Introduction

What’s to love about living in Cuenca, Ecuador? Let me share how I came to find out.

It all started when Larry’s and my two unique dreams, specifically guiding each of us to move to Ecuador eight years ago, got our attention!

To rush hog wild into something like moving to another country in our circumstances would have been “coyote medicine.” From Road Runner cartoons, you probably know that coyotes often take risks that spell their doom.

First steps

Instead, we turned our attention to a possible first step, to research what it might be like to live in Ecuador to get a sense of the place. We always “knew” we would leave Virginia Beach at some point but didn’t know when or where the move would take us.

If we were to move, we would first have to be sure the dream supported our best interests. An applicable dream will withstand the test of scrutiny to discern its value. Ours did every step of the way over the next eighteen months until we landed at the Mariscal Lamar International Airport in Cuenca, Ecuador, exhausted from our move and in a daze.

A question that made all the difference

We expected culture shock, set a strong intention to hold the best perspective possible to bring balance to our first year in Cuenca. The intention was a question to no one in particular. Ask and we receive.

Our question was “What’s there to Love about Cuenca, Ecuador?” We paid close attention to the question and it didn’t take long to become a filter for our perspective where the answer(s) showed up left and right.

This is how we became experts on what there is to love about Cuenca, a multi-cultural city designated as UNESCO World Heritage Historic Site.

Diving in

This five-hundred-year-old mid-size city of 600,000 sits in a valley surrounded by the splendor of the Andean Mountains, with four very accessible rivers flowing through the city. Lush green linear parks for walking and exercising hug the river banks.

We love too that we don’t need a car. We can walk along the Rio Tomebamba across the city in an hour, or we can take a bus, tram, or taxi to our destinations, all inexpensive.

When you are 65 or older, the bus, tram, and flights originating in Ecuador are half-price! So are utilities!

I felt like a baby experiencing a new world during my first six months here. Because everything was new and different from what I was used to in the U.S.. It included countless little things mainly, and it was all made easier by the fact that the currency used here is the good old United States dollar, which is comforting for many reasons.

One afternoon, I fell from the sidewalk into the street, and an Ecuadorian woman ran over to me and helped me with the most tender loving care I’ve ever had from a stranger.

Another day, a baby fell from the back of an Ecuadorian mother who had him secured by a scarf, which had come loose. Before the baby hit the ground, women immediately appeared from all directions to help. One woman (not me) caught the baby before he hit the ground and held him in place while the mother tied her shawl tightly to secure him.

One day, Larry and I saved a blind man from walking out into fast-moving traffic. We feel reasonably confident we saved his life. There’s something about Cuenca that calls us to be present and aware, not only of ourselves but others. The community connection is palpable.

Things to do

The symphony and museums are free, and there is so much to do and explore without cost. Community parks are everywhere. Paraiso Park, a ten-minute walk from our house, is the largest in Cuenca and where two rivers, the Yanuncay and the Tomebamba, meet and merge into the Cuenca River, which eventually finds its way into the Amazon River (rivers flow East South of the Equator.)

The park has a lake and incredible landscaping. Acres and acres provide places to play games, exercise, run, and is a treasure to experience each time we go, alone or with friends.

More to love

We have never felt unsafe in Cuenca. Crime is rising due to stress and hardship, but still less than the average city with low crime rates. It always works to use common sense and to be aware of your surroundings no matter where you are. In Cuenca, one feels compelled to pay attention and be “present” by the uneven sidewalks alone!

The majestic mountains surround us 360 degrees, creating a cozy, protected sense of life. It’s easy to see why the Incans settled, lived, and worked just a few blocks from where we live, hundreds of years later.

There is so much to love about Cuenca and, in my few in-country travels, Ecuador in general. We are a deeply interconnected community, as it’s plain to see that what affects one of us affects all of us here.

When you don’t have family, your friends become your family, and we all have in common that we live in a foreign country that welcomes us with open arms and where it has never been made more clear that “it takes a village.”

Food

The food in Ecuador is rich in nutrients and delicious to the point where it is pretty standard for new ex-pats to remark on the exquisite flavor of vegetables of all things. GMOs are not allowed in the country, and beef is grass-fed.

Organic food is reasonably priced and inexpensive, plentiful, nutritious, and gorgeous to the eyes. I once bought lettuce that seemed to belong in a precious gem museum in the vegetable section. It was fifty cents and a foot across with crisp, deeply colored, beautiful, tightly packed leaves, each one a showpiece. It filled my entire shopping bag.

There is a lot of food here to love, both local and international. We consider ourselves so fortunate that we can also easily contribute to those less fortunate than ourselves. Clean air, pure water, nutritious food, and respectful housing and personal space are human rights, not privileges.

Did I mention the cost of living is half to a quarter of what it is in the U.S., depending on the item or service? What’s not to love about that?

No bugs!

No bugs! I love that Cuenca has no bugs of any consequence. I have seen one mosquito in seven years and have never heard of a snake spotted anywhere in Cuenca. This mostly bugless state is due to the high altitude in Cuenca, which is around 8,500 feet.

Finally, the weather is mild year-round, and all around much of the time, it feels like Shangri-la living in Cuenca.

Conclusion

At the root of what’s to love about living in Cuenca, Ecuador seems to be the power of the land and her heart-centered people, who have lived here for countless generations and welcome us into their hearts and community.

I could continue for days on end expressing the gratitude and love for dreaming a worthwhile life. We’re not special in any way. We all are capable of dreaming our best life. All we have to do is ask . . . trust and pay attention when the answer shows up.

Love from the land where the Condor and the Eagle meet.
Kaye