If you are learning either Spanish or English as a second language, you have probably had the experience of “I am reading and writing it pretty well now, and my speech is even coming along, but when an Ecuadorian – or North American – starts talking to me at their normal pace, using vernacular, I...
Jeff Van Pelt

Varados: One couple’s struggle to return to Cuenca in the time of Covid-19
By Jeff Van Pelt I first wrote this article while confined to a hotel room in Quito 24/7, after being stranded in Argentina for 7 weeks. My emotions inevitably colored the message. It was titled “Exiled and Abandoned.” I decided not to publish it as it would have been controversial, and people are...
Is critical thinking a vanishing quality in the world?
By Jeff Van Pelt Common sense is not so common, to borrow a quote from Voltaire. Critical thinking, to use a more technical term, seems to be on the wane in the world. From Donald Trump’s lack of concern about, and failed response to, the coronavirus, to other governments’ heavy-handed, knee-jerk...
Argentina interrupted: Its beauty and pleasures, and then quarantine!
By Jeff Van Pelt I knew about Mendoza. Argentine wine country. I love good wine and had long been intrigued by the thought of a visit to Mendoza. But I had never heard of Salta. It is an old colonial city in the far north of Argentina, about the size of Cuenca, and like Cuenca it is situated in a...
The phantom hound: Making friends in the Blue Ridge Mountains
By Jeff Van Pelt I lost my German Shepherd, Klaus, at 11 years from a neurological disorder. Any dog owner knows that is like losing a child and a best friend at the same time. Klaus was my camping and cabin buddy in the mountains of Virginia (USA). The Blue Ridge Mountains are one of the jewels...
Make yourself a hard target for criminals
By Jeff Van Pelt People love to debate how much crime there is in their town, whether it is getting worse, and where it is the worst. A more profitable enterprise is to look at how to avoid being the target of crime wherever you are. The information in this article could save you from being the...
You have to be joking!
By Jeff Van Pelt “I love people who make me laugh. I honestly think it's the thing I like most – to laugh. It cures a multitude of ills. It's probably the most important thing in a person.” ― Audrey Hepburn “If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane.” ― Robert Frost “With mirth and laughter let...
Firsthand accounts of the situation in Venezuela
By Jeff Van Pelt On February 24, my wife and I attended a very moving presentation at Fishbon del Sur, given by a panel of 3 Venezuelan refugees, one a spinal surgeon now practicing at Monte Sinai Hospital here in Cuenca. Eight or ten refugees, who have opened three Venezuelan restaurants, sold...
Rebels, respect and the lack thereof
I was a rebel in high school. The year was 1970 and Virginia Beach had largely avoided the upheavals of the 1960s, but we were making up for lost time. We grew our hair long, wore tattered jeans with American flags sewn on the butt, and talked in lingo: a cool guy was a freak or a head. If you...
Faux Pas, Bloopers, and other embarrassing moments in Spanish
So, pene means penis in Spanish. Hold that in mind. I was volunteering for English conversation groups at a local university. The two young female students I was talking to asked me if I cooked. I said yes, I like to cook. They asked my favorite dishes to prepare. I said something like “pescado...