sv evi

When we found out I was pregnant last August (surprise!), I knew I couldn’t go back to work at Lincoln High School full-time with 3 kids under 5 years old. Too hard. We were already planning on moving to Latin America; I was looking for work at international schools. 

As time went on, and there were only 2 jobs that I was interested in, neither of which responded to my request for an interview, I got used to the idea of not working. It was so lovely on the boat in Fiji when Riki and I could both be full-time parents, we could both experience Tomu’s growing up and give each other breaks as well. That was a motivator for wanting to live somewhere where we could both be full-time parents (read: a place where the cost of living is less expensive). Also, we’ve been raising our kids bilingually–speaking to them in Spanish as much as we can, however they answer us in English with the occasional Spanish word thrown in, so we wanted to immerse then in Spanish in the hopes that they begin to produce more Spanish.

We landed on Ecuador because of the relative ease to get a visa, the magnificent geography and natural beauty, and the relatively affordable cost of living. Cuenca came recommended by Susha’s friend Alleya, who had studied abroad here in college. Once we looked it up on the internet, we found LOTS of information about Cuenca, mainly that it is a popular destination for retirees from North America and Europe. We figured it would be a relatively easy place to land because of the expat population. It is a World Heritage Site, with beautiful colonial architecture. It’s in the Andes mountains, at 8500′, about 200 miles south of the Equator. It is a city of about 800,000 people, third largest in Ecuador. It has a relatively mellow climate (though when the sun shines, get out your umbrella for shade, because it is fierce!, and when it rains, it pours, loudly.)

My favorite things about Cuenca are the 4 rivers that run through town and the fact that you can drink the tap water. This means that you don’t need to worry about drinking a juice or ordering a salad in a restaurant–it is such a privilege to have clean drinking water. The rivers all are surrounded by parks with paths for biking and walking, and are fairly wild. We like to go to the river and sit under the Eucalyptus trees, or throw rocks and leaf boats into the river. We live about 4 blocks from one of the rivers.

the view of the cathedral from our favorite cafe

the Tomebamba river