Curb appeal from the inside: The Latin tradition of courtyards and private spaces
I recall almost every detail of my father’s ancestral home in Mendoza, in the wine country of northwestern Argentina. The layout, the tile, th...
Fernando Pagés Ruiz
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Fernando Pagés Ruiz immigrated to the United States, where he lived in Boulder, Colorado, until about three years ago when fate brought him to Ecuador with his new wife Martina. They now reside in Guayaquil. A longtime contributor to English and Spanish language consumer magazines, he’s also the author of two books for The Taunton Press.
I’m fluent in Spanish, but still had to learn the language of social communication
As a lifelong real estate developer, my career began on the job site as a carpenter, evolved through business education into...
A daunting challenge for gringos is converting archaic U.S. measurement systems to metric
They came upon me slowly, despacito, like a foreign language, pacito a pacito, one millimeter at a time. Although at...
Balmy winters, leafy legumes, coastal monkeys and other linguistic ambiguities in Ecuador
An English speaker has much to learn about the Spanish language when moving to Ecuador. But the foreign native Spanis...
Learn how to develop good hunches: Being lucky isn’t always an accident
You can learn to model lucky behaviors that will give you an edge in life, without resorting to astronomy or carrying a rabbit’s foot. It’s better ...
Thanksgiving for my Ecuadorian friends — served up with all trimmings
On Thursday morning we attended our exercise class in the park. One of our classmates had lived in the U.S., and we got to talking about Thanksgiving. She s...
Enjoying the beach life in Ecuador? Don’t sweat the details
Where I used to live, in the Midwestern United States, folks often had one room with rattan furniture, shells, and tiki lights to remind them of far-off paradises ...
Some like it close and noisy
By Fernando Pagés Ruiz Latinos are not afraid of close contact even with strangers There’s no “three foot” rule. Why waste the space? Same goes for sound. Why would you ...
A Shangri-La with less culture shock
Images of paradise often include white sand beaches, palms, breezes, and aqua blue waters. Perhaps not for those finding Shangri-La in the cool altitudes of Cuenca. Ye...
Buildings don’t need to last forever — impermanence is part of life and sometimes it just makes practical sense
By Fernando Pagés Ruiz In the U.S., people are very focused on durability. If something lasts for a long, long time, it’...
