Posts:
One of the small advantages of riding in the front seat of a Cuenca taxi, apart from the superior view of traffic misdemeanors and roadside drama, is that the dashboard functions as an unexpectedly reliable indicator of financial evolution. Permits, guardian saints,...
There is a particular kind of sentence that should cause an adult to sit up straighter, reach for a pencil, and perhaps check that their wallet is still where they left it, and it almost always contains the word “guaranteed”. The Guardian recently ran a sobering piece...
This does not happen only in Cuenca. It shows up wherever expats stay long enough for daily life to become normal. After the city stops being a stage and days stop organizing themselves, many expats lean more heavily on familiar routines. They return to the same...
There are many kinds of religion, and not all of them involve a deity, a pulpit, or the smell of furniture polish on wooden pews. Some arrive through a transistor radio held to the ear beneath bedclothes, some through a jukebox glowing in the corner of a youth club,...
A number of CHL commenters seem to be under the impression that Cuenca has no zoning at all. That belief is understandable if your reference point is the North American planning system, but it is still wrong. Cuenca does have zoning, planning permission, and land use...
There are certain books that follow you through life like polite but persistent relatives. They appear at school, on reading lists, in quiz shows, and in newspaper columns. They are waved around as proof that someone is “well read,” usually by people who have not...
This is not something that happens only in Cuenca. It shows up in almost every place where expats settle long enough for life to become ordinary. After the first six months or so, the city you chose stops doing some of the work for you. The early structure provided by...
Traffic, like cholesterol, causes blockages and is rarely discussed thoughtfully, being treated instead as a sudden affliction brought on by strangers or too many recent arrivals. We complain about it as if it arrived yesterday, when in fact traffic is a long-term...
Charlie Larga first heard the Beatles properly on a sunny afternoon on a cricket field when he was twelve, with blue skies overhead and the thin white vapour trails of Pan Am jets crossing and recrossing on their northern routes to America, drawing temporary...
By Randall Morrison Regardless of what country you move to, you'll face problems and challenges that expats face the world-over. On the other hand, there are problems that are specific to the country, some of which are deadly serious. Moving abroad is a huge decision,...
Somewhere in Florida, a budget spreadsheet stated that $2.32 a day was enough to feed a grown adult 2,800 calories daily in 2023. Three meals every day for a fixed menu with choices ruled out, and this is not some kind of joke. It is a real number attached to real...
For most newcomers, the first months in Cuenca feel unusually vivid. The historic center looks like a postcard. The churches feel monumental. Every walk around Parque Calderón feels intentional, as if you are participating in something meaningful simply by being...
By Jackson Holtz Mindfulness meditation is a stress-management practice with ancient lineage that cultivates nonjudgmental awareness of the present moment, often by directing attention to the physical sensations of breathing. Initially inspired by centuries-old...
Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read, disagree, agree, and comment. Charlie Larga and the staff here at Larga Towers appreciate the range of views here, even when they are sharply opposed. One point I would like to clarify is this: for roughly twenty...
There is a profound question that occasionally occurs to me while walking to buy bread, not metaphorical bread or lifestyle bread, but actual warm edible bread within five minutes of the front gates of Larga Towers, bought with small change and carried home in a paper...
Cuenca is one of the few places left where modern life and old life still share the same room without arguing, so you can be sitting in a kitchen with a plastic dish rack, a two-burner stove, and a refrigerator that looks as if it was purchased shortly after the first...
This series was never really about cafes, routines, or where people spend their afternoons. Those were simply the visible signs. What it explored instead was what happens after the early excitement of expat life quietly fades. When Familiarity Replaces Novelty Many...
by Mark A. Mahoney, Ph.D., R.D.N. A past column a couple years ago spoke to the importance of some basic lifestyle suggestions for improving one’s quality of life. As we transition into 2026 it is important to reiterate many of the suggestions from the past which...
By Jolene Wilson-Glah Behind an inconspicuous green door on a quiet street just outside el Centro lies a refuge few people know about — but which saves lives every day. In a city where nine out of ten women experience some form of gender-based violence, whether...
By Sylvan Hardy Over the years, I've heard from dozens of prospective North Americans who tell me about the dream home they hope to find in Ecuador. A man from Georgia asked what he would pay for a house with a detached garage with an apartment above, set in the...
