New members of the Ecuador forum, introduce yourself here

About the investment visa, Norman, that also allows you to include dependents at reasonable amounts.

You can invest in real estate valued (for tax purposes) at $25,000, or in a bank CD at the same minimum.  In both cases, dependents may be added at $500 each in additional capital investment.

cccmedia in Quito

georgekach wrote:

To sum up: expats nearby, medical facilities, nice weather, mid city location.

First off, simplify by taking Guayaquil off your list, George.  It's hot and humid, and it's 90 minutes from the Pacific beaches.  I'd mention the nasty crime statistics but I think you're sharp enough to "pink slip" GYE without going into that.

Since medical facilities are more important than beach living per your post, you can give priority to EC's two largest cities (besides GYE), where excellent care is available.  That's Cuenca and Quito.

As the capital city with a larger population, Quito might be a good fit for your metropolitan interests.  South American Explorers and Internations offer multiple monthly events, parties and field trips for plenty of Expat exposure. 

Cuenca also offers many Expat events, possibly more than Quito in any given month, so if the weather is more or less a tossup, give Cuenca high points in the Expat department.

cccmedia in Quito

Thanks for the advice - much appreciated

One question about the rain.  Does it rain is spots like an hour or 2 per day or is it like 4 to 5 hours.

Cuenca gets a bad rap for raininess if you go by some of the expat  Internet posts.

But, according to at least one website that did a comparison of the weather in Cuenca and Quito, that "rap" may not be truly deserved:

"Quito is slightly cooler, with annual temperatures averaging three degrees (F.) cooler (based on 40-year averages) than Cuenca.  Quito is also a little wetter with average annual rainfall of 48 inches compared to Cuenca's 29 inches." (ecuadorrealestatenews.com)

Keep in mind that a survey of multiple websites might yield varying results, and that climate change has occurred in many places since the start of that 40-year period.

Here in Quito, the rainier season is November-April or early May.  Real heavy rain is infrequent in my experience, but it is not unusual for it to rain for a large portion of a day.

For a better idea of the weather in Cuenca, you may wish to read a related article by googling:
   "ecuadorrealestatenews.com cuenca weather"

cccmedia in Quito

Thank you BobH and Mike

gardener1 wrote:

Normanb wrote:

Thanks Sister for your "brutally honest" post.  It's so informative!!!  Do you feel discrimated against?

??????

There is no discrimination in Ecuador against smoking cats.

Hi, my name is Mike from Florida (central).  I'm seeking a bi-lingual (Spanish & English)  travel partner for visiting Ecuador.  Please contract me at mikelove5010atyahoomdotcom if interested.

Hi everyone! I lived in Cuenca, Ecuador as an EFL teacher from 2008-2010, and it was a fantastic, life-changing experience. I've been feeling a bit nostalgic lately, and wanted to check back in with Ecuador and its expats!

Welcome to Expat.com Ecuador, Jonathan.

What was it about your time there that makes you feel this way about Cuenca and your experience there....

cccmedia in Quito

BobH wrote:

.

I just rented a new place (and will be moving in this week) in a relatively high-end section of Quito -- near a big mall and other shopping, near Parque Carolina (the big park in town), very secure -- for $570/month. It's a 2br/1bath fully furnished (incl washer/dryer, two TVs).

Hurray for you in getting back to EC Best wishes for happy and healthy New Year

Sue:

I wish. That must have been posted at the end of February, when I moved from Centro Historico to El Norte.

Hi, I am a newbie here.  I was born and brought up in Malaysia (but my parents came from South India), but am a US citizen who has been in the USA for about 20 years.  Currently, I teach at a college in Georgia, USA, and am considering retiring to Cuenca in a few years' time.  I am on a short visit to Cuenca now, and will be returning in a few days' time.  While I like the weather and many other aspects of Cuenca, I have been unable to find any grocery stores that sell Indian (specifically) South Indian groceries, such as spices, parboiled rice, basmathi rice, rice flour, atta flour, etc.  Any info on where such groceries might be available in Cuenca (or even in Guayaquil) would be welcome.  Thanks. Rama

rama65 wrote:

I am on a short visit to Cuenca now (and) have been unable to find any grocery stores that sell Indian (specifically South Indian) groceries, such as spices, parboiled rice, basmathi rice, rice flour, atta flour, etc.

Welcome to Expat.com Ecuador, Rama.

You posted on the "New Members" thread, which is fine.

However, as your post is so Cuenca-specific, you might be more effective in getting you question in front of our Cuenca "users" by posting on the Unofficial Blog of the Greater Cuenca Expat Community thread.

Type in "unofficial cuenca expat community" in the Search Expat.com box at the top of this page and click on the icon.

cccmedia in Quito

Hey Guys!!!

New to the whole idea of moving abroad but very excited about the possibilities.

Wasn't sure where I wanted to look into first, but after reading the "The World Through
Expat Eyes" I figured I should start with #1.

Look forward to learning more and perhaps bringing something to the table.

Happy Holidays!!!

IamLETSGO wrote:

Hey Guys!!!

New to the whole idea of moving abroad but very excited about the possibilities.

Wasn't sure where I wanted to look into first, but after reading the "The World Through
Expat Eyes" I figured I should start with #1.

Look forward to learning more and perhaps bringing something to the table.

Happy Holidays!!!

Merry Christmas and welcome to the forum.  You are starting at the right place, most of the information you need can be acquired on here or with a reference from here to the right place.  Please check the other threads available and if you have questions try to ask it at the appropriate place.  Good Luck

IamLETSGO wrote:

Wasn't sure where I wanted to look into first, but after reading The World Through Expat Eyes, I figured I should start with #1.

Ecuador ranked #1 worldwide when Internations published results of its "Expat Eyes" survey of 14,000 Expats in October.

EC was also the only South American country to crack the top 10 in the survey's list of most Expat-favored countries.

internations.org(forward-slash)expat-insider(forward-slash)2014

1. Ecuador
2. Luxembourg
3. Mexico
4. Switserland
5. USA

6. Singapore
7. Spain
8. The Philippines
9. Australia
10. Hong Kong

cccmedia wrote:

IamLETSGO wrote:

Wasn't sure where I wanted to look into first, but after reading The World Through Expat Eyes, I figured I should start with #1.

Ecuador ranked #1 worldwide when Internations published results of its "Expat Eyes" survey of 14,000 Expats in October.

EC was also the only South American country to crack the top 10 in the survey's list of most Expat-favored countries.

internations.org(forward-slash)expat-insider(forward-slash)2014

1. Ecuador
2. Luxembourg
3. Mexico
4. Switserland
5. USA

6. Singapore
7. Spain
8. The Philippines
9. Australia
10. Hong Kong

Downloaded all 197 pages, a great report for anyone considering moving anywhere.
Other Latin American countries included Costa Rica at #11, Panama #24, Colombia #27, Peru #31, Chile #36 Argentina #46.  I was surprised that a militarily divided Cyprus was #39 while Brazil was #42.

Hi everyone...
I have wanted to move out of the States for quite a while. My mother and I were planning to go together, then she up and died on me.  Bummer!  From all that I have read, Ecuador seems like a great place to live.  I am a retired psychotherapist (Master's level) and have a house to sell before I can move.  I plan to visit this summer and in the meantime am working on my Espanol. Oh yeah...That photo of me is kind of old.  I don't quite look like that anymore,
but it is the last one I have.

I ran into that visiting Panama. There are licensing regulations for Netflix for example.
My U.S. Netflix would not work in Panama. Need to get it where you are because of
their licensing issues.
Smart Old Lady

SmartOldLady wrote:

I ran into that visiting Panama. There are licensing regulations for Netflix for example.
My U.S. Netflix would not work in Panama. Need to get it where you are because of
their licensing issues.
Smart Old Lady

Use a VPN service and you will not have this problem anywhere in the world.

What is a VPN service? Sounds really great.
Smart Old Lady

SmartOldLady wrote:

What is a VPN service? Sounds really great.
Smart Old Lady

It allows you to connect (securely) from your computer to another computer located in some other part of the world (for example, in the US). So your computer communicates through this VPN computer in the US to some other computer (e.g., Netflix). The Netflix website sees the the US-based VPN computer and not yours. So, Netflix thinks you are in the US.

Do a Google search for VPN services. They are not free but not very expensive. You pay on a month-to-month basis or an annual basis. I use PureVPN.

Thank you for the invite.  As mentioned we are the "Newbies".  We will be putting feet on the ground in late February to the middle of March 2015. 

Dan & Annette Miller
[email protected]

Our place in the world..is the realnòmad inside us..and everething has it time under the sun..so..finish the mother task..I believe there is so much to learn..taste..see..experience..breaking self made bounderings of secure envirement..que serà serà! loocking forward..to live in ECUADOR..

Hello everyone,

Just a quick reminder that the title of this thread is "New members of the Ecuador forum, introduce yourself here." It would be really great if we could all stick to the topic at hand.

It becomes a really confusing thread to read when there are different conversations on very different topics going on at the same time.

If you have any specific topic you wish to talk about or have information on, do not hesitate to go through the forum of Ecuador and post a message.

Thank you all,

Shaazia
Expat.com Team

Shaazia wrote:

Hello everyone,

Just a quick reminder that the title of this thread is "New members of the Ecuador forum, introduce yourself here." It would be really great if we could all stick to the topic at hand.

It becomes a really confusing thread to read when there are different conversations on very different topics going on at the same time.

If you have any specific topic you wish to talk about or have information on, do not hesitate to go through the forum of Ecuador and post a message.

Thank you all,

Shaazia
Expat.com Team

There is a slight problem though. If a person asks a question that might appear off-topic are we to just ignore the person (i.e, not offer assistance)?  Also, usually when people introduce themselves they have questions that go along with the introduction. How is this to be properly handled? If we have a reasonable response we could make, should we just ignore them? What would you have us do?

so kind of you thank you..

my name is rose green..I live in Uruguay..and after living in COISTA RICA..for 3 month..I FEEL THERE IS SO MUCGH to learn and see.is it possible to live in Ecuador..with a family where one can really feel the country..I have no idea how much money I need..anyway at 61 it is not easy to follow our dreams..I do speak perfect spanish.

MikeGB wrote:

There is a slight problem though. If a person asks a question that might appear off-topic are we to just ignore the person (i.e, not offer assistance)?  Also, usually when people introduce themselves they have questions that go along with the introduction. How is this to be properly handled? If we have a reasonable response we could make, should we just ignore them? What would you have us do?

Mike brings up an important point.

The Team Member's earlier admonition to "stick to the topic at hand" is too vague in and of itself to be a good guideline.

IMO, the Home Office in Mauritius should allow Ecuador posters some leeway in responding to New Members introductions.  After all, the point of having a New Members thread is to make NM's feel welcomed.

However, if it becomes evident that the response to the NM may engender a back-and-forth series of posts, the New Member and the responder have these alternative paths:

1. Start a new thread on the Ecuador Forum.  This thread can be briefly mentioned on the NM thread so users who so desire can follow the conversation.

2. If initiating a new thread is not desired, send PM or personal message(s).

cccmedia in Quito

Hi.  My name is Travis and I'm new to the forum.  I'm 47 and have been planning for retirement at age 55 in the US, likely somewhere in North Carolina which is where I live now with my wife.  Recently I ran across an article talking about how Ecuador is a really popular retirement destination.  The more I read about it the more it sounds like something worth checking into and my wife is as excited about the idea as I am.  It sounds like if we could retire here in another 8 years or so that we could possibly reitre in Ecuador even sooner, like maybe even right now or at least in a couple of years after going through the process of selling our house, doing all the paperwork, etc.  We don't want to 100% retire and sit in a rocking chair on a front porch all day long, but the idea of leaving our current jobs and trying something new that is less stressful in a whole new environment with less demanding financial pressure sure is appealing.  Neither my wife or I have been to Ecuador before so we're going to try to plan out a trip within the next six months or so to get out there for a couple of weeks to take a look for ourselves.  In the meantime we both plan to spend time reading this forum to get a better idea of what it is that we're considering.  Thanks in advance for the information and feedback.

Hi Travis,

I'm Ron.  After years of reading about Ecuador my wife and I came down here for three months from our home in Calabash, NC.  We have been here for about six weeks now and we like Cuenca very much.  The climate so far seems almost perfect.  Almost no humidity and the temps so far have been very comfortable.  The locals seem very friendly and hard working.

Based on our short experience here, I must advise you that if you don't speak Spanish you should start working on it NOW - not when you arrive (as we did).  We can (barely) get along on our limited vocabulary, but you will have a much richer, more enjoyable experience here if you can really speak to and fully understand the people.

I am convinced that you can live on a much smaller budget here than you can in the US, and live better than in the US.  Especially, if you are willing to adopt the local life style and eaing habits.  When you talk to many Americans  here about places to eat they seem to focus on food costs and quantity, rather than on quality, taste and satisfaction.  We have found (in our limited experience here) the food in the average restaurant to be underseasoned, and bland.  Most reasaurants don't even put salt or pepper on the table.  Most of the beef we have had in restaurants is tough and chewy with no flavor.  The beef we bought in the supermarkets is no better. 

When we see one of our favorite dishes on a restaurant menu we order them thinking that we know how it will taste.  Most ofter we are disappointed in this regard because it doesn't taste the same at all.  In fact, we have now accepted the idea that if eating that food item here reminds us of how it is supposed to taste (but doesn't) , we consider that as acceptable.  Our experience has been that if you want a good meal you have to go to the higher priced restaurants - which counters the idea of the six or eight dollar dinner doesn't it?  The fact that my wife owned two restaurants, catered for a number of years and is a gourmet cook obviuosly have an impact on how I evaluate food  but I cannot help that.

I am sure that there are many gringoes here who would disagree with our assessment of the food situation, and our experience has been somewhat limited by time and transporation issues, but I thought that I would share them with you for what they are worth.  We have not sought out the gringoes because we came to sample Ecuador, not to exist in an expat communty in EC.

In any case, we are glad we came and we have enjoyed our experiences in EC.  Our economic situation does not dictate that we have to move here to save money or to live at a higher level than we can in the US, so we do not see ourselves relocating to EC.  I should probably add, that we are both in our mid 70s, we are both retired, we own our house in NC and we have a comfortable and secure retirement income from our combined 55 years of employment.

If have any questions for me do not hestitate to ask.

Ron

Travis,

One thing I forgot to mention in my earlier response is to consider the altitude in this area.  I have still not fully adapted to the 7,000 feet above sea level after six weeks.  My wife did but I am still having a problem, so if you have any health issues that might be a consideration.  Quito is even higher.

Ron

Hi Travis,

The best thing you can do is to come here and check it out as you have planned. Don't completely rely on what others have to say. Your judgement is the best.

Things to think about in living here:

1)   Cost of living is very good. You can live well for $1200 - $1500 per month. You can live for less. It depends on your needs.

2)   Shipping things into this country can be expensive. There are import taxes and shipping costs that make things more costly.

3)   You can purchase a good quality Windows-based computer here for not much more than you would pay in the US. MAC computers are more expensive here. I recently priced out an Intel i5 4440 system for $500.

4)   There are very inexpensive non-fancy cellphones that can be purchased here. Smart phones might cost a bit more than what you are used to. However, I purchased a Samsung S4 16G for $420. That is a fairly good price even in terms of what I have seen in the US. iPhones (again the Apple thing) tend to be more expensive here.

5)   You can purchase a smart TV here for anywhere from $800 and upwards depending on what you want. The $800 would buy about 40" TV (no 3D and not 4K, but those features are not really important).

6)   Internet service  can be spotty at times and certain service providers are not available in some areas.

Hope this helps.

My name is Dustin. I'm from Louisiana. My fiance is a news anchor in Guayaquil and I'm looking to relocate there in the near future. My biggest problem is finding a decent job. I have a security/military background and a little oil experience. I understand very basic Spanish. I don't care what the work is I just need to make in between $1500-$2500 monthly. If anyone has any knowledge regarding my situation your feedback would be much appreciated. Thanks for your time.
Dustin

A few more points:

7)   You have to get used to the drivers in this country. They do not respect people in a cross walk. In some cases it is questionable whether they would stop in time to avoid hitting you. It's best to just get out of the way.

8)   Sidewalks can be very rough in places. I wasn't paying attention one day and caught my foot on the edge of a rough spot and took a tumble. I am 61. Think about what that would be like when you are 80.

9)    The health care here seems very good and is quite inexpensive. I have heard dome stories of people not being able to obtain certain drugs which has resulted in their return to their home country.

10)   Dogs do run freely in the streets and do a lot of barking especially when they think they are protecting their property or there is another dog around. Since some of them run freely they sometimes will become aggressive to other dogs and very occasionally people. You have to watch out for the dog doo-doo in the streets on occasion. This is not North America.

11)   Even though the people of this country seem like hard workers, you can find workmanship that is pretty poor. You have to search around to find ones that do good work, But that is probably not that different than in North America. Although it does seem more frequent.

12)   Cars are a lot more expensive to but here than in North America (even used ones). But then, at least currently, gas prices are much less.

dustin1984 wrote:

My name is Dustin. I'm from Louisiana. My fiance is a news anchor in Guayaquil and I'm looking to relocate there in the near future. My biggest problem is finding a decent job. I have a security/military background and a little oil experience. I understand very basic Spanish. I don't care what the work is I just need to make in between $1500-$2500 monthly. If anyone has any knowledge regarding my situation your feedback would be much appreciated. Thanks for your time.
Dustin

You certainly don't need any more than $1500/mth to live here. $1500/mth is living very well and that amount will cover most if not all of your entertainment costs. It may not be enough to provide you with a lot of travelling outside the country though. You can live on much less. Many people in this country have to.

If you are intending to work here you will definitely have to have a good command of Spanish. You will likely not get work unless you do. However, if you form your own company you might be able to get by on less Spanish, but I wouldn't recommend it. As to Security, I know one person who moved here from the US and has had offers to work with security people in this country. He was in law enforcement back in the US.

Mike,

Thanks for taking the time to respond to my post and for the information. I was military police for 5 years and trained bomb dogs for most of that. I was a security contractor with DOS for 5 years in Iraq after. Is it just basic security work that this man has had offers to work in?

Thanks again

Thank you for the replies to my intro post so far.  Lots of good information and it's great to hear all of the CURRENT information like y'all are giving me.  I speak enough Spanish to get by as long as someone will speak slowly enough back to me.  :-)  I took a couple of years of Spanish back in highschool and college.  My wife is just starting to learn it some in preparation for our trip there.  My background/profession is in computer networking.  Looking forward to doing something in a different field since I've been doing the computer/network stuff for over 20 years now.    My hobbies are motorcycles and cooking and I like working with my hands doing things like mechanical work on motorcycles and building things.

My wife and I are contemplating moving to Cuenca. We have chosen this city because it has the most information available on line through several sites.
I have lived in Honduras for a little while so I have/had a "basic" knowledge of Spanish.
My wife Lynette on the other hand is from South Africa and English is her second language with Afrikaans being her mother tongue.
Lynette is terrified of living in a Spanish country. She thinks she has enough trouble getting by with English. She speaks English Very well but I understand her dilemma.
I have lived in Europe and Central America I know that I can get by with a little effort.
Lynette will move with me of course but she/we would like to exchange thought and ideas with someone that is there and experiencing it day to day.
We would very much appreciate it if you could give us your point of view.
We will be planning an exploratory trip sometime in the next 6 months.
We are looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Paul and Lynette Craig