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Meredith Wheeler’s Barack Obama is wrinkled and a bit tattered; it sags at the knees. She and her colleagues with Democrats Abroad in Toulouse, France, have lugged their smiling cardboard likeness to so many events that they have finally had to order a new one....
Although it's been called the "Gringo invasion” in newspaper, magazine and website articles, Cuenca´s influx of English-speaking foreign residents hardly represents the action of conquering hordes. There is, however, no denying the city's...
The Tungurahua volcano, 120 miles north of Cuenca, has flared to life, dusting nearby villages and farms with ash and prompting warnings from the country’s Emergency Operations Committee. On Saturday, the committee raised the threat level from yellow to orange,...
A major fire in the heart of Cuenca’s historic district late Wednesday night destroyed part of Seminary San Luis and an adjacent chapel. The fire is being blamed on falling debris from a nearby fireworks show, according to fire department officials. The...
By Susan Schenck Q: What do you offer the community here in your practice? A: I offer hypnotherapy, qigong, and meditation. My office space is above the Nectar vegetarian restaurant. I have also had a longstanding interest in alternative health and medicinal products,...
Reconstruction work at the Ordoñez Lasso and Av. Las Americas intersection is 89% complete and, according to the provincial public works office, the project will be delivered ahead of the November deadline. Ivan Sempértegui, Deputy Minister of...
The new speeding law that went into effect July 25 has resulted in 139 arrests in Cuenca and has landed 18 drivers in jail through the end of the month. The law, which is enforced with radar and computerized photographic equipment, penalizes all speeders with fines...
The agricultural output of Uruguay includes rice, soybeans and wheat. Soon, though, the government may get its hands dirty with a far more complicated crop — marijuana — as part of a rising movement in this region to create alternatives to the United...
By Edd Staton It's not like Cuenca is lacking for almuerzo choices. Full lunches can be found all over town from $1.75 to $5.50. So why did Sofia Rosero decide to open a restaurant with so much stiff competition? "I've run restaurants before and I...
Editor's note: This is first in continuing series of interviews with Cuenca expats. By Susan Schenck SS: TC, My tarot card reading with you was amazing. You told me things that were happening in my life and about who I am that couldn’t have come from the...
According to a former official of Ecuador’s Banco Central, last week’s run on a large financial cooperative in Cuenca should serve as a cautionary tale for those who deposit money with the country’s financial cooperatives. Based, apparently, on a...
By Susan Schenck When my husband and I came to Cuenca a couple of years ago, though we did not know it at the time, we met one of Southern Ecuador´s most intriguing residents. Humberto Chica, along with his wife, owns and operates Cabañas Yanuncay, a...
Cuenca airport and business officials are worried about the affect Quito´s new international airport, scheduled to open in October, will have on local air service. The new airport, located 20 kilometers east of downtown Quito, near Tababela, will be one of the...
Life just got easier for Cuenca's English-speaking foreigners. According to its director, Ana Lucía Serrano, Cuenca's new immigration office means that foreigners will no longer need to travel to Quito to conduct their visa business. It also means...
Ecuador customs officials announced Saturday that they would delay enforcing new rules for the importation of cell phones until details of the new plan have been worked out. The new restrictions, adopted June 15, impose import limits and new taxes on dozens of...
Relocating school-age children to a new country, especially one with a different language, is the biggest challenge confronting most expat parents. "It's a huge decision and one that any parent needs to think hard about," says John O'Neil, father of...
New government taxes and restrictions on imports will mean higher prices on some items at the check-out counter and leaders of Ecuador´s major business organizations are cyring foul. The measures announced June 15 by the government´s Committee of Foreign...
According to local builders and real estate agents, more Cuencanos are buying apartments than ever before. Cuenca Chamber of Construction president, Diego Monsalve, says the trend is an indication that people are eager to simplify their lives by avoiding the upkeep...
Sacagawea, make room for the U.S. Presidents and Susan B. Anthony. Thanks to the United States mint, Ecuadoreans will soon be using dollar coins bearing the likenesses of 20 U.S. Presidents as well as civil rights pioneer Susan B. Anthony. Distribution of the new...
By Ellen Creager This is one rain forest the world may have saved. After donors around the globe pledged $116 million by the December 2011 deadline to prevent oil drilling in the biologically fragile Yasuni National Park, the Ecuadorian government agreed to leave it...
