Expat Life
By Stephen Vargha Cuenca is becoming a jazz lover’s paradise. But it was a desert for jazz not long ago. “Ten years ago, it was difficult to find jazz in this city,” said Christian Torres. “Cuencanos did not know what jazz was all about.” The 41-year-old Cuencano musician should know. Jim Gala, the American founder...
Are you interested in learning more about healthy farming practices in the Cuenca area? The Azuay provincial government is offering a free half-day tour for expats to a small farm west of Cuenca. The tour also includes a visit to Tienda Campesino in El Centro that sells products grown and produced in the province. The...
By Stephen Vargha A native of Cuenca turned what was once a vacant lot on the south end of Av. Fray Vicente Solano into a thriving weekend market for secondhand goods. “There were 65 families working in the streets before I bought the property,” said 72-year-old Jorge Pintado. “They all thanked me for helping them...
By Heather Kelly Too much screen time is something we usually associate with children and young people. We think of little kids watching hours of CoComelon on iPads, or teens who would rather be absorbed in video games or YouTube than talk about their day. But there is another demographic that is struggling with putting...
Editor’s note: This is Part 2 of a 3-part series, Conscious Living. So we ended the first segment of this series with the question: “Is it true?” Is it true that Claus Schwab, World Economic Forum and The Great Reset are representatives of evil? Or is it possible that the universe, conspiring for our highest...
Editor’s note: This is Part 1 of a three-part series about Conscious Living. It is vital to begin by saying that each of us hears the “call for the master.” It is hard-wired into our genetic code. Now it is highly likely that this call is never answered, as our conditioning, our ego development, is...
By Stephen Vargha Ecuador has the oldest evidence of chocolate ever being used. And the country – especially Cuenca – has some of the youngest people making quality chocolates. Michael Blake, an archaeologist at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, and fellow archaeologist Francisco Valdez of the French Research Institute for Development in...
By Dr. Donald Smith So how do you reduce or eliminate problems before they happen when it comes to building or home improvement projects, now that you’re living in Ecuador. Consider it advice to expats who, on the one hand, seek high quality performance and value their time but, on the other hand, understand why...
By Stacey Colino As you gaze across the rows of brightly colored fruits and vegetables in the produce section of the grocery store, you may not be aware that the quantity of nutrients in these crops has been declining over the past 70 years. Mounting evidence from multiple scientific studies shows that many fruits, vegetables,...
Last week I boarded the bus from Loja to Vilcabamba during peak afternoon hours. It was crowded with weary commuters and students munching chatara. The aisle was free but the seats were jammed. I had a fifty minute ride ahead of me and was nursing a knee injury. I’ve never chosen to play the tercera edad (elderly)...
By Deke Castleman Heading southwest from Cuenca on the road to Machala and Loja, you leave the city behind fairly quickly and enter the ranch country of the Tarqui Valley, with cattle grazing on rich green grass and the Andes towering over everything. You pass a couple of dairy stores, such as Lacteos Compero, which...
Editor’s note: This is the second of a three-part series about a grassroots volunteer project in Cuenca to create the most modern and sustainable animal shelter in Ecuador and address the country’s pain of abused, abandoned and neglected street dogs. By Rosemary Rein The great news for the country’s animal welfare problem is FAAN has...
Dani News
Hogar Esperanza News
Amazon Eco Lodge News
Fund Grace News
The Cuenca Dispatch
Week of June 30
Constitutional Court Sets Criteria for Deportation of Foreigners Amid Migrant Rights Debate.
Ecuador’s Economy Grows 1.2% Despite Decline in Exports and Household Consumption.
Ecuador Appoints Cristian Espinosa as Ambassador to U.S., Bolstering Diplomatic Relations.
Happy Life
