The unofficial web page of the greater Cuenca expat community

While reading an article posted on Gringo Tree today, I noticed the following footer:



For those of you who have followed my rants on my web page, you know that I have gone off on Cuenca Highlife in the past for what I consider to be unauthorized use of published articles.

In any case, it would not surprise me in the least if the inclusion of these disclosures on GringoTree are a result of my complaints about CuencaHighlife.   While iti is my understanding CuencaHighlife and GringoTree have common ownership, Gringotree has more at stake, so it would make sense to me that they try and do things correct over there.

Nards Barley wrote:

In any case, it would not surprise me in the least if the inclusion of these disclosures on GringoTree are a result of my complaints about CuencaHighlife.

You know its true
We all know that its true

Moody Blues (Justin Hayward)
Never Comes the Day
Threshold of a Dream album
1969
Used without permission

I updated my profile to make the following statement about the languages I speak:

The 40+ year old adult brain is incapable of becoming fluent in another language

Of course, I am speaking primarily about North Americans who have spoken exclusively English their whole life before moving to a foreign country.

Nards Barley wrote:

I updated my profile to make the following statement about the languages I speak:

The 40+ year old adult brain is incapable of becoming fluent in another language

Of course, I am speaking primarily about North Americans who have spoken exclusively English their whole life before moving to a foreign country.

Of course

Nards Barley wrote:

I updated my profile to make the following statement about the languages I speak:

The 40+ year old adult brain is incapable of becoming fluent in another language

Of course, I am speaking primarily about North Americans who have spoken exclusively English their whole life before moving to a foreign country.

I think there is something to all that.  My daughter came at age 6 to the USA speaking only Spanish.  In less than a year she could read, write ans speak English (She also speaks Spanish).  As we get older it gets harder - way harder - no matte how much effort and classes etc.  Add in the frustration level and I understand why some just let it go...

Mike

quito0819 wrote:

Of course, I am speaking primarily about North Americans who have spoken exclusively English their whole life before moving to a foreign country.

I think there is something to all that.  My daughter came at age 6 to the USA speaking only Spanish.  In less than a year she could read, write ans speak English (She also speaks Spanish).  As we get older it gets harder - way harder - no matte how much effort and classes etc.  Add in the frustration level and I understand why some just let it go...
Mike

Funny thing is when that Columbian woman told me the other day my spanish was awful, she was basically telling me that I needed to learn Spanish since I was working and interacting with Ecuadorians, which was true. I was asking my associate who only speaks spanish to repeat or claify everything this Columbian was saying. And I often didn´t understand what he was saying.

Of course the mantra of many people in the United States when it comes to immigrants to the U.S.--"learn english". Assuming learning English gets codfied by the Congress as part of an immigration bil, I wonder how it will be defined and what the elements of the exam will consist of.

Nards Barley wrote:

quito0819 wrote:

Of course, I am speaking primarily about North Americans who have spoken exclusively English their whole life before moving to a foreign country.

I think there is something to all that.  My daughter came at age 6 to the USA speaking only Spanish.  In less than a year she could read, write ans speak English (She also speaks Spanish).  As we get older it gets harder - way harder - no matte how much effort and classes etc.  Add in the frustration level and I understand why some just let it go...
Mike

Funny thing is when that Columbian woman told me the other day my spanish was awful, she was basically telling me that I needed to learn Spanish since I was working and interacting with Ecuadorians, which was true. I was asking my associate who only speaks spanish to repeat or claify everything this Columbian was saying. And I often didn´t understand what he was saying.

Of course the mantra of many people in the United States when it comes to immigrants to the U.S.--"learn english". Assuming learning English gets codfied by the Congress as part of an immigration bil, I wonder how it will be defined and what the elements of the exam will consist of.

My wife was asked third grade history questions (first president, who was Betsy Ross, Abe Lincoln etc), and after getting the first 5 correct they said show up in a month to be sworn in as a citizen.

I can't recall the details, but my wife's citizenship 'test' was similar to Mugs' wife's. Of course, that was almost thirty years ago -- they may well have changed things.

BobH wrote:

I can't recall the details, but my wife's citizenship 'test' was similar to Mugs' wife's. Of course, that was almost thirty years ago -- they may well have changed things.

My wife was 6 years ago.

all hope is lost...?

Just a note to all y'all...
Columbia is not Colombia, therefore Columbians are not Colombianos, just sayin'

pensionado wrote:

Just a note to all y'all...
Columbia is not Colombia, therefore Columbians are not Colombianos, just sayin'

Thank you

pensionado wrote:

Just a note to all y'all...
Columbia is not Colombia, therefore Columbians are not Colombianos, just sayin'

When I started out in 91 my boss laughingly pointed out to me that Columbia was not in our area of responsibility...felt like an idiot...

A word of advice to anyone considering opening a café that will serve breakfast targeted to Gringos:

Do not serve maracuya juice. We don´t like it. Rather, servce orange juice even if you have to serve it in a small glass and water it down a little bit to justify the cost.

P.S. That was my glass of maracuya from this morning. It looks a little like o.j. but it is not.

I haven´t done too many food posts lately, so here we go.  I had two breakfasts today and my first one was a fruit salad with blackberry yogurt.  Cost was $1.80. It is called Kiwi and is located across from the gas station near the corner of Don Bosco and 12 de Octubre. The bus 7 will drop you off right in front.





Look below. They have a countertop water filter.  I am jealous.

And for second breakfast?

CB48 wrote:

And for second breakfast?

Yes, I've been waiting with a worm on my tongue (baited breath)

You took the words right out of my mouth.... BWAHAHAHAHA.

CB48 wrote:

And for second breakfast?

My second breakfast was at "Ristorante Solumeria Vecchia Modena" on Luis Cordero 5-65.  That happens to be the the same location where the California Kitchen was located before they went out of business. They had a sign at the entrance promoting a $4.00 egg breakfast which enticed me to go. They are primarily an Italian restaurant with a real Italian owner/chef. I have the menu which I may get around to scanning and posting.

It is upstairs of a hotel whose name escapes me:





The photo of the fried eggs turned out badly, so you will have to settle for the fruit and bread sides:



Summary:

It was okay for $4.00, but the Heartland breakfast at Café Nucullacta is still better. Only reason to go to the Italian place is for the ambiance and elbow room.

Today is international Migrants day and it is being celebrated today at 4 p.m. in Parque Calderon. If I was in El Centro this afternoon I might attend. However, I am not all together sure I am a migrant since my Oxford dictionary says a migrant is somebody who moves from one place to another to find work.  I prefer being called an economic refugee. I am certainly not a guest.

One of the sacrifices expats make moving to Cuenca Ecuador is having a real Christmas tree purchased from a tree lot.  If you want a Christmas tree here in Ecuador you need to buy a petroleum based, "artificial" tree instead (too much deforestation?). However, since artificial trees have a starting cost of around $100, most expats can´t justify the cost in the same way many expats can´t justify the purchase of real estate once they take into account actuarial tables etc and the requirement to store it.  Nonetheless, expats will find a way to substitute for a tree buy in some manner whether it be wrapping a string of lights around a dining room chair.............

In my case, I purchased a tree ornament from Corral for $3.00 made from styrofoam balls and hung in from a table lamp:

A friend of mine spotted a gringa walking in Cuenca with one of these the other day. It was in a carrying case and slung over her shoulder military style. He asked her what it was for and she said "dogs".

I own an expandable baton but unlike the gringa´s, mine doesn´t have a stun gun builtin to it. I also own pepper spray.   I don´t usually carry them during the day, and they wouldn´t have helped when a dog ran up to me today on my walk home and bit me, and then ran off.   Fortunately, he didn´t pierce my skin..

I muled one of these "batons" down for a mutual friend. When it came in the mail I thought it was a sex toy (my mind, what can I say!?) and worried I might not get thru Customs. After questioning my friend and knowing she has had dog altercations, I brought it down in October wrapped in a sock. No problems in Customs.

aterosin wrote:

No problems in Customs.

I was telling my friend who saw the gringa carrying the baton that I wouldn´t mind having one with a stun gun.  He was concerned about getting it through customs as well, so you cleared things up for me.

I walked my ass off today in El Centro. Before the final 2.5 mile trek home, I stopped at Goza café (formely coffee tree) and had an Irish Coffee for $4.50.   The word "cargado" in Spanish means "strong",  although it isn´t necessary that your coffee have booze to be considered strong.

They put a few coffee beans on the whipped cream.  What is the point if you got to spit them out?

I was saying to myself that I hadn´t received my Cuencahighlife article via my RSS reader in a couple days, so I went to the website;

http://cuencahighlife.com/

As you can see, it says it is the "new CuencaHighLife" and the layout is totally revamped. They call themselves "Cuenca´s most-trusted english website". 

I find the design cheesey looking, but maybe they are still working on it.  We will find out what kind of journalistic standards they will be applying with respect to their content in the coming weeks.

Here is one thing I found in the "about us" section interesting:

"Neither David, Deke, nor Jonathan remain affiliated  with GringoTree". 

I wonder if any of them exchanged ownership in GringoTree for shares in farpoint mining

Nards Barley wrote:

[img align=c]http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41zwuihu-4L._AA160_.jpg[/url]

A friend of mine spotted a gringa walking in Cuenca with one of these the other day. It was in a carrying case and slung over her shoulder military style. He asked her what it was for and she said "dogs".

I own an expandable baton but unlike the gringa´s, mine doesn´t have a stun gun builtin to it. I also own pepper spray.   I don´t usually carry them during the day, and they wouldn´t have helped when a dog ran up to me today on my walk home and bit me, and then ran off.   Fortunately, he didn´t pierce my skin..

In Russia these are known as a 'pajolsta stick'. Pajolsta being the word for 'please'.   

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Reality set in during the past year: if I am going to scale the ranks of the Cuenca expat community, I need to know more people and form alliances in order to counter the the self-designated "cultural elite" within the expat community.   While I haved lived a hermat-like existence my first couple of years in Cuenca, I went to a party on Christmas eve followed by two more on Christmas day.  At one of the parties it was all gringos, while at the other two it was at least half or more Ecuadorians, including a friendly group of nuns.

I drank more than my fair share of a punch at one of the parties made with a mix of sangria, wine and fresh fruit:

Thought I would update everyone on the latest International Living information in case you did not go to their web site to get their free info.
On their Welcome to International Living - Your Daily Escape.  They tell you that you can live well there for as little as $1500/month as a couple.  Seems Edd Said and the Mrs live in Cuenca for less than $2,000/month, renting a luxurious two-story penthouse apartment filled with fresh flowers, eat out several times a week, and enjoy regular massages and mani-pedis.  So that sounded more realistic, $1500 to $2000 for a couple living well, as opposed to two years ago when they stated a couple could live well on $1000/month or less.  Of course $1500/Month is a 50% increase in two years from the previous $1000.  Is inflation that high in Ecuador?
Whoa!!  Seems Earl and Jan Philips live comfortably in a beach town between Canoa and Bahia in a two bedroom two bath rented condo on the beach on only $800/month.  WOW!!  Is Cuenca that much better than the north coast that people pay twice as much plus no surfing available?

I went and picked up my free edition of GringoTree: Coffee News. I don´t know if this something new or whether they did last last year as well. 

Only thing of interest to me were the advertisements, and this one in particular:



At the time of my post, the website www.incamint.com was offline.  The google cache did contain the following text:

My partner Richard has studied and invested in metals for over 10 years. After arriving in Cuenca about three years ago he bought and sold coins (mainly one ounce gold Eagle and Maple Leafs). My wife and I arrived a year later and a social friendship lead to my joining him at Farpoint Internacional S.A., an Ecuadorian corporation in the process of licensing alluvial gold mining concessions. (www.farpointmining.com)

When we sought a source from which we could purchase gold and silver coins to shelter some of our dollars we were surprised to find that none existed. So, we set about to determine the feasibility of opening a “mint” here in Cuenca. To our surprise we were able to find a source familiar with refining and stamping metals; and, he introduced us to someone with the equipment to create dies … and that got things started.

“Everyone should have a portion of their net worth in precious metals” is cited by many experts. The projected prices for coins that might be attained as the Dollar loses its status as the world's Reserve Currency vary, but all are multiples of today's values. Experts look at precious metals as “insurance” for personal financial well being.

Living in South America, in our opinion, adds another dimension. For want of a better term let's tag it “tradeability”or “useabilty” of the precious metals owned. If the value of Gold doubles (or more) where, pragmatically, will a one ounce gold coin be able to be used here, when currently a $50 bill cannot be used? Therefore our emphasis will be on the Gold 1/10th ounce coins and the Silver one ounce coin. These will increase proportionately but should still be convertible to goods and services as well as any “fiat currency” that may replace the Dollar.

On a separate note, lately we have seen a new problem ex-pats are facing: when attempting to make wire transfers out of the US. Some banks are requiring account holders to be physically present in a the bank to sign the authorization! If this portends a tightening of money flows out of the country can reductions in the daily ATM withdrawals be far behind? Do not get caught without a cash reserve on hand… just in case there is an interruption in the use of ATMs or if you find a trip to the US is required to get money out of your account!

Bob

I am assuming "Bob" is Robert Gordon, vice-president of "Farpoint Mining".

Richard Verkley is of course chief executive officer of Farpoint Mining and on his profile it indicates he is an author.  The following link will take you to what appears to be some of his published works:

http://ezinearticles.com/search/?q=& … p;sort=old

The About page at GringoTree.com indicates the following at this moment:

Richard Verkley and Bob Gordon partnered with David and Deke to expand GringoTree. Jonathan Mogrovejo was hired to build the website, develop the database, and oversee the IT department. GringoTree.com/Cuenca launched on November 12, 2012.

The whois page indicates the domain incamint.com was registered in the name of a "Sheryle Barker". If I google that name it takes me to a facebook page for "Sheryle Verkley" who is the director of hearts of gold foundation and the wife of Richard Verkley. My guess is "Barker" is the maiden name of "Sheryle Verkley".

I am curious to see if Incamint.com has a physical location where I can check out some of their gold and silver coins.

A pretty good article containing authorized and original content over at Cuenca Highlife  titled "Why do expats go home? Why do they seek new overseas ‘havens'? Interviews with departing and relocating expats reveal the reasons"

Some of the comments are also interesting, including one by somebody named charlie.  My question to charlie would be did GP go downhill after Morril and Castleman departed that website or before?

By far, the best article I've seen on the issue of why we see so many expats come and go so quickly. First, kudos to the publishers of this newsletter for allowing people to actually tell it as they see it. The other two rags have degenerated into smarmy, worthless vehicles that will only allow you to say things if you are politically correct and Minnesota Nice. It is the information that they refuse to print that people actually need to read and it will never be found in GT or GP. Hopefully, Castleman and Morrill will see that the kind of article that we see today in their publication is what so many people crave.

This comment by Charlie addresses the issue of whether expats in Ecuador are "guests"

Let me give you an example. I won't mention names, but there is a guy that we'll just call SWIRLZ, who believes that gringos living in Ecuador (and presumably, anywhere else that isn't their “home” country) are and always will be “guests in their country”. You could have lived here for 25 years, married an Ecuadorian, voted in all the elections and been an active, positive member of the community where you have lived. But in SWIRLZ mind, you are still a guest and don't have the right to complain about the things around you that you believe are wrong and need rebuke. He believes we have to put up with and never complain about aspects of the culture that are abhorrent, because it is their culture.

A commenter named "Will" believes there was a reason left out by the author..........

You missed one… I recently talked to 4 expats here in Cuenca, who are leaving for, basically, the same reason: The current draconian restrictions on importation. Here are a couple of comments that stuck in my mind:
1. My wife needs medications that are not available here in Cuenca – and we can't get it through customs anymore… (Selling everything, and returning empty-handed – and probably with empty pockets)
2. The government is becoming a communist regime. We can't even order our favorite things and vitamins from the USA.
(etc – 2 more similar statements)

Nards Barley wrote:

I am curious to see if Incamint.com has a physical location where I can check out some of their gold and silver coins.

Out of curiosity did you ever find out if they had a physical location Nards?

j600rr wrote:

Out of curiosity did you ever find out if they had a physical location Nards?

No I did not. They appear to removing all traces of their existence from internet other than the domain registration.

Gringo Tree has a "public service announcement" warning about rapes of women in Southeast Cuenca.  One would think this would warrant a story in the local papers but I haven´t read anything on rapes recently.

This public service announcement also served as a vehicle for promoting private self defense classes:

Cima Fitness is offering a self defense class this Friday morning at 10:00 a.m. The cost is $17.00 per month, and four classes are suggested. The focus of the course will be on escape and defensive tactics. For more information, send a message to [email protected].

While reading the Frugals latest "masterpiece", I got diverted over to the Expate Exchange and wound up on this thread titled "Ecuador Expat Forum - The lies and hypocrisy never stop"

More than anything, the thread illustrates that they too have out of control moderator problems.

Nards Barley wrote:

While reading the Frugals latest "masterpiece", I got diverted over to the Expate Exchange and wound up on this thread titled "Ecuador Expat Forum - The lies and hypocrisy never stop"

More than anything, the thread illustrates that they too have out of control moderator problems.

Ecuador Expat Exchange is really nasty and vicious. I posted there once or twice and then gave up. It's as if the membership consisted of nothing but clones of our favorite Brazilian. It does get a lot of traffic, thiough.

^^^
Yep, I just went through about a month of posts on their website and the crazy is strong over there. I had no idea what most of them were babbling about, no matter what the topic. The place is totally inhabited by ET's who speak in alien lingo. Jibberish galore.

I wasn't grasping the Frugals site very well either. Or some of the cryptic gossip on Gringo Whatever.

The whole world has stopped making sense. Or I'm developing dyslexia of reasoning

After further review, the not so instant replay officials have reversed the decision on the field and eliminated several posts concerning inviting expats to the brazil forum and the alleged anatomical confusion of some alleged expert.  Good show, now get rid of the other political stuff.