Love Cuenca at first sight, minus a flea or two…

This article is part of “Facelift Ecuador: Share Your Positive Story!“, an initiative to publish positive articles from CuencaHighLife readers. If you would like to submit your story, click here.

By: Adam Elliot Altholtz

It seems like yesterday when in 2010 I boarded my flight in the US to first come visit Cuenca, which I fell in love with the moment the plane I was in initially flew over the picturesque landscape of this remarkable UNESCO World Heritage Centre city (officially known as “Santa Ana de los Ríos de Cuenca”).

What a whirlwind the past 15 years have been indeed. As I began with brushing up on the Spanish that I had earlier learned in high school, which didn’t do justice or fit the bill for what it is to immerse oneself and ultimately decide to make one’s new home in a foreign land where everything is done and run in that language (though a still very inviting populace who instinctively understand that conundrum and at every corner do their best to invoke their own tapered English so as to bridge that cultural gap).

How those first spry and super-active touristic days then morphed into weeks, the weeks to months, and in what seemed like no time at all, the years began rolling on by, is something that could easily justify its own article in any sense of the thought. Regardless, by this point in my (at least relatively) long tenure of residing in Ecuador, I’ve in virtually every way become far more like my fellow Ecuadorians and so much less like those family and friends and I had what feels like a lifetime ago grown up with in the US and North America as a whole. To be clear, each time now that I fly back to the US for a reunion, funeral or other “life happens” type occurrence, the manner of conversation and way of being or doing almost seems disjointed, like I’ve become something of an outsider who’s no longer of the same American vibration that most “Americans” seem to hold fast to as what defines them on a daily basis. And aside from the ease of shopping for clothes, shoes and a few other goodies up north, within a matter of days (often even able to be counted in hours), I can’t wait to bid all adieux and get back on my return flight home to the only life I know or want now in Ecuador.

Succinctly stated, Cuenca, and for that matter really any part or place in Ecuador, isn’t necessarily Atlantis found for many, as rather, it just seems a little more real, but also that much more fulfilling and welcoming on a daily and even momentary basis, in comparison to the “past life” they knew (or depending on their level of secondary cultural engagement ‘still know’). It’s true though that living in another country isn’t for everyone, and as one well-known Expat who I serve among thousands of others at my now 13 year owned & operated “Smilehealth Ecuador Dental Clinic” (www.findhealthinecuador.com) right in the heart of Cuenca likes to say, “If you’re an angry person, then Ecuador isn’t for you, because that anger will make it impossible for you to adjust.”

In summation, if you’re contemplating a move to Ecuador, including any other country, be sure you’re ready for ALL that goes along with it, as just like any favorite domesticated pet, the fleas can and do also come with the fur, and at times more than one may have anticipated. Surely though, your own life experience, including among the life experiences of your contemporaries in Cuenca, will always ‘far better’ tell the tale for both you and them, than CNN, USA Today or even BBC & The Guardian will do the circumstance(s) justice by virtue of their distant and ‘Storyselling’ superficial recap of any “inevitably” rough day(s) had in Ecuador, or anywhere else that isn’t where those and other first (even some second) tier news providers make their money by putting the fear of vampires, zombies (and occasionally an actual scum or scums of the human variety) into the amygdalas of those populations who are generally led to believe that they’re the most civilized..

Adam Elliot Altholtz ("Smilehealth Ecuador Dental Clinic")

Adam Elliot Altholtz serves as the Administrator & Patient Coordinator of the “Smilehealth Ecuador Dental Clinic” in Cuenca, Ecuador, and for purposes of discussing your Dental needs or questions, is available via email at info@smilehealthecuador.com and via the Dental Clinic’s fully comprehensive and detailed website smilehealthecuador.com for you to visit at any time of day or night. Plus, you can reach Adam directly by WhatsApp at +593 98 392 9606 or by his US phone number of 1‐(941)‐227‐0114, and the Dental Clinic’s Ecuador phone number for local Expats residing in Cuenca is 07‐410‐8745. See Adam’s articles.

Finally, Adam, as your fellow Expat and friendly Administrator of this Expat-serving Dental Clinic in Cuenca, is always glad to make 100% FREE ($0.00) recommendations to Expats (REGARDLESS of whether they're a patient of the Dental Clinic) for the best and most qualified ENGLISH-SPEAKING Professionals in Cuenca, in paying it forward to assist you with planning your best possible trip and maybe even the rest of your life in beautiful Ecuador!