Expat Life

In my previous column, I discussed the truth about how alcohol is metabolized (no, it doesn’t “turn into sugar”) and how to fix a hangover (prevention is a reliable strategy, “cures” not so much). Today’s column reviews some recent research about alcohol’s health benefits — or hazards. And for good measure, let’s discuss which alcoholic...

Hiking alone high in the Andean páramo amidst the knob and kettle formations of the Andes offers a unique sense of wildness. I don’t see footprints of domestic animals or the signs of the hand of man in many of the places I seek out. I always feel as if I could somehow time-warp into...

By Jonathan Look In 2011, at 50, I took early retirement from my job as an air traffic controller, left Texas and began traveling the world. Since then, with the exception of a few short visits back to see family, I’ve been hopping from bases as diverse as the Chiapas Highlands of Central Mexico to...

By Ray Horsley I’d like to share some Cuenca highlights, especially after my first post which was kind of negative about phone and internet problems. Others have written on the subject, but there are so many joys about this place for new arrivals I can’t help being drawn to share a few of my own...

My eye and I are ready for the surgery to remove the oil so I can once again have vision in both eyes. However, without mentioning it earlier, my doctor has decided to take a long overseas trip and if he does the surgery now, he won’t be available for the follow-up afterwards. So, I’ve...

Reporting on nutritional news is fraught with misinterpretation. One recent example was coffee. Headlines pronounced that drinking coffee prevents heart disease and stroke. Happily for those who dislike coffee, the study never suggested that people who don’t drink coffee are at higher risk. There could be some significant lifestyle factors that strengthen the association between...

Editor’s note: This article is co-authored by Dr. Rosa María Aguilar, a Mexican researcher, teacher, and expert on diabetes, and Ana Fernanda Sánchez, diabetes educator and clinical psychologist, and founder of the Los Fresnos Foundation, a non-profit social organization created by agreement of the Ecuadorian Ministry of Social Welfare in June 2002. Both attended the...