Blog
by Anne Carr Recently, a student from L.A., here in Cuenca to study for a few months, and I carried out a series of interviews with extranjeros (foreigners), mostly jubilados (retirees), and Cuencanos. The intent of the interviews was to identify some of the adaptations expats and locals have to undergo as the cultures integrate. Questions...
The Miami Herald International Edition has announced plans to increase news coverage in Cuenca and southern Ecuador. The newspaper also plans a home-delivery subscription drive, targeting Cuenca´s English-speaking expat population. Owned and operated by Herald International Media Group, the Miami Herald International Edition is managed and distributed in Ecuador by Quito-based Grupo Hoy, publisher of Ecuador´s...
The mounds of reeking garbage on the edge of this settlement 600 miles off Ecuador’s Pacific coast are proof that one species is thriving on the fragile archipelago whose unique wildlife inspired Darwin’s theory of evolution: man. Tiny gray finches, descendants of birds that were crucial to his thesis, flutter around the dump, which serves...
On a recent day, the man known in Ecuador as the Gringo Chief wore a traditional black smock and a necklace strung with jaguar and wild boar's teeth, perfectly suitable for the Cofan Indian ceremony marking the acquisition of yet another slice of rain forest. With his fellow Cofan listening, Randy Borman gave a speech...
by Anne Carr and Monica Aguilar Sizer Here we are in Cuenca — visas, residency, property, and all! Most of us researched Ecuador extensively before we came to visit, then arranged our return to stay long-term here. Almost everything is perfect about Cuenca: climate, cost of living, relative safety if we are thoughtful about our...
As Latin American economies strengthen and incomes rise, the behavior of Latin American consumers is changing and so are their shopping habits. “Consumption becomes very important as a signal that your family is moving up,’’ said Lovina McMurchy, general manager for Microsoft Latin America’s consumer and online division. “Latin Americans tend to be more status-driven."...
Photographs by Edd Staton Edd Staton (of the eddsaid blog) and I met for lunch at Carbón, the parillada (grill) at the Cuenca Hotel, centrally located on Presidente Borrero between Gran Colombia and Mariscal Lamar. Meeting at noon, we beat the downtown lunch crowd by an hour, so we had the place pretty much to...
Ecuador voters will vote on 10 constitutional reforms, including a bullfighting ban and measures that critics claim is an attack on the free press. Two recent polls predict that voters will approve all the proposed reforms. The top issue on the ballot, however, involves restructuring Ecuador´s judicial system. If voters approve, a five-member council with...
[Editor's note: An exposition of the work of Cuenca cermacist Eduardo Segovia opens tonight at Larrazabal Gallery on San Sebastian Plaza and continues through mid-May. The show features new work by the artist and is titled "Compositions Between Black and Grey."] As a child, clay got Eduardo Segovia into trouble but later helped to support his...
Mixx isn’t merely a new ice cream shop in a city and country full of ice cream shops. It’s a world-class operation, with a great location on Plaza de San Blas, state-of-the-art equipment, and flavors limited only by the raging imagination of the Canadian proprietor, Tom Carbone. Tom was a successful entrepreneur in Toronto, running...
It's a common topic of discussion around here in expat circles: What impact will the fate of the U.S. dollar have in Ecuador, which uses the U.S. dollar as its currency? Everyone seems to have a different idea about the future of the U.S. dollar in Ecuador. Some people point to evidence that price appreciation...
On Monday, Ecuadorian authorities delivered Colombian drug trafficker and an alleged leader of the criminal gang "La Cordillera," Jhon Jairo Vasco Lopez, to their Colombian counterparts. Vasco, alias "Nico," will be transferred to a courthouse in Bogota to answer questions relating to the alleged crimes of drug trafficking and multiple homicides he is said to...
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