We thought Ecuador would be more "Third World" and truthfully there are some places like that here. The large cities are definitely not Third World. Cuenca was surprising for Expats that still want American and European conveniences. It has been said many times by others that an Expat in Cuenca would not have to learn much Spanish.
We live in Loja and you don't hear a lot about Loja from Expats like us because we want to keep the good vibe here to ourselves a bit more. Loja is for people who want to meld more into the culture and language. People are friendly here for the most part. They appreciate you trying to speak Spanish.
Family life is very important in Ecuador and to some extent more so than America. There are problems here with Macho culture. Some Ecuadoran men like to get together with the guys and play drinking games until they pass out. There are a lot of good men and women here on the other hand.
One thing that surprised us is how safe Ecuador is compared to a Chicago, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, etc. We still don't walk late at night. At night use a taxi to get where you need to go.
We were also surprised to meet other American and Canadian Gringos here. We have friendships where we can converse in English and Spanish.
Another surprise here is the high quality of health care here. Health insurance is obtainable here and the price is not high. Another surprise is that not many of the clothes are made to fit
Expats, but no worry because you can have custom tailored clothing for less than the price of off the rack clothes in the U.S. We brought way to many clothes for cold weather.
Coastal people will only need never more than a rarely used sweater. Guayaquil was much hotter and humid than we expected. For those who was hotter and dryer weather you can live in Catamayo and swim in a pool year round. There are opportunities to work here but that almost always means working online for an American, Canadian, or European employer. Need to keep in mind that if you make $10-$15 dollars an hour online that is like making $40-$55 an hour in the U.S. in terms of spending power. For most things prices are 2/3 to 3/4ths less although fine dining is about half price here than the U.S.
We were surprised by the older hippies in Vilcabamba. 2/3 of the population in Vilca is Expat.
One of the things that surprised us is the slower pace of life in Ecuador, the tradition of Almuerzos or Siesta. Late lunch at 1 pm till 3pm and the shops close at that time.
