Cuenca, Ecuador was once rated one of the top places for expats to retire by International Living magazine. The town is cute, historical, safe, pleasant. For these reasons, Mark and I considered spending a few months here, but the more gringos we met (all lovely people), the less appealing international living in general became. I've always known that America is my home, but meeting and interacting with the expats in Cuenca solidified this fact. In general, folks here were grieving and surviving, rather than living a permanent vacation status. The people we met were relocating to Cuenca less out of choice, and more out of necessity, which created some tough situations. Here are some of the ex-pats we met:
50+ blonde at the cafe: After 3 months, she was packing up a moving container with all of her belongings and heading back to Texas. She missed people, and the familiar things; she'd had enough of the expat life.
Cancer survivor with MS: She and her husband were selling homemade biscotti to afford a surgery in Italy. They consoled themselves by "eating healthy" in Ecuador (no GMO's), but life was rough.
Late 50's Cafe owner: After two years in the Peace Corps, he and his wife were serving breakfast to gringos, repainting tagged walls, and repairing plumbing on overflowing toilets. Meanwhile, when gringos come in to inquire about how to settle in Cuenca, and a look of fear comes over their faces like "Please, don't unload your problems on me."
80 year old, retired lawyer, Bob: Lived in a hostel for the past two years, bleeding internally, no family or friends to contact, just the landlord at his hostel.
Family of four from Boston: The little latch-key brothers spent their days terrorizing the hostel while being shouted at by their parents who repeatedly threatened to "F-ing beat the daylights out of them." They weren't completely horrible parents. Despite their bone-y appearance, the parents survived on only coffee; this way they could afford their kid's breakfast.
I don't know why the gringo population in this town had so many hurts, but it broke my heart to see it all. I left praying for each of these people, and for the town of Cuenca, and wondering what more I could do to help people in need.
50+ blonde at the cafe: After 3 months, she was packing up a moving container with all of her belongings and heading back to Texas. She missed people, and the familiar things; she'd had enough of the expat life.
Cancer survivor with MS: She and her husband were selling homemade biscotti to afford a surgery in Italy. They consoled themselves by "eating healthy" in Ecuador (no GMO's), but life was rough.
Late 50's Cafe owner: After two years in the Peace Corps, he and his wife were serving breakfast to gringos, repainting tagged walls, and repairing plumbing on overflowing toilets. Meanwhile, when gringos come in to inquire about how to settle in Cuenca, and a look of fear comes over their faces like "Please, don't unload your problems on me."
80 year old, retired lawyer, Bob: Lived in a hostel for the past two years, bleeding internally, no family or friends to contact, just the landlord at his hostel.
Family of four from Boston: The little latch-key brothers spent their days terrorizing the hostel while being shouted at by their parents who repeatedly threatened to "F-ing beat the daylights out of them." They weren't completely horrible parents. Despite their bone-y appearance, the parents survived on only coffee; this way they could afford their kid's breakfast.
I don't know why the gringo population in this town had so many hurts, but it broke my heart to see it all. I left praying for each of these people, and for the town of Cuenca, and wondering what more I could do to help people in need.
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