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By Adam Popescu; Photos by Todd Heisler In the Galápagos Islands, a fragile archipelago off the coast of Ecuador, everyone seems to know Alicia Ayala. “They call me the queen of Airbnb,” she said after greeting diners with kisses and selfies at 1835, a restaurant...
I first heard the phrase Alligator Alcatraz over a cup of instant coffee in Cuenca. To me it sounded like one of those old Florida roadside attractions, the kind with faded billboards on Highway 41 between Naples and Miami promising “See Live Gators, Only $1.” I...
By Ann Babe Increasingly over the past decade, Westerners have flocked to the Amazon for a taste of the region’s most notorious elixir: ayahuasca. In the jungle, the plant mixture is the “vine of the soul” or the “vine of the dead,” depending on who you ask. In the...
Ecuadorians have long enjoyed a curious reputation on the internet. Not for their cuisine, not for their volcanoes, not even for their footballers. No, the claim that keeps resurfacing is that Ecuadorian men are the most generously endowed in the world. Charts...
Bored? "Carteles para la Cultura" en Museo Universitario - The exhibit, "Carteles para la Cultura" (Posters for Culture) by designer Pablo Iturralde opened at the Museo Universitario of the U. of Cuenca. The designer collected an anthology of posters created since...
By Isabelle Knevett It's nice to think that as a society we are continually learning and getting smarter as the years go on. But what if science is actually showing us the opposite – that we're getting stupider? According to a recent Financial Times article, various...
By Karla Freeman Have you noticed that everything you do, say, think, feel, eat, drink, and breathe effects your energy? When I left Santa Barbara and a successful professional life as a trauma therapist, I was burnt out. Why? I had gotten into habits that depleted my...
A digital nomad, for those still thumbing through the dictionary, is a person who can do their job and earn money from anywhere in the world as long as they have a computer and an internet connection. Countries across the globe now woo them with special visas Click...
U.S. author and musician Daniel Handler once said, “Anyone who gives you a cinnamon roll fresh out of the oven is a friend for life.” Handler was talking about the comforting, sweet pastry that has evolved from Swedish traditions into a widely enjoyed treat worldwide....
There was a lot of spooning going on in Parque de la Madre last Friday, at least from this reporter’s vantage point. In case you don’t know, spooning is when a guy snuggles up behind a women, his crotch to her butt, fully clothed (otherwise, it’s called something...
I always get my hair cut at Feria Libre. Not because I’m faithful to one barber. In fact I never sit in the same chair twice, and, without exception, it’s always a woman doing the cutting. The stalls all trumpet “Unisex Service,” though in practice that seems to mean...
Renting in Cuenca is a bit like dating; you have to decide whether you want someone who comes with baggage or someone who expects you to bring all the baggage yourself. Furnished apartments are the quick-and-easy choice. You can walk in with a suitcase, flop down on...
By Karla Freeman I wrote Creating Magic in Midlife before I had the life I have now living in Ecuador. I always wanted to live internationally. I worked as a trauma therapist but retired from that profession. I asked myself what can give my life meaning? The answer is...
Ecuador's Deposit Insurance Corporation (Cosede) will begin issuing payments to CREA cooperative account holders Friday following the conclusion of the liquidation process conducted by the Superintendent of Popular and Solidarity Economy (SEPS). Payments of up to...
For most of my life I suspected that old people were up to something. They had a club, a code, perhaps even a ritual handshake. As a teenager I caught glimpses: my grandmother, who occasionally offered solemn homilies about patience or thrift, but never once mentioned...
By Garry Vatcher Thrift Shops. We love them and we hate them. Growing up in my small Newfoundland town, I didn’t have much exposure to thrift shops. In bigger towns, they were seen as places for those with limited resources — not somewhere people would shop if they...
Servicios Postales del Ecuador (SPE E.P.) in cooperation with the American Citizen Services unit of the U.S. Embassy wants to connect with U.S. expats who have undelivered mail. Servicios Postales is holding thousands of undeliverable packages and letters in its Quito...
By Scott Levine Gone With the Wind (GWTW) is firmly enshrined in American cinematic history. It won a then-record 10 Oscars in 1940 (including best picture, best director, best actress, and best supporting actress), and the American Film Institute ranks it the #4...
Three thrones grace my palatial apartment, each with its own operating procedures and temperamental flaws. One of them is turned off most of the time and only fired up for special ceremonial occasions or visitors. In Spanish they are called inodoros, though the word...
By Rae Witte You might not think much about your shoes when running errands—dropping the kids off, picking up groceries, swinging by the pharmacy. But the footwear you choose for these everyday moments could be shaping your health more than you realize. Ill-fitting...
Week of September 20
Ecuador turns to industrial power cuts to protect Mazar and keep homes from going dark.
Ecuador raises its 2026 growth forecast, but El Niño could spoil the outlook next year.
Cuenca retirees challenge medical and therapy changes at IESS senior center.
