X: Xenophobia

by Donna Posted on

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.

Till next time…

24 thoughts on “X: Xenophobia”

  1. It’s hard to know what to expect of strangers especially those who doesn’t speak your language. I think you got lucky. But it’s nice to know people can be kind and if they’re not, it’s an experience we can maybe talk about afterward.

    Have a lovely day.

  2. I have a friend who has lived in Ecuador for over 15 years. He started out teaching English in a local school. He actually does live as a local, in an Ecuadorian neighborhood where there are only locals. Shops in the local shops, etc. He knew little to no Spanish when he arrived, but learned it pretty quickly. He still gives private lessons to teachers studying to pass an English test they have to take and receive a certain grade. He’s 90 now. Comes back for about a month during the summer to visit family and friends. He lives in Puyo, Pastaza province.

    1. How awesome! We have friends who moved their in 2014 and one of them teaches at a local school. His Spanish is so good, his partner, not so much. LOL! But, at least in Cuenca, if you at least tried, people were kind and helpful. We loved our time there.

    1. The cost of flying back once a year to see family and check on our RV on our property was costing a lot, plus we missed our grandkids.

    1. I can understand that. I have a couple of widowed women friends who live in NM. It is a pretty state! I loved riding through it.

  6. We stayed for 6 months in Crete during lockdown and only had one bad experience. We were parked in my sister-in-law’s car waiting for a takeaway to be ready, when a very drunk Greek backed his truck (gently) into us – and then did it again! The locals who were watching started trying to blame us but luckily, the butcher who I regularly used, was also watching and soundly berated them…
    What a great place to live for a couple of years, Donna…

    1. Glad you had a witness to the “accident”. We always got a chuckle about the taxi drivers in Cuenca. Any bump, no matter how small, turned into a 20 minute (or longer) argument in the middle of the street. The passengers would get out, shake their heads, and find another taxi.

  7. I am glad you had a (mostly) wonderful experience.
    Frankly, furniture delivery is difficult even without a language barrier. (It took several long months to get a couch I bought from a store near me. Hard fight. Had to get a news reporter to help.)

  9. Oh, I forgot about this word. I’m so glad you did not experience it during your time in Ecuador. We’ve not spent any time in South America, but it sounds like you had a wonderful experience.

    1. We did have a wonderful two years and are still friends with some locals and expats there. There is a lot we miss but we love being closer to family.

  10. That was quite the bold adventure. I don’t think I would have enough nerve to think about starting over in a new country in my late 60s.

    1. I did a ton of research and knew there were enough expats and locals that spoke English that we could be okay. It was an amazing experience!

    1. I miss traveling but age and $$ limit it now. I am blessed to have been able to travel as much as I have. I know some people have never left their county!

  12. I’ve travelled a lot and love experiencing new countries. While a year overseas would have appealed 10 years ago, it’s not practical now. I don’t think a long term move would appeal because I’d miss family – and the light and space in Australia,

    1. I’d love to visit Australia but the long plane ride would kill me. I’ll have to settle for seeing & hearing about it from friends.

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