Posts:
Spend enough time in Cuenca’s cafés and you start to notice something subtle. The room is full, yet the tables rarely mix. Older expats often sit with people who arrived around the same time, share similar routines, and meet at familiar hours. Younger expats are...
By Rachel Fairbank Even if you are a long-time smoker, there are some surprising, and even immediate, benefits to quitting. Every year, half a million Americans die from smoking-related causes, while an estimated 16 million Americans are living with smoking-related...
Ecuador tops all Latin America countries for the highest rate of digital piracy, according to the internet monitoring company Origin. The company’s survey found that 65% of Ecuadorian households with fixed internet service access pirated content. According to Origin,...
By Jill Lawless The United States carried out a lightning military strike on Venezuela early Saturday, capturing President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and spiriting them out of the country. American officials say the pair will face narco-terrorism...
Feliz Año Nuevo a todos y espero que el año empazó con bendiciones para todos ustedes. Curious? - (From El Mercurio del miércoles, 31/12/2025) Ultiman tasa en pago de agua (Rate finalized in water bill) - La Empresa Municipal de Aseo de Cuenca (EMAC EP - the city...
Someone once asked me how long it takes for a package to be shipped from Temu in China to Cuenca, and the question simply is not that easy as it involves multiple actors, customs clearance in Quito, and taking into account factors like days of the week and public...
By Anthony Peregrine Across the road and up a path from our house you come to the edge of a small cliff. Below, the plain runs away to the Cévennes hills. When we arrived here 35 years ago, the plain was blanketed entirely in vines. Acres and acres of them. These...
One of the most satisfying parts of the "Ecuadorian math" for retirees is seeing the monthly utility folder. For many North Americans used to $300 heating bills or $150 internet packages, the Andean cost of basic services feels like a time machine to a much more...
By Liam Higgins An immigration researcher says Cuenca’s population of North American and European expats is growing again. “The numbers were steady for several years despite the bad news about crime on the coast, but they began to increase in late 2024 and this...
By Sanjay Mishra You know the feeling. You slurp that diet soda relishing the sweet taste without the guilt or calories associated with sugar. But a new study suggests that these artificial sweeteners may not be as harmless as once thought; they may even increase the...
Transitioning your financial life to Ecuador is one of the final "big steps" in the expat journey. While you can certainly live off a foreign debit card for a while, having a local bank account is essential for paying utilities, securing a residency visa, and...
Cuencanos celebrated the new year Wednesday night with concerts, fireworks, the burning of año viejo monigotes and plenty of holiday drink. The largest party was at Parque Calderon where celebrants were treated to musical performances on the big stage in front of the...
There was a restaurant I used to love in the historic center. It lived inside an elegant old hotel that seemed to have more character than customers. The dining room had tall ceilings, dark beams, polished wood floors, elegant skylights, and the confidence of a place...
By Barney Jopson Criminal drug gangs have become a grave threat to European security by flooding the streets with South American cocaine, seeking to corrupt officials and hiring a new wave of paid assassins, according to the EU’s drugs agency. Due to financial crises,...
For anyone looking to turn a visit to Cuenca into a permanent stay, the first hurdle is rarely the language or the altitude—it is the paperwork. Ecuador’s visa landscape is currently undergoing a period of transition as income requirements and legal frameworks are...
Cuenca municipal council voted Monday night to hike the public bus fare from 30 cents to 40 cents, with the city subsidizing the entire increase. It is unclear, however, if bus owners will accept the plan. The subsidy, which will increase the current bus subsidy from...
Ecuador will end 2025 with the highest murder rate in its history. The total will be above 9,000 and could approach 10,000, the Attorney General’s office says. As of November 30, 10,630 murders had been recorded in the country. The murders will easily exceed the 8,237...
The day before Cuenca’s famous Pase del Niño parade my wife Belinda and I ran errands in our suburban neighborhood. We live to the south of the Tomebamba River which divides the city’s historic district to the north from the south’s more modern construction. The hot...
By Gretchen Reynolds Maria Branyas Morera’s life was simple. She enjoyed yogurt, gardening, sleep, books, walks, friends, playing the piano and dogs. But her lifespan was remarkable — and also inscrutable. When she died last year, aged 117 and still in relatively good...
One of the most frequent questions for expats moving to Ecuador—aside from where to find the best cup of coffee—is how to navigate the healthcare system. Since health insurance is now a legal requirement for residency visas, the decision is no longer just about "if,"...
