So, it’s been almost 3 weeks since I arrived in Cuenca, and here are some of my observations and impressions so far:
The people are generous and kind and patient to a fault. I’ve only experienced one or two grumps since arriving, but nearly all have been lovely, even when they see the vieja y gorda gringa walking toward them with her translator app open. Same for the taxi drivers; they have all been kind and patient, though because I’m in a new building, almost no one seems to know where it is; as a result, I’m getting better at giving directions in Spanish.
Returns are not as smooth a transition as they are at, say, Walmart. It’s a bit of a lengthy process: You explain the problem with the product and show your receipt. They search carefully for the item(s) you are returning. Then they call another employee up to return your item(s) to the shelves. They then issue you a credit only–even if you paid cash–that you can use in the store at a later date. However, you have to use the whole credit at once–no cash balance will be returned to you.
No $1 bills exist in Cuenca. I know this, because no one has given me one as change. You always get back coins, and it’s not all U.S. money. They use the U.S. dollar coin instead, below.
They also use a lot of 50 cent pieces, both U.S. and Ecuadorian,
with each holding the same value.
Same for quarters, dimes and nickels.
There are a lot of traffic police here, but I still see people driving crazy every day. So, just like Las Vegas! People like to go the wrong way down one-way streets, turn around in the middle of a tiny road, or stop in the middle of traffic for no apparent reason, but I have not yet seen any “speeders,” which you see several times a day in Las Vegas. There is plenty of honking going on here too, also just like Vegas. Taxi drivers honk to say hi, to tell people the light is green, to tell people to go faster–just like Vegas. But I have yet to see any road rage.
The weather is perfect here every single day. Everyone’s idea of “perfect” is different, but mine is: rain overnight, high of 65 and partly cloudy in the daytime, with almost no wind.
I had also expected a whole menagerie of new large and terrifying bugs, but not so much, likely because of the 8,000′ altitude. Screens are uncommon here, and so far I have not found a store that sells them or even the materials to make them.
This place is for dog lovers, because everyone has one or two, and they are everywhere. They sense the dog-lovers and follow us around, hoping snacks or pets will be forthcoming. And surprisingly, not a lot of dog poop while you’re walking. Yeah, there’s some, but not like in the U.S. where almost no one picks up their dog’s poop in public spaces.
I have been walking everywhere and always feel perfectly safe. However, I have not done any walking at night and probably won’t until I have a better understanding of crime and safety here. But it obviously wouldn’t be nearly as bad as walking alone at night in the U.S., where crime is much higher and you’re dodging mental illness on every street corner.
Anything with a cord here is astronomically expensive, so if you are planning a move to Ecuador, I recommend you bring as many of your appliances as you are able, especially Cuisinart.
A used apartment-sized stacked washer / dryer combo is about $900. Most people here buy the all-in-one washer / dryer combo–both features in one machine. I thought I would love this, but it’s awful. It takes forever to do laundry because you can’t start the dry cycle until the washer is finished and you can’t put another load into the wash until the dryer is finished. And the dryer takes forever to dry–close to an hour and a half for a small load of sheets. I think it’s popular here because it runs on 110 instead of 220, but if it has to run twice as long to do the same job, are you really saving any money? Also: fans, cordless tools, kitchen appliances, etc., all very expensive!
I have struggled to find a few things here. JP and Amelia like to call it “The Scavenger Hunt,” because you always end up going to multiple stores to find one item. I still have yet to find:
*Good quality sheets that fit. They are made of super thin material here, and have a very rough feel. There aren’t many colors or designs to choose from, and they are a bit pricey for what you get. They also come in “plaza” sizes, with the “plaza” representing one person. So a twin is 1 plaza, a full is 1 1/2 plazas, a queen is 2 plazas, and a king is 2 1/2 plazas. Took me a bit to figure this out.
*A box fan. I finally settled for a “floor fan,” which is essentially the same thing. It has two feet, sits on the floor, and has four speeds. It is a bit smaller than a box fan and cost me $33.
*Gold Bond lotion. This makes me so sad because it’s the only thing that really works on my skin and I love the way it smells. I’ll keep looking.
*Real wood furniture. I mean, I’m sure it exists here somewhere, but it will likely be completely out of my price range. All I see in the stores is furniture made of pressboard and cheap veneers and they want a lot of money for small, cheaply made pieces.
*A water cooler cover. The wanter in Cuenca is safe to drink because it’s chlorinated, but I really hate the taste of chlorine and opted for a water delivery service. How I found that service is a whole story in itself, but I’ll save that for another post. Anyway, I decided to try to make one myself, but I could not find any good cotton material to buy, so I decided to try making one myself out of a $5 table cloth. This hideous thing is the result:
So clearly, I need to keep looking.
But really, who cares? If I never find those things, will my life end? No. It won’t. And besides, will you look at this view out my bedroom window?
ECUADORIOUS 