About michel3777

Status:

Expatriate  

Gender:

Male

Currently Lives:

Cuenca, Ecuador

Citizen Of:

Canada

Past Expat Posts:

Hong Kong

France

Italy

Germany

Japan

Some Forum Posts:

Ecuador: Bin laden is dead:

Remoore2001 wrote: "Great to see all the wacko end of the worlders and birthers have come out. You are the people who make it interesting.Whats great about you all is EVERYTHING is a conspiracy. Can somebody please tell me why there is such a large percentage of you dingbats in the expat community in ecuador. Thank you all for all your wacko posts. It must be fun going through life thinking everything is a conspiracy. Can anyone explain to me how such a large percentage of expats in ecuador are crazy like you all are." Wow,how horrible to go through life thinking everyone around you is crazy and treating them awfully and with such appalling condescension. You should see a psychiatrist. No, really.

Ecuador: ATM'S Really?:

Are you kidding me with this? Do you actually believe what you are writing or were you under the influence of some paranoid making substance when you wrote this? I live in Cuenca, I use the ATM almost every day, right next in line to office people, indigenous people, foreign people, get the picture? Didn't Barbra Streisand write a song about the ATM? "People, people who use the ATM, are the luckiest people in the world.." Well, something like that, ha!

Ecuador: Is there fluoride in Cuenca water?:

I have been repeatedly told that the water in Cuenca is the only in Ecuador you can drink and that it is very pure, coming straight from the mountains. People here seem to be very proud of that fact. I still only use it for tea after I boil it for a while. Now an expat told me that an expat told them that there is fluoride added to it, which, as a nutritionist, I find unacceptable at best, for a myriad reasons I won't get into. I have found only one place that sells non-fluoride toothpaste (the chemist by the cathedral on Bolivar), and I researched water supplies and sanitation, but no mention of fluoride. Does anyone know if in fact there is fluoride in Cuenca water and where they got their information from? It would surprise me if they did have fluoride, as their lobbying system is not like in the US, but you never know... Thanks.

Ecuador: Ecuador and rain:

Yes, unfortunately it rains almost everyday in Quito and Cuenca because of the altitude. What happens is that it is sunny and warm until about 2 or 3 in the afternoon, then the pressure from the altitude causes the heat to attract clouds and rain. This is similar in the Alps in France or any high mountain area. On the plus side, everything grows year round here. I lived in Palm Springs for ten years, and I do miss the perpetual sunny skies and warm, dry evenings where you can wear shorts and a t-shirt and go swimming in the warm pool at night...

Ecuador: Real actual costs of living in and around Cuenca:

You are right, there are a lot of variances in prices, and those are due to how comfortable or uncomfortable you can tolerate your day to day living. A lot of the stuff you see on International Living, or other sites, is laughable, reminds me of commercials for diet pills in the US (lost 50 lbs in ten days, no effort, now I'm a beauty queen! And, surprise! my breasts got larger, my teeth got whiter and my hair got blonder!). But seriously, remember that your idea of "not looking for fancy" translates as "I want what I'm accustomed to", and that's probably pretty fancy in this neck of the woods. Things you take for granted, like hot water in the sink when you want to shave, appliances that work, no mold or mildew, are not always standard, unless you want to pay American prices. I have friends who pay $ 800 a month for a stunning new 2 bedroom apartment with a great view, but remember, the average person here makes $ 300 a month, and they all have mucho kids (seems like everyone is pregnant here), so that puts things in perspective. Food is another weird thing. Yes, you can get lunch for $ 2, but keep eating those lunches and you'll end up looking and feeling like someone who eats at Mc Donald's every day. I'm a fitness trainer and nutritionist, so that doesn't work for me. I go to an organic foods market and the prices are just slightly lower than the same stuff in the US, except for some fruits. In any case, I'd rather pay for good food than pay the doctor, although doctors and medicine here are shockingly inexpensive, and most are top notch, which makes you think someone is definitely lining their pockets in the soaring health care costs in the US. I currently live in "downtown" (historical center) Cuenca and pay $ 250 a month for a very small furnished studio (I did have to buy cooking stuff and towels, as all they gave me was, uhm, not too good), with daily maid service, and it's just an OK place, I do have internet and cable TV, it's an average to cheap price, but for double that amount, I can get a pretty nice two bedroom if I look harder (you HAVE to look in the Spanish papers and just walk around with a Spanish speaking friend). I've enrolled in Spanish school full time so I can speak the local language, so that's where I prefer to spend my money for now. A house is different, you'd have to go away from downtown, and there are really nice places if you have time to look with an Ecuadorean friend or someone who is fluent. All the expats I've met here have been unbelievably helpful and friendly, really going out of their way to help. There's definitely a feeling that we're all in this together, to have a good life and be happy... A good hotel will set you back roughly $ 60 a night, and includes breakfast. I staid at the El Dorado, right downtown, for that amount, and it was a really good place, great service, nice people, great breakfast. You could also go to a hostal for $ 12 to $ 15 a night, and believe it or not, some are quite nice, especially if you're staying a bit longer. Cuenca is gorgeous. Really. Worth looking into.

Date Joined:

8/3/2010

Total Posts:

6

Posts/Day:

0.00