Moving to Ecuador

[sdhanel]

My wife and I are moving to Ecuador later this year, probably in September, and hope to settle in a small city such as Cuenca or Ambato, for example. I have an MBA in International Management and by then will also have an MA in TESL/Applied Linguistics. I speak some Spanish and my wife, none.
Several years ago I taught English in Cali, Colombia and while I know you can't revisit the past, teaching English again is more attractive to me than the accounting that I've been practicing for the last...several years.

We are looking for a place to call home that's comfortable and relatively quiet.

Does anyone have any suggestions, recommendations, advice or warnings?

Mil gracias por todo.

[jillianvaldez]

That was great idea. I've heard that is was nice and more convenient to stay. Lots of great accommodation, specially hotels!!!

[REINADECUENCA]

Greetings.
I am American married 10 ysr to Ecuadorian Native, 2 children with him and I speak fluent Spanish- and have adjusted to the dialect of Ecuadorian Spanish. Please do not move to a country where you barely speak the language-I almost beg of you not to. You will get scammed, ripped off, bad mouthed with no way to defend yourself. Also it is more uncomfortable to move to an area that is completely foreign-especially economy and government wise, not to mention health care quality-i do not recommend that by the way. It is extremely difficult in the situation where you are so accomplished in your education to not be able to communicate as effectively as you are accustomed to-keep that in mind. You need to study more spanish. Please make your wife studay as well. WOmen are treated as second class citizens and sex objects in this country. Withthe ability to speak fluent spanish and my experience living and learning the ways of the culture I have been able to counter these offenses-and it sure surprises the natives when I do (!) My husband need not defend me. Though a very beautiful country- you will notice that thre is beuaty but there is poverty- and the neighborhoods are not as affluently organized like say a suburbia like you would prefer. Also simple things like getting milk at the store-which by the way comes in a bag and tastes different-but if you drink milk you have to get used to it- I never directly drink the milk I save it for cooking and baking by the way-things like purchasing groceries may be frustrating- as the smell of the meat if you eat meat is different and the taste is different-however I am not saying that thre are not several tasty dishes and wonderful restaurants if you know where to go. I speak of many years experience living in Cuenca a city you had made an inquiry about. For your wife's sake-make sure she has something to do while you are at work. Things are there like the mall, coffee shops, downtown shopping- I guess both of you would have to get used to travling downtown and the roads and parking or lack of it in the city. Another thing that pushes my buttons about these people-especially your appearence tells everything about you and you get the same respect as how you look-no matter where you go. Now hold on, let me explain: Here you can run to get milk or to the gas station in your sweats. Don't do that. The security guards which carry real guns even at the little drug stores will follow and watch you. Women are so hard on eachother here. From my experience we have a competetive nature-and here if you do not have pretty hair, pretty makeup and "hot" clothes, nice nails, then women are treated worse-the women are considered an inferior class if they do not keep up their appearance-especially by business men or even women-you just get no respect if your not all together at all times of interaction. There are clear differences in class- there are poor beggars on the street with bare feet, people who do windshield wiping or sell candy at street red lights to earn a living. A lot of shoe shining going on. Learn spanish, it helps to watch tv and read the sub titles, but get in the culture and really interract and work on your pronunciation and you will have more info on your side than most venturing there. I mean I have a plethora (seriously) more worth of information. If you need to buy a vehicle, the process and the politics involved in this are different. There is corruption, unnecesary police harassment, and there are purse snatchers and thieves of that sort all over-watch out. If you need furniture even for your "place" it is essential to know spanish. What is frustrating is that the "mailing addresses are different" and instead of corporations or businesses that own a lot of things there are individual owners- hotels, bars, night clubs, little stores, clothing stores, even car dealerships. They are aggressive honkers on the road and like to speed ahead and get in front of you there a lot-be careful. Please study the map of the city and the methods of getting from here to there. The property situation is that they have classified ads just like here for rentals, and also homes and condos for sale. Some come furnished , some donot. However in most rentals in cuenca they do not come equipped with refridgerators washers dryers liek we are used to here-you have to get your own-in some places, not all...would you know who to talk to where to go, and wouldn't you find it frustrating to be deprived of something so simple due to lack of communication skillls? Also in older homes they use literally gas tanks for the stove, and hot water-you would need to learn to communicate with the person who replaces the tank, and learn how to work it-its a small pain-i got used to it after awhile. People do not reserve drinking or partying for just the weekend- do not turn into the husband who takes advantage of this -people drink a lot there. Women there keep beautiful clean immaculate homes. A lot of families even lower class have housekeepers. Just learn where to get your essentials for living, and you will be set...after you brush up on that spanish! Ask me anything!

[REINADECUENCA]

Greetings.
I am American married 10 ysr to Ecuadorian Native, 2 children with him and I speak fluent Spanish- and have adjusted to the dialect of Ecuadorian Spanish. Please do not move to a country where you barely speak the language-I almost beg of you not to. You will get scammed, ripped off, bad mouthed with no way to defend yourself. Also it is more uncomfortable to move to an area that is completely foreign-especially economy and government wise, not to mention health care quality-i do not recommend that by the way. It is extremely difficult in the situation where you are so accomplished in your education to not be able to communicate as effectively as you are accustomed to-keep that in mind. You need to study more spanish. Please make your wife studay as well. WOmen are treated as second class citizens and sex objects in this country. Withthe ability to speak fluent spanish and my experience living and learning the ways of the culture I have been able to counter these offenses-and it sure surprises the natives when I do (!) My husband need not defend me. Though a very beautiful country- you will notice that thre is beuaty but there is poverty- and the neighborhoods are not as affluently organized like say a suburbia like you would prefer. Also simple things like getting milk at the store-which by the way comes in a bag and tastes different-but if you drink milk you have to get used to it- I never directly drink the milk I save it for cooking and baking by the way-things like purchasing groceries may be frustrating- as the smell of the meat if you eat meat is different and the taste is different-however I am not saying that thre are not several tasty dishes and wonderful restaurants if you know where to go. I speak of many years experience living in Cuenca a city you had made an inquiry about. For your wife's sake-make sure she has something to do while you are at work. Things are there like the mall, coffee shops, downtown shopping- I guess both of you would have to get used to travling downtown and the roads and parking or lack of it in the city. Another thing that pushes my buttons about these people-especially your appearence tells everything about you and you get the same respect as how you look-no matter where you go. Now hold on, let me explain: Here you can run to get milk or to the gas station in your sweats. Don't do that. The security guards which carry real guns even at the little drug stores will follow and watch you. Women are so hard on eachother here. From my experience we have a competetive nature-and here if you do not have pretty hair, pretty makeup and "hot" clothes, nice nails, then women are treated worse-the women are considered an inferior class if they do not keep up their appearance-especially by business men or even women-you just get no respect if your not all together at all times of interaction. There are clear differences in class- there are poor beggars on the street with bare feet, people who do windshield wiping or sell candy at street red lights to earn a living. A lot of shoe shining going on. Learn spanish, it helps to watch tv and read the sub titles, but get in the culture and really interract and work on your pronunciation and you will have more info on your side than most venturing there. I mean I have a plethora (seriously) more worth of information. If you need to buy a vehicle, the process and the politics involved in this are different. There is corruption, unnecesary police harassment, and there are purse snatchers and thieves of that sort all over-watch out. If you need furniture even for your "place" it is essential to know spanish. What is frustrating is that the "mailing addresses are different" and instead of corporations or businesses that own a lot of things there are individual owners- hotels, bars, night clubs, little stores, clothing stores, even car dealerships. They are aggressive honkers on the road and like to speed ahead and get in front of you there a lot-be careful. Please study the map of the city and the methods of getting from here to there. The property situation is that they have classified ads just like here for rentals, and also homes and condos for sale. Some come furnished , some donot. However in most rentals in cuenca they do not come equipped with refridgerators washers dryers liek we are used to here-you have to get your own-in some places, not all...would you know who to talk to where to go, and wouldn't you find it frustrating to be deprived of something so simple due to lack of communication skillls? Also in older homes they use literally gas tanks for the stove, and hot water-you would need to learn to communicate with the person who replaces the tank, and learn how to work it-its a small pain-i got used to it after awhile. People do not reserve drinking or partying for just the weekend- do not turn into the husband who takes advantage of this -people drink a lot there. Women there keep beautiful clean immaculate homes. A lot of families even lower class have housekeepers. Just learn where to get your essentials for living, and you will be set...after you brush up on that spanish! Ask me anything!

[Jaxon]

I am American and my wife is Ecuadorian. We too, are planning to move to Ecuador. Our plan was to move to Quito since we have family and friends there, and since there seems to be more non-Ecuadorians living there, than the other cities I have visited. I have experienced scamming there. When site seeing I am often charged more than my wife. Once in the airport the police made me have a $5 stomach scan to make sure I wasn't trafficking cocaine. My wife was not scanned. I assumed if I lived there I could adapt and learn to get around these things. I also assumed I would be ok to just avoid the "bad areas" of town. Do you think I will have a difficult time living there? Where would you say are the easiest/safest places for Americans to live in Ecuador?

[Larry22]

Originally Posted by sdhanel

My wife and I are moving to Ecuador later this year, probably in September, and hope to settle in a small city such as Cuenca or Ambato, for example. I have an MBA in International Management and by then will also have an MA in TESL/Applied Linguistics. I speak some Spanish and my wife, none.
Several years ago I taught English in Cali, Colombia and while I know you can't revisit the past, teaching English again is more attractive to me than the accounting that I've been practicing for the last...several years.

We are looking for a place to call home that's comfortable and relatively quiet.

Does anyone have any suggestions, recommendations, advice or warnings?

Mil gracias por todo.

Hi,

Just wanted to give my take on where you might consider living in Ecuador. Ambato, in its past history, was totally destroyed by an earthquake in 1949 and rebuilt. What I determined regarding volcanoes and earthquake history was that Cuenca is probably the safest in that regard.

Also, the climate in Cuenca is pretty constant all year round (great temps between 60 and 70F) and the city is relatively safe as compared to Guayaquil and Quito. That is what I found, but all may, or may not agree. That is just my opinion and what I have experienced.

Regards,
Larry

[Jaxon]

Thanks Larry! We are actually planning to visit Cuenca this month. I had a similar impression when researching Cuenca, as you mentioned. It seems a little more peaceful and low-key. One thing my wife is afraid is the crazy driving. She grew up in Guayaquil and will not drive there. Is this any better in Cuenca?