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As I walk to and fro on the face of the earth, alone in those vast and desolate landscapes, the people, places and things I encounter shuffle the orderly deck of reality. They accomplish this by converting the abnormal into the norm. I move through the high paramos of...
By L.P. Wirth No matter how diligently you read public blogs, here are some insider scoops on unusual things and more than seven oddities in Panama that caught me off-guard. When we arrive in a new country as an expat, unexpected surprises may loom; oddities. Some...
By Eileen Brill-Wagner Colorful expression is one thing, but it's important to know what different colors symbolize in other cultures. When I think of the role that colors play in different cultures, I am reminded of an incident that occurred several years ago when I...
By Suzanne McGee As more Americans move to destinations farther flung than Florida and Arizona, they may find unexpected trouble in paradise. Two months ago, in the midst of a miserable, rainy east coast winter, my editor, at the end of her rope, gave in and bought a...
Purging my mind of the week's events, I prepared for travel as the weak, late-afternoon light ushered in the day’s end. The cool grass, greened by spring rains, invited me to rest my head among the verdant blades. The wind laid down, almost flat, stilling itself, it...
For many years I have believed there is systemic racism in the U.S. regarding our Black population. The needless deaths of Blacks at the hands of the police, the many detailed stories over the years about the day-after-day demeaning treatment that Blacks have always...
By Stephen Vargha Jazz survived the 1918 influenza pandemic and Cuenca resident Jim Gala is doing his best to help the genre make it through the 2020 pandemic. According to Gala, jazz faces other challenges including the fact that its late-nineteenth century...
By Román Vergara No country in the world is risk free for travelers or residents. But one Latin-American country seems to be an island of personal safety. Here are useful tips on how to visit or live safely in Costa Rica. You finally arrived in your host country....
We got our first storm in what seemed like forever the other day. It was well past due. The Southern Ecuadorian Andes rely on a steady diet of rain, but this season has been parched by the weather phenomenon known as La Niña. Many of the family farmers that we rely on...
Editor’s note: This is the sixth in an ongoing series that looks at how the Covid-19 pandemic is affecting the lives of Cuencanos and Cuenca expats. By Robert Bradley It has often been said that, in business, timing is everything. If you are ahead of the curve you are...
Christmas decorations are being strung over Calle Simon Bolivar. Storefront windows are all aglow, many with tiny twinkling lights. The chill of the evening is pushed aside by gas heaters, standing like fiery sentries and first editions of R2D2. Well dressed women and...
By Jeremiah Reardon Even under Covid-19 restrictions, how grateful to Cuenca are my wife Belinda and myself. With the Thanksgiving season upon us, I’d like to share moments of gratitude which we experienced the past year. By the middle of June, the city government had...
Slow travel provides an amazing way of truly getting to know a country. It is is a mindset, not an itinerary. Learn the inside scoop from a seasoned slow-traveler. Anything worth doing is worth doing slowly. ~ Mae West By Gwen Hyatt Friends ask me, “How do you stay in...
By Kristen Richard It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly when and where humans started to brew beer. That’s because it’s been an integral part of many cultures for thousands of years. Until recently, the earliest evidence of beer could be traced back 9,000 years ago to...
On December 10, 1869, Wyoming Territorial Governor John Allen Campbell, citing a “progression of understanding,” signed an act of the Territorial Legislature granting white women the right to vote, the first U.S. state or territory to grant suffrage to women. On...
It was still very dark outside as I lay on my pallet in the corner of the room. The sapos called incessantly. The ground was damp from early morning rains and that always causes them to be more vocal. I imagined they had gathered together to present me with their...
By Erin Colton-Enberg Whether you are ready to settle down and retire or recently graduated from college looking to start your adventure Medellin Colombia could just be the location you are looking for. Living in Medellin, Colombia Whether you are ready to settle down...
By John Keeble It is 3 a.m. and pitch black as we struggle up the first steep climb towards a dream – to summit the ice and snow peak of Volcán Carihuairazo a few kilometres from the mighty Chimborazo in Ecuador's volcanoes region. The night sky, before we turned on...
Editor’s note: This is the fifth in an ongoing series that looks at how the Covid-19 pandemic is affecting the lives of Cuencanos and Cuenca expats. By Robert Bradley and David Morrill Jeff Salz, a four-year resident of Cuenca, first visited South America in 1973 to...
Unlike news reporting, where timeliness and deadlines prevail, composing a weekly column requires diligent patience. Folks often offer vignettes, eager for me to quickly pluck and dissect the highlights into a story, but a written commentary is not something that can...
