The unofficial web page of the greater Cuenca expat community

Edd said the IL expo in New Orleans was a huge success, but he had trouble getting back to Cuenca, was stuck in Quito for 2 days as the Cuenca airport was closed.  A plane had skidded off the runway and got stuck in the mud.  Cuenca had no equipment able to extract the plane, had to wait for the heavy stuff to come from Quito.  A day in the life.

Not much else you can expect from a Third World country.A plane skids off a
runway and the Airport isclosed down for more than a week. Cuenca sucks.

28204km wrote:

Not much else you can expect from a Third World country.  A plane skids off a
runway and the Airport isclosed down for more than a week.

Cuenca sucks.

Mugtech's “day in the life” comment is more reasonable than yours, 28204.

You're condemning one of the world's most popular retirement locations over a single, temporary airport closure -- from a computer in North Carolina, no less.

cccmedia in Quito

That kind of attitude belongs back home in the US of A!
The'Donald ' needs you !

Lo siento but the guy sucks !

cccmedia wrote:

28204km wrote:

Not much else you can expect from a Third World country.  A plane skids off a
runway and the Airport isclosed down for more than a week.

Cuenca sucks.

Mugtech's “day in the life” comment is more reasonable than yours, 28204.

You're condemning one of the world's most popular retirement locations over a single, temporary airport closure -- from a computer in North Carolina, no less.

cccmedia in Quito

Assuming he is indeed in North Carolina then he must have returned there because I remember a user with his photo sending me a private message asking about health insurance in Cuenca over a year ago after he had moved here.  Looks like another expat I have outlasted.

P.S. 
Speaking of moving back to the states, I just learned of a couple living in a penthouse apartment in the Rosenthal bulding  who are moving back because the wife wasn´t able to acclimate to the elevation. 

For any wet-behind-the-ears newbie expats interested in renting that apartment, the rent is $700 plus building fee of around $120.  I forget whether it is furnished or unfurnished.  Just take into account that I will outlast you.

I recently started my second career as an English Teacher in Cuenca at a private school. It could be a short-lived career if the powers-that-be  decide not to bring me back after this course ends.

  It is only a a part-time job, but I have to spend a lot of time boning-up for now, so it feels like  its full time. Considering I did not have prior teaching experience or a TEFL certificate, and considering the interview lasted less than the five minutes, I have concluded that the only reason I got the job was because they were desperate, and because I was a gringo with a pulse.

I wasn't actively searching a job teaching job, and in fact had stated previously on this thread I would never teach English unless I knew Spanish (well). However, this job fell in my lap, so I figured "what the hell". Plus, once I get caught up on all the English grammar rules, there will still be plenty of time for dinking around. 

I think my change of heart on teaching English also reflects an evolution in my thinking.  Instead of trying to learn Spanish and adapt to the culture, I think my time is better served teaching the local population English and teaching them how to appreciate U.S. culture (including why a baked potato with sour cream and butter is so good), so that future generations of expats can transition to life in Cuenca with less difficulty.

What's that saying? Never say Never. All the best! Now get those commas and prepositions right.

aterosin wrote:

What's that saying? Never say Never. All the best! Now get those commas and prepositions right.

Yes proper punctuation can save lives:

When do we eat grandma?
Or
When do we eat, grandma?

And prepositions vs. Propositions. LOL!

I hope I am not perceived as hijacking your thread Nards, but I thought you and others might be interested in a few books I have read recently, especially because the US Presidential election is soon to come.

The books are:

1)    Dark Money (2016)  by Jane Mayer

2)    The Crash of 2016 (2013) by Thom Hartman

3)    The Deadly Spin (2010) by Wendell Potter

Wendell Potter was a top executive working in the Health Care Insurance industry in the US. He reveals his perspective of the health care deception.

Some of this stuff comes across as quite negative but if you read them completely (especially #2 & #3) they offer some good suggestions of how these problems can be overcome.

Given some of the opinions I have read on the Internet as of late, many of the people stating their opinions should have a read of these books. They might open their eyes a bit more.

MikeGB wrote:

I hope I am not perceived as hijacking your thread Nards, but I thought you and others might be interested in a few books I have read recently, especially because the US Presidential election is soon to come.

The books are:

1)    Dark Money (2016)  by Jane Mayer

2)    The Crash of 2016 (2013) by Thom Hartman

3)    The Deadly Spin (2010) by Wendell Potter

Wendell Potter was a top executive working in the Health Care Insurance industry in the US. He reveals his perspective of the health care deception.

Some of this stuff comes across as quite negative but if you read them completely (especially #2 & #3) they offer some good suggestions of how these problems can be overcome.

Given some of the opinions I have read on the Internet as of late, many of the people stating their opinions should have a read of these books. They might open their eyes a bit more.

I am always interested in what books people are reading.

While I have lots of unread books on my Kindle, the only one I am trying to get through now is the following.  It is quite boring.........

Nards Barley wrote:

I am always interested in what books people are reading.

While I have lots of unread books on my Kindle, the only one I am trying to get through now is the following.  It is quite boring.........

[img align=c]http://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/photo.goodreads.com/books/1302362619i/10443414._UY200_.jpg[/url]

Gag!!!  I will pass on that one. Hope your English classes turn out to be a good experience for you.

While living in Cuenca you hear periodcally about backpacks or purses being stolen from cafés from time to time.

Both Goza and Fabianos have installed hooks on their tables to allow you to hang your backpack or purse.  Goza installed the hooks under the table surface while Fabianos installed on the legs of the table.

I was in Cafe Austria recently preparing for my English class when I spotted these attached to one chair at each table.



It is plastic buckle for "securing" your purse or backpack to the chair.

I was talking to a friend recently about Sunrise cafe on Calle Larga and he referred to it as the Dennys of Cuenca.  I thought to myself "Wow"; that is a great way to refer to it.   I only wish they kept the same hours that Dennys back in the states keeps (24 hours).

I was in there last week and they have a new breakfast, lunch and drink menu.   Here is the breakfast menu.

Brilliant!!

Albeit not an explicit arrangement, Said and I are working together well as a writing team: him as the writer and me as the editor.

In his first food review for Cuenca highlife I proposed the following correction:

Said said "seco de churo, a goat dish"

The goat based secos I sometimes eat are called "seco do chivo"
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Edd Staton  nards barley • 3 months ago
Dude, I obviously need to wear my reading glasses when proofreading. Of course you are correct.

In his most recent article where we get to hear him speak as well, I made the following comment, which was removed from the comment section.

Empanadas are a Mexican standard? That is news to me.
Aah, The former location for Roux.

While he didn't acknowledge the correction in this article, he did edit the article as follows:

If you're looking for Mexican standards — burritos, tacos, and tostadas, etc. —

P.S.
Said, if you would like to formalize our partnership, and have me edit your articles before they are actually posted, feel free to contact me.  All I ask is that you buy me a cappuccino once in a while.

Nards Barley wrote:

Albeit not an explicit arrangement, Said and I are working together well as a writing team: him as the writer and me as the editor.

In his first food review for Cuenca highlife I proposed the following correction:

Said said "seco de churo, a goat dish"

The goat based secos I sometimes eat are called "seco do chivo"
• Edit• Reply•Share ›
Avatar
Edd Staton  nards barley • 3 months ago
Dude, I obviously need to wear my reading glasses when proofreading. Of course you are correct.

In his most recent article where we get to hear him speak as well, I made the following comment, which was removed from the comment section.

Empanadas are a Mexican standard? That is news to me.
Aah, The former location for Roux.

While he didn't acknowledge the correction in this article, he did edit the article as follows:

If you're looking for Mexican standards — burritos, tacos, and tostadas, etc. —

P.S.
Said, if you would like to formalize our partnership, and have me edit your articles before they are actually posted, feel free to contact me.  All I ask is that you buy me a cappuccino once in a while.

You would not want the job of editing his articles about cruising to Argentina or his trip to the Ecuador islands.

Proper spelling helps, too.  "When do we eat, Grandma?"

Rumor had it that this gringa(s)  owned cafe called Little Bull Bistro on Solano at Remigio Crespo had a taco plate with mexican rice and refried beans.  Sure enough they did.   With a coke it ran me $7.25.   While more than I can afford,  you sometimes have to live large.




However, the most indelible memory I had of my lunch was the green serving plates, with built-in slots for the tacos which keep them in a vertical position preventing the stuff from falling out of the shells. I recommend you buy a few of these (authorized reseller) and pack them in your luggage before heading over to Cuenca.

“Seventy percent of success in life is showing up.” Woody Allen
M

My English class ended a couple weeks ago.   I managed to make it through without getting fired.   I attribute this to my perfect attendance record.   I may have been able to teach a kids class this summer/winter (whatever you want to call it), but after having worked as a substitute teacher a couple times for the school in a kids class, I decided to pass.  I may resume teaching again in September.

Since it was a structured course with books and audio, I was more a facilitator of an English class than I was an English Teacher.  I basically had to push the play button on the CD player and keep order, and correct pronunciation.  I did embellish on the material on occasion.

On the final day of the class, after their exam, I went out for beers with some of the students.   One of them had a photo of me on their phone he had taken of me during an earlier class.   He said I looked like Indiana Jones.  I chuckled at this characterization because I didn't think my clothing qualified.   Nonetheless, the thought of being the Indiana Jones of Cuenca is growing on me.   I probably need to do more than dink around Cuenca to qualify.

I had posed to the questions to my students what their favorite whiskey made in Ecuador.  One of the students says he only drinks imported whiskey.  I said who can afford that? He says he buys it from a Facebook page where he calls a phone number and they deliver.  He thinks they smuggle it in from Peru.   I took a snapshot of the price page. It is about half the price of what you are going to find it in the store I think.

I do go to decent steakhouses in Cuenca once in a while, particularly when someone else is buying.   That was the case recently when I went to Anubis restaurant located on 12 de Octubre near Don Bosco.

While exiting out of the restaurant waiting for my friend to pay the bill, I looked up and spotted a sign hanging on the building. Take a look:



I suspect that was the compensation for posting this article on the restaurant back in February. Nothing is free or is as it seems (objective).

On a side note, it had been about a year since I had eaten at Anubis. But one thing is for sure, the prices have gone up.  The filet mignon dinner was $12,  but is now $15.

Nards Barley wrote:

On a side note, it had been about a year since I had eaten at Anubis. But one thing is for sure, the prices have gone up.  The filet mignon dinner was $12,  but is now $15.

I saw your comment posted to the linked article in May 2015 on CHL (you felt "squeezed").  HA!

Ha!  Forgot about that.   Fortunately we got there this time around 5 p.m., so we were the only ones there.

Nards, any updates on citizenship process for you?

Let me guess what the conclusion of this investigative study advertised on CuencaHighlife.comwill be:  That the gringos need to attend cultural sensitivity training and learn spanish.  I wonder why he only wants to interview gringos over 65?  Maybe because they sure as hell aren't going to learn the language, if they haven't by then.

Survey of Expat Integration Into Cuenca
Published on August 29, 2016 by: admin
How to contribute to a better integration of the expat community

If you are a US citizen of over 65 who lives in Cuenca you're invited to take part in an investigation about the integration of retired US citizens. We want to interview you for about 1 hour, preferably at your place.

By granting your assistance you'll help an Ecuadorian student of the Master on Migration Politics of the Universidad de Cuenca. The results of the investigation will be handed over to the local government of Cuenca with the purpose of improving their policy on migration and integration.

If interested, please contact, Jasper Somers at [email protected] or call 096 756 2088.

It's always great to catch up with you Nards!!

AMDG wrote:

Nards, any updates on citizenship process for you?

I hope to be presenting my application again soon.  I suspect they may shoot it down because my FBI report is old.   Back in February I presented my application in Cuenca and they asked where was document de custodia from Banco Central indicating my renewed CD for my visa was in their posession. I said "eeh, ahh, um, ooh, I forgot".

As penitence  for my laziness, I have spent an inordinate amount of time in Azogues in recent months putting my visa in good standing which I finally did.

aterosin wrote:

It's always great to catch up with you Nards!!

And you aterosin.  When is your next trip to Ecuador?

I wish! Bernie Sanders took over my life in May when I was elected to be a Delegate for the DNC convention. In late July, I traveled to Philly to participate in the farce. Now I'm home recovering. Football has been going on all summer for the 17 year old and now is in full force with school starting tomorrow and the first game Friday. Ah, Junior Year...Remember? Dave got a gig playing the show "Chicago" from early June thru mid-September (every night). Nice $$ but he can't leave town. I just canned 108 quarts of grape juice and the 2nd crop is almost ready. You knew we backed out of the Tutupali land, right? Three years of waiting and dealing with that Castro scoundrel was enough. We used some of the money to buy a '93 Toyota Itasca motorhome. It's a sweet 21-footer which we take out to the Rogue River and the Oregon coast. I hope to go to Texas in February-March. Then if that isn't enough I got roped into planning our High School 45th Reunion. We figured we'd better not wait till the 50th  considering all the peeps dying in their mid 60's, climate change and the possible Zombie apocalypse. Ecuador? I wish it was tomorrow. I'm ready to spend about 3-6 months down there.

For some time I have been looking for an illustration that depicts the Cuenca expat community's pecking order.   Where you are in the pecking order is a function of what you know about the country and culture, what you do with your free time, how long you have lived here, and how "good" your Spanish is on a scale of  bad, worse and worst.  All first year expats are at the bottom of pecking order and will treated accordingly by me and others.  regardless of how culturally sensitive you consider yourself or what your politics are.

Please inform us of the significance of the pecking order.  Does anyone really care?

My opinion, having lived half my life as an expat is that there is no monopoly on knowledge. The old can learn from the young and long term expats can learn from noobs and vice versa. Ecuador is not an exception. To make a point, I'm interested in opening a business and a retired expat who has lived here 20 years could probably contribute zilch in this regard if that is not an area they're knowledgeable in. This is also true for local born people who are not business inclined. On the other hand a Spaniard I know who has been here less than a year and is active in this regard has a lot of good information. This is also true for immigrants who opened up businesses. I patron their places, develop casual relations and from time to time ask questions. I've even learned from a Cubana waitress, and ask question like how much you think they make here a week? Or do you guys ever have problems with being robbed among other questions. This is also true for Venezuelans who I've learned a lot from as they are easier to approach than managers/owners in some instances because the latter are more reserved with information.

I walk out my building and I want to learn, and this knowledge can come from a tourist, noob, long time expat or local. It's not how long a person has been in a place it's what they know.

mugtech wrote:

Please inform us of the significance of the pecking order.  Does anyone really care?

While I was mostly being satirical, I have found that certain expats in Cuenca believe they are guardians of good expat behavior, and I sometimes ask myself, "who put you in charge?".

Case in point, I heard of an expat  who accepted a ride to go to Supermaxi from another expat who has a car .  The expat who acccepted the ride bought around $200 in groceries and gave a small tip to the employee who helped them take their groceries out to their car.  The expat with the car went off on the expat in a unhinged manner for giving that employee a tip, because she believes Ecuadorians pay them (an over-generalization and talking point spread on gringo blogs).

Now I personally don't think it is any of my business whether another expat gives a tip.  And the argument that we are changing the culture in some significant manner is crap.  Television movies and Internet and the fact many Ecuadorians have lived in the United States has affected the culture here much more than gringos who threw around their spare change or overpay for things at times.

Nards Barley wrote:

mugtech wrote:

Please inform us of the significance of the pecking order.  Does anyone really care?

While I was mostly being satirical, I have found that certain expats in Cuenca believe they are guardians of good expat behavior, and I sometimes ask myself, "who put you in charge?".

Case in point, I heard of an expat  who accepted a ride to go to Supermaxi from another expat who has a car .  The expat who acccepted the ride bought around $200 in groceries and gave a small tip to the employee who helped them take their groceries out to their car.  The expat with the car went off on the expat in a unhinged manner for giving that employee a tip, because she believes Ecuadorians pay them (an over-generalization and talking point spread on gringo blogs).

Now I personally don't think it is any of my business whether another expat gives a tip.  And the argument that we are changing the culture in some significant manner is crap.  Television movies and Internet and the fact many Ecuadorians have lived in the United States has affected the culture here much more than gringos who threw around their spare change or overpay for things at times.

Sounds like the nonsense I read on IL about the gringo who overpaid his maid and caused social unrest over being paid an extra $2 for 3hours of work.  I knew you were being sarcastic, While I also know some take the idea seriously.

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

The same thing was said (by some) when I was a mere lad 1959-61 in Quito, about gringos paying the indigenous help "too much" and supposedly distorting the economy, even though there were literally only a handful of foreigners at that time.

The only thing that was true, is that working for gringos was a mostly coveted position because the locals could make a bit more.  Not that much more, but more.  It's not like they had a lot of options, because they were uneducated and kept down because they were more "indio" and not members of the Ecuadorian upper class who always had servants, anyway and often did not treat them well.

Much ado about nothing.

P.S.  At that time television had nothing to do with it - we got only one channel in Quito, and subject to numerous power outages at any time night or day.

OsageArcher wrote:

members of the Ecuadorian upper class always had servants... and often did not treat them well....

we got only one channel in Quito, and subject to numerous power outages at any time night or day.

"We had to walk butt naked through 40 miles of snow....
Had to sell my internal organs just to pay the rent.”

  -- From "When I Was Your Age,” Weird Al Yankovich

Did I mention it was uphill - both ways?  Really.