Expat Life

I was a rebel in high school. The year was 1970 and Virginia Beach had largely avoided the upheavals of the 1960s, but we were making up for lost time. We grew our hair long, wore tattered jeans with American flags sewn on the butt, and talked in lingo: a cool guy was...

I was 12 and on my first "date" with my next-door neighbor.  Her name was Cindy Oksanen and she was 13.  We were at the drive-in, in the back seat of her dad's station wagon.  He was in the front seat.  So, obviously having my arm around her was about as brave as I...

The following article is a paid advertorial. Taking control of your aging and making a choice about how you look and feel about yourself can make you feel excited, empowered, and confident. You may have been considering getting some “work done,” and have been putting...

As a member of the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics, I’m privileged to have as colleagues some of the most accomplished Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDNs) in the world!              Our guest columnist this week is Ranelle...

Exploring. I do lot of it. On foot in the high mists or behind the wheel of my truck taking on some rock-strewn and rutted clay road, I’m out there in it all the time. I am living in, performing photography and writing about Ecuador. This is a portion of my grand...

Friday, February 23 will be the first anniversary of my living in Cuenca. Following is a letter to a dear friend describing my flight and early impressions of Ecuador, which also became my first article for CuencaHighLife. I have yet to find the words to thank the...

Some urban legends refuse to die. According to Dictionary.com, an “urban legend” is a modern story of obscure origin and with little or no supporting evidence that spreads spontaneously in varying forms and often has elements of humor, moralizing, or horror. Although...

Kimberly Wood loves paper. She began importing exotic paper to Minnesota 25 years ago, then decided she wanted to make her own. Kimberly took classes at the local university, studied paper-making, sculpture, binding and making paper vessels. She quickly rose in the...

St. Valentine’s Day is a global celebration. In the U.S. it’s chocolate and flowers; in the Philippines, it’s become a tradition for thousands of couples to wed in massive public ceremonies. Here in Cuenca, restaurants are promoting their special dinners for lovers,...

Alba and Viviana grew up together along the banks of the Río Yanuncay, west of Cuenca. Their meager casas were separated by five minutes of steep and broken path that passed near the river. Lives were simple yet difficult with hard work and long hours filling the days...

By Robert Bradley I recall writing some time ago that among the many joys of living in Cuenca is that it seems, wherever you go, you will run into folks who are happy to see you, and almost always have time for cafe con leche and a casual chat about travels, local...

As a member of the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics, I’m privileged to have as colleagues some of the most accomplished Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDNs) in the world! Our guest columnist this week is Diane Johnson, a registered dietitian and certified...

"It's not a third-world country!" I can't tell you how many times I've told that to my mother and some of my friends back in the US when they question how I could live in Ecuador. My mother has no excuse, she's been here.  But to her, there was poverty everywhere and...

Every morning you’ll find me walking on the Rio Tomebamba. I try and make my walking hour aerobic, and use my walking sticks to “pump it up,” (you wouldn’t believe the strange looks I get — I guess I’m the strange-looking one). When I return home I try and stretch for...

A couple of years ago, shortly after moving to Ecuador, we took an apartment on Calle Gran Colombia. It is a busy street, in the middle of El Centro, that is also the home of Cuenca’s unfinished Tranvia system’s west bound rails. Many storefronts abound in this area...

By Michel Blanchard Magy (pronounced Mah-djee) Peña is a woman on a mission. To be more precise, her mission is to recycle garbage, but not by putting it in neat blue bags for city sanitation workers to pick up. She transforms rubbish into art. She is a pioneer and a...

When I moved to my apartment 4½ years ago there was only one restaurant close by and it never caught my fancy. Now, when I'm hungry and don't want to cook, I can walk out my front door, cross the street onto the Rio Tomebamba footbridge, and voila! — there are two...

By Jeremiah Reardon I learned a bitter lesson about trust when my first job ended in Gallup, New Mexico. My employer wouldn't pay me for two day's casual labor. What can I do? I thought. New in town, I felt at a loss in asserting my right to the meager wages....