David Morrill

They’re spooning in the park; Looking for that perfect word in a second language; And another Cuenca joke

September 6th, 2025

There was a lot of spooning going on in Parque de la Madre last Friday, at least from this reporter’s vantage point. In case you don’t know, spooning is when […]

Justice was swift and merciless in Colonial Cuenca; A hangman’s post and a humiliation cross stand testament to the city’s bloody past

July 31st, 2025

By David Morrill On September 10, 1783, Cuenca resident Melchor del Valle was convicted by the Spanish Royal Court of murdering his brother Sylvester. The sentence: “Two hundred lashes in […]

Gringo prices, viveza criolla, and how to survive economically in the Latin culture

July 24th, 2025

By Deke Castleman and Sylvan Hardy “Los precios gringos” or gringo pricing, also known as the “gringo gouge” and “gringo tax,” is a hot topic in virtually all Latin […]

Parque Calderón: For more than 400 years it’s been the heart and soul of Cuenca

June 21st, 2025

By Deke Castleman and David Morrill Most foreign visitors start their first tour of Cuenca at Parque Calderón and many expats pass through the park on a daily basis. Despite […]

The Saraguros maintain their independence and strong cultural ties to their Inca ancestors

June 18th, 2025

By David Morrill With the notable exception of the Otavalan craftspeople and merchants, no other indigenous Ecuadorian community has maintained its ethnic identity like the Saraguros. Centered around the town […]

Looking for cultural immersion that satisfies your appetite at the same time? Check out the mercados

May 26th, 2025

By David Morrill and Deke Castleman Where do Cuencanos and expats buy their food? Although Supermaxi, Coral, Super Aki and other modern supermarkets sell their share of fresh produce, meat […]

The howl of expat cheapskates in the Land of Cheap

May 13th, 2025

One of the more curious subspecies of expats is the small but noisy contingent that is utterly obsessed with the price of things; more specifically, they are obsessed with the […]

Cuenca’s Fanesca: Steeped in family tradition, you can only get the famous soup during Easter season

April 16th, 2025

Editor’s note: For those who want to sample Cuenca’s traditional Easter soup, the Cuenca Markets Directorate is sponsoring a “fanesca tour” of city markets on Wednesday, April 16. Soup will […]

An anthropologist studying the Amazonian head shrinking ritual gets more than he bargained for

August 10th, 2024

By Sylvan Hardy Until the Amazonian ritual of head shrinking disappeared in the early 1960s, almost any head was fair game for shrinking, including those of foreigners. The best-known case […]

The other Ecuador: If you find Cuenca culturally shocking, spend some time in the campo

July 10th, 2024

When we’re at our farm in Cañar Province, an hour-and-a-half drive north of Cuenca, I have my morning coffee beside the banana trees in the back yard. The neighbors can […]

Justice was swift and merciless in Colonial Cuenca; A hangman’s post and a humiliation cross stand testament to the city’s bloody past

August 1st, 2023

By David Morrill On September 10, 1783, Cuenca resident Melchor del Valle was convicted by the Spanish Royal Court of murdering his brother Sylvester. The sentence: “Two hundred lashes in […]

Guillermo Lasso in the crosshairs: Can he survive a second impeachment and another Conaie strike?

February 26th, 2023

With the tides of political fortune running inexorably against him, the conventional wisdom is that President Guillermo Lasso’s days in office are numbered. But exactly how his days will end […]