Expat Life

By Sylvan Hardy Although it was an instant hit with University of Cuenca students, MeLatte Café in Esquina de las Artes has been discovered by only a handful of expats. MeLatte is the cornerstone of a project to revitalize Esquina de las Artes, an attractive...

Panama hats are showing up all over at this year’s Cannes film festival and many of them were made in Cuenca. Cuenca's Ortega Brothers, the world’s largest exporter of Panama hats, or sobreros de paja toquilla, as they are called in Ecuador, says it shipped several to...

By Karla Freeman I live with questions. Since I live to learn, I understand that questions are the raw material that lead to knowledge. My questions change daily. Before moving to Cuenca, I lived in Buenos Aires and I had very different sets of questions. Who were the...

By Sylvan Hardy It is a welcomed but often overlooked phenomenon on the Cuenca restaurant scene, and one that has transformed the experience of eating out over the past five or six years. It goes like this. Ecuadorians leave home, spend years working in U.S., Canadian...

By Viktoria Vidali Much has been written about the “expat experience,” often in bulleted or numbered prescriptions, but we humans are not programmable like computers,and even when following good and well-meaning advice, many of us are still unable to quell those...

By Wendy Jane Carrel Cuenca, aside from being a UNESCO Heritage Site with beautiful colonial buildings and a unique history, offers unexpected and pleasant surprises if you’ve lived here a while. What you’ve probably read or know is that this is a city of 600,000...

By Sylvan Hardy If the Shamuí restaurant, or Shamuico Espai Gastronomica as it is formally known, seems misplaced, you can blame it on a family migration to Spain two decades ago. Located in the proudly indigenous town of Saraguro, 70 miles south of Cuenca, Shamuí...

By Wendy Jane Carrel Moving to Ecuador? Already here and planning another move? Below are 12 housing recommendations with an eye to long-term health and safety no matter your age. These guidelines are not just Ecuador or Cuenca specific, but for wherever you choose to...

By Viktoria Vidali High-school and family reunions, alumni gatherings, birthdays, anniversaries, cultural holidays, or the chance meeting with an old friend—such are life events in which we retell stories and relive experiences we have in common. On these social...

By Susan Schenck Most people are aware that they need to cut back on sugar, or at least choose their poison carefully. Sugar is so bad for the health of the body and brain that nowadays, doctors are even calling Alzheimer’s “type 3 diabetes.” Unhealthful sugars...

British citizen James Jackson, 71, does not have the right to vote in his home country, a victim of a law preventing Britons from voting at home once they’ve lived out of the country for 15 years. The British law is not unique and other countries, including the U.S.,...

By Karla Freeman Now that you’re an expat, how do you plan a life in Cuenca? Do you try to do the same things you did in your home country? Or, do you understand the need to adapt? For some advice, let’s turn to Paul Simon’s 1975 song “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover,”...

By Wendy Jane Carrel From Paris to Muscat, and Guadalajara to Zanzibar, I’ve enjoyed finding my first meal of the day. When I visited Cuenca 20 years ago, and then again on my return three years ago, the choice was simple, either my place of lodging or other hotels....

By Viktoria Vidali Editor’s note: Viktoria Vidali has been a piano teacher, publisher, TV and documentary producer, photographer, and executive director of an environmental and educational nonprofit organization. Her first children’s book, Francisco and Gabriel’s Blue...

By Julie Freeman I had never heard of the term “part-time expat” until recently. In my mind, one would be either permanent expatriate … or not.  But it seems the “six-months / six-months” scenario is becoming quite accepted, and that the nomenclature is being commonly...

By Karla Freeman When I arrived in Cuenca and began scouting grocery stores, I walked around wondering, “Where is my Trader Joe’s? I miss getting everything I need in one familiar place.” These days, I go to my friends’ Yanni’s and Tonya’s and Ken’s take out, called...

by Larry Schunk This is a hidden gem that serves a terrific lunch buffet for just $3.75. Alma Bendita means Blessed Soul and I find this place a blessing indeed! The address below gets you to the front door. From there, you have to proceed down the hall and up the...

Editor's note: Karla Freeman, expat, traveler, tango dancer, writer, currently lives in Cuenca and is the author of Creating Magic in Midlife: 101 Questions and Answers to Reinvent Your Work, Relationships and Life! Available on Amazon Kindle and in Carolina’s...

Editor’s note: Viktoria Vidali has been a piano teacher, publisher, TV and documentary producer, photographer, and executive director of an environmental and educational nonprofit organization. Her first children’s book, Francisco and Gabriel’s Blue Moon Adventure, a...