Expat Life

Guillermo had never liked being told what to do. He only liked doing the telling. All who knew him knew this about him. If they didn’t, then they came to know his rage, as poisonous and swift as any Mamba bite. When he was little, his mamá had grated on him with her shrill voice...

On a recent Sunday I was on my usual walk along the Rio Tomebamba when I was stopped by three young people, characteristically nervous. Sure enough, they were college students wanting or, perhaps having to, interview a gringo for a class assignment. The young woman’s English seemed pretty good so I sat down on a...

By Robert Bradley Cuenca is a musical city. Within a five block radius of my home there are two saddlers, at least three cabinetmakers, a couple tailors, a few jewelers, a thriving farmers market, more bakeries than I can count and twice as many restaurants. People are busy cobbling shoes, repairing refrigerators and upgrading computers....

  Mario sells cotton candy in the streets of El Centro, Cuenca, just like his father had. The business had been one for poor men with poor families even then. Lately, things seemed to get even harder as the days and weeks wore on to months and years. No one in Mario’s family was wearing...

By Robert Bradley Riley was my trusted companion for sixteen years. He was a big dog, an Airedale Terrier, who sagged the scales at nearly one hundred pounds. He wasn’t real smart but he was real good looking. July 1st  is the anniversary of his passing. Calling Riley It does no good standing & yelling....

It had been dark in there for almost a year but I was used to it. I was almost six years old and my home in the dusty shed was lonely but tolerably comfortable. With a little straw on the floor and a sliver of sun creeping in under the door during the afternoons it...

Joint pain is a common symptom of a many of diseases. Osteoarthritis is joint inflammation that results from cartilage degeneration and could be caused by trauma, such as a sports injury, or from repetitive stress. Anyone from a barber to a pianist to a dancer can be at risk for osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is also known...

Photos and text by Robert Bradley What joy there is in watching kids. Goony and playful and sweet good times with friends. __________________

By Miriam Drake  As a professional artist, my career started with crayons and napkins and evolved into oil painting classes when I was 12. Our small Saturday morning studio group painted still-lifes and live models. I was the youngest in the class, and with the least amount of know-how. As I grew as a painter,...