What’s familiar and what’s hard to find

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. 

DVD Stores

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. 

The Mall

One of the questions many prospective visitors and newcomers ask is “where are the malls?” The blunt answer is that there is one called Mall del Rio that is along the Autopista in the South East corner of Cuenca. It is a short taxi or bus ride. While not quite as slick as most North American malls, it has almost everything you might be accustomed to. Anchored on one end by the huge Wallmart-like “Coral”, which is nicknamed “the plastic store,” the mall has about 100 shops on two floors.  At the other end is a truly American style movie complex that shows movies in English. A ride-aboard train for the kids winds its way around the first floor among kiosks selling telephones, ice cream, Fossil hand bags, etc. etc.  A huge Christmas tree and a bubbling fountain are presently in the center. There are numerous shoe stores (Pay-less is very expensive – figure that out), clothing stores, Porta and Movistar telephone and internet shops, music stores, computer stores, electronic stores, home décor shops, an athletic clothing store, and much, much more. On the second floor, there is a huge entertainment complex and a food court and many more stores. Local restaurants have outlets there, even the ubiquitous KFC restaurant.  Interestingly, there is a very upscale restaurant tucked away in the corner.  Sunday is the wrong day to visit as almost all of Cuenca seems to be there shopping and it is very crowded especially at Coral. Many of the shops are merely outlets of their parent store in the city but we find ourselves going to the mall where most of our shopping can be done in one place rather than all over town. The only other “mall-like” complexes around town are those that surround the Supermaxi food stores of which there are three. Outside of each Supermaxi there are many small boutiques, barber shops, shoe stores, furniture stores, etc. At one, there is a very upscale department store called Sukasa. At another is our major hardware store, Kywi. So, a shopping trip to Supermaxi usually requires side visits to get a haircut or pick up new shoes for Jonny, or some other item on the perpetual “need to get” list. And, of course, while not a mall, the huge Mercado’s are the essence of the concept of a mall.

At the largest Mercado (there are at least three major Mercado’s in Cuenca and more in the neighboring towns), it would not be doing it justice to say that there are 500 food, clothing, knickknacks, or live animal stalls. There may be more but there is no way of knowing as the aisles and lanes wander endlessly. As you can see, shopping in Cuenca is part of our lifestyle, and we have just barely scratched the surface. Every day, someone tells us of the best store for this or the store with the best selection of that. Even so, shopping at the Del Rio Mall in Cuenca on a Sunday is an experience you will not forget.

Shopping in Cuenca

Everyone moving to Ecuador faces the same question. “What should we bring?” There is no way to know ahead of time what you might need that can or cannot be purchased here or what item will be much more expensive than in the US. We made a huge mistake selling many of our valued possessions before we came yet we shipped a 40’ container with our best items. Furniture can be hand made by many shops that only need a photo of the piece you want and the fabric you wish to cover it with. There are a number of small computer stores where you can buy Toshiba laptops, generic desktops and most accessories. Electronic stores are all over town but have a limited selection. For instance TV’s are LG, Samsung, Sony and some off brands. Clothing is another story. There are many small women’s clothing stores with very upscale merchandise but there will only be a selection of one or two of each item so size becomes an issue. If you see something that you like and it fits, buy it now as it will not be there next week. Girls children’s clothes are quite easy to find but there is little available for boys. Many Expatriates with children have clothing brought here when friends visit from the US. But there are many extremely interesting stores. Panama hats are made here not in Panama and the stores are fascinating. There is a copper shop on a long hill up into town where two men sit in an old stone doorway and pound copper with hammers into pots, pans and all sorts of interesting stuff. A little further up, in another hole in the wall, there is a one man barber shop, filled with people waiting as the barber shaves Indians faces with a long straight razor. There must be 150 wide stone steps up the hill to town. Most of the locals stride right up but we take a couple of breaks on the way pretending to look out over the town at the view as we catch our breath. Remember, Cuenca is at about 8000 feet above sea level. Once in the old part of town, there are no really big stores except for the huge Indian mercados filled with fruits, vegetables, meat and live animals.

But everywhere, up and down the streets, there are room size store fronts usually with an eclectic mix of things for sale. One store will sell mattresses, the next handmade furniture, the next might be a minimarket, the next a DVD store selling pirated DVD’s for $1.50 each, the next a woman cooking rice and chicken in a big pot and serving it at two tables in plastic bowls with a spoon. Then the next block will be a repeat of the same type of stores. On and on it goes for block after block interspersed with these Mom and Pop stores which is how most people here make their living. We have one huge mall called Mall Del Rio that has almost everything you could ask for including a large Wallmart-like store called Coral and a movie complex. By the way, almost all movies on TV are in English with Spanish subtitles. If you have Direct TV at home as we do, and if the program happens to be in Spanish there is a little yellow button on the remote that switches the spoken language from Spanish to English.