IESS Update -- New Health Care Premiums!

We've been part of the IESS  System (Ecuador's National Social Security and Health Care) for the past five years and during that time our premiums have not gone up. For a couple we pay $80.03 monthly, which is all we pay -- no co-pays, no deductibles, and you cannot be denied based on age or pre-existing conditions. It even includes dental care!

All that is changing as of July 2017. New rates are as follows: 17.6% for the holder of the pension and 3.41% for each dependent, so for a couple the new rates will be 21.01%. Many expats were upset to learn of the new rate change last week. However, Ecuadorians have always been paying this amount for years -- half paid by their employer and the other half paid by the employee. There is no discrimination; we're only asked to pay our fair share.

For the past five years, we've been paying the rate based on Ecuador's minimum wage (as were all expats), which is $375 per month and if you're on a pensioner's visa, you are required to have a minimum of $800 per month and $100 per dependent.

This is just the starting point. There are 13 different visas that you can receive, including: investor's visa (25K in the bank or 30K in real estate); professional visa; pensioner's visa, etc. Don't worry, they have records on everyone's visa, but they're starting with the pensioner's visas first because the majority of expats are here on their Social Security. But if you have 25K in the bank or have a professional visa, don't think you're going to escape the new rates. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has all your information tucked away!

You will need to go to the IESS Building on Hermano Miguel and Gran Colombia (fifth floor) and make an appointment with Diana Calle. Bring your cedula, the letter you used to receive your pensioner's visa, your CLAVE for IESS (and password), IESS readout, and your last three months of bank statements showing your pension income. If you have a RUC number, business or you're working in Ecuador, your rates may be different.

To set up your appointment, email Diana Calle at dcalleg@iess.gob.ec and she'll be happy to help you out. If your Spanish isn't up to par, don't worry...she speaks excellent English.

Any way you look at it, IESS is a great deal. Where else are you going to go in the world with the quality of care we receive with just one low monthly payment? I guess if you make one million dollars a month, your rate won't be that low, but hopefully that's the exception and not the rule.

Until next time...hasta luego, 



Connie & Mark 

El Patio Comida Urbana

The food truck craze isn't only in the States, it's come to Cuenca!

The new "El Patio Comida Urbana" is on the corner of Av. Solano and 28 de Febrero. Opening date was March 30th and they're the new hot spot in town.

It's so close to our condo, we can't help to stop by for a Chai Te Latte Caliente, a gyro, a slice of pizza or a crepe or waffle. All the food trucks have specialties -- even sushi! There's something for everyone and a wonderful courtyard where you can listen to relaxing music and enjoy the atmosphere.

There's even a doggie park for your fur babies and a children's play area (with restrooms). Think of it as an outside food court, but better.

The first night we had Emilio's pizza by the metro. For $5.88 we had a half meter of pizza with toppings and it was huge. There were three of us and we all took home some leftovers.

The next day we had a waffle with everything (mora, strawberries, bananas, ice cream, and whipping cream) for $5.95 at Tip Top Crepes and Waffles and it was delicious. Everything is made fresh while you wait and it's delivered to your table in the patio area filled with rustic furniture, plants,and colorful light fixtures.

Don't let the rain stop you because the common area is covered and there are patio tables outside with comfortable seating.

Also, Emilio's Italian Place has a double-decker food truck. If you go upstairs, it's all enclosed with a beautiful view of Turi at night.

Here's a sampling of the food trucks:
Pachau Food Fusion - Try their strawberry and kiwi drinks
Los Checitos
Namii Hamburgers
The Rock Van
El Tradicional -- Ecuadorian Food
Emilio's - Italian
Jeff Salteaditos -- Great appetizers
Grills on Wheels -- All things grilled
Tip-Top Crepes and Waffles -- Try the Everything Waffle
Chingon
Plataneria from Colombia
El Gury Sandwiches -- Gyro meets sandwiches and wraps
Maru (Dulces)
Sabores y Tradiciones
The Beer Garden
Midori -- Sushi

There are a lot more trucks that I left out, but you'll have to experience it for yourself. They are open Tuesday - Sunday from 11 AM to 11 PM, although on Tuesdays (or at least this Tuesday they didn't open until 12 noon).

I'll leave you with some pictures to whet your appetite!

Common Area 

Midori Sushi 

Until next time...hasta luego!

Connie & Mark

Citizenship in Ecuador

This is the third part in the series under the New Immigration Law 2017. After you have applied for permanent residency and have been in Ecuador for three years, you're eligible to apply for citizenship if you so choose. The main ­difference between residency and citizenship is that with a residency visa, you cannot run for political office. With citizenship, you can run for political office, with the exception of the presidency. I don’t know of any expat who has such high political aspirations (yet!).

As a permanent resident you're allowed to be out of the country of Ecuador for 90 days the first year; 90 days the second year and 18 months the third year. Under the new law  -- to take effect in June -- it's 180 days the first year, 180 days the second year, and five years the third year. 

Personally, I don't know why anyone would want to leave the country of Ecuador that long! I miss Ecuador after being gone for only ten days. If you're a world traveler or if you need to go back to the States to take care of a loved one (parent or child) for an extended period of time; it's nice to have the flexibility that citizenship brings.

However, you need to know upfront whether you want to go for citizenship because the requirements for being out of the country are different. After obtaining permanent residency, you cannot be gone more than 90 days total in three years (if you're going for citizenship). Many expats have been caught off guard when they went to apply for citizenship and found out they were out of the country too many days. We do know of folks that were able to obtain citizenship even though they were over the limit of days out of the country, but it was a lengthy process.

Citizenship comes down to a personal decision. If you have your residency tied up with an investment (25K in the bank or real estate), you may want to free up your assets, so citizenship would give you that flexibility.

Also, citizenship doesn't tie you to any time constraints for being out of the country. You can come and go as you please. The United States and Canada are one of the few countries that allow dual citizenship. For a complete list of other countries that allow or don't allow dual citizenship, click here.

As far as traveling through South America, you'll have more freedom with Ecuadorian citizenship as you won't have to apply for a visa and have fees to visit such countries as Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, and Uruguay.  If you travel extensively, Ecuadorian citizenship may be worth considering.

We know American citizens who have lived in Ecuador for 30 years and have never applied for citizenship; you just have to remember to renew your cédula before its expiration date. Our cédula expires in 2022, but passports come with expiration dates as well! Quite frankly, I have enough trouble keeping up with one passport; I'm not sure that I need two.

Also, we know folks that went through the process of Ecuadorian citizenship and ended up moving to another country. And we know others who actually failed their citizenship test and had to start all over again. 

If you're still in the stage of applying for permanent residency, I would encourage you to go for a professional visa. It requires a four-year college degree, but it isn't tied to any investment. If we were to do it all over again, we would have applied for professional visas as we both have college degrees and we would have applied separately.

As it stands now, I'm dependent on my husband's pensioner visa from UPS. When he passes away, I won't receive his pension, so I will have 30 days to apply for a new visa. If I had citizenship, I wouldn't have to worry about that.

Is that reason enough for me to go through the process of citizenship? Probably not. Since we will both receive our Social Security this year, I will just reapply independently. In fact, I may do that sooner rather than later and most likely I'll apply for a professional visa.

Lastly, if you’re worried about the ever-tightening banking restrictions for U.S. citizens living abroad, a second passport could come in handy. Should you want to open up a bank account outside the U.S., you may wish to do so using your Ecuadorian passport. 

It all boils down to a personal choice whether you want to go for citizenship or not; it's not mandatory. 

Next time I'll discuss the process and requirements. 

Until next time...hasta luego, 


Connie and Mark 

New Immigration Law 2017 -- Part II Temporary Visas

The Newly Released Human Mobility Act (Immigration Law 2017) is causing a bit of confusion for some folks, so I'm going to try and clarify a few things.

In the good old days, we entered Ecuador on a T3 visa, which allowed us to stay 90 days. Actually, we arrived with a 12-IX visa which allowed us six months, but we were able to get permanent residency in three weeks! Imagine that? We were either an immigrant or non-immigrant.

Under the new law, you’re either a transient (visitor) just passing through on your way somewhere else; a tourist; a temporary resident or a permanent resident.  And, yes, you can become a naturalized citizen, but we’ll save that for part three in the series.

There are some key differences in the new law: First, you will need proof of medical insurance that is valid during your entire stay in Ecuador (it can be private or public); a passport valid for at least six months (that’s not new), and lastly you cannot apply directly for permanent residency (one of the principal differences in the old and new law). You have to apply for a temporary visa first. Did I mention that Ecuador loves paper work! They just added a second step to a three-step process.

Let’s talk about these “temporary” folks:

Transient: These are folks that are just passing through. You’re really on your way to Machu Picchu, but your plane doesn’t leave until the next morning out of Quito, so you’re spending the night at the new Wyndham near the airport.

Tourist:  You’re coming here to strictly visit the country (not to work, but to play). These visas are granted upon arriving in Ecuador and are valid for 90 days.  And if you love Ecuador as much as we do, you’ll probably want to extend your stay (right?). Yes, absolutely, you can do that! You can apply for an extension for another 90 days, which is a total of 180 days (or six months). However, you can extend this only once in a one-year period!  There is also another option by which you can extend your stay for up to a year, but only once in a five-year period. 

This is good news for a lot of folks, especially those who really don’t want to apply for a permanent residency visa because they want to live six months in the States and six months in Ecuador. This works out perfectly for them and we know several people who already do that, but you sure don’t want to run over your limit. By the way, I would suggest if you plan to do Ecuador living this way that you first consult with an attorney. The last thing you want to do is overextend your welcome.

Okay, so you’ve stayed in Ecuador and liked it so much that you want to apply for a temporary residency visa.

Temporary Residency: This visa allows you to stay TWO years. And, guess what? You can renew it again for another TWO years!  And you can travel in and out of the country (and go see Machu Picchu). However, one thing remains the same; you cannot be gone more than 90 days in the two-year period. In other words, just like in the good old days: 90 days the first year; 90 days the second year (and the same for the next two years if you decide to renew). I just call it the 90-day rule.

And the categories for the temporary residency visa remain the same: work, pensioner, investor, academic, athletic/artist, religious volunteer (missionary or pastor), volunteer for other organizations, student, dependent on the person holding the migratory visa, and technical/professional. 

Proof of medical insurance is mandatory; criminal background check; and passport valid for at least six months. And, of course, all of the different categories require their own documentation, which I won’t go into right now as there are approximately 13 categories. Oh, yes, and there are fees for all the paperwork and more fees if you’re going through an immigration attorney.

Permanent Residency:  I know I already covered this in my other blog post, so I’m working backwards and going forwards. Bear with me. This visa allows you to stay in Ecuador for an indefinite amount of time (as its name implies – PERMANENT). Here’s the catch! To apply for permanent residency,  you have to go through the temporary visa process and have stayed in Ecuador for at least 21 months, be married to an Ecuadorian (it happens a lot), and be related to a permanent resident or citizen.

And, of course, there’s lots of paperwork involved and a definite process for those holding temporary visas to change to permanent visas. The biggest change for permanent residency is the travel restriction, which has been extended to 180 days for the first year, 180 days for the second year, and a whopping five years for the third year before needing to return to Ecuador. Remember under the old law, it was 90 days -90 days -18 months, except if you were going for citizenship (naturalization) and then it was 90 days in three years (30-30-30). But we’ll talk about citizenship the next time (maybe!).

So what if you’ve already applied or you’re in the process of applying and now you’re confused. Don’t be. If you’re going for permanent residency, you just have one extra step; you need to apply for a temporary visa first. After being here for 21 months as a temporary resident, you’ll need to submit the application for permanent residency before your temporary status is up (two years or 24 months). 

Once you receive your permanent residency visa, you can then apply for IESS (Social Security Medical System) or other private insurance.

Let’s sum it up. Yes, there are some good things and some bad things with the new law, but the most important thing is to have your travel medical insurance in place before you come to Ecuador. Personally we use World Nomads when we travel out of Ecuador and now that we’re permanent residents, we have IESS (Social Security Medical System). 

Other important items: This law does not go into effect until 120 days from February 6, 2017. I guess that makes it around June 6, 2017 (or thereabouts). All visas that were obtained before the enforcement of the new immigration law will remain the same. And all visa applications that were started before the enforcement of the law will be exempt from the new regulations. I can already hear a collective sigh of relief!

Until next time...hasta luego, 

Connie & Mark 

Mobility Act -- Immigration Law 2017 -- What You Need to Know!

The one thing you can be sure of in Ecuador is change and now we have new changes in residency visas.  To clarify the many questions that I’ve received, I’ve decided to blog about it. There are still some unknowns about the new act, but I’ll clear those up as I receive news.

Back in the day (meaning when we got our permanent residency visas in 2010), we went to the Ecuadorian Consulate in Washington DC and received our 12-IX and three weeks later upon arriving in Ecuador we had our permanent residency visas (pensioner’s visa) good for 12 years instead of 10 – don’t ask (we still don’t know why that happened). 

There were some stipulations, however, and they had to do with travel. We couldn’t be out of the country more than 90 days for the first two years and then up to 18 months the third year. I call it the 90-90-18 month rule. Unless, you were going for citizenship and then it was the 30-30-30 day rule; you couldn’t be gone from Ecuador more than 90 days in a three-year period. Now we do know some folks who got their citizenship despite that rule, but it took some "lawyering" to get it done.

Our experience with the pensioner’s visa process was seamless (seven years ago) with the aid of an immigration attorney in Quito. It was textbook perfect.

Forget everything I just told you because those are the old rules and these are the new rules, which have some significant changes.

Under the old law there were two categories non-immigrant and immigrant visas, which have now merged so you can dismiss those two words from your vocabulary and now they’re all lumped into the following: pensioner’s visa (retired); investor’s visa (25K in the bank or equivalent property); religious visa (missionary or pastor); student visa; professional visa; volunteer visa and sportsman visa (I have no idea what that entails), and dependent visas (I’m dependent on my husband’s pensioner’s visa), and lastly international protection visas.

I’m going to begin with the Permanent Residency Visa, since most folks are planning to stay (even though they usually don’t and leave after five years to explore other international destinations or back to the States).

Permanent Residency Visa: Allows foreign citizens to stay in Ecuador for an indefinite period of time. If you obtained a temporary visa (which I will talk about at another time) and decide you want to stay indefinitely you will need the following:

*Apostilled criminal background check (FBI). 

*Proof of economic resources. For example for the pensioner’s visa, you must prove that you have $800 per month for life and $100 for each of your dependents.

*All the necessary legal paperwork for the categories listed above.

A temporary resident can be eligible for permanent residency if they married an Ecuadorian citizen (that happens a lot – especially with the teachers we work with); they have stayed in Ecuador for at least 21 months; they’re related to an Ecuadorian citizen (or permanent resident of Ecuador); and  minors or disabled person dependent on a permanent resident of Ecuador. If you are going from a temporary visa to permanent residency visa, you’ll need a valid Ecuadorian criminal report or valid criminal background check and proof of economic means to remain in Ecuador.

Here are the big changes (read carefully):

*Proof of foreign medical insurance or enrollment in Ecuador’s health insurance system (IESS) or private Ecuadorian health carriers (Humana, Salud, Confiamed, etc.).

*Travel Restrictions. This is quite a change from the previous rule. A person with a permanent residency visa cannot be out of the country more than 180 days each year (previously it was 90) during the first two years and after that you may leave the country up to five years (previously it was 18 months). Wow, that’s a big change! The penalty for staying out more than 180 days during the first two years is $1,500.

There are still some things that need to be clarified. For example, those of us who received our permanent residency and cedula seven years ago – are we grandfathered into the new law? What about the folks who started their paperwork in 2016 and are caught in the middle – do the new rules apply? And what type of health insurance must they show. For example, you’re only eligible for IESS (Social Security System of Ecuador), after you become a resident.

My Thoughts: I think it’s a good thing that foreigners are required to show proof of medical insurance before entering the country. One of the reasons why we came to Ecuador was for the excellent medical care, but we had a private policy for three years before we signed up for IESS. And as far as the extended periods of stay outside of Ecuador, I think it’s also a good thing especially for those of us in the sandwich generation with parents who are still alive, children and grandchildren (oh my!). Our problem is this: We’re 61 years old and aren’t eligible for Medicare (yet), so we have to buy medical insurance when we travel to the States (and it isn’t cheap!). And to add insult to injury, under Obamacare we can’t be gone more than 30 days from Ecuador or we have to pay a fine for exceeding those limits. Now, I know Obamacare is being repealed, but as expats we don’t know what the new restrictions will be (better or worse).

As mentioned, the biggest changes are the proof of health insurance (how much coverage I’m not sure about) and, of course, the travel restrictions. I’m not sure what the new fee schedule will be for each of the permanent residency visas (if any), but I will keep on top of it.

Next time, I’ll tackle the change in temporary visas. I won’t update the book Living and Retiring in Cuenca:101 Questions Answered until I’m clear on the new fee schedules (if any) and any other changes.

Until next time…hasta luego!

Connie and Mark 

Seven Years in Review

It’s hard to believe, but we’re coming up on seven years in Cuenca—almost as much time as we spent in Italy, so naturally it’s a time of reflection (the good and the bad).

The other day a newcomer asked, “What’s changed in the time that you’ve been here?”

At first, I didn’t have an immediate response (my mind went blank) and then it all came to me. Here’s a list (by no means complete), but it will give you some idea of the transformations that have taken place in this beautiful city we call home.

1. More Security. I remember when we first arrived, the only police presence were the officers in their brown uniforms with their fluorescent vests. Now, we have transportation police at intersections with video surveillance; citizen police who patrol the parks and streets on foot, bicycle and sometimes horseback, and Wi-Fi and video surveillance in the major parks and streets. It’s incredible when you stop to think about it compared to seven years ago. Also, we have a major 911 Call Center and you can bring your phone into a local police station and they can program it so they have all your vital information and your address, so in an emergency you just hit a single digit and help is on its way. Sure there’s still petty theft, but no more than you would expect from any large city.

2. High Speed Internet. We now have fiber optics all over Cuenca and in our condo building it was installed free of charge. Our kids in Pennsylvania still don’t have fiber optics and we live in a “developing” country.

3. IESS Medical System. When we first arrived we had to have a private medical policy because IESS was not accepting new patients and you had to take a physical exam. Basically, if you weren’t in perfect health you weren’t accepted. That’s all changed. For $78 per month, Mark and I are both covered for hospitalizations, office visits, labs, medical procedures, surgery (inpatient and outpatient), and prescriptions. It’s one of the most efficient systems we’ve ever been part of. We make our appointments online with the same doctor. We’re usually seen within one to three days. Medical records are electronic and we’re seen on time. We’ve never had to wait more than 10 minutes. If we need to see a specialist, the wait time is longer. But we always have the option of seeing one of our private physicians for $25-$35 per visit. Now that we’re in our 60’s, we appreciate the fact that we are part of a stable, reliable, and efficient medical system.

4. Easy Come, Easy Go.  It goes without saying that people come and leave Cuenca just like the restaurants. As soon as you find the best restaurant in town, the next thing you know it’s moved or gone out of business (especially in El Centro). The average for a couple is about three to five years before they move on (either to another part of the world or back to the States). Some of the issues that draw couples back are taking care of elderly parents; grandchildren; and health problems. We are at a high altitude and if you have heart or lung conditions, Cuenca is definitely not the place for you. We receive 20% less oxygen at 8,300 feet and therefore all the vital organs in your body are deprived of oxygen. If you have pulmonary problems or heart issues, look for a place at sea level.

5. Transportation. We have a love/hate relationship with the buses in Cuenca. If we could change anything it would be the pollution from the buses, cars and vans. Emission control is certainly something that they’re working on, but not fast enough. I always cover my face with a scarf when I’m out and about and when I run along the trails. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve come back home and found soot all over my face—streaks of pollution! I don’t even want to think of what my lungs look like. The greatest concern is for younger children who are most susceptible to the particles that lodge in their lungs and stay there! The tranvia (electric train) has made progress, but is often stalled because of contract negotiations. For a while it was making great strides, but now it’s stalled again. It’s on again and off again. I suspect that by 2018, it might be done (hopefully). They are looking to buy new eco-friendly buses, but at $120,000 a piece it might be a while before we see the fleet of 350 being replaced. Mark and I usually walk everywhere and find Cuenca one of the most walkable cities we’ve ever lived in.

Photo courtesy of El Tiempo

6. Language Learning. Mark and I learned Italian in our 20’s and Spanish in our 50’s – what a difference a few decades can make. I still read in Italian, but I’m more fluent in Spanish now (obviously) because I speak it every day. If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it. We see that with our students all the time. A year after they’ve finished 16 levels of English at CEDEI, they can barely answer a simple question. If you only hang around expats, you’ll have a harder time learning. Our younger teacher friends who have boyfriends/girlfriends are fluent in three months. We’re now at the stage where we can read the newspaper, watch TV in Spanish, and understand basically everything, but we work at it. We write down new words every day and then try to incorporate them into our daily conversations. Just like English, you’re always learning!

7. This is Home. Now when we go back to the States, we refer to Cuenca as home. I still believe after seven years that our family and friends haven’t truly accepted it. I think in part because we didn’t ask their permission to move overseas. But for us it was the best decision we could have ever made. This year we’ll receive our social security, which means we can save that income. Our condo is paid for, so we’ll continue to live on my husband’s UPS pension and continue to save, save, save. We will do more traveling, but we want to build up a nest egg again, which is something we definitely couldn’t do in the States. With property tax of $53 a year and condo fees about $58 a month, it only makes sense to buy if you can.  If you own your home, you can easily live off of $1,300 - $1,500 per month. We also don’t own a car (and never plan to), so you can save even more (no gas, no maintenance, no car insurance, and no worries about theft). In fact, almost all our friends who own a car have had some sort of theft problem. We think it’s a luxury not to own a car.

Although many things have changed in Cuenca—including more expats—it’s still the same place we fell in love with. The climate is still the best part (no need for heat or air conditioning). It reminds me a lot of San Francisco – moderate all year long. However, I will say this: I’ve been in some Ecuadorian homes on a sunny day and they’re downright cold! The reason being is they don’t allow the light in because they’re usually surrounded by a cement barricade and the homes are dark. The key to living comfortably in Cuenca is don’t buy more than you need. Our condo is 850 square feet (two bedrooms, two baths that are on separate ends of the house) with windows, windows, and more windows letting in morning and afternoon sun. We have friends who have a five-bedroom home (two levels) and they keep their space heaters running constantly. We love our place and the view that we have (Andes Mountains, view of the city, and the Church of Turi). Best decision we ever made was to buy. And we would never buy a single-dwelling home—only a condo. Almost everyone we know who has bought a single-standing home has had a home invasion and if they leave for a few days or a few weeks, they have to have someone stay at their place. Even our friends with state-of-the art security systems have had break-ins. We enjoy 24-hour security and we can leave any time we want without fear of someone breaking into our place. Peace of mind is worth everything.

Would we do anything differently? Yes, we would have retired at 40 instead of 55, but that simply wasn’t possible. However, we run into young couples all the time in Cuenca who have retired at 40 and when I ask them how they managed that they say, “We didn’t have kids!”

There you go…the secret to retiring early (not having kids), but then we wouldn’t have our precious granddaughter, Clara Joy!

Until next time…Hasta Luego!


Connie & Mark 


P.S. Did I mention that you can now get blueberries delivered to your door?! I always told Mark that there was only one thing missing in Cuenca and now our lives our complete. BLUEBERRIES!

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Happy New Year!

Right now while I'm writing this blog post, I can hear the fireworks outside in all directions and it's not even New Year's Eve yet! Tomorrow will be spectacular and I hope to capture it in pictures and on video.

Unfortunately, last year I forgot to plug in my camera battery, so you can imagine my disappointment when the red light went on while the fireworks were exploding and I got a snippet here and there.

The New Year's Eve fireworks are the best I've ever witnessed and they start at the stroke of midnight and continue until 2:00 a.m. Last year our house was filled with smoke -- just from leaving the windows open. And I might add, that we can actually see out our windows this year as the condo association gave us an early Christmas gift and cleaned the outside windows free of charge. I have to admit it was a little unnerving to walk into the kitchen and see someone in our window -- three stories up! He was roped in and harnessed in with huge magnets, but I sure wouldn't want his job! Thankfully, we can see clearly now.

This year is our transition year as we're actually going to retire! Mark will be finishing up one more cycle at CEDEI from 2 PM to 8 PM (Monday through Thursday) through May until he receives his Social Security and mine will come in October 2017. I will continue to write for the editors I've established relationships with, but I won't be taking on any new assignments because we plan to do be doing a lot more traveling.

We have trips planned to the San Francisco Bay Are in May to see my parents who are in their 80's; a trip to see our granddaughter in August for her second birthday; and (drum roll...), a trip back to Catania, Sicily in September/October to revisit the place where our older son was born, our old stomping grounds, and to Taormina -- the "pearl of Europe." It was one of our favorite cities while we lived in Italy for six years.

One of the highlights of 2016 was having my sister and her husband visit in March for three weeks. They liked it so much that they're planning another visit next year and plan to come every two years!

This was a big year for birthdays as well: Our older son turned 35, our younger son turned 30, and our granddaughter, Clara, celebrated her first birthday in August, so we flew back to Pennsylvania to enjoy her big birthday party bash with a watermelon theme.

Thankfully, due to FaceTime, we've enjoyed all her firsts: She learned to crawl while we were there, then walk and now she's talking up a storm and we treasure the videos that our daughter-in-law, Kim, sends us and now Clara received a kitchen for Christmas, so she's making us meals (smile!). For those of you contemplating a move to Cuenca and wonder how you're going to keep up with the grandchildren, don't worry...technology has it all figured out for you.

I'm going to leave you with some collage pictures of some of our highlights this year -- especially Christmas Eve, which we spent at Mansion Alcazar (Casa Alonso). It was an amazing dinner and we made a lot of special memories.

Christmas Eve Dinner at Mansion Alcazar

Our granddaughter, Clara, on Christmas Eve!

Christmas Day from Ecuador to the U.S.

2016 in Review including "La Perla" Ferris Wheel in Guayaquil -- a must see!

From La Casa Pombo in Ecuador, we wish you a joyous, healthy, and peaceful 2017. Happy New Year!

Abrazitos (Hugs) from Cuenca, 

Connie & Mark 

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