Spring of 2013 found us doing a thirty day visit to Cuenca, Ecuador where we attempted to live like locals rather than tourists to see what we thought about a move there. This was to become our grand adventure. In December of 2013, we moved to Cuenca, Ecuador.
One of the most common questions we get asked was how the locals treated expats. While Cuenca was host to over 500 expats at that time (not sure of the current number), we did stand out. I wrote a blog post about some of our experiences. Here is an excerpt:
We went to try out a different shopping mall, Monay, and saw a big pharmacy out front. We pulled out our US Rx and went it to see what they had or didn’t have. Turned out there was only one that we couldn’t get. The clerk understood a little English but spoke almost none. Between what I understood in Spanish, we managed quite well. Without our asking she registered us for a discount card and as she handed it to me, a local gentleman waiting at the register offered us assistance if we needed it. He was concerned that we might not understand what she was saying and he felt it was important that we did. Another huge thank you to him for his help!
You can read the entire post HERE. Only once did we feel we weren’t welcome and it was a funny exchange. One outdoor market sold a lot of wood furniture and we needed several pieces, mostly small tables and side chairs, to finish out our apartment. Once we had made the purchases, we needed a way to get it all home and we knew a taxi (our most common mode of transportation until we got used to the local buses) wouldn’t work. The man who sold us the furniture pointed in the direction of small trucks parked along the side of the street. They had a funny name for them but I can’t remember what it was.
We managed to make arrangements with the first driver in line with the help of the furniture man. My hubby remembers him smiling, I remember him scowling a bit. He loaded up his old beat-up truck with our furniture and tied it all down. Then he motioned to the front seat. I should note, he spoke no English and our Spanish was quite minimal at this time. We both squeezed in and I gave him our address. He nodded, ground the gears as he shifted and we took off.
As we wound slowly through the streets, he would point out certain people and say “Gringo” and shake his head. This happened over and over and definitely gave us the impression he wasn’t a fan of us “gringos”. That was truly the only experience we had in two years of living in Ecuador. The locals were wonderfully helpful, no matter what we needed. We did take Spanish lessons, but learning a new language in your late 60s isn’t easy! We loved our time there and are so glad we never ran into any xenophobia.
My A-Z this year are random thoughts, ideas, and whatever pops into my mind for the letter of the day. As in previous years, I will keep it short and sweet.
