sold a dotcom, wrote a book about it, started a YouTube channel, and now I write a lot. Amelia and I have embraced the Unconventional Life and we want to help you do it, too!
Thanks for all of your great videos.
We are coming to Cuenca for 3 weeks on June 17 to see if we should sell it all and move down..
We are going to sign up for the yoga and dance retreat so we look forward to meeting both of you.
Great! Glad you’re enjoying the videos! And looking forward to meeting you in Vilca!