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Cuenca is one of the few places left where modern life and old life still share the same room without arguing, so you can be sitting in a kitchen with a plastic dish rack, a two-burner stove, and a refrigerator that looks as if it was purchased shortly after the first...
This series was never really about cafes, routines, or where people spend their afternoons. Those were simply the visible signs. What it explored instead was what happens after the early excitement of expat life quietly fades. When Familiarity Replaces Novelty Many...
by Mark A. Mahoney, Ph.D., R.D.N. A past column a couple years ago spoke to the importance of some basic lifestyle suggestions for improving one’s quality of life. As we transition into 2026 it is important to reiterate many of the suggestions from the past which...
By Jolene Wilson-Glah Behind an inconspicuous green door on a quiet street just outside el Centro lies a refuge few people know about — but which saves lives every day. In a city where nine out of ten women experience some form of gender-based violence, whether...
By Sylvan Hardy Over the years, I've heard from dozens of prospective North Americans who tell me about the dream home they hope to find in Ecuador. A man from Georgia asked what he would pay for a house with a detached garage with an apartment above, set in the...
By Steven Rigney I don't have a car in Cuenca. Don't want one. I find that this is a common sentiment among many expats. Undoubtedly, this has a good deal to do with the favorable economics of the public transportation system as well as its efficiency. But it also...
Executive Summary: This column has been released from Larga Towers for readers who are United States citizens. If you are not one, you may stop reading HERE to save your valuable time. For the rest of us, the strange truth is that you may owe no federal income tax at...
By Sylvan Hardy Almost every expat arriving in Ecuador has heard the pitch: You can hire a maid, gardener, or cook in Ecuador for a fraction of what you would pay in North America or Europe. This is true, although the cost has gone up in recent years. What you don’t...
It rarely looks dramatic. There is no farewell message. No public explanation. No final gathering. One day, someone simply stops showing up. They are still in Cuenca. You may see them at the market, on a side street, or passing through a familiar neighborhood. But...
Back in Florida I lived in a small county seat city where my monthly water bill could bring a grown man to the brink of despair. One hundred and fifty dollars for the privilege of washing dishes and clothing, taking a shower, and flushing a toilet. I often wondered if...
I wish that Sherlock Holmes was still alive — not that he ever was — because the fact is often stranger than fiction, and Holmes would surely have been called in to examine the case of the Nobel Necklace. The matter is this: Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina...
By Lauren Covino-Smith Before our family relocated to Barcelona to start our expat life, I would listen in awe to my husband share stories of other expat families. At the time, Tony worked in the Global Mobility industry and was responsible for coordinating the...
By Caitlin Flanagan I turned 60 last week, and I feel vaguely embarrassed about it, like I’ve somehow let myself go, like I’ve been bingeing on decades and wound up in this unappealing condition. Chances are, most of you haven’t crossed this border station yet, so...
There is a widely ignored truth about Ecuador, and it is not written into law or printed on any government website. This country does not run on procedures, institutions, or government stamps; it runs on WhatsApp. If you want food delivered, a taxi summoned, a plumber...
By Christine Clark "Don't swallow your gum, it'll take seven years for your stomach to digest!" "Ah, just pick it up off the floor — five second rule!" Most of us grew up with wives' tales such as these, and probably believed them. But, as we've gotten older and...
One of the things Cuenca does especially well is variety. Cafés here are not interchangeable. Each one attracts a slightly different mix of people, activities, and expectations, often without anyone saying a word. Knowing which café fits your rhythm makes all the...
Several readers have asked Charlie to comment further on imported packages and the pros and cons of various sources, so I have been peering again into the mysterious world of cross-border shopping from my desk here at Larga Towers in Cuenca. As many of you will...
Where are you from? I’m never quite sure how to answer this question. In my experience, North Americans tend to move around more than others, but rarely is anyone asking for my life’s story when they ask where I’m from. Do I respond with where I was born, where I grew...
There are moments in life when you stumble upon a solution so perfect, so economical, and so free of future regret that you briefly consider forming a religion, or at least telling a stranger about it in the supermarket queue. My most recent one arrived, as many...
After you start noticing the different tables in Cuenca, something else becomes harder to ignore. It is not just that people gather at different cafés or at different hours. It is that those tables often reflect very different assumptions about risk, visibility, and...
