Our Ecuador

Reading abroad

2011-06-26T13:14:00.001-05:00

Living in Ecuador is off the beaten track but fortunately it allows both of us to write, publish, and communicate with the world of authors and readers in a number of ways.

Over the last two years, this blog has enabled us to visit with readers from 111 countries more than 36,000 times. For us, it has been a huge success because we have interacted with countless families throughout the world. Some, who have moved here, have become good friends. Others have had a steady discourse with us over long periods of time. But, coming up with new postings has become more difficult because many subjects of interest to possible expats have already been covered by our blog or by other blogs. We would appreciate your comments on subjects that you might be interested in. We will research them and give you our take on the problem or question.

Meanwhile, we continue to write. Loretta is in the process of finishing a memoir called Jonny First which will be sent to her agent in New York by the end of July.

Loretta has also just published her first ebook novel on Amazon.com called, Soulmates, a Story of Love, Passion, and Obsession That Transcends Life. Bill too has published an Amazon.com ebook, a Caribbean adventure novel called Chinchorro Reef, Kidnapped at Sea.

Electronic books like these are the new publishing trend. Already Amazon.com sells more ebooks than conventional hardbacks and paperbacks. What is interesting for those of us who are expats is that an ebook can be downloaded to a PC in less than a minute and can then be transferred and read on your PC, Kindle, iphone, iPad, Blackberry, or Android device at your leisure. Often an ebook at Amazon costs between 0.99 cents per book all the way up to $10.00 which is considerably less than a print book. Some are even free. Sample chapters can be downloaded at no cost before you purchase a book.

The other great advantage for expats is that very few English title books are sold in Cuenca. Purchasing a print book from the US and having it shipped via USPS almost doubles the cost of the book and it takes weeks to get here instead of a minute with an ebook.

Reading an ebook on a hand held electronic reader like a Kindle is a change from the familiar and comfortable feeling of holding a bound paper book in your two hands but it is remarkable how quickly it begins to feel completely natural. It appears to us that ebooks are the way to go for voracious readers located in places where English language books are not readably available. Ebooks are a change in how we read but, when you think of it, the reason we read is for the content inside not the device we hold.

Cuenca lifestyle

2011-04-21T09:13:00.000-05:00

When you are thinking about a move to a foreign country there are a thousand questions that must be answered. Some are easy to find the answers to but others are less obvious. Here are a few observations about where Cuenca differs from other towns and cities in Ecuador.

Unlike the coast and the Amazon, there are almost no bugs in Cuenca, at least, none of the pesky mosquitoes and noseeums which can make life miserable. But, because there are few bugs, there are also very few birds.

A great advantage is that the tap water in Cuenca is drinkable and we have been drinking it for the last two years without problem. This is not true in most of the other communities in Ecuador where you should purchase bottled water.

There is a constant spring like climate with no real hot or cold weather. We do have changes of season from wet to dry but even that is erratic. Mornings are cool. Midday is warm. Afternoons often have a rain storm and evenings are cool enough to wear a light jacket.

Because of the abundance of rain, there are flowering trees, shrubs, and gardens year round.

The electric system is 110 like the US and we use the same plugs as in the States. All of our appliances from the States just plugged in without any converter or problem. The only difference is the regional code that prevents DVD players from the US from being used here. BluRay players have the same region as the US and work just fine. DVD players are inexpensive in Ecuador so there is no point in bringing them. Cell phones should be bought here or, as an alternative, have your US cell phone unlocked for about $10.

Ecuador uses the US dollar so there are no currency fluctuations like you will find in other countries. This provides for a more stable budget than with a fluctuating currency.

Gasoline costs $1.48 per gallon and, because it is subsidized by the government, has been constant at that price for the last two years.

There are many other subjects like what is available in the supermarket, electronics availability, vitamin and pharmaceutical product accessibility, office supplies, etc. but we have found that with few exceptions most items we need are available either as imports or as local substitutes. There are exceptions but, if the item is small, it can easily though slowly, be mailed from the US.

Lawyers in Cuenca

2011-03-25T16:23:00.001-05:00

We would like to make a recommendation, our personal recommendation, for a lawyer here in Cuenca. It is our opinion, though not shared by everybody, that it is always a good practice to hire a lawyer when you are involved in a major transaction in a society that is not familiar to you and where the laws are often not the same that you are used to. While Ecuador is not the litigious society that the US is, it is still, like almost everywhere else, filled with legal pitfalls. Here there are few of the citizen protective laws governing real estate transactions, car sales, and other major purchases. Also there are the difficulties of dealing with your application for residency, driver’s license, and car registration to name a few tedious projects that are full of complications which take a long time and much energy to complete. Wills and trusts are totally different than in the US and should always involve an attorney. Because there are few regulatory laws to govern transactions like real estate, it is easy for ineffective lawyers to cut corners, avoid due diligence, and just move on leaving their client with little recourse if there are problems.

It is hard to find a lawyer who fills the requirement of honesty, reliability, and expertise at a cost you are willing to pay. We have friends who bought a home on the coast only to find out later that the seller did not own it even though they had a lawyer draw up the sales agreement (honesty). We sold our house six months ago and the buyer’s lawyer still has not delivered the deed to the new owner (reliability). We have other friends who, in the finalization of their residency and after delays that ran into months, fired their lawyer, hired another and had their residency within weeks (Expertise). Almost everyone we know could tell a story.

Most of our friends here fall into one of the three following categories, those who do not use a lawyer for anything and wing it on their own, those who are most interested in finding the least expensive lawyer for their needs, and those who want the best and most reliable lawyer they can get to avoid any future problems.

It is our opinion that the third choice, a good lawyer who speaks English and Spanish, is honest, reliable and has the expertise, will open the doors to the complex bureaucracy in Ecuador that requires a great deal of leg work and too much risk to try on your own.

There are hundreds of lawyers or Abogados in Cuenca and you will find them tucked away in little store fronts throughout the city. Inside there will be a table or two and a few chairs. But almost none of these lawyers speak both English and Spanish which is quite important to a newcomer and we would not suggest using them.

Probably, and only through word of mouth, will you be able to find the right fit for you. That said, we wholeheartedly recommend that you interview Grace Velastegui and her husband, Nelson, our lawyers for the last two years. They have taken us through the residency process, the purchase and sale of our home, the complex re-registration of our car when our registration was lost, Ecuadorian wills, and the complexities of Ecuadorian custody law for our grandson, Jonny. Every cent we have spent with them has been worth it. They are honest, have a high level of expertise, speak English, and can be counted on to be prompt and efficient.

It is easy to correspond with them at gracevelastegui@yahoo.com. We think it will be well worth the effort.

Little acts of kindness

2011-02-21T10:35:00.000-05:00

It is so easy to complain about those things in Ecuador that are more difficult, more complicated, or that take an inordinate amount of time to accomplish. Life goes at a different pace. A simple task takes longer and is always more frustrating than just going to a store and picking from endless choices, checking out in mere minutes, and moving on. Here, shopping and dealing with the bureaucracy almost always has either built in complications or some undefined obstacle to hinder progress.

It is also easy to complain about all the unusual and problematic issues that confront us every day. Nowhere have we seen ruder drivers who have a seeming road rage that belies the Ecuadorian’s otherwise quiet nature. Then there is the attitude that what is yours can be mine which can only be solved by not carrying expensive looking cameras, telephones, or loose purses. For a seemingly docile people, there is a need to get there first, to move up to the head of the line, to get to the stoplight before you, or to push a little too hard.

But, almost everywhere you turn, if you keep your eyes open, you will see little acts of kindness and love. Today, as we were leaving our favorite little fruit market, we saw an old woman who had been sitting outside her market on a stool endlessly prepping vegetables, get up and give a couple of tangerines to a street cleaner in front of her store. The street cleaner, in her bright orange work suit, was hot and tired and with a great smile welcomed the cool pieces of fruit. A day doesn’t pass when you don’t see a young person with her arm locked in an older persons arm, lovingly helping her navigate the rickety sidewalks. People feed stray dogs with their precious food. It is a country where three and four generations live in the same house. While this is not terribly unusual in these days of turmoil, what is unusual is the attitude of the young towards the older family members. There is much touching, hugging, and kissing that works up from the young to the old. Rarely will you see a young teenaged child argue or be rude to an older adult. More often, you will see a teenager with his or her arm around the parents shoulder or playing softly with their hair. Public affection is not an embarrassment. It is so common that you tend not to pay any attention to a couple locked in a close embrace on a busy sidewalk totally oblivious to the passers by. Affection is the norm not the estrangement or distancing so prevalent among teenagers in the US. It goes without saying that young children are protected, coddled, and overtly loved to the extent that most Ecuadorian families seem to have dedicated their lives to their children.

If you will open your eyes a little wider, you will see that these little acts of kindness far overshadow the complexities and difficulties of living in a foreign country.

Bill's new book, "Chinchorro Reef"

2011-02-03T17:19:00.003-05:00

Here is something new for our blog. We have always said there would be nothing commercial on the blog but it seems there is always an exception. Bill has published a new book, an action adventure story called Chinchorro Reef, Kidnapped at Sea. He started writing Chinchorro Reef in 1989, played with it for years, finished it recently, and has published it in paperback and as an e-book. Previously, he has published three non-fiction books on sailing and boating. Chinchorro Reef is his first book of fiction. It is available on Amazon.com, Barnesand Noble.com, and Xlibris.com for shipment anywhere in the world.

Short description:

“Chinchorro Reef is an action thriller that touches on almost every human emotion, a page turner that you will find hard to put down. Murphy Fontaine, recently divorced from U.S. Senator Michael Fontaine, cruises the Caribbean in the family sailboat with Benji, her ten-year-old son. She has lost Benji in a custody battle with the Senator and has begun this cruise hoping to find a solution to regain custody. It is night and Benji sleeps below. She rescues two young Americans, Cotton and Mark, from a disabled fishing boat. During an argument, Murphy is knocked out and drug addled Mark sets her adrift in their stolen fishing boat. Murphy spends days drifting at sea, is rescued, hospitalized and released in Puerto Lempira, Honduras. She hears of a stranded helicopter pilot, Aram Tanner, whom she hires to pursue the kidnappers of her son. Mark and Cotton, after setting unconscious Murphy adrift in the disabled fishing boat, struggle to guide the sailboat North toward the U.S. Mark has the single minded purpose of getting a stolen cache of cocaine home to Texas. One life threatening adventure after another follows both the kidnappers and the rescuers. Murphy, with the undying devotion of a mother, faces every possible adversity to rescue her son.”

If you are a fan of high adventure with a taste for a little spice, give Chinchorro Reef a read. It is a wild ride via sailboat and helicopter through the tropical Caribbean. If you are in the States, just push the “Buy Now” button for an easy way to purchase the book via Pay Pal. If you are somewhere abroad, try Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Xlibris.

How do I deal with retirement?

2011-01-13T14:12:00.000-05:00

For almost two years we have been writing this blog about our move to Cuenca, Ecuador and the ups and downs of living here. It has been our good fortune to have had thousands of readers who were looking for on-site information about a possible move to Ecuador. No blog can answer all the questions though each of us who write a blog try. Some of the questions are quite personal. Others venture on the impossible task of trying to help people with different concerns via the impersonal internet and email. A lot about life in Ecuador has been covered here and on other blogs. But there seems to be one nagging question that hides below all the others.

Among retirees abroad and here in Cuenca there is almost a universal concern about what life will be like once they retire. Although some are not yet retired, many have recently entered the last quarter of their lives and don’t know what to expect after a lifetime of working and raising children.

Some of the recurring questions have been “What can I do when I retire to Ecuador?” or “What job opportunities are there?” or, an even more telling question, “What is it like to be retired and no longer working? What will I do with myself?”

A couple of years ago I wrote a book for real estate community developers to distribute to their potential customers. Though the book is not in print any longer, we thought it might be of interest to look at some of the issues the book dealt with relating to the process of planning and the actuality of retirement. How to deal with this life changing event is an almost universal question. So, in this posting, we will print an exerpt from the book and, if there is interest, we will print others later that seem most relevant to approach this question of a new life and the changes it brings.

Change Versus Being Stuck

Countless books have been written about having a positive attitude and how it effects a successful life. Unfortunately, few have been written about how people’s attitudes relate to prospering in retirement.

Study after study has found that our perceptions about work and retirement are rapidly changing. No longer is retirement considered the end of a fruitful life. Questions are being asked and answers sought. Growing older is no longer the main issue, but how we live our later years and the vitality of our lives, have become the subject.

One of the changes we are seeing is that, in the past, many people spent their lives in retirement doing the same things with the same friends each and every day. Very little changed from the time when they worked and raised their children. They were stuck in a life-long rut and the inevitable result was a downward spiral in health and happiness.

But, this is not the way it has to be. An adjustment in attitude involving using more free time to develop new activities and new friends would bring vitality and interest to those people whose lives have reached a dead end. What do you think would happen if you struck off on a new path in retirement and tried something new and different that would surprise even you by its audacity?

Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, gave the commencement address at Stanford University on June 12, 2005. The following excerpt from his speech to the graduating students is just as relevant to retiring people as it is to graduating seniors.

“…Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and Polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.”

How Did Successful Retiree Do It?

If you take a look at affluent American retirees in their 70’s you’ll find some interesting tips. Some are no brainers. Others may be ideas you haven’t given much thought to.

Most of today’s “successful” retirees are active and independent people who recognized, early on, that personal freedom is a major source of satisfaction. A large percentage have traveled widely. Many have made significant charitable contributions and have done volunteer work. Countless numbers have helped out other family members financially.

It is interesting to note that most of today’s retirees have planned for a lengthy retirement by understanding that they may live long, productive lives. These fortunate people have factored in almost a third of their lives for retirement. Conversely, there are many younger people who haven’t given a thought to the length of time they will probably spend in retirement. Those who have, often underestimate by guessing at around twenty-two years. Research shows that most people actually need to plan for twenty-five to thirty-five years in retirement.

Many of those retiring today seek professional advice when they need it which results in the fact that a much larger percentage of retirees hire professional financial planners than they did during their working years.

Most relied on themselves to supply the money needed for their retirement. The expectation of gaining an inheritance was seldom a factor they considered in their planning phase. In addition, most of these independent-minded successful retirees expected their children to achieve financial success on their own.

One thing that almost everyone agrees with is that older people should find ways to spread their knowledge and experience to younger generations. To mentor a willing student is a rewarding and empowering activity that is done by many of today’s retirees.

If you take notice of the issues that successful retirees before you have discovered, getting yourself on the right track will be easier and the chance for doing well in retirement will be higher.

Get Excited About the Future

Being excited about the possibilities the future might bring will make the whole planning process a lot more fun and stress-free. When you realize that you could be facing a number of years in retirement nearly equivalent to all those years you spent at work, you begin to understand the importance of putting the coming phase of your life into a wholesome and positive perspective. Attitude seems to be the key.

The annual children's Christmas parade

2010-12-29T21:10:00.000-05:00

Each year the day before Christmas Eve, the people of the city of Cuenca get their children, cars, and horses all dressed up to celebrate in a massive parade. It is loosely organized and has no central theme except to present the children in costumes that herald the Christmas season. No amount of words can replace the photos of these faces.

One of the many marching bands

Tired children on a movable manger scene

Almost all of the children in the parade were surrounded by caring parents who helped them cope

Yesterday, these sheep were probably out in the fields. Today, they are on parade.

Two beautiful Senioritas

If you look closely, you will see that the blanket on the horse is made of fruits and vegetables.

On this horse, the blanket is made of candy bars. The baby is asleep under his father's protective umbrella.

Jonny couldn't resist petting the sheep

It is hard to see just how extravagant this float is

A girl's marching band playing the recorder

Sheep on parade

Three little Americans in the hot sun

My favorite

35,000 people and we saw only one policeman

A miniature truck with its load of children

Think of the hours of work to make these floats

A staggering load of candy and fruit

Christmas carols by an accordian man

A tired horse and his keeper

Just around the corner from the park, a truck was parked that was filled with food. Women passed out free bananas, popcorn, bread, and soup to anyone who wanted something to eat.

Hope you enjoyed these photos of one of the nicest days any one could spend honoring the children of Cuenca.

A quick trip

2010-12-14T20:05:00.000-05:00

We don’t usually write about our travels, but a lot happened on our recent one week trip to the States. There were a few important business, tax, and banking problems that could not be done online or in the mail, so we packed up, made some quick travel arrangements, and flew to North Carolina.

One interesting aspect of the flights was the increased level of security. In Quito, we went through Ecuador exit procedure without problems, then at the departure lounge, experienced our first “pat down.” Jonny thought it was fun and asked for a pair of latex gloves from one of the attendants and proceeded to pat down the agents to general hilarity. I was then “selected” to go to the checked baggage area out on the tarmac. Escorted by a guard, we went through many restricted areas for about a quarter mile of walking up and down endless stairs to an area near the runway piled high with hundreds of pieces of luggage waiting to be loaded onto planes. Our four bags were pulled aside and one suitcase sat on a table with an attendant waiting for me to open it. He took out Jonny’s sippy cup that had a dragon’s head on the top that bounces up and down and asked me what it was. I explained that it was a drinking cup and he nodded with some level of understanding, zipped the bag closed and I was escorted back. The guard and I were both patted down again and returned to the waiting lounge.

Our LAN Ecuador flight was almost like flying in the old days, an excellent meal, comfortable seats, and pleasant attendants. Miami airport was a zoo and required an hour on line to get out boarding passes, then again through security, customs, immigration but with no problem with the Sippy Cup. On USAir, we encountered more of what we had been used to, cramped seats, no food, and indifferent attendants. We stepped off the airplane in Charlotte to frigid weather. The east coast of the US was in a cold snap where temperatures in Florida reached into the low thirties and the low twenties in North Carolina.

In our rental car, we spent four days racing from bank to lawyer to Walmart to friends to a short night’s sleep and then a repeat of the same schedule the next day. We got our fill of McDonald’s Big Macs and Kid’s meals, the usual shock at the excess in the stores compared to our simpler and probably more sensible offerings, plus an observation that, even in this economic crisis, people are terribly resilient and are doing the best that they can. We saw casual friends on the street and in stores and it seemed like we had not even been gone. Our close friends were still as close as ever and Jonny fell right in with his old buddies.

Then it was time to come home to Cuenca again. Another four flights and the familiar bustle and confusion carrying four suitcases filled with Christmas gifts and items that friends had asked us to bring back. Stepping off the plane in Cuenca sent a wave of gratitude through all of us.

We were happy to be home. Though still tired from our exhausting trip, we kept our promise to Jonny and put up the tree and now look forward to the very festive holiday season ahead. Happy holidays to all.

Census Update

2010-11-28T15:49:00.000-05:00

Today is census day in Ecuador. At 7:00am, we looked out the window at a seemingly deserted city of a half-million people. It was apparent that the lock-down was total.

Not a car, person, or bus was in view. The streets were deserted. A few birds flew by the window that were not paying attention to the curfew. They were all that moved.

Minutes later, six policemen in dress uniform walked abreast down the center of our street. A half hour later a man and young boy, both carrying backpacks, meandered down the street, the first of many census takers that we would see on the street. In the previous weeks, High school students had been trained how to take the census and were today often seen in the company of their teachers as they made their way from house to house. It seemed strange to look out of our windows at the thousands of homes and apartments with the knowledge that, in every one, there were families waiting for the doorbell to ring. No one was at work. There were no church services this Sunday census day. No markets or restaurants were open. Everything was closed for the day. And, strangely, there were no fireworks to wake us in the morning. The entire population of Ecuador was at home waiting for the door bell to ring.

Our day wore on, ten, twelve, two o’clock and the world outside remained as still and unchanged as a photograph. A fast and furious rain squall at two o’clock must have drenched many of the census takers. At three, two young men from our nearby high school arrived to fill out our forms. Seventy-four questions and a half hour later, they put away the forms and went on to the next of 15 households they would visit. After a polite goodbye, they dragged their tired bodies up to then next floor to do it all over again with our neighbors. All the rumors and apprehension we had anticipated were over. It was simple, direct and involved no questions about wealth or money, required no signatures or identification, and seemed mostly concerned about the quality of everyone’s living conditions. At five, the city came alive again, as if time had been asleep.

Ecuador Census

2010-11-23T10:49:00.000-05:00

Unlike the United States, Ecuador and many other countries when performing their national census, have a total lock-down on the day of the census. No-one, except those few essential workers with exemptions, are allowed to leave their homes from 7:00Am to 5:00pm on November 28^th. During those hours, each home will be visited by a census taker who will ask 74 questions which, when compiled by the end of the year, will give an accurate counting of the population and learn more about the true demographics of Ecuador. Some of the questions are about the age and sex of citizens, residents and tourists, but there are additional questions about housing accommodations, telephone land lines, cellular phones, computers, even how many incandescent or non-ecological light bulbs are in your home. We have been advised by our landlord that a census taker will come to our building around 10:00 in the morning and will spend almost an hour with us. It portends to be quite thorough and should be a challenge to our Spanish skills. If you want to know more log onto www.Cuencahighlife.com for a write up on the census, or if you wish, visit the national census website at www.inec.gov.ec. After the census, we’ll post something about our experience with the census taker on Sunday.

The Rivers of Cuenca

2010-11-12T13:31:00.000-05:00

The rivers of Cuenca begin high in the mountains above the city.

Hundreds of lakes high in the Cajas National Park

Cuenca is a city of rivers with at least four roaring through town and, like the mountains surrounding, the rivers have moods and seasons. There is the River Milchichig that makes the northern boundary of the city, the Rio Tomebamba that separates the old part of the city with the new to the south, the RioYanuncay that is essentially the southern boundary of the new part of town, and the River Tarqui in the far south that joins the Yanuncay in the Eastern part of the city. All begins in the mountains to the west.

Waterfalls tumbling out of the mountains

And the downward journey begins

We thought you might enjoy seeing the Rio Tomebamba over the course of a year. All along the river that flows through the city is a green space, narrow in some spots, wider with parks in others. Families often come down to the river to wash their clothes and spread them out on the grass to dry. Children play after school on the swings, jungle gyms, and slides scattered through the parkland every few hundred yards. Our Jonny's favorite pastime is throwing rocks into the rapids.

There's a good rock, If I can just get to it.

Got it

Watch out for the splash.

Lovers find secluded spots to hold each other which is a very public pastime in Cuenca. But above all is the pastoral feeling you get just sitting by the river in the heart of a city and watching the water roar by.

January 2010 while the river was high

and a roaring torrent

But, there is a season when the river is deathly quiet. Now is that time.

This is the river in February 2010

This is the same view now in the fall of 2010

The river in February

and now, the same view in November.

It seems that every October and November the rain in the mountains becomes so scarce that the rivers run almost dry, an erie sight for those of us who love the roaring torrent. Last fall, the main reservoir in Paute, which is a major source of our electricity, became so low that the energy company enforced 3-7 hours a day of no electricity for weeks on end.

These above two photos were back when we were having the brownouts last fall

Our building was fortunate enough to have our own generator so we were not inconvenienced but small businesses and homes without generators had a difficult time. There are rumors that this year the electric company has made contingency plans to prevent last year’s brownouts but we shall see.

This is the river today which seems lower and drier than last fall.

Not much water to wash the clothes

High and dry on a hot fall day.

There are not many cities in the world that have four rivers running through them. High or low, we are most fortunate to be able to enjoy living in the heart of the city and still have such a wonderful place to go.

Not so different after all,

2010-11-10T13:06:00.000-05:00

After coming from the States and spending almost two years in Cuenca, we have found that many of our initial problems and confusion with how things work have dissipated considerably. When we first arrived, everything seemed difficult probably because many things were truly different. Or, maybe we just made it difficult because language, customs, and ways of doing things were not what we were used to. Nevertheless, we stumbled forward, learning as we went.

One early area of confusion was the lack of mail. There is almost no mail delivered to your home here. Utilities don’t send bills. Arrangements for connecting your electric, water, internet, home phone, cell phone, and TV are normally done at their respective business offices. Then, once you have paid an initial bill, you can take the receipt to your bank and arrange for an automatic monthly withdrawal from your bank account. It took a while but we finally figured it all out after our electric and our phone had been disconnected a couple of times for non-payment.

Getting our residency was not a big problem, it just took many steps and a lot of footwork. We got the needed information for documentation from our Cuenca lawyer before we left the States so we knew exactly what documents to bring. Some documents are only obtainable in the States. A few of our friends toughed it out and went through the Visa, Censo, and Cedula paces on their own. We chose to have our lawyer walk us through the process and still think it was money well spent as the Ecuadorian bureaucratic system can frustrate anyone especially newcomers. Though some others don’t agree, we think having a close relationship with an Ecuadorian lawyer helps immeasurably.

Buying a car is another hurdle to surmount. It is confusing but can be easily done by hiring for the day a good taxi driver who speaks English. He will take you to the many stops required to register your auto beginning with a car inspection, a trip to the bank, getting the required government insurance plan (SOAT), and the final visit to the registration compound which will remind you of the crowds at a rock concert. It helps to have an Ecuadorian taxi driver to help muscle your way through the crowds to the right wicket.

Finding the perfect place to buy the kind of food you like can only be done by trial and error but, in time, you will find your favorite produce market, meat purveyor, Supermaxi’s best alternative products to the ones you liked at home, and the always important, favorite restaurants. After almost two years of trying different brands, we have come up with all but a few products that are just as good and sometimes better than those we used to buy in the States.

On and on it goes. The point being that our lives are quite settled down now. We have learned where to go, how to accomplish difficult tasks, and what our favorites are. It was a long and often frustrating learning curve that was continually impeded by our lack of understanding as much of what we were told was in Spanish but even that is better now. Cuenca finally has begun to feel like home.

A Sunday at the park

2010-10-26T19:44:00.001-05:00

The cell phone rang and our building maintenance woman, Nancy, was calling. Her husband, eight year old son, and she wondered if we might like to join them at the Parque Paradiso. Crowding all of us into our car, we drove to the park where we were to meet her sister who is our maid, husband and four children. The Parque Paradiso is the largest park in Cuenca, a city full of parks that are always filled with people.

Just a small section of this huge park

But, Sunday is a special day and Sunday afternoon is when Nancy has her half day off from work. The park was crowded with thousands of people, families of every age but mostly Cuencanos with not another gringo in sight. We walked a good half mile into the park past picnicking families, past swings filled with laughing children, over creeks on swinging bridges, past tents where food was being cooked and sold, beyond a track for sporting events where a horse and buggy gave rides to children, to an area where there was a lake with an island in the center which was home to unusual varieties of ducks and geese and swans. At the side of the lake there was a free concession where a long line of people waited to board paddle boats. It seemed a scene out of a turn of the century photograph.

Cuenca is filled with parks. The rivers that flow through the city are lined with parks with swings, slides, and exercise apparatus every quarter of a mile or so. There are little pocket parks every few blocks in the city with benches and an occasional small paved court for sports. The half dozen large parks compete for the population who arrive on foot or by bus by the hundreds. Spinning carrousels, long slides, jungle gyms, canopy like wire slides, horseback rides, swings, and the almost ever present festival of some sort or the other are the attractions but it is the wide open grassy spaces that seem to bring the families. They arrive in groups of five, ten, or even twenty carrying plastic bags of food and the ubiquitous white futbol. They pour into the parks, stake out a grassy area for games, and place the elderly and children in the shade of some trees.

This Sunday, we were with one of these groups. We met our maid’s family and her cousin’s family and became a group of eight adults and eight children. The small children played around the trees while the older children and adults warmed up with a game of tossing the futbol around a circle.

Warming up by bouncing the ball round the circle

Then teams were created and a lively hour long game of futbol ensued. Goals were created by using a pair of bicycles as one goal and a couple of jackets at the other goal and were manned by a ten year old girl on one side and a mother on the other.

Jonny on the attack

Running, kicking at the ball, often falling but always with laughter and deference to the youngest who played their hearts out, they spent their one afternoon of non-work.

a shot gone astray

The team waiting for the attack

Ishmael with his sights on the goal

After a break for a drink of soda

Nothing like a cold drink on a hot day

and before we left to go home, a rope was hung between two trees for a game of volleyball that lasted until dark.

Once again, we have no message to offer from this delightful Sunday at the park, only the joy and fulfillment we find in our home away from home.

Facades, cornices, and balustrades

2010-10-07T16:35:00.000-05:00

Old Colonial Cuenca is filled with homes and buildings dating back to colonial times. All it takes is a leisurely walk along the streets of old town to put yourself in front of a commercial building, a church, or an old home that exemplifies the long lost desire to have beauty for the sake of beauty alone.

Though life on the streets is fascinating, look up above the clutter of stores at street level. It doesn’t take much of a stretch of your imagination to picture what Cuenca must have looked like a hundred or more years ago.

These photos show just a small percentage of the dozens and dozens of buildings that are today proudly kept in a grand style and are as beautiful as they were long ago.

Someday, we'll do a posting on the old churches of Cuenca but as there are 53 of them it will be a big project.

The Expats

2010-10-05T11:39:00.000-05:00

One of the wonderful things about Cuenca is the size and vibrancy of the expat community. Approximatly four years ago, two of our most prominent expats thought it would be a good idea to have a weekly gathering of expats who live in or who are visiting Cuenca. The concept was to share experiences and create a network of friends. They spread the word around and a few expats started meeting at a local restaurant on Friday evenings for a glass of wine and conversation. Over the years, the venues changed frequently from the Eucalyptus Café, to La Parola, to the Eucalyptus again and currently, to Zoe’s Restaurant as different people came up with new places to meet. During the last year, some 30 to 40 people have gathered on Fridays at Zoe’s. There are even some efforts to broaden the gatherings further. Some people are just visiting and have heard through the grapevine that it is a fun and informative evening. Some are renting here for a month or so while trying to decide whether to move to Cuenca or not. These people are usually thirsty for information. Others are expats who are long time residents who have put down roots and expect to stay for years to come and who attend to meet old and new friends. But almost all find it an interesting evening where everyone is welcome and where many people are willing to share information and friendship. If you are presently living in the US, Canada, or Europe and thinking of an international move, one of the things you are probably looking for is information, current information that is valid and has no hidden commercial theme. From our experience, there is no better place than the expat community in the city or region you are investigating. We looked at Quito where there are many expats in the Tumbaco and Cumbaya areas but, from what we saw, there is no organized expat community. There may be but we could not find one. We looked at southern Spain, which still interests us and where there are many expats from the UK who have summer homes along the coast. But there seems to be no functioning group of expats in the specific areas we researched. Everywhere you look, there are good blogs, good sources of information, but a real expat community is often lacking. There is an argument against attaching yourself to a vibrant expat community. It is that shopworn argument that “The last thing we want is to join a group with the same life style we are leaving.” We have not found that to be the case in Cuenca. Our friends are from all over the world and have brought their interesting lives with them. This is not an enclave of Americans huddled behind closed gates who seldom go into the Spanish world around them. Our friends are scattered all over the city. They are involved in cultural and charitable events. They lead exciting lives. Just read some of the blogs about Cuenca to see how “out and about” they are. What the expat gatherings have done is provide a venue where we have gotten to know each other and sorted out friendships which have become one of the strongest parts of our Cuenca experience.

Ecuador unrest

2010-09-30T17:40:00.000-05:00

We were at the gym late this morning and noticed the TV was unusually on with the news. Vivid photographs showed President Correa in Quito being doused with water and tear gassed by members of the National Police. He had gone to a street rally to mediate a misunderstanding over police promotions and benefits. It turned ugly and the President was tear gassed and attacked then taken to the hospital for a checkup as he had been roughed up and was still recovering from leg surgery. It is late afternoon now and a state of emergency has been declared until the situation winds down. The pivotal Ecuadorian Army has stayed on the sidelines and its only presence is guarding the closed airports and national infrastructure. If they stick with Correa it will blow over quickly. If not, we don’t have a clue what the next step will be. We have been advised, and it makes good sense, to stay indoors until we know what is happening. The internet, TV, and cell phones have not been effected so we have communicated to our family that all is OK. Looking out the window, the city is quiet like a Sunday afternoon. Latin Americans have been through this a number of times and seem to have a more casual attitude than we gringos. But, we too, have been calmed by their stoic response.

What’s familiar and what’s hard to find

2010-09-30T17:19:00.001-05:00

We seem to be always writing about what is different and unusual in Ecuador but that really doesn’t help someone who is thinking of moving here who wants to know what to bring and what familiar items they can get here at the stores. While we will list things common to someone who lives in the US, please be aware that there are many, many items both locally made and imported that are available in addition to this list. This list is far from complete. Some familiar items may be available and we have not yet found where to get them. These are just some hundreds of familiar products that will make purchasing easier until you get to know the less expensive, locally made products. Almost every product listed here has a local counterpart, often as good or better and certainly cheaper. It took us a while but the only items on this list we still buy regularly are Colgate toothpaste, Reynolds wrap and Cascade dishwasher soap.

Drugstore items – Colgate toothpaste; Speed Stick, Dove, Mitchem & Arid deodorants; Head and Shoulders & Pantene shampoos; Nutrogena and Nivea products, Listerine mouth wash; Centrum Vitamins; Phillips Milk of Magnesia; Eucerin & Lubriderm body creams.

Supermarket items – Cascade dishwasher soap; Dove hand soap; Sprite, Coca Cola & Pepsi; V8 Juice; Aunt Jemima Pancakes; Clorox, Ritz Crackers, McCormick spices, Jiffy peanut butter; Huggies Diapers; Scott Toilet Paper; Kleenex; Dasani & Evian bottled water; Kraft American and Velveta cheese; Reynolds wrap; WD40; Splenda & Sweet and Low sweeteners; Royal puddings; Berio Olive Oil; Kraft mayonnaise; Del Monte Creamed Corn; Twining and Celestial teas; Ruffles, Dorito, and Lays chips, Motts apple juice; Haagen Dasz Ice Cream, Heineken, Bud, and Corona Beer; Almost every liquor and wine found in the US.

TV – Samsung, Sony, LG

Computers – Toshiba laptops; blank CD’s & DVD’s; Epson, Canon & Lenmark printers

Cell phone – Nokia, Samsung & Blackberry phones

Stationary Store – HP printer paper; HP and Canon ink cartridges; bic pens; Stabilo Boss highlighters; Scotch tape; Duracell & Energizer batteries

Cars – New and used Hyundai, Chevrolet, Toyota, VW & Subaru; BMW & Mercedes less obvious but you see some.

Driving – right side of road; international road sign shapes but in Spanish.

Money – Ecuador uses dollar; ATM’s; familiar banking systems.

Electricity – 120 volt; common plugs.

Water – Cuenca has excellent drinkable city water.

Obvious omissions (these may be things to bring) – English books; Household cleaners; English software; English keyboard; yellow lined pads; Printer compatible photo printer paper; B vitamins; US DVD players don’t play Ecuador DVD’s; incandescent light bulbs; Braun power tooth brushes; Vick’s NyQuil cold medicine; High end camera equipment; High thread count sheets; Wireless headphones; 8 ½ x 11 paper and file folders.

The lists of familiar products and those hard to find could go on and on. This is just to give some inkling of the large amount of popular products sold in the US that are available here.

Double your pleasure by being bi-lingual

2010-09-27T14:57:00.000-05:00

Two lessons were learned or reaffirmed yesterday. Cuenca is really just a small town and being bi-lingual is a gift not to be ignored. It was Loretta’s birthday and the three of us drove up into the Cajas National Park to our favorite restaurant, Dos Chorreros, where we often go to celebrate a holiday or special event. It was a perfect day, bright sunny skies filled with powder-puff clouds, the weather warm and clear.

The twenty mile drive up and into the mountains passes through spectacular scenery with waterfalls, cattle grazing on steep grassy slopes, indigenous families waiting by the roadside for the frequent busses, and the sensation and the reality of climbing, constantly climbing upward.

At about 12,000 feet we pulled off the highway onto a dirt and gravel road, past trout ponds and tumbling brooks until we came to the restaurant where a dozen or more llama were grazing on the grass.

On entering the restaurant, we encountered a couple from Cuenca who we had spent the day before with in Yungilla at another friend’s farm. It had been something of a home warming event with a busload of Gringo’s arriving at the farm for an all day picnic. We chatted a bit about what fun the previous day had been.

On going to our table, a man called from his table. “Is your name Bill?” They were a visiting family from Michigan who identified us from the photo on our blog. Jonny tore off with their 6 year old daughter to play outside by the tumbling creek that runs by the big glass windows of the restaurant while we talked. They ran and jumped over the creek and became instant friends sharing their exuberance in English. We chatted about the family's adventures visiting Cuenca until they left.

After seating ourselves at our table, Jonny noticed a boy his age at the table next to us. He went over, introduced himself in Spanish and he and the boy went out to play. It turned out they were a French family and the boy spoke only Spanish and French. The mother knew Jonny from the Cedei School where she had taught French in the upper school. They had moved here from Tasmania and bought a farm outside Cuenca. Jonny and his new friend spent most of our dinner time talking in their common language, Spanish, and playing in the woods and creeks until they returned soaked to the waist.

On the way to our car after feasting at the desert table, a teen age girl said, “Hi Jonny.” in English. She had known him from summer camp and was quite proficient in English as are many of the Ecuadorian students who go to private school.

Are there some lessons here? We think so. Cuenca is a city of approximately 500,000 people yet a day does not pass that we don’t run into someone we know. And, we are not unusual. It is a common observation of almost all of our gringo friends. For one reason or another, people are extremely friendly and go out of their way to express it. We have never had so many friends in our entire lives as we have here and we hear that from everyone. Secondly, having previously used only English, we would have been deprived of some of the friendships we have in Cuenca if we didn’t use Spanish. Jonny is growing up bi-lingual and thinks nothing of switching from English to Spanish depending on who he is playing with. Though our Spanish is still in the embryo state, his is vocabulary is exploding daily. We think we have given him a gift that will soon override all the trials and frustrations of living in a foreign country.

Some odd things – Some not so odd

2010-09-20T11:05:00.000-05:00

Direct TV presently has seven high definition channels which make all the difference in our TV resolution. They advised that there will hopefully be an additional six channels by Christmas, 2010.

Lava solid dish soap is the best silver polish we have ever used though it is not meant to be used as such. Does a good job on the dishes too.

Almost all DVD’s sold in Ecuador are pirated versions of legal discs. Most have the language option for changing the spoken language between Spanish and English. DVD’s cost $1.50 each. Blu Ray discs are just getting a foothold and pirated copies cost between $6 and $8 which is still far less than the $20 - $30 original versions in the US.

Buying English books in Cuenca is a problem. Even Spanish books are not sold as prolifically as they are in the US at large stores like Border’s or Barnes and Noble. There are no mega-book stores. There are a few good international bookstores and one we like is called the Libre Mundi International Book Store. There are a limited number of used English books sold at a small establishment in town called the Carolina Bookstore.

Inch long plastic matches come in tiny boxes. Tough on the fingers if you hold it too long.

Cuenca’s 8500 foot altitude makes cooking somewhat problematic. Boiling and baking food is almost always a crapshoot. But, gel shaving cream, again because of the altitude, explodes like whip cream when you spread it on.

Demand hot water heaters are often inconsistent in delivering constant hot water. It can be cold then hot then cold again all within minutes. In our apartment building a trick is to turn the bathroom sink hot water faucet on full blast at the same time you are running the shower hot water. Apparently, the combination lowers the water pressure enough to get the demand heater to kick on and stay on. Sounds crazy but it works for us and we can get a half hour or more of hot water with no problem.

We were out for dinner in town with visiting friends last Saturday evening and the pyrotechnics exploding on the street outside the restaurant was deafening. They were noticeably nervous at hearing gunshot like fireworks just outside the door. Exploding fireworks are a way of life in Cuenca. No need for an alarm clock. We are awakened every morning between 5:30 to 6:30 by a half dozen aerial salutes every five minutes signaling some call to worship that still makes no sense to us. Weddings announce their happiness by both aerial salutes and Fourth of July type explosions in the sky. As the holiday season progresses so do the number of explosions all culminating in World War II on New Year’s Eve. And, we have yet to see where you can buy fireworks.

Packaging is challenging in Ecuador. Fruit juice, wine and milk come in boxes. Fresh milk comes in plastic bags that must be cut open and poured into a container then put in the refrigerator.

We won’t even touch on internet providers as everyone we know has a different story. When you get a provider who gives good service, hold on to them and we would suggest getting the best program they offer.

The government of Ecuador has decreed that incandescent light bulbs are a waste of energy and, once current supplies run out, can no longer be sold. Replacing them are the newer and more efficient twist bulbs.

Cell phones seem permanently attached to almost every ear in the city. There are two big companies offering plans and phones, Porta and Movistar. Probably the best way to have a cell phone is to buy one from either company and then purchase minutes each month rather than contract with one of their plans. It costs more to call someone who has Porta if you have Movistar but is free if you call someone Porta to Porta or Movistar to Movistar. We constantly run out of minutes before the month is up and have a dead phone until we purchase more minutes. It is possible to have a specialized electronic store “unlock” your US phone for about $10 so it can be used here.

Real costs of living in Cuenca

2010-09-05T18:18:00.004-05:00

We, like many of our friends who live in Cuenca, have become concerned about the world-wide publicity that Ecuador is getting in the press, publicity that often shows only the glowing side of things and not the whole picture. While this attention is mostly justified, Ecuador is often misunderstood as being a cure-all for every problem with dirt cheap living costs. In the past few years, Costa Rica and Panama received similar accolades which led to overbuilding and a rapid increase in the cost of living and eventual disappointment by many who came to find their paradise.

We have seen the effect of the world-wide recession on friends and have met and corresponded with many people who are looking for answers to their own desires for change that might bring a full and comfortable life style. Almost all are near or in retirement and are looking for a way to conserve their remaining assets and to live as well as they can on their retirement income. Living in the States and in Europe has become dicey at best for many of them. Often this means they must find a way and a place to live on Social Security and their pensions. Fortunately, this has worked for us and we have managed to live well on our retirement income. We do worry, however, that this will not remain the case if Ecuador follows the “progress” of Panama and Costa Rica. We are concerned about overbuilding, a rising cost of living, and a change in the character of Cuenca brought about by a huge influx of “wealthy” newcomers because the income, though modest by US standards, is “rich” by Ecuadorian standards.

There will be some disagreement with the lists that follow but these are our real costs not just estimates out of the blue. The column on the left represents our actual costs for two adults plus school for Jonny. The column on the right is an estimate of how these costs for two could be reduced to a lower monthly total. Somewhere in between is probably where you might land.

Rent $740 -large 4 B/R apartment $300 - 2 B/R apartment

Food $500 -supermarket food $400 - for two at Mercados, etc.

Dining out $240 - twice a week $120 - once a week

Utilities $60 – electric,gas, water $40 – electric, gas, water

Cell phone $30 – 2 phones buy minutes $10 – 2 phones used infrequently

Internet $90 – Best speed $30 – slower plan

Computer $15 – supplies – high use $5 – supplies– low use

Cable/Satellite $76 – Direct TV w/ extras $30 – Direct TV basic

Transportation $60 – car with gas expense $60 – no car, use bus and taxis

Vacations $100 – One trip a year $0 – No vacation

School $250 – private school $0 – No children

Maid $135 – 3 days at $15 day $0 – no maid

Clothing $15 $5

Haircuts $10 – for two $10 – for two

Gym $40 – for two $0 – no gym

Medical $50 – pay as you go $50 – pay as you go

Vitamins $5 $0 – no vitamins

Cash $400 little things $300 – fewer little things

$2816 $1360

The above expenses don’t include any emergency costs, unexpected medical bills, or one time purchases that always seem to pop up and ruin the budget. Our expense of roughly $3000 a month is less than half the same categories and their cost in North Carolina. Other expats will have other ideas of what it costs for them to live in Cuenca but, no matter how you massage it, the expenses for two living here will probably come somewhere within these two totals.

Internet update

2010-09-03T10:33:00.000-05:00

We mentioned last week that we have recently been having problems with our internet connection and received a number of emails asking us to let them know how we solved the problem. We recently contracted with Empresa, the electric company, because we had heard that they were a better connection than Etapa, the water company, our present provider. Empresa technicians came yesterday afternoon to install our modem but insisted they had to drill a hole from the outside through our apartment wall so they could lead an optical fiber wire into the apartment. The owner’s of the building did not want wires running up the building and into our apartment so, we are staying with Etapa for our internet service. The Etapa technician came later in the day to see if we had a local problem as they insisted that their service was back to normal after a couple of weeks of tower problems. He shrugged his head when we asked if there was any way for us to get a better connection. In rapid Spanish he explained the compression problem when too many people are on line at the same time and apologized for the fact that mornings and late afternoon were times when service is slower than evenings and mid-day. We’ll give Etapa a try for the next few weeks and keep our fingers crossed that they have solved their problems. For the last year, we have not had problems with our internet connection, only with Skype dropping calls, so hopefully all is going to be OK.

Trivia and more trivia

2010-09-02T12:05:00.000-05:00

When looking into the possibility of moving to Ecuador, there are the usual big things to think about like cost of living, Language, owning a car, etc. etc. etc. But, there are lots of little things, even some not so little, depending on your particular interests and needs. Here is a partial list of basic facts. Some are permanent. Some change with the wind and politics. Some we have mentioned before but it can never be too many times.

The Ecuadorian economy uses the US dollar and all of the US currency. But, due to much counterfeiting, most merchants will not accept more than a $20 bill and will scrutinize the watermarks carefully before taking it.

Electricity is the same 110 volt as the US therefore all American appliances will work in Ecuador using the same two or three prong outlet plug. No converter is required as is needed in Europe.

However, that said, DVD players bought in the US will not play DVD’s purchased in Ecuador. DVD players all over the world have a disgraceful block built in that allows them to only be used in the region where they are purchased. But, if you bring a US DVD player it will play US DVD’s in Ecuador. You just can’t use DVD’s purchased here on a US DVD player. If you buy a DVD player here you can purchase pirated DVD music or movies for $1.50 each.

Cable and Direct TV are available and widely subscribed to. TV movies are in English with Spanish subtitles (good way to learn Spanish). CNN, Fox news and Bloomberg news are broadcast in English along with many Spanish news programs. Sports are endemic and, if you like futbol, it is on TV almost constantly.

You will find many familiar brands of food, electronics, appliances, even some clothing but choice is quite limited regarding size and products. Imported brands have a high protective tariff which makes them more expensive than locally produced products which are, fortunately, often just as good.

Computer stores are common but the choice of laptops and desktops is very limited. A store will normally have three or four Toshiba laptops and a few generic desk tops to offer. The old computer company, Compaq, sells computers here in limited quantities. It is a good idea to bring whatever computer hardware and software you require. All software is available in Ecuador but it is in Spanish. Bring Windows or Mac OS with you. It will work on any computer. Pirated operating systems like Windows will get blocked by Microsoft or Apple in about a month if you try to use them so a licensed US or Spanish version is necessary.

Keyboards bought in Ecuador will be somewhat different from those you are used to so it makes sense to bring your US keyboard when you come. You can get used to it but your fingers seem to have a mind of their own and go to the wrong place too often.

There is no 8 ½ by 11 copy paper sold in the stores only the larger A4 paper but both can be used in the inexpensive Canon, Epson, or Lexmark printers available here.

Almost everyone has a cell phone. If you bring a US cell phone it will have to be “unlocked.” A few local electronic stores will unlock your phone for about $10. Most familiar brands of cell phones are available for purchase at Movistar or Porta, the two largest cell phone providers.

Skype or Vonage work well here when the connection is strong and give an affordable way to talk to friends around the world. Both drop calls when traffic is heavy.

The time zone is the same as East Coast US standard time. However, we do not use Daylight Savings Time in Ecuador.

The weather is always a topic of discussion everywhere. Here in Cuenca, we are fortunate not to have any severe weather only an occasional heavy thunder storm and our recent and well publicized earthquake of a 7.2 magnitude that thankfully caused no damage. It was the most severe ever felt here yet was a rarity. The apartment buildings are supposedly built to seismological standards. No snow or icy streets. No hurricanes. No tornados.

Driving while crazy, is thankfully on the right side of the road (usually).

We use the metric system so you will have to get used to Kilometers, grams, liters, and centigrade. This usually causes no problem as most US people are already used to metrics but, the one place it takes some adjustment is with the stove. Download a Fahrenheit to centigrade chart from the internet so you will have a ready reference to set your stove oven correctly. Also, the high altitude of Cuenca makes baking a crapshoot, and is probably a trial and error project at best. The locals know how as the excellent breads will testify.

The language is of course Spanish and Ecuadorian Spanish is spoken quite clearly and slowly compared to other Spanish speaking countries. As English is taught in the schools and education is compulsory, almost all Ecuadorians have a smattering of English yet usually look at you with a blank stare. Don’t count on always being understood even using the Spanish you learned in school as the pronunciation is quite different from American school Spanish.

The Ecuadorian legal system is also quite different from what you are used to and is too complex to deal with here. Using a lawyer for any transaction is good advice. Buying or renting property requires some local knowledge and a lawyer is essential. There is no MLS system and offerings are found out by the expat grapevine, the newspaper, or one of the “realtors” who hang out a shingle. A realtor shows you the property he knows about and sends you to a lawyer for the paperwork. Comically, it is almost always a cousin or uncle they refer you to.

There are no English newspapers but the local Spanish papers, El Mercurio and El Tiempo, can be translated into English using Google translate or a similar internet translator. There are no English bookstores only the Carolina Bookstore which sells used books. It is shocking to find that Ecuadorians just don’t read like American’s do.

Clothes don’t use American sizing numbers. As an example, a women’s size 7 shoe in the US is a size 36 in Ecuador.

Furniture made in Ecuador will be lower in height than in the US to satisfy the requirements of the smaller stature of the Ecuadorian people. If you have furniture made, they will ask you to sit and will measure the height of your knees and where your arms rest on a table or desk.

So, here is a lot of trivia that we hope will answer some of those nagging questions that are hard to find answers to.

The Internet

2010-08-27T17:20:00.000-05:00

It has taken us three different companies to find one that will give us a good connection to the internet. Part of the problem is of our own making by not understanding what we were being advised by the person we contacted at each company. We first tried Porta which required eight visits to the store at Mall del Rio before we were up and running. Each visit required us to get some kind of additional documentation including a statement from our Ecuador bank stating that we were customers in good standing. We left them a month ago because we could not get a Skype connection that would last more than a minute and, even more often, no connection at all. Then, on a recommendation, we contracted with Etapa, the water company, who are another local internet provider. It worked just fine for a week but soon developed a critical condition that prevented us from connecting any time of the day except late in the evening. Another friend had suggested we try Empresa, the electric company. Today, we signed a year’s contract with them and think we finally understand the connection problem. The key is the usage figure that they all quote. It is either 8:1, 6:1, 4:1 or a commercial rate of 2:1 or 1:1. The first number is the amount of people you will share the connection with. Therefore, 8:1 means you will share the time you are on with up to seven other people plus you when you are all connected at the same time. The more people on at the same time the slower the connection speed. Of course, the price goes up as the speed increases and the rate decreases. The way to figure the best plan is to divide the receiving speed, say 512, by the usage rate, say 4:1 to get a number that will be 128 and compare it to another plan that will give, as an example, 384 speed divided by 2:1 or 192. 192 is a faster rate than 128 so is supposed be a better connection. This is probably the reason we had so many problems with Etapa at a speed of 1200 divided by 8:1 ratio which gave us a rate of 150. But, who knows. It might be something else. Once you sign a contract, a technician will hopefully come to your apartment or home within a couple of days to install the modem on your computer. Empresa, the electric company, is a huge organization but required us to walk two blocks to the nearest copy shop to get a cedula copied. This happens all over, at the car registration, at the hospitals, or at the utilities. Almost everywhere they will not use their copy machines but make you go out and get one at a nearby copy shop. These little frustrations are just part of life in Ecuador but the internet connection has become a major trial for us and we can only keep our fingers crossed that it is solved once and for all.

Making a living in Cuenca

2010-08-18T14:09:00.001-05:00

We have mentioned before the fascinating and complex intricacies of the Ecuadorian marketing structure. As in every country, there are the more familiar stores, markets, and a conventional infrastructure that provides access to almost anything you might wish to buy. This represents the successful and more prosperous segment of Ecuadorian society. However, there is another level of marketing, the Mom and Pop store.

A typical Mom and Pop fruit and vegetable store

Thousands of $1.50 pirated music and movie DVD's

Infinitely more in number than the big shops, the Mom and Pop stores line every block in the city. In these small stores, often one room with a grate in front where the article chosen is passed through to you in exchange for your money, you will find every commodity from auto parts to fruit to electronics to building supplies to cooked meals. These stores are the real backbone of the Ecuadorian economy and provide a good living for the majority of the population in the city.

Then there are the open air markets. Some of the most famous are the flower market and the huge mercados selling food and commodities.

The famous open air flower market in the courtyard of the Santuario Mariano Church

The live animal area of the Frera Libre Mercado

With no building or store front, there are the people who seem able to make a living by selling a product or their talent almost anywhere. Here you will find the more marginal income producers yet, by being able to sell something on the street, they have found a way to make a decent daily wage. It is a thriving economy where you will find someone selling something on almost every street corner in the city. Here are just a few of the street sales people whose ingenuity you have to admire.

Selling raw milk door to door

Alpaca rugs displayed on the street corner

Street jugglers with the baby in his carriage

Hammock seller

Selling kites in the street median

Football jerseys for sale outside the stadium

A little restaurant in the street median

Ice cream carts on almost every street

Three soccer balls for sale

Selling sheets of lottery tickets

The sunglasses salesman

Trucks, large and small, roam the streets selling propane gas cylinders

A seller of chickens having lunch on the job

A woman with a bicycle cart selling fresh juice while carrying her baby

A friendly chat while waiting to sell fresh cut flowers

A fruit stand at San Francisco Park

We hope this photographic essay gives you a little appreciation for the industriousness of the Ecuadorian people who are ingenious in finding ways to earn a living.

The Expats

2010-08-11T11:28:00.001-05:00

One of the wonderful things about Cuenca is the size and vibrancy of the expat community. Four years ago, two of our most prominent expats thought it would be a good idea to have a weekly gathering of expats who live in or who are visiting Cuenca. The concept was to share experiences and create a network of friends. They spread the word around and a few expats started meeting at a local restaurant on Friday evenings for a glass of wine and conversation.

Over the years, the venues changed frequently from the Eucalyptus Café, to La Parola, to the Eucalyptus again and currently, to Zoe’s Restaurant as different people came up with new places to meet. During the last year, some 30 to 40 people have gathered on Fridays at Zoe’s. Some are just visiting and have heard through the grapevine that it is a fun and informative evening. Some are renting here for a month or so and are trying to decide whether to move to Cuenca or not. These people are usually thirsty for information. Others are expats who are long time residents who have put down roots and expect to stay for years to come and who attend to meet old and new friends. But almost all find it an interesting evening with many people willing to share information and friendship. If you are presently living in the US, Canada, or Europe and thinking of an international move, one of the things you are probably looking for is information, current information that is valid and has no hidden commercial theme. From our experience, there is no better place than the expat community in the city or region you are investigating. We looked at Quito where there are many expats in the Tumbaco and Cumbaya areas but, from what we saw, there is no organized expat community. There may be but we could not find one. We looked at southern Spain, which still interests us and where there are many expats from the UK who have summer homes along the coast. But there seems to be no functioning group of expats in the areas we researched. Everywhere you look, there are good blogs, good sources of information, but a real expat community is often lacking. There is an argument against belonging to a vibrant expat community. It is that shopworn argument that “The last thing we want is to export the same life style we are leaving.” We have not found that to be the case in Cuenca. Our group of friends are from all over the world and have brought their interesting lives with them. This is not an enclave of Americans huddled behind closed gates who seldom go into the Spanish world around them. Our friends are scattered all over the city. They are involved in cultural and charitable events. They lead exciting lives. Just read some of the blogs about Cuenca to see how “out and about” they are. What the expat gatherings have done is provide a venue where we have gotten to know each other and sorted out friendships which have become one of the strongest parts of our Cuenca experience.

A boy in the mountains

2010-08-06T15:29:00.000-05:00

This is the story of a curly, red-haired, five year old, city boy spending an afternoon in the mountains. While we were doing some work on our house in Challuabamba, Jonny went outside to play. He would usually find sticks to play with or rocks to throw or just plain explore the great outdoors.

The fields next to our house are rocky, filled with waist high scrub brush and tough wild grass. What more could a boy ask for to explore? A half hour later, we went outside to check on him and couldn’t find him. We called his name and, from a hundred yards away and out of sight over a rise, he answered. We heard him climbing up the hill and talking to someone. Minutes later, he arrived, his shirt covered with burrs. Dust and dirt covered his hands and smiling face. “I’ve been with my friends,” he said with a huge grin. Behind him came two young children followed by a dozen sheep slowly eating their way up the hill. Jonny had been playing with and talking to two shepherds, a boy of about nine and a girl of possibly eleven years. They were both dressed in long sleeve shirts and pants that had been washed so many times no color remained only worn cloth the color of tan dirt. The boy held a long stick, a staff, that he used to herd the sheep. Jonny ran up to us with a baseball sized rock in his hand, saying “He gave me this stone. It’s special. He says it’s part of the mountain and he gave it to me.” The children stood nearby, passively, watching Jonny and us without a saying a word. We climbed into our car to head back to the city with Jonny clutching his magic stone. We all waved goodbye. They waved in return and went back to herding the sheep toward fresh, new grass.

This was just a moment in our lives but there were strong images that we will remember for a long time. Something is happening to Jonny. After a long adjustment, he is comfortable using Spanish. He seems no longer to be frustrated by a lack of language and the ability to communicate easily with other children who speak only Spanish. He is much happier now than before in being able to talk to them. It has taken over a year but we hear him jabbering away in Spanish with an ease far more advanced than ours. He asked if we could go back tomorrow so he could go looking for his shepherd friends again. He sees no difference in them. They were just new friends. Jonny, by Ecuadorian standards, is a boy that comes from a wealthy family but cannot distinguish rich or poor. We thought about how this child of five has no class distinctions, and as yet, no rules of how to relate to others who are different. Where do we get this dividing line later in life of who we should be friends with and who is not acceptable? Class, race, status? Where does it come from?

We thought of the shepherd children and how different their lives will probably be compared to Jonny’s. What will their lives become? School is compulsory in Ecuador but does anyone check up in the mountains to see if these children were going to school? If they go to a local public school, it is obvious that the minute they get home they are told to take the sheep out to feed on the mountainside. We know of many people on our mountain who live in little more than shacks with dirt floors and an outhouse in the field behind.

It is almost certain that these two children live in a similar shanty. In the city, poverty is all around us but we seldom see a homeless person. Almost every poor person finds some way to sell something and survive. In the country, families scratch a living from almost vertical hillsides, raise animals, grow vegetables, scavenge the land for herbs to sell, collect firewood, and more.

All is done without the need for a national safety net or welfare. These shepherd children may, unfortunately, be a perfect example of how an Ecuadorian country boy and girl may grow up knowing little more than their mother and father’s existence and carrying on a life style that may never change. For Jonny, it is a different story. He is learning how to deal with diversity and poverty and friendship in two languages. With all of the problems of raising a child in a foreign country, an encounter like this probably has no match in the US. It would be all but impossible for Jonny to gain the same understanding almost anywhere else other than in the mountains of Ecuador. It is our hope that he will be a better person for this experience and many more to come.

Neighborhood Apartments

2010-07-28T19:29:00.001-05:00

One of the major tasks in moving to Cuenca is to find a place to live on a more permanent basis than a hotel or a short term lease that can be booked on line or with a real estate agent.

Avenida Solano, our Champs Ellysees, on the South side of town

As we have mentioned before, finding an apartment for a long term is best done by going door to door and asking if something is available, following the newspaper advertisements, or just letting everyone you talk to know you are looking. Along these lines, we often get the question “Where is the best place in town to rent an apartment.” Once again, this is a purely subjective question and depends on your requirements. Do you want to live within easy walking distance of Centro or will taking a bus or taxi from a greater distance suffice? Do you want to live in a high rise building with a great view or would you prefer living on a lower, potentially less expensive, floor? How would you rate the security of the building you have chosen? Do you want an outdoor terrace? How big an apartment in square meters (150 square meters is approximately 1500 square feet)? Would you possibly like to live in a house? On and on it goes and we can answer none of these questions for you. You have to come and look, ask, and do some real leg work. Other than having a free standing home, most of the apartments you will probably find are in the newer, red brick buildings shown in these photos. All will have a doorman who is the security guard. All will have parking either underground or in front or back. And, many will have a reasonably sized gringo population. We are most familiar with the more residential parts of the city, the new part of town on the South side of the river and the West side of town, but there are many more apartment buildings scattered all over the city.

The River Tomebamba, separating old town from the newer South section

There are many apartments in the old city and we know a few couples who prefer to live there. But it was our choice to live across the river in the quieter, more residential area where there is a larger concentration of apartment buildings of our liking.

The above photo is of the area across the river from the old city and looking west. As you can see there are at least eight buildings visible in the photo. It is about a 15-25 minute walk to the center of town depending on how far west you are located. Shopping for food, appliances, electronics, and the Mall del Rio are here.

Here is a map showing in red the approximate area on the South side of town and across the river where many apartments are located.

This photo is of the dozen or so apartment buildings in the Oro Verde Hotel area in the far west part of town on Avenida Ordonetz Lasso and is where many of the gringos have set up camp. It is about a 35-45 minute walk to Parque Calderon in the center of town. There is plenty of shopping quite near plus the Coopera food coop and Sukasa, an upscale department store.

Above is a map showing in red the approximate vicinity of the Oro Verde Hotel and the nearby apartment areas on the West side of town.

We hope this very brief tour of some of the apartment areas of Cuenca will be of some help in orienting yourself when you visit and begin the process of apartment or house hunting.

Newspapers, magazines, radio, TV, and the internet

2010-07-22T12:41:00.000-05:00

Before we came to Cuenca, we searched everywhere to find out more about Ecuador. One of the things we wondered was if there were any online newspapers in English where we could take the pulse of the city on an almost daily basis. We found none. We have since discovered that there appear to be no newspapers written in English. There are a number of Spanish papers but our understanding of Spanish at that time meant that the newspapers online were of little use. You might like to check them out however. El Mercurio is a fairly conservative paper and probably has the largest circulation. You can find the paper at www.elmercurio.com.ec.

El Tiempo is another paper and has a somewhat more liberal presentation at www.eltiempo.com.ec. Recently there has been some government interference in the concept of a free press which, though subtle, has put something of a crimp on open journalism. Magazines are available at the Supermaxi’s and the random sidewalk stores though we have seen few that are sold. They are all shrink wrapped in plastic which prevents browsing and may discourage sales. Women’s fashion magazines appear to be the most prevalent just as they are in the United States. There are a few US magazines like Esquire, Cosmopolitan, and National Geographic but all are translated into Spanish. Radio is a way of life in Ecuador and there are dozens of AM and FM stations broadcasting talk, news, Latin music, and a lot of American rock music. Probably thirty percent of the rock music sent out over the airwaves here will be immediately familiar to someone used to US radio. TV is very prevalent with even the most humble home often having a set. There is cable but it does not appear to be as expansive or reliable as the satellite programming from Direct TV, the preferred provider. After contracting them they attach small satellite discs to your home or apartment. There is a good amount of English news through CNN and BBC along with a half dozen Spanish news programs from Ecuador and other South American countries. If you subscribe, as we do, to HBO and other pay movie channels, you will have a dozen channels of movies in English plus a dozen more in Spanish. At least another dozen sports channels are available many concentrating on Futbol, an Ecuadorian mania. Then, of course, there is the internet which we have commented on in past postings. It is quite reliable and not that much slower than in the US. There are lots of choices for a connection like the cell phone companies, the water company and the electric company. It does appear, however, that signing up with a newcomer in the internet connection business is smart because often a provider, who becomes successful and signs up a huge amount of people, find that their system is quickly overwhelmed and the connection bandwidth gets overloaded. The new kid on the block usually costs less as well. Seems the electric company, Empresa, is the hot new one to try. So, when you add it all up, communications with the rest of the world is quite accessible and much of it is in English, a real plus until your Spanish is up to par.

Some corrections on old posts

2010-07-15T09:33:00.000-05:00

Many of us when we first come to Cuenca are overwhelmed with the cultural change that differs from what we knew in the States, Canada, or Europe and we write about these wonderful sights, tastes, sounds and differences in blogs, websites, letters home, and emails. Unfortunately, some of our first impressions can be wrong or, at least, we have not been exposed long enough to make sound judgments. We have looked at our postings written in this blog over the last year and would like to correct or expand on some of our comments.

On one of our postings on Animals, we said that the birds were not as plentiful as we were accustomed to in the States and we did not know why. It is possible that there are fewer birds here because there are almost no bugs or insects for them to feed on. Cuenca is a remarkably bug free city where we have no screens on our windows and seldom see a fly or mosquito.

On a posting about Children, we spoke of the German school, CEDEI, and the American School. We have looked carefully at all three and have found each lacking for Jonny in some way or the other. A friend who travels extensively with her children told us to look at schools with the IB (international Baccalaureate) certification. This certification means that a high school graduate’s IB diploma is accepted by almost all colleges in the world. Two schools in Cuenca have an IB rating, the German School and Santana where Jonny will go in September. We are hopeful that by going to a school that aims for an IB diploma, it will give him a universally competitive education.

Under a Cost of Living post, we said that the protective tariff should soon be repealed but it is evident by prices on imported goods that the tariff is still in effect. Also, we’ve found that our monthly food costs are around $500 not the $800 we reported as we have learned to be more frugal. Yet, our purchases still include wine, fresh vegetables and fruit at the coop, pan at the bread store and fewer visits to Supermaxi.

Under Indigenous people, we made the mistake of saying Indigenous Indians and have found that the indigenous people do not like to be referred to as Indians.

We are certain there are many more comments that deserve review but these are a few that jumped out when we looked over old postings.

New Friendships

2010-07-10T11:19:00.001-05:00

The three of us arrived in Cuenca well over a year ago knowing no one and feeling like immigrants arriving at Elis Island. We reluctantly left all of our friends behind that had been years in the making. Family promised to visit but few have made the trip as they work and have little time off. Most of them thought we were crazy to just uproot ourselves and travel to a foreign country on another continent where we didn’t speak the language or know a single soul. At least we had done a lot of research. We had read everything we could find on the internet, various blogs and endless websites. We had connected via email with a few kind people in Ecuador who took the time to answer our questions about schools, actual cost of living, and residency requirements. We had talked on Skype to a few realtors. Our concept was to visit, decide whether to make the jump, return and finalize our plans to move. There was real pain when we sold much of our possessions at a yard sale in North Carolina but we rationalized that they were just things and we could replace most of what was sold if we needed them. We arrived and took a three month rental in a medium sized building that had three apartments on each floor. Immediately, we became friends with the other families on our floor. All were Americans. We began to go to the Expat gatherings on Friday evenings and our circle of friendships grew. At that time, about 40 people would show up at Eucalyptus or Zoe’s. This group was composed of about three quarters expats already living here and about a quarter visitors or newcomers. Friendships began, people with common interests sorted themselves out, and groups formed. Often, about ten of us would go to a nearby restaurant for dinner after being at the expat gathering for an hour or so. Friendships began to solidify. Dinner parties at one couple or another’s home or apartment followed with exchange dinners a week or so later.

Dinner dates at a newly discovered restaurant became commonplace to the point where some of us were going out three, four, even five evenings a week. Our social life became almost too much. We had more friends here in Cuenca than we had ever had in our lives and they were continuing to grow. A number of our friends made the comment that they were not going to go to the expat gatherings because they were socially saturated and could not afford many new friendships. It began to dawn on us that with 700 to 1000 expats in Cuenca and only a possible 100 who went to the expat gatherings, why the remaining multitudes were invisible. It is possible that many of them have gone through the same process, met many good friends, and had, more or less, dropped out of the social whirl. Some of our friends who have lived in other parts of the world have said that this is a common reaction, expats banding together, and as the community grows, tend to go underground. We have been very fortunate to have found a half dozen additional friendships with Ecuadorians which are some of the deepest relationships we have made. Jonny plays after school with an Ecuadorian boy using a hodgepodge of languages. Children’s play needs no precise language. All of this is to say that, in much less than a year, we have been fortunate enough to have made a large number of friendships with Ecuadorian, American, Canadian, British, Romanian, Russian, Ukrainian, Peruvian, and other people from points east and west. We love our new friendships, continue to go to the expat gatherings to meet with new people and old acquaintances, still miss our good friends and family in the US, understand the apprehension of newcomers and visitors, and, more than ever, feel like Cuenca is our home now.

Is it safe? Yes, but…

2010-07-05T17:16:00.000-05:00

It is only fair that, with all the glowing written accounts naming Cuenca as the best city in the world to retire to, that people should be aware that there are problems as well. There has been a definite upsurge in crime in Cuenca over the last year. A day rarely goes by that we don’t hear another story about a crime from one of our friends and it has become one of our deeper concerns. Cuenca has always had a fairly low crime rate compared with the other two big cities in Ecuador, Quito and Guayaquil and possibly that may be one of the reasons why bad elements have looked at Cuenca and seen a passive, tempting target. Another possible reason is that there is a law that says any crime under $600 will not be prosecuted which gives license to a criminal to conduct petty crime without the threat of jail or fine. A third possibility is that Cuenca has a large population of very poor people who see gringos as all being rich and we probably are rich compared to their standards of living. We have also heard that crime has had a huge increase in Costa Rica, Mexico and Panama though we have no statistics to go by and we are sure the worldwide recession has caused great social upheaval throughout the world that has led to increased crime in most countries. A very disquieting observation here is that the police are quite ineffectual. There is a poor police presence, they are paid quite low wages, and almost never follow up even on reported crimes. The criminal element must be aware that they will not be caught and if they are, nothing will come of it. What is so disturbing is the fact that Cuenca has been quite a safe place to live. In the last year we have become aware of an upsurge of many small crimes like purse snatching and items being stolen from empty parked cars and empty houses being broken into. More alarming are direct confrontations with injuries by masked men at gunpoint. These have included a serious home invasion, several car jackings, a bank robbery and a restaurant robbery where all the diners were held at gunpoint and robbed. We have heard that there is some improvement coming and we are keeping our fingers crossed. The new mayor was elected on a platform of addressing the upsurge in crime. Already, new laws have been passed limiting the hours of sale of alcohol to 10 pm weekdays and 2 pm weekends and none to be sold on Sunday but this may only address a more minor element of crime. We can only hope the $600 limit for prosecution will be removed as this law almost gives license to steal. Probably the most important change for the better would be an increase in police presence on the streets especially at night, punishment for taking bribes and confiscated goods, better salaries, and most of all, immediate follow up and prosecution when a crime has been committed. Cuenca is a beautiful city loved by almost everyone who lives here. So, how do we address this issue of safety? We are all being more cautious than ever and trying to become less conspicuous. We have become even more cautious of our surroundings. We cross the street or enter a retail establishment when we see a group of young men approaching. We limit what we carry that is exposed to sight. We limit the amount of cash and credit cards that we carry in our wallets and purse to the amount we need on that excursion. We take only the credit card we need for an ATM machine visit. We take only the amount of cash needed for purchases at the markets. Otherwise, we leave cash or credit cards at home. We do not hail street taxis cruising past. There are many taxi companies to phone who will send a taxi to you within a few minutes that are considered much safer than roaming cabs. In many ways, these, and other precautions, are a good policy anywhere. We don’t want to frighten people away, we only want visitors and prospective new residents to be aware that there is a problem that needs to be addressed, one that we sincerely hope will be quickly solved.

Wherever you go, there you are

2010-06-25T12:38:00.001-05:00

We’re back after six weeks in the states and want to thank all the people who wrote emails and asked if we were OK as we had not posted anything for many weeks. We are fine, just a little exhausted from living in a suitcase for weeks on end. The culture shock was, however, palpable. It felt very strange to hear English spoken by almost everyone but that certainly made everyday transactions in the US at the stores and on the phone much easier. It was interesting to hear the background babel in English rather than Spanish. The high ticket prices of almost everything were expected but we had really forgotten what a dramatic difference there is between Cuenca prices and the US. In the year and a half we have lived in Cuenca and gotten used to the prices here, we have found that we are concerned when a taxi driver tries to extract $2.50 instead of the $2.00 that we know the ride is worth. We have become used to buying local brands at the market rather than imported products and saving 20 cents here, 50 cents there. And we had changed our diet to almost all fruits and vegetables. In the last year, we had adjusted to the local economy. But, when we started shelling out, what to us, were huge amounts of money for things we had become used to at a lower price, it was quite a shock. We did make quite a few purchases of items that are hard to get in Ecuador, enough to necessitate the purchase of a new suitcase to hold all of them. We brought back several things for friends which is an excellent way to avoid the high cost of shipping new items. Almost everyone here makes a special point of asking friends if they need anything that can be brought back in a suitcase. The visit to Best Buy and Costco made us feel like kids in a candy store.

There are a few ways to fly from the US to Cuenca which of course depends on where in the States you originate but for those of you who are on the east coast and planning a visit to Cuenca we can offer some up-to-the-minute information. Miami and Atlanta are the main departure points for either Quito or Guayaquil, the only international airports in Ecuador. We flew Delta out of Guayaquil to Atlanta then on to North Carolina. Guayaquil airport is quite modern and large. If your connection takes many hours, there is a baggage storage area on the first floor. We had 12 hours in Guayaquil so the storage company was a big help. Atlanta is a zoo and is the busiest airport in the world according to Delta’s information. You need a good hour or two there as almost all connecting flights are in different terminals requiring a train ride between terminals. We made our return to Ecuador from Atlanta to Quito. The airport in Quito is quite antiquated with few amenities probably because the new airport outside of town is almost complete yet has had a year long delay in opening. The old airport is right downtown and makes for a hairy approach on landing as you skim over roof tops toward a rather short runway. Depending on what cab driver you get in Quito, a taxi ride to the old part of town is about 12 dollars. We spent the night in Quito as almost all flights arrive late in the evening after the local airline connections to Cuenca have ended for the day. The three best local airlines to and from Cuenca and either Guayaquil or Quito are AeroGal, Lan Ecuador, or Tame. Between the three airlines there seems to be a flight to Cuenca almost every of the daytime hours but they end around 7 PM which is the reason for the need for an overnight stay.

We are glad to be back as Cuenca feels like home to us now. But, as the sage said, “Wherever you go, there you are.”

The Sky Over Cuenca

2010-05-04T20:16:00.001-05:00

We are constantly amazed at the sky over Cuenca and have never lived anywhere that provided such dramatic shifts in the weather hour by hour. Though the following photos were not all taken on the same day, they are an example of what a typical afternoon and evening can be like.

Photographers in Cuenca are almost always looking up at the clouds overhead where the intense sunlight causes a dramatic contrast between the clouds and the deep blue sky. This sharp contrast is a photographer's dream. Sometimes clouds reach down into the mountain valleys creating a constant surprise that totally changes the landscape. The above photo is typical of a bright sunny day.

Late in the afternoon, it is common for a rainstorm to sweep across the city. This one was unusual because the sky was black behind the city still illuminated in sunlight.

The afternoon storm clears and early evening presents a constantly changing and often colorful hour.

Sunset. What more can we say? It often seems like an inferno is roaring behind the mountains

The sun is gone and purple glows behind the clouds. Then darkness falls over the city until tomorrow when a whole new series of changing weather blows over the mountains. All of these photos were taken from the windows of our apartment in town, a never ending panorama.

The Indigenous People of Cuenca

2010-04-26T20:14:00.001-05:00

Most of the indigenous Indians of Ecuador who are women wear colorful clothing consisting of Panama hats, long breaded hair, and velvet pleated skirts that are embroidered with distinct village designs. With the exception of tourist places, these are not costumes but the clothing they wear every day. The men rarely wear indigenous clothing except those men who live in the outlying villages.

These two women are perfect examples of the clean, neatly dressed Indian women of Cuenca. Though probably quite poor, they dress as well as they can.

A sight we never get used to is the huge loads women carry on their backs, bent over with only a strap holding the sack against her back, she may walk a mile to her destination.

It is not a frequent sight to see a small child dressed as their parents. Most children we see are in school uniforms or in regular pants and shirts.

Another woman carrying an imense load on her back. You will notice that a hat or shawl is almost always worn over the head to protect them from the intense sunlight.

This woman is shopping at a store that specializes in saddles and other horse related gear.

These three women at the flower market are having a chat. Just around the corner are a dozen stalls selling every flower imaginable for almost nothing.

An old woman, at least it looks that way. She might be 50, 60, 70, 80 or more. There is no way to tell as a life time of hard work ages Ecuadorian Indian women rapidly. It is a rainy afternoon and she has covered her hat with a plastic bag.

We see this very old woman almost every time we walk into town. We see her in Centro and then, an hour later, find she has walked miles to the another part of town. Walking and hard work may be the answer to the long life we see among so many of the indigenous Indian women in Cuenca.

The Latin sense of personal space

2010-04-24T15:01:00.000-05:00

We are basically a typical American family when it comes to privacy and are quite like most other North Americans who have an acutely defined sense of personal space. Possibly this sense of personal space can be better phrased as, “please keep your distance.” Though it is not terribly admirable, we are conscious of how close we stand to another person, our body language, how we present ourselves in public, eye contact, and a host of other rather puritanical behaviors that date back to our childhood educations. Though this zone of protection is not unique in the world, it is certainly honed to perfection in the US. One of the early shocks a North American gets when arriving in a Latin country like Ecuador is the almost complete loss of personal privacy or space. This posting is in no way a criticism only an observation of Latin behavior that is often subtle and at other times absolutely blatant. Some of the challenges to a North American’s sense of personal space are easy to accept. Others will take a little time.

Kissing strangers – One of the nicest customs in Ecuador is the way men and women kiss each other on the cheek when they are introduced and on greeting each other whenever they meet again. We have even seen some men, often family members, who will buss each other on the cheek on greeting. Children, and even more amazingly, teenagers will give you a welcoming kiss on the cheek. This seems so much nicer than the cold, very formal handshake.

Public display of affection – you will often see young men and women embracing on a street corner or leaning up against a wall locked in a kiss, with no concern about who might be watching. In the parks, you might find an older couple laying on the grass, unselfconsciously huddled next to each other, the man asleep and his wife shading his face with her arm or a magazine. Elderly couples often walk holding hands. Women walking together will almost always stroll by arm in arm. It is a sense of public affection North Americans are not used to.

Erotic advertising – much of the TV, newspaper, and magazine advertising is like that in Europe with considerable nudity and erotic posing and not subject to the censorship imposed in the US.

Dressing – Except for lawyers, doctors and some officials and business men, the dress code for those of us in Cuenca is quite casual. We rarely “dress up” when we go out for dinner even in the finest restaurants. However, most men are well attired. Only a few wear sneakers or non-collared shirts. Women rarely wear dresses and most of the time wear tight jeans or slacks, high heels and are much less puritanical about cleavage than the average American. Unconcerned by body size or age, Cuenca women appear to make a great effort to look stylish.

Staring – It takes quite a while to get used to the way Ecuadorians stare directly at you and often do not look away when you look back at them. Whether it is because of most gringos’ Caucasian appearance or our way of dressing, people tend to make long staring observations of us.

Picking up a child – An Ecuadorian would never ask if it is all right to reach down and pick up your child. It would not dawn on them that the child might be afraid of a stranger or has been told to be cautious with a person they do not know. Ecuadorian children are usually very shy and absolutely obedient to their parents and teachers. Ecuadorians therefore don’t even think that the child might be concerned or afraid.

Strangers reading your document – if you are standing in line reading something, people nearby will lean over to try to see what you are reading. If you frown at them for reading your document, you most often get a look of complete misunderstanding of why you are frowning.

ATM’s – There is no yellow line 15 feet back from the ATM machine like in the US. While you stand in front of the machine taking out your money, the next person in line will often stand only a few feet behind you.

Standing in line – On many occasions, when you are standing in line at the bank or any other crowded place, people will push and try to get in front of you. As a contradiction, older people are supposed to be allowed to go to the front of the line without waiting.

Neatness – Most Ecuadorians are meticulous in their personal cleanliness. Workers always change from street clothes into work clothes when arriving on the job and wash their hands and faces, wet down their hair, and change back to street clothes before they leave. It is a rarity to see a disheveled person and we have yet to run into someone who “smells bad.”

Public Urination – It is always a surprise to see a man relieving himself on the street against a wall, a store front, or a tree. No one seems to notice or care.

Rude driving behavior - Cutting you off, passing on wrong side, honking as the traffic light turns yellow, racing to get ahead of you, are all symptomatic of the Ecuadorian driver’s ethic. It is road rage at its zenith but there is no rage. If you give them a dirty look for some infraction of what you might call proper driving behavior, you get a surprised look in response. “What did I do wrong?” is the facial expression.

Security – A touchy subject that we all don’t agree on. Personal security on the street is quite important and everyone should follow the proven advice of staying alert to potential thieves, not wearing expensive looking jewelry, holding purses close to your body, and not carrying camera’s or cell phones where they can be easily snatched. In a poor country like Ecuador, these items represent enormous wealth to some. Whatever the financial status of our gringo friends, just the fact that they are gringos sends out the message that they are rich and will be carrying expensive items. This is personal space that we too often take for granted as secure.

A drive into the Cajas National Park

2010-04-21T12:52:00.000-05:00

We received such a positive response to our posting of A walk in town that we thought you might enjoy a similar drive up into the mountains beginning just outside Cuenca and on up into the Cajas National Park. Though only about 25% of our friends own a car, we chose to have a vehicle to take on weekend jaunts like this into the mountains, often just roaming the steep, dirt roads to soak up unique, out-of-the-way, Ecuadorian culture.

Above is a view from our apartment up into the Cajas National Park. After a short drive through town, past the cluster of high rise apartment buildings mainly occupied by the expat community, then up and on through one small village after another until we are in a beautiful, wild countryside.

From the road side, we couldn't resist taking a photo of these cattle sillouetted against the horizon.

Then around the next bend there were horses grazing on the lush straw grass

After about 20 km or so, a left turn off the highway and down a long, winding dirt road, passing many trout ponds and rushing streams, we arrive at our favorite restaurant, Dos Chorreros. We have spent many happy birthdays, Christmas days and holidays having dinner here on trout raised in their mountain stream fed ponds.

A view from the restaurant up into the higher country where there are almost no trees. The restaurant is at about 12,000 feet elevation.

After a huge dinner, we often hike up this narrow, gravel road past strange perpidicular trees called Puya Bromeliades, a hairy flowered spike surrounded by wool. Orange, licen covered rocks and wild flowers are everywhere. Though we are almost on the equator, at this altitude it can be cold enough that we usually wear parkas and hats. Back in Cuenca, 30 km away, people are in T-shirts. About 10 km beyond the restaurant, the highway comes to a control point where we enter the Cajas National Park

One day, we will find our way up to these waterfalls that tumble down from the high country. .

One of the 250 sparkling, clear lakes in the park that are favorite haunts for trout fishing. These lakes and the mountain rivers provide 60% of Cuenca's drinking water reputed to be the best in Ecuador.

Alpaca's roam the rocky terrain nibbling on the lush growth. The narrow road in the background from this point on heads down the west side of the Andes toward Guayaquil. It is actually the main road from Cuenca to Guayaquil followed by the busses and limos, a winding, harrowing trip for anyone. At this point we are on the Continental Divide where all the water on the west slope of the Andes falls to the Pacific Ocean and all the water on the East slope travels 1000 miles through the Amazon before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean.

Far above the tree line, the lunar landscape is like being in another world. Depending on where you go in the Cajas National Park, you will see barren, volcanic outcropings like this, cloud forests, farm land, grazing animals, hundreds of fishing lakes, waterfalls, and more in a constantly interesting panorama. Cajas is a natural wonderland worthy of deeper penetration than just a dive in the car.

Careful – the sun is strong

2010-04-18T10:24:00.000-05:00

It is too easy to forget that Cuenca is nearly on the Equator and at approximately 8500 feet in elevation nestled in the Andes Mountains. Those of you who have skied at high altitudes in America’s west or the European Alps already know how strong the sun can be. Though the temperatures in the mountains of the US and Europe can often be freezing, skiers will have their nose and cheeks covered with a protective zinc oxide cream to stave off the sun. Add to that, the fact that the sun in Cuenca is directly overhead because we are almost directly on the Equator and you have come up with a powerful combination of UV rays raining down on you year round. On a day like in the photo, the sun can be deceptive.

Our dermatologist at Monte Sinai Hospital has warned us to take precautions as Cuenca has the highest level of skin cancer incidences in all of Ecuador. While we are never as diligent as we could be, we wear sunscreen cream on our uncovered faces and arms. Loretta and Jonny being redheads often wear hats. An excellent choice of sunscreen in both gel and cream form is a local product appropriately named Umbrella. It can be purchased without prescription at any pharmacy. On a bright, sunny day, it is quite common to see people walking with an open umbrella or holding a magazine or newspaper over their heads to keep out of the sun. Many people also wear wrap-around sunglasses, as the sun not only bears down with harmful UV rays, but it is also extremely bright to the point where it can actually hurt your eyes. Fortunately, you will find street salesmen almost everywhere loaded down with sunglasses for sale at around $12 and up. So, covering your arms, applying sun lotion to your face and exposed arms, wearing hats and sunglasses are all good protective precautions. We have seen too many visitors with bright red faces from painful sunburns who walked through town on a sunny day or even on a cloudy day not realizing how quickly they can be hurt by the sun. It takes only one experience like this to make a believer.

Working hours

2010-04-16T12:56:00.001-05:00

There is a distinctly European concept in Ecuador about the day’s work and school hours. Most businesses open between 9 and 10 am then close between 1 and 3 pm so the proprietor and employees can leave for an extended meal at home. They then return to work at 3 pm and the establishment will stay open until 7 or 8 in the evening. There are some exceptions to this schedule like the Supermaxi markets, pharmacies, and gas stations which are open early and close late. You will find little auto or walking traffic on the streets during the luncheon hours when almost everyone goes home for the traditional, main meal of the day. After 8 pm most families have a light supper at home, often as little as a sandwich. Medically this has to be a more beneficial approach to eating than the typical North American heavy dinner which is hard to digest so close to bedtime. As a contradiction to this healthy supper, restaurants usually serve large meals for much less money than in the US or Europe. They generally open about 7 pm and are almost empty (except for gringos) until 9 pm when many families abandon the concept of the light supper and go out for a big, late dinner. You will often see a large family with young children at the table as late as 11 pm. Schools start around 8 am and end at about 1 pm, which for us is a short school day. We didn’t realize it but, with Jonny coming home in the early afternoon, we have easily adapted to having lunch at 2:00-2:30pm. Many children then participate in an afternoon activity like dance or tennis or swimming. The adjustment in working and school hours is not difficult once you get into the swing of it and begin to understand that most retail establishments will be closed in the early afternoon and will be open later than you are accustomed to. It also helps to appreciate the fact that you are in a foreign country with different customs and practices compared to what you might be used to.

A walk into town

2010-04-12T17:43:00.001-05:00

It is difficult to get a feel for a city when you are far away and have not yet visited. We remember wondering how Cuenca was laid out, what the distances were from place to place, and what it would feel like walking around town. So, let's take a walk from our apartment into Centro and the Parque Calderon to get an ice cream sundae for Jonny.

The first photo is from our apartment front window looking toward the churches on Parque Calderon in the distance, about a ten minute walk up the avenida to the river, across the bridge and up the steps into town.

After leaving our apartment building, we walk up our residential avenida toward town.

Passing many stone or brick walls with inpenatrable flowering hedges on top

At the end of our street, there is a center garden filled with numerous cactus and succulents

Then a right turn, past Santa Ines Hospital on the right and

The University of Cuenca on the left

Another block and we will reach the river

Just before we get to the river and on the right is the entrance to the La Esquina Plaza which must be investigated by Loretta

Inside the art plaza are a couple of dozen very upscale botique shops reminicent of San Francisco or Sante Fe

Then another right turn down Avenida 12 de Abril, paraleling the River Tomebamba. Notice the cobblestones

It is impossible for us to get past the river without Jonny stopping to toss a few rocks into the rapids.

About a two block walk along the river to the bridge. At the end of the street you can see the Banco Pichincha main building.

There he goes again racing for the bridge

We made it past the ice cream vendors with a promise of a Sundae at the park

A view up river from the bridge

Nobody runs up these steps but a five year old

Fifty steps up don't look like much but at this altitude a pause to catch your breath on the landing is not a bad idea.

At the top of the steps, we are in Centro. Notice the red tile sidewalk.

Then we have a two block walk up Benigno Malo along many small mom and pop stores.

Finally, Parque Calderon which is surrounded by two major cathedrals, banks, restaurants and ice cream parlors.

One of the entrances to the park

The New Cathedral which is massive inside. Usually every bench is occupied as all the parks in Cuenca are heavily used and a tremendous draw for old and young alike.

You can see why people love the park. It is lush with tropical plants and trees and almost perfectly laid out for wandering in and out on the tiled paths and to meet friends.

Another entrance to the park. Most of these photos were taken on a Monday holiday, Cuenca's birthday, and there were very few people in town which is usually crowded. But, it made the scenery easier to see. Now, we have to fulfill our promise of an ice cream sundae before walking back home.

How we chose Cuenca

2010-04-04T10:43:00.001-05:00

We constantly hear discussions about where in the world is the best place to live. There are literally thousands of blogs and websites dedicated to this discussion, some worthwhile, some not so valuable. Each will reveal what the author thinks about why he or she chose that place to live but, as is a common human trait, most people defend their choice whether it is a car, computer or city. So it goes with these blogs and websites. Each carries its own message which should be put into perspective. Contrary to what you may read on the international postings, there is more to this life changing move to another country than just the glitter. The decision on where to live is a terribly personal one. Let us give you an idea of why we think it is so personal by explaining what our priorities have been and continue to be, priorities that addressed our personal needs. Everyone will have different life-style categories of what is important when deciding on a new living location. There might be dozens of categories where a person would compare countries, states, or cities. We came up with four main criteria – Climate, Cost of living, Education for Jonny, and safety. Using only our own experience and knowledge, we placed them on a scale of one to five and compared them to four destinations– Cuenca, Southern Florida, Coastal North Carolina, and St.Thomas, VI. Without going into all the details of our ratings, we were surprised to find that Coastal North Carolina came out slightly best with Cuenca just behind in total score. But what was most revealing was not the total score but the disparity between the different categories. In our evaluation, Cuenca was best in climate and cost of living and was the worst choice in education and safety. The other three destinations were about in the middle on everything except cost of living which came to a distinct disadvantage. So, Cuenca scored exceptionally high in climate and cost of living and was at the bottom in education and safety. These categories were, however, like apples and oranges and had different personal values for us. Looking more carefully at how important each category was to us, we realized that no one could change climate or cost of living but we could change education and safety. It would just require some changes in how we lived. We chose Cuenca because climate and cost of living were the best we could find anywhere. Where Cuenca was lacking we could make changes by supplementing Jonny’s mediocre educational situation with additional tutoring and try to follow the US educational grade guidelines. He is a bright boy and eager to learn which is half the battle. Safety, however, became another story and has required some important life style changes. Over the last six months, we have been careless and so have a number of our friends. There have been way too many simple assaults by young men in order to steal handbags, cell phones, or to make car break-ins. Petty thieves are getting more brazen as they are almost everywhere in the world but this is somewhat novel to Cuenca and, as the police seem to do nothing, creates an individual responsibility for all of us to be more careful. We have learned to wear or carry nothing that looks valuable, to have only essential credit cards and minimal money in our pockets, to call radio cabs not hail street roaming taxis, to be sensible where we walk at night, and above all, to be alert to suspicious looking people around us. These are simple tasks and can all be done easily once you realize you are not in a bucolic suburb in the US with police cars roaming the neighborhood at all hours of the day and night and totally ignore safety concerns. Once you accept the fact that you are in a poor country with a very young population, what seems like an inconvenience quickly prompts you to become street smart. For us, being more conscious about security and supplementing Jonny’s education with additional tutoring has allowed us to fully enjoy Cuenca’s extraordinary climate and low cost of living. It is a trade off but, as with many other things in life, compromise is the route we have chosen to follow.

Driving in Cuenca

2010-03-25T17:31:00.001-05:00

Though we own a car and are quite comfortable driving now, it took some time to get used to all the idiosyncrasies of maneuvering through the city. Interestingly, a number of our friends, who originally didn’t have a car, have recently purchased one, mainly for trips out of town. We have found that the streets and roads are in good shape compared to other South American cities. The potholes are usually filled quickly after they appear. If you are a driver, you will find that the gas stations are manned with a half dozen eager attendants. There is no such thing as self service in Ecuador and the attention is quick and efficient. Gas is presently $1.48 for Extra and has been for at least a year or more, a low price compared to America and Europe and is primarily due to the nationalized petroleum cartel. You will also enjoy not having to pay that painful fifty cents for air to fill your tires as you do in the US. Air and water are free at all gas stations. In the Centro of Cuenca, SOAT, an arm of the city government that oversees licensing and ticketing, has agents roaming each street who will sell you up to an hour’s parking permit for a dollar which allows you to park in allowable spots on the street. If you cannot find a SOAT person after you park on the street, you can purchase a permit at almost any store near your parked car. You merely write in the time and date on the permit and put it on the dashboard for the roaming SOAT agent to see. Until we learned this system, we parked and, of course, got a ticket. It took two days of asking and driving around to suggested places before we found a rather obscure location where we could pay our $10 parking fine only to find out later that we were ripped off. It was not the correct place to pay. We recently found out that you can pay parking tickets at the caja at the motor vehicle compound just off Solanno near the main Banco Pichincha. There are very few painted lane markings on Cuenca’s streets and roads and it probably wouldn’t make any difference if there were as drivers often pay no attention to staying in a particular lane and weave in and out at will. It is a little disconcerting to see cars parked along a two way street facing in both directions on both sides of the street. Apparently this is not a parking offense. However, the city is making a commendable effort to crack down on violations but this appears to be an almost insurmountable task. Almost everyone walks everywhere in the city or takes a taxi for $2 or less so a car really isn’t necessary. Here is a photo of our tiny 4 passenger taxis.

We have always had a car and it was an addiction too hard to break. We feel that driving into the vehicle crowded Centro is not a problem once you are used to it. There are Parquedero’s or parking lots on almost every block where you can park your car for about 60 cents an hour. They give you a greater sense of safety for your car and anything left inside compared to leaving it on the street. Car radios sold in Ecuador have a pop off control panel that you would be wise to remove and take with you when you leave the car on the street. Having a car in Cuenca is a personal choice but we enjoy using it to drive up into the mountains and to visit the fascinating small towns and their market places. And, it is amazing how much we end up hauling around. One way or the other, we find ways or excuses to justify owning a car.

Cuenca, the clean city

2010-03-22T14:31:00.000-05:00

One of the interesting things you will find as you wander around the streets of Cuenca, other than the fact that it is an absolutely beautiful city, is that the infrastructure is sometimes confusing and often exasperating. One way streets, one way bridge crossings over the rivers, cobblestone streets, lack of street signs, and horrendous traffic are some of the emotional and actual obstacles that drivers and walkers must learn. On the up side, Cuenca is one of the cleanest cities you will ever encounter. Yes, there is a lot of pollution from the diesel engines of the busses and trucks. Fortunately, the wind blows the exhaust fumes away and the sky is usually crystal clear. Probably the most effective of the city wide systems to keep the city clean are the little green men and women who never seem to stop sweeping and cleaning the streets. In teams of three or four, they push their carts along the streets constantly sweeping up trash. Bagged garbage isn’t just put by the side of the road, it is placed in raised brackets high off the ground so roaming dogs don’t get to them. Cuenca has just instituted a garbage recycling program with stiff fines for infractions. Recycled paper and plastic must be put in blue plastic bags. The only problem is that the Supermaxi markets can’t keep the blue bags in stock. But that will change once the pipe line is full.

Modern garbage trucks come on scheduled days but seem to never stop. They just keep rolling along while the workers hop on and off. Usually there will be four workers hanging onto the back. When they approach some bags of garbage, the one on the left jumps off the moving truck, grabs the bag, tosses it into the back and leaps back onto the truck on the far right side. The others move over one place so the next person is ready to jump off at the next location. Then there is the grass on the avenue’s center strips and in the parks that is kept trimmed and well manicured at all times. You will probably never see a lawnmower in Ecuador as the grass is cut by men wielding large, gasoline powered weed whackers that they swing back and forth cutting the grass to within an inch of the ground. The men work in teams and once the grass is cut they rake it up into piles and haul it away. An interesting side light is that cattle often are put by their owners in the center strip or the sides of the road to eat the green grass. Actually, this isn’t a bad idea as the cows keep the amazingly fast growing grass in check.

Although it really doesn’t help keeping the grass cut, you will often see people at the side of the road cutting what looks like grass or weeds but are actually edible herbs and grasses that they sell in the markets and on the street corners. We constantly hear the comment that Cuenca is one of the cleanest cities people have ever seen. The cars and busses are clean. The streets are clean. The people wear clean clothes. The city is manicured. It looks like hard work but the city government is committed to making it so and it rubs off onto the population.

The Fruits of Ecuador

2010-03-14T10:55:00.001-05:00

Along with all the more common fruits you are used to plus papaya, kiwi, melons, and passion fruit, the markets in Ecuador are filled with exotic fruits you may never have seen before. After opening, deseeding and sometimes skinning, most can be made into exceptional fresh juices (jugos) using a blender, juicer or citrus juicer.

Mora (Blackberry) Ecuadorian blackberries are different from those you’re used to as they are larger and more tart. The blackberry bushes grow like weeds in most parts of the country. Although they can be eaten right off the vine, generally Ecuadorians blend them with water and add a little sugar for an excellent juice.

Tomate (Tree Tomato) The tree tomato is a red, egg-shaped fruit full of pulp-covered seeds

somewhat like passion fruit. They are called tomatoes because their reddish color is a like a tomato and the juice made from the seeds tastes vaguely like a tomato. Tree tomatoes are good for juice or for boiling in sugar for a dessert treat but they are too sour to eat fresh.

Taxo (Banana Passionfruit) is an elongated, soft fruit that looks a little like a small, straight, orange banana. Inside of the fruit, there are dozens of seeds covered in pulp which you remove from the seeds. The pulp is used to make juice or ice cream. The skin is discarded. Taxos have a tangy, tart taste, and although they can be eaten fresh, they rarely are. In shops, where they make handmade ice cream, the taxo is a popular flavor.

Guanábana (Soursop) The Guanábana is a green fruit with a rough outer skin. They can get quite large, some reaching the size of a soccer ball. Inside the green skin, the fruit is white and pulpy and full of many seeds, each of which is about the size of a cherry. This white flesh can be eaten fresh and tastes vaguely of strawberry. It is very sweet and mild. Because it is messy to eat and the seeds are annoying, Ecuadorians prefer to make juice out of them.

Naranjilla (Little Orange) are a round, bright orange fruit a little smaller than a tennis ball. The inside is full of tiny seeds and pulp. The pulp is scooped out and blended, strained and sweetened to make a greenish-orange, tangy juice that has an interesting perfume-like aftertaste. The naranjilla is native to Ecuador and Colombia and rarely grown elsewhere.

Granadilla (Sweet Granadilla): Referred to as passion fruit in some parts of the world, granadillas are small, pale orange-pink, egg-shaped fruit. The outer shell of the fruit cracks open to expose the fruit inside which consists of dozens of black seeds enclosed in a semi-transparent gray pulp. The seeds and pulp are eaten whole and the cracked skin is discarded. Granadillas have a very mild, fruity flavor. They are generally eaten fresh and raw as they are far too mild for juice.

Pitahaya (Dragon Fruit): Ecuadorian pitahayas are bumpy yellow fruit that grow on a local species of tree cactus. The skin is cut open to reveal the pulp which is semi-transparent, grayish and full of tiny black seeds. Eating one is a little like eating a kiwi. The fruit is sweet and mild and is usually eaten raw and fresh although it also makes good juice. It has mild laxative properties.

Uvilla (Ground Cherry, Gooseberry): These small yellow fruits are called ground cherries because they grow close to the ground and are roughly cherry-like in size and shape. They have nothing in common with cherries, including taste and there is no stone. They are bright yellow and grow inside a husk that looks like a paper lantern. The flavor is a somewhat like pineapple and they are eaten raw and fresh, one after another, like popcorn.

Tuna (Prickly Pear): Not to be confused with the fish, the tuna is the fruit of a species of cactus. The fruit even looks like a small cactus. The outer green skin is cut open to reveal the red pulp inside. There are small, crunchy seeds that are tasteless and can be eaten. The fruit itself has a very mild flavor and is fairly bland.

Orito (Finger Banana): Ecuador is famed for the varieties of bananas it produces. One favorite is the Orito,a small banana, about half the size of the ones destined for export. Oritos are sweeter and have a slightly richer taste than the bananas sent abroad.

If you prefer you can buy many of the above as fresh, squeezed pulp in plastic bags at almost any market.

Oranges: Throughout the world there are 97 varieties of oranges. In Ecuador a few of these varieties are grown everywhere and make wonderful fresh juice. The large oranges have no seeds but are less sweet. The small oranges are full of seeds but are very sweet. We mix them together to make our morning orange juice.

It takes a little experimenting to know the right amount of sweetener to add to the pulp of the more exotic fruits to create a juice that you will enjoy. But after trying them one by one they open up a whole new source of pleasure and good nutrition.

Infrared photography

2010-03-10T10:01:00.001-05:00

How about a Little departure from scenes of Ecuador to some infrared photography we did in North Carolina? Once you get hooked on this unusual style of photography, it opens up a visual understanding of your subject that your eyes never see. Infrared filters, like the R72 filter, block almost the entire visible light spectrum and allow only infrared light that is invisible to the eye to pass through to the camera’s sensor. The resulting images are ethereal, dreamlike and surreal. The skies will be dark and vegetation will glow a ghostly white. The image often looks like a northern snow scene.

We have yet to take any Ecuador infrared photos as we no longer have an R72 filter but, once we get one, we will get back into it. The subject matter here is perfect because of the extreme contrasts in the vegetation and the cloud filled skies, all perfect for infrared photos. If you have a DSLR camera, you can make infrared photos like ours by doing the following. Set the camera on a tripod. Frame your subject. Take a color reference shot so you can see if the subject is in focus and the view is what you want. Being careful not to move the camera, screw an R72 infrared filter onto the lens. Cover the lens viewer with your finger or a piece of tape so no extraneous light gets to the sensor. Try a number of settings from ½ second to two seconds. Unfortunately, you will not see anything in the view finder because the filter blocks all visible light. Therefore, by shooting a trial and error variety of settings, you will find the setting that works best with your camera.

Some camera manufacturers have built special blocks into their cameras that will not allow any of the infrared spectrum to interfere with normal photography. So, the only way to know if your camera will take infrared is to try no matter what the manual says the camera will do or not do.

The way we have come up with these photos is by doing most of the infrared work with the camera and not messing around with image altering software. The exception has been an occasional crop with software. For more detailed guidance there is a lot of information on infrared photography technique on the web.

Try it. You will find Infrared photography is a novel and surprisingly interesting new way to use your DSLR camera and the photographs? Wow! What more can we say.

Is Ecuador right for me?

2010-03-09T12:18:00.000-05:00

A few years ago I wrote an article for a magazine on the decision making process. Little did we know at the time that we would soon begin the process of trying to find the right place to retire where we would put every decision making concept that I had written about to the ultimate test. Almost every expat or potential expat we have spoken to has made a similar journalistic journey and done an enormous amount of research prior to moving from the US, Canada, or Europe. In every case once the germ of the idea took root - the idea of moving abroad - the search started in earnest. With few exceptions, searching on the internet through websites and blogs is where the decision process began for all of us. We researched Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Italy, India, and found enough negatives to eliminate them. In the long run, Ecuador is where we found the most desirable qualities to fit our need for living well affordably. The search then began to get deadly serious. We brainstormed on paper with arrows running in a hundred different directions. What town is the best? What is the right part of that town? A house or apartment? Rent or buy? What is the true cost of living? Are there English speaking people? Will we be able to buy what we need there? Will our four year old grandson get a good education? What are the consequences of leaving the US that we had known all our lives and relocating to a foreign country? These questions were put down on paper along with the solutions that we found, plus endless lists of additional questions that required more up-to-date answers. But, who knew these answers? Where could we find them? We asked specific questions via emails and got good answers from expats living in Ecuador. We found more and more websites and blogs as we narrowed our choices. We then put the decision to move to Ecuador into action by planning an extended visit to Ecuador. We still believe that a visit is the most important step of all. We knew that we would not be comfortable on the coast though we love the ocean so our trip concentrated on the Sierra - Quito and Cuenca – and we visited both extensively. One of the concepts of decision making is that a person often has to make decisions quickly without enough time to really look as deeply as you would like. Experts advise in these situations that you keep your eye on the goal and then let your intuition make the right choice. We did just that. We saw a house we loved in Cuenca and, on the last day of a three week visit, put a deposit down to purchase. It had been a two year long decision making process but, in that moment of resolution, we knew we had done the right thing. There is no way to give another person all the answers to the questions that dwell in their minds but most of us are here to help if at all possible. We look forward to meeting new friends and sharing our experiences, good and bad. There are a thousand steps along the way that each person has to ascend, a thousand decisions, big and small, that must be made that lead to a final choice each will make. With all that said, the second best advice we can give is to not make it a tedious enterprise but make it a fun process and enjoy the ride.

The Post Office

2010-03-05T15:01:00.000-05:00

We have posted our mail adventures before but here is a new one. Four weeks ago, Loretta ordered a coat from an Ebay outlet in the US. They used Ebay’s standard $20 international shipping charge. When we had not received the package after 4 weeks, we checked United States Postal Service tracking and found that it had arrived in Ecuador four days after being shipped and had been held in customs for weeks. Though we had no information other than the tracking information and no idea where customs would hold it, we felt that logically, it might be at the post office in Cuenca Centro. Armed with passport, cedula, and, what we felt was an adequate amount of money, we went to the post office at their appointed hour (package pickup is Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings).

Loretta stood on one line, was sent to another, and was sent back to the original line. She is the one in the photo being crushed against the window. When her turn at the wicket came, they checked her cedula, a customs inspector in military clothing opened and inspected the package, and handed her the coat without comment. There was no extra duty and no extra postage. Fortunately, Loretta had requested the sender mark on the declaration that the coat was used and had the sales tickets removed. We were also lucky in that we thought the logical place for the customs hold up would be at the post office. We later wondered what would have happened if we had not figured that out. Would they have finally looked at the address on the package and sent us a notice that it was being held by customs? The only logical answer is that our next mail adventure will undoubtedly be different.

The Many Faces of Cuenca

2010-03-01T09:57:00.001-05:00

Take a little tour with us and get a glimpse of some of the fascinating faces you will see in Cuenca. There is so much to see that this is only a small peek into life in the city but it is a beginning.

At the indiginous markets, there are hundreds, possibly thousands of family stalls filled with everything from fresh fruit, vegetables, clothing, live animals and articles you haven't seen for years, all at extraordinary prices.

It is a common sight to see women, often elderly, with huge loads of unimaginable weights, strapped to their backs.

Manual labor, not mechanized, is the order of the day. The worker in the middle is pounding the cement sidewalk with a 15 lb.sledge hammer. A crowbar and shovel are his assistants.

A wood gatherer coming down the mountain with wood to either use at home or to sell. Horses, mules and donkeys are the main transportation for many of the farmers. Oxen are often used to plow the fields.

Almost every establishment that handles cash has guards out front probably more as intimidation as much as for real security. At the wages they earn, it is hard to believe that they would risk their lives to protect the stores they are there to guard.

Laden down with hundreds of sunglasses tucked onto his hat, on his shoulders, in his belt, and dozens more in his backpack and plastic bag, the sunglass salesman finds a way to carry more artfully arranged in each hand. At street intersections, where cars must slow down to turn, these entrepaneurs make a good living, selling sunglasses to ward off the intense sunlight.

On almost every street, you will find a "Comida Tipico" where meals are served for around $1.50. A meal of excellent soup, main dish of chicken and rice and a fruit drink are the usual offerings at this "can't refuse" price.

When was the last time you saw a donkey parked out in front of a store? Little specialty shops sell almost anything you could wish for in small, one room establishments.

But, there is another class of citizens in Cuenca, the wealthy. Though less obvious, they are a strong backbone of the city.

Pre-school is a wonderful start for many of the more well-to-do children in Cuenca. Again, there is a pre-school on almost every block of the city. The children are dropped off at the pre-schools by their working parents and picked up at lunch time.

Our Jonny opening the door to his bus at 7:50 in the morning. Almost every school has a mini-bus to pick up their students. There are so many of them at this hour that they actually seem to outnumber the taxis.

Grade school kids all over the world look like this but in all schools here in Cuenca, public as well as private, the children wear uniforms. Each school's uniform is different.

A group of high school girls heading home after a day of study. Unfortunately, the school day ends earlier than we are used to at around one or two o'clock each day. Many kids then go to dance class, Tai-kwon-do lessons, swim lessons, futbol, or some other after school activity.

Then, of course, there are the expats. This was Loretta's birthday at our house in Challuabamba. The rest of the group was in the kitchen wolfing down lunch.

A, more or less, typical Friday evening at the Eucalyptus Cafe where the expat community meets. It is a wonderful way for a newcomer to meet the "old hands." This was rather early in the evening as normally there will be about 30 at the Eucalyptus Cafe and another 30 at Zoe's Restaurant each Friday.

Cuenca is a city of festivals and with every festival come numerous parades. A week doesn't go by that there isn't a parade. The problem is finding out the reason for the parade.

A toy peddler that is an almost irresistible target for every child who passes by. Some of the blow up toys are most unusual and a lot more fun than just another balloon.

Tens of thousands watch the Christmas parades. This group took ten minutes to dance and intertwine the ribbons and kept the rest of the parade, which went on for five hours, from moving. No one seemed to mind.

Horses or donkeys, ridden by children, are decorated with intricate designs made from fruit, vegetables or candy bars, all strung together to make unusual and colorful saddle hangings.

There are fifty-three churches in Cuenca. Christmas service at the New Cathedral with the Cuenca Symphony playing Christmas carols, both English and Spanish, was a special treat.

So, here in photos, is a little glimpse of the many faces of Cuenca. It gives a small view of what you will see but barely scratches the surface of the sometimes constant and, more often, delightfully changing scene.

The Revival of the Automobile Horn

2010-02-25T08:16:00.000-05:00

We think we have uncovered a major technological achievement for Ecuador. Dating back to the early 1900’s, when the automobile was in its infancy, the auto horn was an indispensible part of the driving experience. The “Ayooga” sound was critical to chasing cattle off the dirt roads. It was essential for the youth of the day to frighten horses or to announce their existence on the planet. The horn became a basic and necessary part of the automobile. But, as the car invaded the cities, the horn soon became a nuisance and was discriminated against by one regulation after another to the point where, late in the 20^th century, the use the horn, except in an emergency, brought a violation of city ordinances. The horn quickly fell into oblivion as car manufacturers, especially those in Japan, reduced the horn’s decibel level to a tinny sound that could barely be heard even within the car itself. But, no matter how hard the car manufacturer’s tried to eliminate the horn’s usefulness, it hung on. Enter Ecuador’s discovery of the auto horn. Ecuadorian drivers came to the rescue and, once more, the horn found a place where it was esteemed. It was felt by Ecuadorian drivers that traffic would become permanently grid-locked, if not for their ingenious use of the horn. It was soon codified as follows. One beep is a warning meaning “You’d better stop because I’m going too fast to give way.” Two beeps loosely translated means, “I’m coming” or more definitively, “Move it!” In those seconds before a traffic light turns green, at least one and sometimes two cars behind you will give two blasts on their horns possibly thinking you are asleep or conceivably blind to not have started moving forward before the light changed. Three beeps take too much effort and too much trouble so they are almost never used. Our understanding of the code is not good enough to interpret what a long, persistent blast means but we suspect it has the same message as anywhere else in the world. Taxi drivers augment their mastery of the horn with flashing headlights. Two flashes of the headlights mean, “I’m for hire.” Frantic continuous flashes and horn blowing mean “Get out of my way.” Personally, we would prefer pulling our car off the road if we saw a car approaching from behind with flashing lights and pounding on the horn but it doesn’t seem to bother other Ecuadorian drivers who continue on their way as if deaf. This obstinacy covers ambulances, police cars, and other vehicles with flashing lights on their roof top. We would not be surprised to find auto manufacturers throughout the world noticing this revival of the horn in Ecuador and beefing up their horns even with the possible return of the “Ayooga” Claxon. Having a claxon on our car would help at the next red light we encounter and might even the odds a little.

Things we don’t miss about the USA

2010-02-24T12:17:00.000-05:00

Dirty streets – Streets in cities where we have lived in the US are almost universally full of trash. Often, there were $200 fines for littering but it didn’t seem to make much difference. Litter was everywhere. Some people were audacious enough to dump bags of trash along the roadside just to get rid of them. Here the streets are spotlessly clean. Trash and garbage are efficiently picked up daily by teams of little green men and women.

Interstate highways –We often think of the monotony of driving along miles and miles of Interstate highway dodging speeding trucks, long delays sitting in traffic jams and the rest stops filled with junk food and dirty, crowded bathrooms versus our decent country roads with an occasional interesting restaurant and an adventure around every corner.

Homeless people – we have yet to see a truly homeless person here in Ecuador. In Philadelphia there are homeless on nearly every downtown street. In the winter they sat on steam vents to keep warm. They were everywhere, sleeping on the sidewalk, rifling through dumpsters and trash cans, or wheeling their possessions along the street in stolen shopping carts. It was something we never really got used to.

Dumpsters – We have never seen one in Ecuador.

High cost of living – gasoline at a stable $1.48 not $2-3.00 plus a gallon like in the US, heating oil is not necessary, air conditioning is not necessary, food, especially fresh food, is very inexpensive. Private schools are $3-4000 per year not $10-12,000 as in the US. Home costs and rental apartments are quite inexpensive.

Aggressive sales people – The Ecuadorian sales clerk has not yet learned to be aggressive and you must often seek them out in order to buy something. The hard sell found on TV, newspapers and magazines is but a quarter of what you would find in the US.

Junk mail – Our mailbox used to almost overflow with junk mail every day in North Carolina. Most was never read but just ended up in our trash can. We rarely receive mail in Cuenca, only an occasional utility receipt or bank statement as mail is not a common way to communicate.

Doctor’s offices – We remember the long waits in the doctor’s office in the States even though we had an appointment while he fell farther and farther behind as the day progressed. Then the visit lasted only a few minutes. Contrast that with a visit to the doctor here. It is a first come, first serve, walk-in system. Surprisingly, the doctor will spend a long time talking to you as he asks probing questions. The doctor is usually alone and does everything from diagnosis to treatment to collecting his fee.

Violent weather – We remember hard, cold winters and oppressively hot summers that were costly to tame and often gave us an edge-of-the-chair storm or two each season. Cuenca’s weather is the same spring like climate all year long and is never violent.

Industrial pollution – There are no tan skies filled with smog as you will find in the industrial cities of the north. We must admit, however, that the diesel truck and bus exhaust is terrible. Fortunately, Cuenca’s high location and facing position lets the wind keep the air clear and pollution free.

Insects – Having come from North Carolina where the mosquitoes and ants seem to be taking over, our bug free climate is a welcome relief. We have no screens on our windows in Cuenca though this would not be true in the Amazon region or on the coast. Freedom from bugs is a real plus here in the Sierra.

Junk food – It is relatively easy to buy familiar junk food in the supermarkets here but it is sold side by side with healthy and often organic food which does not carry an escalated price as in the States. Fresh fruit, vegetables, meat and fish are available everywhere.

Restaurants – Unlike the US, it is almost as inexpensive to eat out in a restaurant as it is to cook at home.

Seasons – Believe it or not, we don’t miss the lack of seasonal change as much as we thought we would. It is now February, 70 degrees and sunny, and the news is full of the worst winter snow storms of the century that have hit the east coast.

Daylight savings time – It was always stressful in the north with winter’s early darkness, waking in the morning to a pitch black sky, kids leaving for school in the dark in the morning and coming home in the dark in the afternoon, and the twice a year project of time adjustment when you had to change every clock in the house and car. But here in Ecuador, there is no daylight savings time and no change in the amount of day or night. Daylight Savings time isn’t necessary as the days are always about 12 hours long and the nights the same.

Lawyers – In the US, there was barely a function left that didn’t require the expertise of a lawyer and we always felt vulnerable if we didn’t seek their advice. Many of the same legal problems exist in Ecuador but they are not as expensive to execute or as pervasive. It is not a litigious society possibly because legal matters take a long time to resolve and, therefore, are not as appealing to begin.

The Buddha in Cuenca

2010-02-22T18:39:00.000-05:00

Our friends Alan and Elinor have traveled all over the world and collected artifacts, books and unrecognizable, yet beautiful, objects from every place they visited. Their house is a virtual museum of uncountable objects-de-arte, each room filled with hanging pieces, books, whatnots and statues. In the living room, an incredible Buddha sits in meditation with his eyes closed seeming to be praying for peace and contentment.

But, another Buddha in the garden outside had sat alone for months with no purpose after being carefully placed there and they had felt it was time to officially dedicate it as a shrine. A party was planned. Matt Hayes, who has lived in Japan for five years and is somewhat a student of Buddhism, was asked to MC the dedication. After an hour of socializing, thirty guests gathered after nightfall in the garden and listened to Matt touch on what Buddhism means and is. He spoke of the three concepts of knowing yourself, knowing your community of friends, and the Buddha himself. As a group, we stood in the dark, each holding three lighted sticks of incense, looked at ourselves, our friends and the beautiful statue sitting quietly and peacefully in the corner of their garden. Each of us considered how fortunate we were. We stood there, a collection of friends, old and young, Expats from all over the world, Ecuadorians, and visitors, Christian, Jewish, agnostics, and a few wandering souls, and spent a few moments thinking humbly.

It was a touching moment for all of us only to be followed by an incredible repast of a dozen dishes, each better tasting than the last. Once again, we have found that the people we know and have become friends with in Cuenca have had an enormous impact on our lives. Learning more about the concepts of Buddha has only helped reinforce our love of life.

Buying and renovating property

2010-02-18T12:27:00.000-05:00

We purchased a house in a suburb of Cuenca called Challuabamba where we did a large amount of renovation to bring it up to our North American standards. It is now finished and is a gorgeous 5500 square foot home with an indoor swimming pool, sauna, steam room and many amenities that Americans are used to. The house is now for sale as we have moved into the city proper for the convenience of the cultural events, our friends, and a closer school for Jonny. If you have interest in seeing the house when you visit Cuenca, take a look at a previous “buying property” posting. Send us an email and we will be pleased to drive you out and show the house to you.

But no matter what house or condo you buy there are a number of differences in the purchase procedure and the renovation process compared to the US. The best advice we can give is to use a lawyer to handle a purchase transaction from the very beginning. The purchase agreement and the actual sales agreement are miles apart in what should be looked into and verified. We have friends who bought property on the coast only to find that the people they bought from did not officially own the property. Realtors here don’t do the same investigative work as realtors do in the States. This is the lawyer’s job. Also, renovation contracts with an architect/general contractor are much simpler in Ecuador and can leave out some very important issues if you don’t insist on them. Once again, we would suggest using a lawyer. Two rather obvious additions to a renovation contract are a specific end date for the project with a penalty clause if the contractor goes beyond that date. Contractors in Ecuador are notorious for not meeting your schedule and failing to finish on time. Sometimes they do not finish at all and just leave to go on to their next job. You should also make conditions for the inevitable changes in the original agreement and how to handle them. You don’t want to be surprised by a list of additional costs that you have not agreed to in advance. The general contractor/architect will normally hire the workers and actually bring them to the house each day. We had about 40 different workers in our house over a six month period. If we did it again, we would ask the architect to provide a copy of each worker’s cedula (identity card) before allowing them in the house. And, it goes without saying, that either you or the architect should be in the house whenever work is being done so that it is done properly. We are very pleased with the final result but it was a learning process all the way. “Caveat Emptor” is the byword in Ecuador as it is everywhere in the world.

Outside of the box

2010-02-16T14:26:00.000-05:00

A lot of what you find in Ecuador is living outside of the box. One step outside of what we as expats think is normal is getting to know Ecuadorian’s personally. In the 10 months that we have been living in Cuenca, we have been fortunate enough to have made many friends both in the expat community and among native Ecuadorians. The blogs about Cuenca often tell about the exploits and adventures of the expats but seldom about the Ecuadorians themselves. From our experience, the rumors that Ecuadorians are leery of foreigners and keep them at arm’s reach, could not be further from the truth. When we bought our home in Challuabamba, we found we were living next door to a wonderful, middle class Ecuadorian family who have become very close friends. In their house live the great-grandmother and her son, who is the family father. Neither speak any English. The father’s wife, a great cook, has about as much English as we have Spanish. Then there are the daughter, two sons and a granddaughter that speak quite passable English. As a group they own and operate a company in Cuenca that designs and sells high end European kitchens. They also built our custom made upholstered couches and chairs some months ago. It was our good fortune to be invited to the father’s 54^th birthday party last Monday during Carnival week. We arrived at their home at 2:00 PM on a beautiful, warm sunny afternoon, the only Gringos among 30 Ecuadorians of all ages from one to 89. Everyone there was family - uncles, aunts, cousins, brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews. We sat out on the porch of their modern home, overlooking the mountains, sipping whisky and soda and getting to know each of them. As the party grew to its full size, the laughter and stories began, some included our story which brought us closer into the family. Though we were something of an oddity and struggling with our Spanish, there were enough of them who spoke reasonably good English who told us what Great-grandmother had just said or asked us a question about something or another. A few had spent time in the US. Most tried valiantly to resurrect the English they had learned in high school while we worked hard to be understood in Spanish. We were treated like honored guests especially Jonny, who with his curly, red hair and party exuberance, became an instant hit. About four o’clock, dinner was served at tables for six, outside under a tent. A delicious “Comida Tipico” progressed from a choice of pork or chicken soup, to a huge main course of rice, chicken and enselada, and ending with a variety of cakes and coffee. Then, as typical in Ecuador, everyone got a chair, arranged themselves outside in a large circle, and the real party began. Glasses of whiskey were passed from person to person. Cigarettes were handed back and forth and the laughter went to an almost constant uproar. A family of thirty and three, wide-eyed outsiders laughed and told stories for the next hour or so. The one-year-old baby boy was passed from one person to the next. Two young men, who are currently at the University in Cuenca, were shocked to hear the price of a college education in the US as they pay $1000 per semester. Toasts of “Salud” were made to the birthday father every few minutes. We were taught the correct pronunciation for our Spanish guffaws. Then, as we finally gathered up Jonny to leave, we were invited to a brother-in-law and his wife’s home two weeks hence. We were no longer outsiders. It was very refreshing for us, with our family scattered all over the globe, to experience the warmth and camaraderie of an entire Ecuadorian family full of laughter, love and friendship. We watched with envy as four generations gathered together as a single unit of thirty people to celebrate the father’s birthday. As we drove home to our apartment in Cuenca, we realized we had stepped outside the box and had possibly found the real Ecuador for at least one afternoon.

What is retirement really?

2010-02-13T18:11:00.000-05:00

Most of the expats we know here in Cuenca are retired, about to retire and looking for the right place to live, or thinking out a few years about what they will do when the time comes. Everyone seems to have a different idea of what retirement means for them - travel, an easier life style, an escape from the work ethic, leisure, a time to do things never done before, and dozens more reasons or possibilities. But retirement isn’t all that easy. For us, it meant uprooting the family, leaving everything familiar, and moving to a foreign land. Some others realized their dream by moving into a retirement community so they could play golf every day for the rest of their lives. Some have actually stayed at home and will work, as they have always worked, until it is no longer profitable or feasible. Others reached out and followed a life-long dream by traveling or moving to a more hospitable place. We have found that three of the real draws when making these choices are health care, economics and a favorable climate. These are subjects that we, and others, have dealt with extensively in our blogs. But there is another factor that lays hidden in the excitement of retirement. What will you do for the rest of your life? There are hundreds of answers to this question and it is very personal but the main fact to think about is that you must have something to do with yourself when you retire. There is nothing worse than no longer having a job to go to, nothing to do, and 24 hours to deal with each day. So, before you make this important transition, start planning what you’ll do in the next chapter of a long and fruitful life. Nothing will serve you better than to tuck a few projects into that suitcase, projects that will make a contribution, that will satisfy a life-long need, or that will keep you engaged, interesting, and useful.

The drought is over

2010-02-07T16:43:00.001-05:00

As you can see by the photos of the River Yanuncay as it rages through town, the drought appears to be over. It is apparent that there has been a lot of rain up in the mountains. In fact, we have had a few good rains over the last few days right here in Cuenca.

El Nino has kept us pretty dry for the last few months so possibly this is the beginning of a change to a more normal amount of precipitation. Down on the coast, El Nino is giving them a rough time with very high tides and waves that have done a lot of damage to the shoreline.

DVD Stores

2010-02-03T12:29:00.000-05:00

Almost all DVD’s for sale are a pirated version of the original. You have to bend your ethics a little but there are few other choices in Ecuador if you want to purchase a music, movie or game DVD. On almost every street in Cuenca, you will find a small Mom and Pop store with the walls covered with rack after rack of DVD’s in jewel boxes. Inside is a copy the original disc and a copy of the label on the outside of the box.

Most cost $1.50 though some games run as high as $3.00. There is generally a good selection of movies that, with a click of the remote, can be switched from Spanish to English if necessary. Just ask the proprietor if your choice is available in English. They will put it into a DVD player and check for you. Music DVD’s have a more limited selection. There are very few classical or jazz discs available, a good selection of American rock but an absolute gold mine of Latin music. In the places we shop, they even have three disc music compilations that cost $5.00. Our apartment now vibrates to the Latin beat. Games are available but are limited in the Mom and Pop stores. However, at the mall there are a number of game shops where they have good choices for almost every game system. But a word of warning when buying pirated copies of originals.

We bought new computers in Ecuador from one of the many computer stores. At our request, they put an English version of Microsoft Vista on both new computers. These were not licensed versions as licensed software in English is extremely hard to get in Ecuador. The Toshiba laptop has been running just fine as they installed a Toshiba version on it. But, the desktop, which was made from generic parts, had an unlicensed English version of Vista installed. Everything worked well for about a month until Microsoft shut it down automatically possibly because they were alerted it was an unlicensed version by the frequent updates or cookies or something we are not aware of. We installed it again and the same thing happened in about a month. The computer just went dead and could not be started. The computer store tried a half dozen distributors in Ecuador looking for an English version of Windows 7 and finally gave up. We then installed a Spanish licensed version of Windows 7 and all has been perfect. The only problem is deciphering all the commands which are in Spanish. But it has been a good way to expand our learning of Spanish. Though our experience with Windows has been frustrating, the pile of inexpensive movie and music DVD’s just keeps getting higher and higher.

What's cheap, expensive or hard to get?

2010-02-02T11:19:00.001-05:00

We remembered that before we came to Ecuador, there were many questions in our minds over what to bring, what we could and could not get in Cuenca and what might cost more than in the US. This is a controversial subject as some of the following items may be available and we just have not found where to get them. But, with that said, let’s take a look at three categories of what we have found to date. The lists are far from complete but will give you an idea of what costs more or less and what is hard to get in Cuenca. This is a favorite subject for the Gringos. We would appreciate contact from people who live in Ecuador with additions to this list and we will post it again soon with more information.

What costs more in Cuenca?

At the beginning of the 2009 economic crisis, the government of Ecuador imposed a high protective tariff on almost all imported goods which raised the cost of imports considerably. The government has promised to eliminate most if not all of these tariffs in early 2010 but we shall see. We are hopeful that when present supplies have been restocked, prices will come down on imported goods.

Nevertheless, we still find some items more costly like shoes, blue jeans, cars (especially if you want an automatic shift), cameras, toys, mail to the US, children’s school workbooks,

What is hard to get in Cuenca?

A large selection of almost anything, children’s clothes, off size clothes (Ecuadorian’s are generally smaller in size than North Americans), high thread count sheets (300 about top count), Levi jeans, aspirin in 325 and 85 mg size, cold medications, frozen foods, parsnips, good salad dressings, baby foods, chicken bouillon cubes, prepared foods like Whole Food in the US, full range of vitamins, A3 copy paper (only A4 available), English language books, TV and camera accessories, DSLR cameras, a full school day (classes end at about 1:00PM), high-end gyms,

What costs less in Cuenca?

Maid service ($8-10 a day), Utilities (did you know that there are no heating or air conditioning units used or necessary in Cuenca?), housing (both rental and purchasing), taxis ($1-2 anywhere in the city), fresh vegetables and fruit, Restaurant food (also tipping is much less), computer printers (most under $100), medical care, gasoline($1.48 gallon), In-country air fares, South American wines and liquors, custom made furniture, granite counter tops, labor ($10-15 day depending on job), DVD’s ($1.50 each),

Let us know what you think could be added to this list.

Learning Spanish

2010-01-29T12:01:00.002-05:00

We came to Cuenca ten months ago knowing no more Spanish than the few words learned by accident in the US. Neither of us had taken Spanish as a language requirement in high school or known any Spanish speaking people back in the states. We figured we would learn when we got here. So, we arrived with no more than a few rudimentary Spanish words, some good sign language, and our ears tuned to try to “hear” what people were saying. At this stage, we were surprised at the consideration most Ecuadorians gave when they tried to decipher our attempts to speak their language. We were often greeted with smiles and even occasional laughter at our atrocious pronunciation. Even though it is ten months later, we have still not taken any formal lessons though we get along quite well. A friend gave us a tape that we have used irregularly but we haven’t taken the “one on one” lessons we promised we would do as soon as things quieted down. One on one lessons run about $8 an hour or more depending on whether you employ an independent teacher or go to a language school. Cuenca has a reputation for having excellent Spanish language schools and there are many. It is also said that the Spanish form taught in Cuenca and elsewhere in Ecuador is purer and is spoken slower than in other Spanish speaking countries. We have also heard that there are more than 1000 English words that are almost identical to the word in Spanish. This gives you a head start when you understand that you already know over 1000 words and didn’t realize it. Our lives have been such a whirlwind since we arrived that we have probably postponed the most important thing we should do, learn Spanish. Life would be measurably improved if we were able to have meaningful conversations with Ecuadorians. Jonny, who is five and goes to a school with all Spanish speaking classmates and teacher, is picking the language up rapidly. All Ecuadorian students take English at school but there are very few who speak it well. That said, it is often the grade school child who does the translating for a family. Grade school students are very proud of their English and seem to want to use it whenever they can. Every day, upper class students at school seek out our Jonny just to speak English with him. But, other than eager students, you will rarely find Ecuadorians who speak English well, if at all. We have learned a huge number of words just by exposure, watching TV and listening closely. But we say them poorly. Yesterday, I asked someone for salsa and they could not understand the way I pronounced it. When we are in a situation like this where there is an impasse, the proprietor of a store or office will often find someone who can interpret. Our experience has been that, even though we don’t know the correct grammar, we give it a try. Our pronunciation is terrible and often, though we use the right words, we are often not understood. Sign language and making sounds that imitate what we are trying to say helps. Loretta caused hysterical laughter when she didn’t know the word for dog and said, “woof. Woof.” Many of the letters of the alphabet are pronounced differently in Spanish which is the root of our problem. We are not the ones to ask advice on this subject as we are only at the beginning stage of learning but we seem to get along amazingly well. We shop at the markets and stores. We get what we think we ordered at restaurants. We talk with neighbors. We conduct our daily life with hardly any language problems. We struggle when someone talks rapidly in Spanish but we ask them to slow down and the meaning seeps in. Our conversations with Ecuadorians must be hysterical but they are generally understanding and try hard to help. The only advice we could give is that your life will be dramatically better in Ecuador if you speak the language but, with a little patience and a lot of practice, the words will seep in and, before you know it, you will be speaking decent Spanish and sharing your life more intimately with Ecuadorians.

Buying furniture

2010-01-27T08:20:00.000-05:00

Here is another subject that local expats don’t seem able to agree on. Many feel that you should not bring furniture when you move here from abroad and then, when you get here, buy whatever you need in Cuenca. Most, who feel this way, plan to live here for a year or more and then move on. This group may find it best to rent a furnished apartment and not have to buy anything that will later need to be shipped somewhere else. Some are concerned with the cost and hassle of shipping a container full of furniture and prefer either renting furnished or buying all new furnishings in Cuenca. Then there is the group, to which we belong, who are coming to Ecuador to live permanently and want to bring the furniture they love. We shipped a 40’ container from North Carolina through Guayaquil to Cuenca with no damage and nothing lost. The cost for a door to door shipment for a total of 15,000 pounds was approximately $12,000. It was a happy day when we opened all the boxes and our favorite things tumbled out. The house we bought in Challuabamba was quite large and needed some additional furnishings so we had to go shopping. As we have mentioned before, when you purchase a house or apartment in Ecuador, no appliances will come with the sale. They go with the previous owner. If you are shipping a container, it may be your choice to include your existing washer, dryer, stove, and refrigerator. Costs to buy new appliances in Cuenca are roughly the same as the US for Whirlpool, Mabe, Indurama, and LG so bringing yours may not make sense. Ecuador’s electric circuitry uses the same 110 volts and identical plugs as used in the US. Furniture can be purchased already made at many furniture stores and the choice is excellent if you want modern styling but few choices if you want a different period. There is some limitation as to the choice of fabrics because the fabric styling on ready- made furniture is quite unusual in Ecuador which makes choice more difficult. A second possibility, if you are looking to find inexpensive furniture is to purchase it ready-made at any one of many small furniture stores located primarily along Calle Larga. A double bed can be purchased at one of these Mom and Pop stores for under $200. They also have inexpensive armoires, chests of drawers, tables and chairs. A third possibility is to have furniture hand made. Since our home is filled with Victorian furniture we decided to have the additional pieces we needed made to order.

We looked at many places that make furniture and found one called Louis XV that appealed to us. In the front of the store there is a furniture display of items that they have made. But out back, in what must once have been a stable, a half dozen men stand in piles of sawdust and wood shavings as they sand and chisel by hand to make intricate designs in wood. It took about a month for them to finish the job but we were very pleased with the outcome. We had two queen size beds, two night stands, and two living room, low, center tables made of solid wood and when we say solid wood, we really mean it. They are not made of fabricated wood with veneer glued on top. They are solid wood and extremely heavy. It took a number of tries for the spray man to get the right look as almost all furniture made in Ecuador has a dark reddish-brown, high gloss look. You have to almost beg to get the workers to make the color a lighter brown with a see through, satin finish.

For mattresses, we found a small shop that is actually a distributor to most of the small furniture stores. His shop was about the size of a one car garage filled with mattresses stacked on end. We chose a couple to test. He put them on the cement sidewalk and asked Loretta to lie down on each to try it out. This is a photo we wish we had. People walked by only casually looking at this woman lying on a mattress on the sidewalk with her eyes closed. A queen pillow top runs about $230. At another hand made manufacturer, we had a couch, love seat and two upholstered chairs made. We chose a photograph from a furniture magazine as the model for them to duplicate. We then visited two huge fabric shops with the owner and chose the fabric. The pieces included loose pillows which were absolutely huge. We asked them to remake them half-size and they are still quite large. These pieces also came out well and fit right in with our old Victorian furniture.

So, there are a few different ways to deal with furniture, bring your own with you, buy inexpensive ready-made or store inventory, or have it made. Any way you look at it, the process, like everything else is long and tedious but well worth it.

Yes, there is mail in Ecuador

2010-01-25T09:07:00.001-05:00

Our mailbox in North Carolina was filled with at least 10 pieces of mail every day of the week. Seventy-five percent was junk mail, and the remainder bills and an occasional letter from friends that didn’t use email. To our surprise, receiving mail is actually an event in Cuenca. Personal mail boxes are a rarity. There are actually no street addresses in the country though, fortunately, they exist in the city. And, so far, we have found only one post office which is located in the Centro. Bills are not sent by mail. A person pays at the store or business or has utility bills automatically deducted from a bank account. When you receive a letter or package, a courier on a motorcycle comes to your house or apartment, rings the bell, and gives you the item in exchange for whatever extra postage is due. If you receive a package that requires duty be paid, the man on the motorcycle will give you a notice to come to the post office in the center of town between the hours of 8:30 and 12:30 only on Mondays, Wednesdays or Fridays. You present the notice and a national policeman will cut open the package, examine the contents and assess a duty to be paid before the package is given to you. The same post office is where you send mail abroad. A one page letter will cost around $2.00 in postage stamps to mail to the US. Packages can be sent from the post office but they are best forwarded by DHL (office near the stadium) who have the best international service. We sent a small box under a pound to the US the other day and it cost $31.00. We have not tried sending packages to other countries so are not aware of the expense. It is a little more complicated In order to receive mail or packages. Though we have not placed many orders, it is quite straightforward placing a mail order with a US company and have it shipped directly to our address in Cuenca. If you are ordering a used item, there will probably be no duty assessed. US companies are set up to make international shipments on new items and will make the customs declaration and collect the international postage in advance. As an example, we ordered an $8 filter for our Nikon camera and it arrived in two weeks but with handling and international shipping and duty, the total came to $55. We also ordered $90 worth of vitamins that are hard to get in Cuenca. The vitamin company charged us an additional $37 in postage and handling. We received a notice from the post office to come and pick it up. A man behind a wicket advised we owed $1.75 additional postage and then handed us our box which appeared unopened. So, we have received packages three ways. Once it was delivered to our apartment and just handed to us by the courier. Another time the package was opened by the National Police at the post office and we paid duty. And this last time, we were given the unopened package at the post office after paying additional postage. We have yet to find the best way to order new items from the US but each time it seems to have worked. Before we left the States, we were concerned about how to get letters forwarded to us that would undoubtedly continue to arrive at our old address. We chose Earth Class Mail (www.earthclassmail.com) as our international forwarder. But this has to be set up in the US before you leave as there is a US Postal Service form that must be filled out giving Earth Class Mail the authority to handle your mail. The system has served us well in that we had many business, tax and other important mailings that were difficult to make forwarding arrangements with prior to leaving and it was impossible to contact each of them before leaving. Plus, our house in Challuabamba, like all the country homes, had no mailing address that we could give our correspondents. Earth Class Mail operates by sending an email letting you know that they have received a letter for you. They then ask if you want them to scan the content which takes one day. If you want it forwarded they will forward the letter to your Ecuador address. If you don’t want the mail, they will shred it for you. We usually have them shred a bill after we have looked at the scan to see what we owe and when it is due which we then pay online. They also have a new service where they will deposit a check to your bank for you. It takes a little getting used to but if you take an overall look at the mail service in Ecuador, it will at first seem slow and archaic but, fortunately, it works.

Exercise in Cuenca

2010-01-23T17:00:00.001-05:00

Another question we had prior to coming to Cuenca was if there was a good gym where we could exercise. A gym didn’t seem necessary with all the walking we do but exercise at a gym was a real habit with us. Cuenca is a city of hills, steep steps and is located at about 8000 feet elevation. All this tends to make even walking a pretty strenuous activity. When we first arrived we were concerned about altitude sickness and even had our North Carolina physician prescribe medication to prevent a reaction to living at a high altitude. This was totally unnecessary as we acclimated almost immediately, even when we stayed in Quito which is at about 10,000 feet. However, more strenuous exercise than walking takes a while to get used to. Running or climbing the 50 steps up to the city or even hiking in the mountains, makes even the most fit person, stop to catch their breath. After living at sea level for almost all of our lives, the altitude in Cuenca took a little getting used to when we exercise. Even though normal walking or working around the apartment doesn’t bother us, strenuous exercise like climbing the steps to the city requires a stop to recover. So, we decided to try to find a gym. There is no such thing as the huge Gold’s Gym or its equivalent in Cuenca. Most gyms are small and have quite antiquated equipment. The gym at the University of Cuenca, which you would expect to be quite elaborate, appears almost dangerous. The equipment is old and in bad repair. After much inquiry and a lot of looking, we found, what we think is the best in Cuenca.

It is called Cam Gym and is located in the newer section of town just off Avenida Remigio Crispo. There are many others located all over the city but Cam Gym has fairly new equipment, a trainer, is clean and is in good repair. Tai kwon do and dance are taught upstairs. Tai kwon do is a very popular activity for children of all ages and the gym creates many champions while the children are still in grade school. Because almost everything is within walking distance, we and most of our friends enjoy and go walking a great deal more than when we lived in the suburbs of the US. It has to be healthy, even though it is tough going sometimes, and, along with going to the gym three times a week, we feel in the best shape we have been in years.

Map of City of Cuenca

2010-01-20T15:05:00.003-05:00

It is difficult to find a good map of Cuenca. Cuenca Real Estate probably has the best one. However, none of them tell you where specific places of interest to Gringo's are located. We have marked up a very simple map of the city with approximate locations of places you will undoubtedly go to when you are here. You can see by the map that the city is divided almost in half by the River Tomebamba. On the north side is the old city or Centro where much of the cities infrastructure exists, like churches, parks, stores, businesses, government buildings, lawyers, and restaurants and, of course much more. On the south side of the river are the newer suburbs where you will find the Futbol stadium, many restaurants and stores, the large mercado, two of the Supermaxis, and most of the 5 plus story apartment buildings. Circling the city are the Avenida de las Americas on the north and the Autopista on the south. To see a larger view of the map, double click on the map

Here are some of the actual addresses:

Zoe's restaurant (expat meetings) – Borerro y Sucre

Eucalyptus restaurant (expat meetings) – Gran Columbia y Benigno Malo

Supermaxi El Gal – Avenida Cordero y Jose Peralta

Supermaxi/Sukasa (upscale department store) – just above Gran Columbia y Avenida de las Americas

Supermaxi/Kywi (best hardware store) – Avenida Turuhuaico y Gil Ramirez Davalos

Del Rio Mall – Autopista in South west corner of city

Main Mercado El Arinal– Avenida de las Americas y Remigio Crispo

Cooperia (food coop) – Victor Manual Albornoz near Avenida de las Americas

Collisium (Tennis courts) – Avenida 12 de Abril y Unidad Nacional

Post Office – Gran Columbia y Borerro

Bank of Pichincha – 12 de Abril y Solano

Cam Gym (largest in city) – Nicolas Sojos y Gonzalo Cordero

Security

2010-01-19T08:24:00.003-05:00

Security is a something that few of us who lived in quiet suburban homes in the US had much concern about. We previously lived in a home in North Carolina where we left the doors unlocked when we went to sleep at night. Now we live in a new country where security can be an issue. Personal safety is always a delicate subject as each of us has lived under different circumstances and there is no way of knowing what a reader’s experience might have been. What we say comes from our own personal experience and we cannot suppose the level of security other people require. Because there is much poverty in Ecuador, petty crime is quite common. Stealing of pocketbooks, cell phones, and car radios has been little more than an annoyance in the past but recently there has been an upsurge of more serious issues. Though major crime is still rare, it is felt by the police that external elements, such as gangs from Peru or Columbia have escalated robbery to an infrequent but more dangerous level. High profile crime here remains an odd occurrence but has happened. When you contrast serious crime in Ecuador to that in the US there is absolutely no comparison. Homes in Cuenca have always had high stone walls with cut glass or metal spikes or electrical wires on top to prevent people from entering the property. When we first came here, we thought this was partially a social statement of privacy and not just for security. But, it is apparent that Ecuadorians are highly conscious of personal security especially in their homes. We brought our American sense of openness with us and made the mistake of being too casual. We left our gate open and our doors unlocked at our home in Challuabamba. Loretta wore expensive jewelry and our large, expensively furnished home stood out as a target. And as many of you know, we were robbed and lost most of our electronic and TV equipment plus jewelry and fur coats. We are now much more security conscious and have had no further trouble. We currently follow a few pretty basic rules of behavior to be less conspicuous. Some of our gringo friends feel it is safer to carry very little of value when they walk the city streets. It is probably a good idea. We know a couple who have had inside pockets sewn into their pants where they carry their money and identity papers. It is also a wise idea to carry a copy, and never the original, of your passport and Cedula (identity card) as these are your most valuable papers. Loosing either is costly and they are difficult to replace. Since this is a cash society, a person often needs to carry a significant amount of money. Only you can be the judge of how much cash to have on your person. Businesses and stores carry the security issue even further.

All businesses that handle cash have armed guards who carry shotguns and stand menacingly at the entrance to the building or store. It takes some getting used to but seems to prevent problems and you soon get used to their presence. As conspicuous as you are as a gringo, it is a mistake to make it worse by wearing expensive jewelry or carrying visible cameras or loosely hung purses that invite petty thievery. That said, Cuenca has the reputation of being a quiet, peaceful city, much more so than Quito or Guayaquil. But, as in any city, it is important to be street smart. When you are in the crowded, poorer parts of the city, it makes a good deal of sense to not wear exposed jewelry, not carry loose bags or visible cameras, and not carry more cash than you think you will need on your present excursion. We have learned our lesson the hard way and are now very careful how we present ourselves in public. Ninety-nine percent of Ecuadorians are kind, friendly and helpful. Like everywhere, it is that small percentage of disenfranchised people that cause the problems you must be aware of to prevent petty crime.

Doctors, hospitals and pharmacies

2010-01-16T13:16:00.002-05:00

We have been quite pleased with the quality of health care we have encountered here in Cuenca. As we mentioned before, there are three major private hospitals, Santa Ines, Monte Sinai, and Hospital Del Rio (a new teaching hospital run by a US conglomerate). The hospitals are clean, have modern equipment and are staffed by unusually caring personnel (something we seldom encountered in the US). Next to the hospitals are the Consultorios, or office buildings where the doctors have offices and see patients. Many speak English and, if you have an English speaking doctor, he or she will often take you to a Spanish speaking referral and translate for you. It is also not unusual for a doctor to make a house call. How many of us can remember that happening? There are a number of public hospitals where military families, Social Security patients or anyone with a cedula can be treated at little or no cost. They are a lot less desirable as they are not especially clean and are extremely crowded. A patient must go to the hospital at four in the morning to get an appointment to see a doctor or be admitted except in an emergency. Almost all the expats we know use private hospitals and have been quite pleased with the quality of service. Health care is inexpensive compared to the US and Europe and, we have heard, compares favorably with Canadian costs. Health care plans are expensive and are notorious in not paying claims. Most expats choose to self-insure and use a pay-as-you-go system. Pharmacies are all over town with a few chains like Fybeca, the largest. Many of the over the counter prescriptions and brands of cosmetics, dental, shaving, and other items you are accustomed to are available. But there are a few that are limited. Cold medications are few and far between possibly because we seldom get colds. The steady weather conditions rather than the changing seasons up North, may be why. There are vitamins but only a few like C, Ginko and other herbal types but, unusually, not B12 complex or minerals. Aspirin only comes in 500 and 100 mg sizes. Most medications other than narcotics can be obtained at the pharmacies without a prescription. The pharmacists are excellent in advising what to take if you describe your symptoms. There is usually a generic available if they do not have your exact medication. Bring an empty bottle so they can see the exact ingredients. Magazines for sale in the pharmacies are all sealed in plastic possibly to prevent you from reading them and not buying. The pharmacies are small compared to CVS or Walgreens but are adequate in most departments. Dental care is inexpensive compared with North America and often up to US standards. When you sum it all up, the quality of health care, the cost and ready accessibility of medical help in the city of Cuenca, plus the availability of an enormous variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, makes good health something to look forward to here in the mountains of Ecuador.

Mild weather, absolutely

2010-01-14T10:33:00.000-05:00

One of the major cost and quality of life advantages to living in Cuenca is the constant mild weather which has a huge impact on everything from cost of living, to clothing, to the lack of bugs. On the cost front, because the weather is almost a year round 60 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit with nights going down into the 50’s, homes and buildings are built without heating units or air conditioning. Initially, we could not believe it when we were shown houses and apartments without them. Back in North Carolina, our monthly costs for heating and air conditioning ran an average of $300 a month. Plus, there were continual repair issues with recharging air conditioners, rusting out and replacement costs because of the salt air by the ocean, and huge spikes in cost every time we got a delivery of propane. Because of the mild weather here in Cuenca, this $300 monthly electric and propane utility cost has been reduced to about $30. New construction expenses are reduced considerably as there is no need to install the expensive ducting, piping, and electrical wiring plus the expense of installing heating and air conditioning units. Ductwork in our house or apartment doesn’t exist. There are no heating units or air conditioners. On the rare hot day, we just open the window and let the breeze blow through. Speaking of windows, there is no need for storm windows or screens. There is no reason for storm windows to keep out the cold. There is also no reason for screens to keep out insects. In the city, bugs like mosquitoes and flies are rare though there are a few. Fortunately, the mosquitoes at this altitude are not the variety that carries malaria. Worse case, their bite makes a little, itchy spot. At our house in the country, there are mosquitoes but still not enough to require screens. There are ants but, again, not like back in the states. We could not sit in the grass in North Carolina without being attacked by red ants that bit and caused little, itching sores. Here, you can sit in the grass without becoming a meal for the ants. Spiders are another story. While not a pest, they are prolific. Seems this climate is perfect for them. From tiny black spiders to huge CD sized tarantulas, you will find them everywhere but, again, they don’t bother you. As far as clothing goes, the mild weather means there is no need for seasonal changes of clothes. There is no need for parkas, heavy sweaters, boots, gloves, or scarves. A man’s day time outfit might be jeans, sneakers, sport shirts or t-shirts plus a sweater or light jacket at night. Some of our male friends wear shorts during the day. For women, casual attire is slacks, blouses with light jackets and low heeled shoes. Though few women wear skirts or dresses, they often wear high heel shoes which is amazing considering the flagstone sidewalks in Cuenca. To compensate for the constant change of weather during the day, most people wear multiple layers of light clothing. Of course, one of the most important effects the constant mild weather has on many people is the ability to plan ahead without considering the weather as a factor. You can bank on tomorrow or a month from tomorrow being the same as today. The only variable is when in the day, it will rain. The pattern is consistent, clouds in the morning turning to sunshine later, then clouding up in the afternoon with a possible rain shower, then clearing again toward dusk with cool, clear nights. Over and over, the weather follows this pattern with slight changes in the time of day that each event occurs. When you look at the cost savings in not having heating or air conditioning, and the fact that annoying pests are almost non-existent, that you always wear light clothing, and that day after day, the weather will be near perfect, Cuenca’s climate becomes a major factor in most people’s choice to live here.

Flowers in Winter

2010-01-12T11:03:00.000-05:00

It is probably not kind to rub it in when the US and Europe are having such a hard winter but, with your indulgence, we'd like to show you some photos of Winter in Cuenca. Today is January 12th and it is around 65 degrees and cloudy. Flowers are in bloom everywhere. Some we have seen before. Others are new to us but just as beautiful. If you know the names of the more unusual and would like to share them, we'd appreciate it.

This is a hedge growing on the wall next to our aprartment

Daisys never stop growing

This thick hedge grows on top of a wall and is absolutely impenetrable.

Flowering pink tree

Up close shot of the flowers on the pink tree

Another impenetrable hedge growing on a stone wall

Bottle flower?

You have to see this to believe it

Growing over a wall

Huge shrub or tree with enormous yellow flowers

These flowers are about 5 inches across

No flowers are more well known than the roses in Ecuador. $2 for 18 long stem roses at the flower markets.

There are times of the year when the trees are completely covered with these purple flowers and no leaves.

We have seen these in California but here they grow almost wild.

And the best for last.