Posts:
Spend enough time in cafés around Cuenca and a quiet pattern starts to appear. It does not announce itself or come with rules or signs. Instead, it unfolds through habit, comfort, and time. This is what many expats slowly recognize as the café divide in Cuenca. At...
By Pedro Camacho The United States confirmed on Wednesday the temporary deployment of Air Force personnel to the Ecuadorian coastal city of Manta as part of a joint operation with Ecuador's military aimed at combating what Washington describes as narco-terrorism in...
The "best" country for dental work depends entirely on what you need. The world of dental tourism is highly specialized, with different countries building reputations for different types of care. Before you book a flight, it's essential to understand the financial...
An Ecuadorian court on Monday sentenced eleven soldiers to 34 years and eight months in prison for the forced disappearance of four boys who were illegally detained in December 2024 in Guayaquil. The boys' bullet-riddled bodies were found burned a week later. Five...
The President of Ecuador's Judicial Council, Mario Godoy, has been summoned to appear before the National Assembly by the end of the year. The summons follows the release of audio tapes in which the head of the Pichincha judicial office is heard pressuring another...
As yet another year comes to an end on planet Earth, there are mornings when I sit with a cup of Tuti instant coffee or yerba mate and try to make sense of the IRS's rules for retirement. It’s like reading hieroglyphics written by accountants. The older I get, the...
It is the first question every prospective expat asks, and, more pointedly, the first one their concerned family members ask: "But is Ecuador safe?" This question is almost always followed by a link to an alarming headline. And in 2024 and 2025, those headlines have...
The new variant, called A/H3N2 K, which was first identified in Australia and New Zealand in August, has now been detected in over 30 countries. “Current epidemiological data do not indicate a major increase in disease severity, although this genetic shift marks a...
The Health Ministry reports Ecuador’s first case of the new flu variant A(H3N2) K, also known as the “super flu.” A ministry spokesman said the case was identified in a “southern province” but did not specify the exact location. The ministry said it expects the case...
Bored?- 50 "viudas" en competencia (50 “widows” in race) - The tradition of the Año Viejo will live on in a different way in Cuenca next miercoles, 31/12, in the La Gloria barrio (av. Loja) <the northern end of the barrio is at San Roque according to a quick Google...
By Daryl Austin If you’ve ever blamed a lousy night’s rest on stress, room temperature, or your mattress, you might be overlooking the smallest — and arguably most influential — piece of your sleep setup: your pillow. It may look like a basic rectangle of fluff, but...
By Ana Cristina Alvarado Between March and May 2025, at least eight children from the Achuar Indigenous community died of leptospirosis in the southern Ecuadorian Amazon. The disease is preventable with access to safe drinking water and timely treatment. But these two...
Ecuador’s IVA refund system for senior residents is legally clear, administratively uneven, and morally awkward, leaving expatriate retirees to negotiate not just receipts and deadlines, but their own sense of fairness, belonging, and proportion. There are two broad...
By Christopher Lux It's the perfect crime. The victims are awake, articulate, and appear normal. But they have no control over their decisions and actions and do anything the criminal asks. Victims have regained consciousness to find they've been robbed or raped....
By John Olson Expats come to Cuenca hoping to continue their favorite activities and interests from their previous lives in other countries, but sometimes these activities have a way of drawing them into their new community and finding ways to contribute to their...
By Demian Bio Colombian President Gustavo Petro taunted U.S. counterpart Donald Trump over recent comments about the justification of the country's blockade of sanctioned Venezuelan tankers. "Texas is a territory that was invaded. It wasn't sold. So was California and...
When you are researching a life-changing procedure like All-on-4, it is easy to use the words "best" and "cheapest" interchangeably. But in the world of medical tourism, they are often opposites. The "cheapest" country is a race to the bottom. It's about finding the...
Despite the November referendum defeat of a question to allow establishment of a U.S. miliary base in Ecuador, 20 U.S. Air Force personnel arrived Wednesday in Manta. In a statement, Ecuador’s military command said the U.S. troops' presence was “temporary,” part of a...
By Ashley Rogers People often say curiosity fades as you get older. They’re wrong. Curiosity isn’t something you lose with age. It’s something you stop nourishing. And when you do feed it — at any age — it has a remarkable way of leading you somewhere unexpected. For...
No place is perfect, not even Cuenca. Any publication, blog, or YouTube channel that sells you a problem-free, sun-drenched paradise of $2 lunches and perfect weather is doing you a profound disservice. To truly thrive as an expat, you must go in with your eyes open,...
