Our First Visitor!

Our oldest son Jeremy came for a visit last week for Thanksgiving and I think he had some interesting observations, “Cuenca is a nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there!” Of course, you have to consider that he’s a single 30-something with an active lifestyle and close to the metro-Philly area in Pennsylvania. And then again, he saw what Jiffy Peanut Butter sells for at SuperMaxi ($7.95). He was blown away at the food prices!

However, he was impressed with the Cajas Mountains and lunch at Dos Chorreras and, of course, La Mitad del Mundo in Quito. But after about the fourth day, he thought that everything started to taste the same—like butter. Yikes!

Personally, I think he was on sensory overload with all the graffiti on the walls, blue buses, yellow taxis, and a few stray llamas crossing the street. It made me realize that living overseas isn’t for everyone and maybe I should have made it mandatory that both our boys spend a year in a foreign exchange program during their senior year of high school. But the farewell dinner at Tiesto's Restaurant made him recant his statement about all the food tasting the same. So who knows, maybe he’ll be back!

Yesterday I spent a delightful afternoon with the hospitality and tourism students at the University of Cuenca. They asked me to speak about the “gringo” phenomenon in Cuenca and why I wrote the book Living and Retiring in Cuenca. The students were delightful and asked some thought-provoking questions. I also donated a copy of the book to the library and hopefully I’ll be able to assist in other areas as well as Cuenca adjusts to the gringo invasion. I told the students that I’m thankful that Cuenca hasn't changed the “heart” of the city and I doubt that there will ever be a McDonald’s on Calle Larga, but definitely gringos are making their mark!

In a recent article, US Money reports that Cuenca is still listed as one of the best places in the world to retire on a pensioner’s budget. Gone are the days when you can live in Cuenca on $600 a month; they raised the bar to $1,300 a month as a minimum and $500 for rent. However, there are still excellent places to rent for $250 (two-bedrooms and two baths). In fact, we looked at a brand new five bedroom, 4-1/2 bath home with granite tile throughout overlooking the Tomebamba  that rented for $250 a month. We felt it was simply too much space for us and we didn’t feel like climbing stairs, but it was definitely a bargain! You just need to know the right people and have connections. And that only comes with knowing the language and integrating into the culture.

We look forward to more visits in the future, including my best friend who is planning to visit in April 2012 (the month of “mil aguas”—a thousand waters), so we’ll have to find a lot of indoor activities like mall shopping! I’m sure that we won’t lack for things to do and, of course, it’s always a great time to visit the thermal baths in Baños or the Olympic-sized pool right down the street!

Until next time…hasta luego!

  

Thanksgiving in Cuenca!

Tomorrow we leave to pick up our son in Quito and bring him down to Cuenca to enjoy Thanksgiving with us at Villa San Carlos. Thankfully, I don't have to cook this year and I hear they're putting on quite a spread.

Unfortunately, I made the mistake of looking at the 10-day forecast which I hope is wrong (RAIN the entire time he's here). We've had brilliant sunshine the past two weeks and the rivers are running at a "drip" so I guess it's time for some big thunder boomers, but I'm hoping the weather guy at Wunderground.com is off on his predictions.

We're going to play tourists in Quito (I haven't even made it to "Mitad del Mundo"), so whether it's raining or not we're going to get pictures (albeit a bit soggy).

A lot of work went into planning this trip, including Mark getting substitute teachers for all his classes (and paying them in advance), hotel reservations, plane tickets (up to Quito and back x4), and getting Mocha ready to stay with Auntie Hazel and Uncle Wally at Hostel del los Perros.

But the good thing is we're done with classes and "yes" we got promoted to Intermediate/Advanced. CEDEI is an excellent language school and the teachers and students are amazing (and I'm not just saying that because my hubby is one of them). In fact one of the perks of teaching there -- if you have your cédula (national identification card) -- is you get social security and IESS (national healthcare plan). There are four teachers with their cédula that are employed at CEDEI and Mark is one of them. So now we're doubly insured (medically).

I took some time on Saturday to visit Mark's four-hour intensive class and all the kids are great. Mark is an amazing teacher and makes sure their pronunciation is perfect! The four hours slid by and then we were off to have lunch at our favorite place (to be announced!), and getting some last minute items for my son's visit to Cuenca.

In the meantime, I've been writing like crazy and I'm so thankful to all my editors who are accepting scanned permission releases which makes my job so much easier. This past weekend, I was accepted into two compilation books and one is dear to my heart -- Angels, Miracles and Heavenly Encounters.  The book will be released in June 2012.

Wishing you all a blessed Thanksgiving!





Until next time...hasta luego!

Independence Day Festivities

It’s been a while since I blogged, so I thought I should make an appearance before you think I disappeared for good!

We had a glorious time during the Independence Day Celebrations in Cuenca (officially November 3^rd), but it actually ends up being about six days of parades, fireworks, street vendors, food vendors, and tourists from all parts of the country who converge on Cuenca to make it a memorable time for all. This year was spectacular in that the rain decided to make an exit and every day we were greeted with crystal blue skies and white fluffy clouds.

To quote my Ecuadorian neighbor, “We lump the ‘Feast of the Dead’ and Independence Day all in the same week!” For me it’s more like Halloween, Thanksgiving, Fourth of July and Christmas all rolled up into one. In fact, my hubby’s students at CEDEI say that this holiday is celebrated with greater intensity than Christmas. We’ll see about that as last year we flew back to the States for the holidays.

Our days are full with Spanish classes, Mark’s English classes at CEDEI and my writing. I just finished a huge editing project and now I’m able to get some things done before our son, Jeremy, arrives for a visit during the last week of November. We plan on celebrating his birthday, Thanksgiving and Christmas all at the same time while he’s here. In fact, our Christmas tree just went up and all the sand dollars that I collected during our vacation in Puerto Lopez are now woven together with red ribbon and are gracing our tree with holiday cheer.  

We have met some amazing folks this past month—too many to mention in this blog, but all have been such a delight. Diego and Be Ta are from Slovakia and plan on returning to Cuenca in four more years. We first met them through Facebook and it was so nice to actually meet them in person. They have an apartment for rent, which I have posted a link to on the sidebar of this blog. Don’t worry, I’m not involved in real estate or property management; I’m just doing it as a favor for some wonderful new friends.

In August 2012, however, Mark and I will be in the States and plan on doing some seminars on “Living and Retiring in Cuenca.” In fact, our story will be in the upcoming book Chicken Soup for the Soul: Say Goodbyeto Stress. The dates and locations of the seminars will be announced as time gets closer, but they will be in the San Francisco Bay Area (August 1-22), so if you happen to be in California during that time, we look forward to meeting you in person. 

I’ll leave you with some highlights of Cuenca’s Independence Day Celebration…

Until next time…hasta luego!

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*The Map Maker's Wife is a great read if you want some South American history mixed in with a romantic fiction novel.

Expat Etiquette

We have a unique place along the river with a window on the world—literally! Every room in our condo has a view of the Tomebamba and we enjoy the comings and goings of folks. We see some interesting things: car crashes, international soccer teams coming to stay at the Hotel Oro Verde next door, walkers/joggers/runners on the trail (just like clockwork) and an occasional “newbie” expat who is “fighting” the culture.

Yesterday while I was washing dishes, I saw a new gringo in town cursing out a taxi driver—shouting, screaming, waving his hands and making obscene gestures with his hands. Uh-oh, I guess no one told him that pedestrians don’t have the right away! He was crossing the street and expected the taxi driver to stop for him. Interestingly enough, I’ve seen taxi drivers brake for dogs, but not for humans which still babbles me.  Anyway, no one was injured!

Many expats come to Cuenca and expect things to run just like they did in America and when those two worlds clash there is often a visible sign of disgust or worse yet—a horrible scene (like yesterday).

Some of us have the ability to adapt more easily to a new culture than others. After living in Sicily for six years—where drivers have a death wish—this is truly paradise. Ecuadorians are mild mannered (except when they drive), soft-spoken and polite. What’s not to like? 

Expat etiquette is pretty simple:  treat others the way you would like to be treated.  Read some books on Ecuadorian culture and know what to expect in certain situations. Also, it’s important to integrate and not isolate. We’ve noticed that there are basically two groups of expats: those who just hang around with other expats and those who integrate. They develop a healthy respect for the Ecuadorian culture and involve themselves with events outside the expat community: volunteering their time at orphanages, teaching English or adopting an Ecuadorian family!

The language is a barrier for some and therefore they don’t even bother to learn Spanish, but the more time you spend time in immersing yourself, the greater the reward. Language learning is hard work. After the basics, it’s just plain memorization! Spanish has a lot of irregular verbs and “yes” they do use the subjunctive a lot, so that means getting out the 3x5 cards and doing your homework. In our Spanish class we have PhD professors, doctors and lawyers (highly intelligent people), but learning a new language has nothing to do with your IQ. Some folks just plain give up too early; it takes constant, continued work to get to the next level.

One recent visitor to Cuenca made an interesting observation:  “We have to be careful not to create our own ‘ghetto’ (meaning:  an isolated group). Involve yourself in activities other than just expat events, teach, volunteer and continue with language learning.

Expat etiquette is more than just “minding your manners,” it goes much deeper than that. Thankfully, the isolated events like the one I mentioned above is the exception and not the norm.

Until next time…hasta luego!

The Price of Paradise

One of the most common questions I receive has to do with the cost of living in Cuenca and is it increasing?!?

The answer is “yes” and “no.”

For us, the bottom line hasn’t changed: our rent is the same, utilities, transportation (the bus is still 25 cents) and groceries are relatively inexpensive (except Jif Peanut Butter!).  However, the services and products that expats require are gradually inching up.

One of my barometers is the place where I go to write (Wunderbar) and it’s been interesting to watch the “almuerzo” menu change over the past year from $1.75 to $2.00, $2.50, $2.75, $3.50, $4.00, $4.50 and now it’s $5.50! My first response was, “En serio” (Are you kidding?). Around Cuenca—especially in some of the finer restaurants—you will see the menu has been tampered with (meaning: stickers have been placed over the old prices to reflect the higher ones).

The Wunderbar Café is a real touristy place, right off Calle Larga and in the newly renovated building “La Casa de la Escalinata,” so I’m going to chock it up to the cost of building renovations!  The same type of meal can be had all over the city for $2.00 (or less). But I love the “courtyard” area and I’ve written some of my best stories there, so it will still be one of my favorite places.

Just like the States, variations in prices exist. Coffee Tree is another one of my writing hangouts, but the cappuccino is not that great and it’s comparable to Starbucks prices. However, right down the street at “Indigo” I can get a “bowl” of café latte for 50 cents which is far superior.

It’s interesting that Mark received a cost of living raise at CEDEI and it’s only been a month! The reason for the raise is they feel that prices are going up in the city, so they gave all the teachers a raise.

Of course, when you factor in that our health insurance is so reasonable and medical costs are one-tenth of what they are in the States, it makes some of the other minor price elevations seem almost laughable.

We have asked our Ecuadorian friends what they think of all the changes that are occurring in Cuenca and for the most part they are favorable, but some have expressed concern.  Many Ecuadorians are starting up their own businesses that cater to expats (translation services, language lessons, transportation, etc.).  Some are charging ridiculous rates ($12-$20 an hour). And all of this is “untaxed” money (or under the table). There is no “factura” and no invoice.  When you consider that the average breadwinner makes about $436 per month (or less) and they have to pay taxes on what they earn, you can understand their concern.  

Times are changing in Cuenca and I’m sure next year—this time—the landscape of Cuenca will again reflect the changes. But they will be gradual and hopefully won’t change the “core” of “el centro.” At least there are no McDonald’s yet and I don’t foresee that happening anytime soon. 

Cuenca reminds me a lot of “Taormina” in Sicily, Italy where we lived for six years and it was a real tourist town, but didn’t waver when it came to planning and projecting for the future. Today it still remains a quaint town with cobblestone streets that time has forgotten.  I hope that Cuenca can remain that way as well.

Paradise has a price, but for now we’re enjoying the Cuenca we have come to love!

Until next time…hasta luego!