Posts:
By Edd and Cynthia Staton Looking for a dining spot with good food, affordable prices, and a fun atmosphere? The brightly colored flags flapping over the street side courtyard of El Jalepeño, a new Mexican restaurant on Av. Paucarbamba — in the former location of...
Women are as old as they feel and men are old when they lose their feelings. — Mae West While in general, dietary guidelines encompass all adults, there’s a divergence when it comes to the nutrition and health of men and women. And so, in honor of Father’s Day this...
By Lee Shrader, Jr. I recently read an article entitled 10 Ways to Make Ecuador Remarkable on another website. I had an immediate negative reaction to it. I read it and reread it trying to determine why. After all, none of the suggestions were bad. Most made perfectly...
Who says that “fast food” has to be “bad food”? You’ll get it fast at Subway, the most popular fast food chain in the world, but their motto “Eat Fresh” describes it best. Since the opening of the first franchised store 42 years ago, Subway has been ranked top fast...
By Rob Gray In Part 1 of The secret to wellness and weight control, I explored the concept that the human body evolved to eat the foods that grew around them and came to recognize these "Whole Foods" as human foods and assimilate and effectively use them to provide...
It may not seem like it to a younger extrovert but for this older introvert there is a very special flow to life in Cuenca. I am coming out from two or three month long doldrums, due mostly to some health issues, and feeling alive and on top of the world once again....
By Deke Castleman On my very first night in Ecuador in 2010, in Quito at the Casa Sol, a sign in the bathroom initiated me into toilet tissue Ecuador-style. The sign put us on notice that local plumbing has a hard time with paper, so instead of flushing the TP, Casa...
In Celebration of the Story I was pleased to read that the Cuenca Department of Culture has a reading program in 22 libraries in the city's 21 parishes, as reported yesterday in Jeanne's Periodico. I hope this means that books will be in the hands and hearts of young...
By Edd and Cynthia Staton Many expats and tourists are surprised to learn that minutes outside the city of Cuenca in the hillside community of Baños, a first-class spa facility called Piedra de Agua offers visitors a day of relaxation and pampering. You know this is...
In 2015, U.S. expat Cara Venn, who had spent five years in India before moving to Cuenca, organized the first Cuenca Art Walk. The event was a free self-guided tour of selected El Centro galleries and businesses where art lovers were able to view the work of artists....
My first apartment in Cuenca was across the street from the old Patrimonial Cementerio, four blocks east of El Centro. Everyone made the same joke: “At least you have quiet neighbors!” However, I found out that the cemetery was one of the busiest places in town. The...
By Rob Hertzenberg Two weeks ago, I had a truly enjoyable experience. The following is an excerpt of an e-mail I shared with my family in the States and I thought it was worth sharing here. I had my usual vegetable and trout delivery on Monday and since my friends...
By Rob Gray As in Part 1 of this series, this story took place many years ago, but I have no trouble remembering the afternoon I received a call from the school nurse from my daughter's grade school. "Mr. Gray, your daughter is running a fever with a temperature over...
By Liam Higgins If you’re walking down Calle Hermano Miguel, just after it begins at Calle Larga, and you happen to be on the west side of the street, you’ll run into Marea Pizzeria and Bar. Literally. The restaurant blocks the sidewalk, extending right up to the...
To know the road ahead, ask those coming back. — Chinese proverb A healthy balance in reporting expats' real-life accounts is beneficial for readers to gauge the character of a place, with readers being the final judge of the writer's intelligence and honesty....
A Familiar Stranger He simply appears, every few days, in Vilcabamba. He visits us from the Malacatos / Taxichi area, always walking the 10 kilometers, always barefoot, in rolled up pants that are seldom belted. One hand holds a stripped tree branch or two, the other...
By Rob Gray In Part 1 of The secret to wellness and weight control, I presented the concept that the human body evolved to eat the foods that grew around them and came to recognize these "whole foods" as human foods and assimilate and effectively use them. I also...
By Larry Edenfield A friend from California Skyped me Wednesday night after he heard about the 6.7 and 6.9 earthquake aftershocks. “Folks down there must be pretty used to these things by now,” he said, adding that he had lived through the 1994 Northridge earthquake...
I love it when serendipitous events occur, even when they are not pleasant. It reminds me that I can’t control what happens, but I can control my response. When the events are pleasant, however, it just adds to the enjoyment of life. Recently, an Israeli friend,...
April 16th dawned with a severe case of gout in the last joint in each of my right ring and left index fingers. Very swollen, very red, very sensitive, and very painful and it did not calm down in the usual few days. Gout pain affects my whole body and just slows...
