Posts:
I have been pondering this essay for quite some time, well before the current global crisis began. I have been living in paradise for the past 18 months, and I have witnessed quite an interesting phenomenon during this time. Those who have come to visit our eco resort...
It was late afternoon and a green-tinged storm of the nastiest type was brewing in the Southwest part of the Gulf. We were caught out. My lifelong friend was at the helm. Captain John Holbrook Hardy III held the little 28’ Mako 254 steady on a zig-zag track through...
Two of the world's top infectious disease experts presented a sobering look at the battle still to come against Covid-19. Their message, conveyed during a recent CNBC event, was encapsulated in related views on how much of a difference a coronavirus vaccine can make...
By Miriam Drake During your residency in Cuenca, there will be times when you are sick for a day or two. It could happen that you are ill for a longer period of time or your illness is so severe that you can’t get out of bed, walk down the hallway, prepare something...
By Miriam Drake When you are not feeling well and need medical attention in Ecuador, it’s probably not the best time to learn how to use IESS or the private healthcare systems here. There are good doctors in the IESS system, but you need to know who they are and how...
By Alice Chaummers Is this weird or what? The pandemia thing, I mean. What’s so lousy about it is that it’s gone on for so long and there’s no end in sight. We’re used to disasters, natural and man-made, that have some sort of sequence -- like a beginning, a middle...
Eggs are a dietary staple in Ecuador. They provide a simple, nourishing, inexpensive, tasty morsel all in its own neat little package, albeit fragile. And, conveniently, they are found everywhere. Edie’s favorite, as well as mine, is the quail egg. Their cream colored...
By Alexi Cohan Many recovered coronavirus patients can struggle with lingering fatigue, shortness of breath and chest pain long after they have beaten the deadly virus, which worsens their quality of life, a recent study found. “We know that the reason Covid can be so...
Editor's note: This the second in a series, Medical Emergencies and End of Life in Cuenca. To read part 1, click here. By Miriam Drake As the caregiver for my stroke surviving husband, I learned as we went along how things work or don’t in Cuenca. Here are a few good...
By Jessica Craig I've been stranded in Kenya since March, trying to get a "repatriation" flight to return home to the United States. I was finally able to book a flight but I'm still not sure I'll be able to board at the scheduled departure time – a week from...
By Jaime Moreno Do you know what is the difference between politics and science? Our understanding is that science requires evidence, coping with uncertainty, weighting efficacy and safety. Whereas politics aspires for certainty, resulting in a true fight between the...
By Miriam Drake It is challenging, anywhere in the world to care for a husband whose health has deteriorated to the point that he cannot speak, one side of the body is completely paralyzed, and he has no sensations in his core. In Cuenca, Ecuador it is beyond...
By Jan Dynes Blessed was I to grow up with fine literature at my fingertips in Nana's Chippendale desk. It stood polished and majestic and yet also oozed dust motes of past brilliance from long deceased poets, playwrights and novelists, dripping of a more romantic and...
By Liam Higgins As the world slowly reopens from the Covid-19 pandemic, expats are asking, "What does this mean for us? Will life become more difficult for us? Will health and immigration policies become more complicated?" And just as important: "Will a lot of expats...
Mid-afternoon, a couple of weeks or so ago, found me strolling near Mercado Diez de Agosto in Cuenca, Ecuador. I’ve shopped there on numerous occasions and was parched so in and upstairs I went for something to slake my thirst. As the cold batido of freshly blended...
By Elizabeth Chang Americans are angry. The country erupted into the worst civil unrest in decades after the death of George Floyd, and anger about police violence and the country’s legacy of racism is still running high. At the same time, we’re dealing with anger...
By Marcelo Rochabrun Bankrupt LATAM Airlines and Avianca Holdings are dramatically retrenching their once grand ambitions amid the COVID-19 pandemic, reducing competition in Latin America as they mull once-unthinkable cooperation with rivals. Since May, LATAM has...
By Miriam Drake Someday I will live here. For now, I visit as often as possible. Why do I visit this remote natural area with no shopping malls, very few paved roads, few cars, and few people? There is no direct route to the Amazon jungle. You take a plane or two, a...
Editor's note: This is the story of Jane and Steve Miner’s experience with Covid-19 in May/June 2020. Some of you will have already followed their journey as documented on Facebook. They were both fortunate to have had very mild cases and feel that, as more knowledge...
By Chuck Bolotin As the founder of Best Places in the World to Retire, I’ve heard many of our expat contributors say that one reason they moved abroad was to “reinvent” themselves. And based on what they’ve told me, I’d say it’s easier to reinvent yourself living...
