Posts:
When I first came to Cuenca, I made the mistake of asking people what the summers were like. The puzzled looks I got were almost as sharp as when I once asked a taxi driver if he’d ever considered raising his fares. “Summer?” they said, as if I’d asked what they...
It’s one of those mild Cuenca afternoons when the rain has decided to wait politely in the wings. I mount the back seat of a Hyundai Creta, one of those compact SUVs that tries to look muscular, but still has the heart and soul of a weak and feeble hatchback. My...
AMERICAN CITIZEN SERVICES IN THE CITY OF CUENCA August 28 and 29, 2025 The U.S. Consulate General in Guayaquil is pleased to announce that representatives from the Consulate will provide notarial, passport and CRBA services in Cuenca on August 28 and 29, 2025....
By Jeff Van Pelt Rowan Beckett sat in the same seat every morning — the wobbly plastic chair in front of Panadería San José, the one with the crack in the backrest. He didn’t come for the coffee (burnt, watery) or the bread (too sweet, no crust worth a damn). He came...
Grief doesn’t wait for the right time. It doesn’t care if you’ve just started over in a new country, finally found your rhythm, or settled into the life you worked hard to create. It arrives uninvited - through a late-night message, an unexpected call, or a silence...
In England in the early 1960s, my parents were fiercely loyal to Sainsbury’s pork sausages. This was before Sainsbury's was a supermarket, and you had to get in line at each counter. They swore they had “a bit of extra taste,” and for all I know, they were right....
If you're an experienced professional over 50 and living abroad - or thinking about it - you’ve probably noticed how much the world of work is changing. Maybe you're retired, semi-retired, or just feeling left behind by AI automation and youth-focused hiring. But...
By Louisa Rogers A year ago, a friend hiked the Quilotoa Loop, a three-day high-elevation trek in the Ecuadorian Andes. It's a challenging trek culminating at 13,000 feet on the rim of a crater lake located three hours south of Quito. Despite its name, it's not a...
I’ve come to accept that in the United States, you're not really being served — you're being legally managed. That might sound cynical, but after trying to arrange a simple international flight for two girls — one thirteen, one seventeen — it’s hard to come to any...
In the summer of ‘69 my younger brother Francis and I arrived in Tucson after a cross-country trip from Philadelphia. In the annals of American history, that summer characterized youthful experimentation with alternative lifestyles. “Peace!” greeted friends and...
When I was younger, I used to spring out of bed. Now, it’s more like a slow heave — my knees and hips protesting as I release a middle-aged groan. But I’ve gotten some relief by stretching for five minutes each morning. I picked this tip up from Dr. Gbolahan...
They used to say Bermuda is another world. That was the slogan. It sounded idyllic, and for a time, it wasn’t wrong. Bermuda is a small archipelago out in the north Atlantic which became immensely popular with wealthy Americans in the 1920s and 1930s — not just for...
By Jim Smith If you’ve relocated to another country later in life -- whether to escape political stress, stretch a retirement budget, or start fresh -- you’ve probably discovered something no one talks about enough. It’s not just the paperwork, visas, or new languages...
I walked into an cell phone store with an impressive window display in Cuenca a few weeks ago and asked if they had any phones that supported eSIM. The man behind the counter blinked slowly, as if I’d just asked whether they had unicorns in stock. After a moment, he...
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 American expat communities. Even in the times of the coronavirus, the subject can raise a stir. The...
By Karla Freeman I wrote Creating Magic in Midlife:101 questions and answers to navigate the terrain of finding and exploring new directions. Scary? Of course. But why not try? Dream, examine patterns, be open to magic. Using the easy to read two-page chapters in my...
Every so often, I stumble across a headline proclaiming that the self-driving car revolution is just around the corner. The latest promises usually involve fleets of autonomous taxis, seamlessly gliding through city streets while humans sit in the back praying...
By Mario Navas I’m Mario Navas, a data scientist currently working at Kriptos, a startup that uses artificial intelligence to classify and protect sensitive documents. I’ve been with the company for two years, focusing on research and development — designing and...
By Jeremiah Reardon IdiomART opened its doors at Mariscal Lamar 14-25 and Estevez de Toral three years ago. Conveniently located next to Tres de Noviembre Tranvia stop, the intercultural creative hub and event space is operated by Sarah Hanen Bauer. Many people from...
Dos días de tragicomedia - The tragic-comedy "Munay," interpreted by artists Jenny Ochoa and Sandra Llivisaca will be presented on July 16 & 17 at 20:00 in the Sala "Alfonso Carrasco" in the Casa de la Cultura (Luis Cordero 7-22, 2nd floor). The work combines...
